Why so much anger towards cyclists?

[Thatsthatthen87]

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/sep/01/i-will-never-ride-a-bike-again-why-people-are-giving-up-on-cycling

Just read this and I can totally relate to what a couple of people are saying about drivers' attitudes to cyclists. If people are not following the rules or using their bikes responsibly or whatever, I get it, but some drivers just seem to hate the fact that they have to share the road. Why? I've even had 'get a car' yelled at me from a window. 😄

I live in a small, rural village on a lane that is not the main road. Just as a few pps have said, from March through October I get packs of men riding through the quiet village at the crack of dawn holding conversations in their booming voices. Their shouting back and forth wakes me up more than half the time on a Saturday and Sunday.

Are they breaking any rules, no. But it is so inconsiderate to ride through a quiet village at 6am and shout the whole way through.

Is lycra OK for commuter cyclists? How do you assess if they are commuting or leisure riding?

MAMIL - is there an age limit on when people should stop cycling? Is middle age the only unacceptable age to ride a bike? I intensely dislike the casual ageism and sexism in the way this acronym gets used.

Do you actually see that the cyclist is a person, a real, vulnerable, flesh and blood human being who happens to enjoy riding a bike? Do you hate the person who may also be a paramedic (my neighbour who cycles to work to save lives), me (a vet, who cycles to work, in lycra, to look after your pets), a mother, father, wife, son etc. Do you hate them all the time, or just when they are on their bikes?

We look over our shoulders when cycling because we don't have mirrors. We are keeping aware of our surroundings, all the more important with electric cars these days.

I'm a cyclist and a driver and whilst not wanting to add to the echo chamber, it's the male lycra clad wannabee racers that give every cyclist a bad name. I keep saying the next time one of them holds my roof rail so they don't have to unclip their feet at traffic lights, I'll speed off, except I won't as I couldn't hurt anyone, and what is it with the fucking spitting, it's vile? It's only ever men, I never find I have vast reserves of spit that need shifting whilst biking.

In a car going too slow you can be fined etc. Yet cyclists can hold up a 50 mph road and that's fine?
Sorry if your bike cant get up to the road speed you shouldn't be allowed to ride on that road.
All other cyclists I'll happily slow down and keep back so not to intimidate you. I'll also pass you giving you enough room as if over taking a car. So I dont hate all cyclists just the idiot ones who think it's fine to do 10mph in a 50mph zone.

What's "up to road speed"?
It's a limit not a target.

Why are you getting nervous? Its no different to a driver driving slowly and your behind them and you cannot overtake them. Maybe you shouldn't be driving if you get nervous

Erm how about watch the fucking road. Don't keep looking back at me every 10 seconds. I'm not that close.to you.It's 1+1 stuff. State of the local roads round here, one decent pothole and it's arse over tit.

I don’t disagree with the sentiment at all! But the reality is that most of the cyclists you see are packs of men cycling around for pleasure NOT in fact as a mode of transport. These are people who commute in cars and ferry their families around in cars and are the kind of people who take holidays to destinations they have to fly to.

literally no problem with people who commute to work on bike. (as long as they are courteous - as car drivers should be) Or those who use bike as a method of transport generally! But Lycra clad packs of men out for a long ride then the pub are not these people

I think all of us have had a least one bad experience with the Lycra clad, racing bike man. It's hard not to tar them all with the same brush.
I nearly got run over whilst walking the dog recently, they flew round a corner straight in to us. The poor dog ran to get out of their way and they shouted at her? For being aggressive? (She was running away!)

Jeez I need new glasses. I just read that as "why is there so much anger towards cystitis?"

Agree overall.

Cystitis deserves it, no question.

I mentioned lycra because that's how I differentiate the people who cycle as a hobby and people who commute on a bicycle.

That said, I did a lot of cycling during the lockdowns just for fun and to get some exercise. I really enjoy it but cycling on the road, next to traffic, would suck the joy right out of it.

Well, I don't do any of the things mentioned on this thread. I just don't want to drive I'm too poor for various reasons, i don't want to walk because it's slow and I hate the bus, imagine getting the bus to the gym!

Car drivers just do not see the road as shared space (and never will). Building segregated lanes is vital.

Cyclists and car drivers here. Obey the rules of the road. Also outskirts of a village,a lot of folk cycling on the pavements, expect you to jump out of their way. Main road into town red lights don't apply to them, they either go straight through or up on the pavement,no signalling. This is not occasional behaviour,it's 99%. standard of driving,yes,also poor,we have a parade of village shops,there's obviously some device that stops indicators working, when people drive in or out. I'm not perfect, have done various advanced and high performance driving tests with a Police Examiner.

Brilliant I'll try driving along the motorway at 20mph because it's a target not a limit 🙄

But all ok for packs of cars to congest the lanes, roads & take all the parking spaces as they go to a cafe at a beauty spot, a pub, garden centre.... or just a drive around.

How big of you to be willing to share the road with someone cycling to work.. Bravo!

I’m a middle aged woman who commutes to work in Lycra because it’s an amazing invention. If I rode the 10 miles to work in normal clothes they’d be wringing wet with sweat by the time I got there.

I’m a cyclist, driver and pedestrian and bad cyclists frustrate me as much as anybody. I think some issues are caused by bad road design - there are several pinch points on my commute where I will take primary position because not to do so would endanger my life. I don’t jump red lights ever but there are some junctions that are so dangerous that I can understand the mentality of some riders to want to get a head start before the driver acceleration starts - and that’s really all it is. It’s self preservation.

A lot of it is down to driver impatience - most cyclists will actually ride at a similar speed to a milk float or a bus or bin lorry. Drivers will sit fairly happily behind those because they see them as vehicles but for some reason cyclists really hit a nerve. So please only overtake when there is room - we are only holding you up for maybe ten seconds? Don’t block bike lanes or the green bike boxes at lights, and please don’t ever, ever text.

Studies have shown that it’s not cyclists causing congestion - it’s the sheer volume of cars. That’s why there are traffic jams on motorways. If there are less cars on the road it’s actually easier to overtake a cyclist because there’s just a lot more room.

Perhaps a better thread would be how to avoid being an irritating cyclist.

cycle in pairs, not clumps of 8
don't rattle round blind corners at 30. There could be horses, children, pedestrians.
if you're cycling at 6am, keep your voice down. people are trying to sleep.
If you're over 14, keep off the pavement

That would help.

You can be fined for going under the speed limit.

I think there’s lots of different things here. I live in a city. I’ve not really come across cyclists who cycle for transport being rude or breaking many rules.

l also live very near the country. It’s always full of packs of men riding on tiny windy country roads where it isn’t safe to overtake. Plus these roads are hills, so they cycle very slowly, and cause massive tailbacks.

Cycling for transporters don’t cause many problems. It’s the mobs of men at the weekends who are the issue.

The reason cyclists ride in a “clump” as you call it, is so that you only have to make one overtaking manoeuvre, not have to do it four times. Imagine a group of eight cyclists - that takes up a patch of tarmac the same size as a milk float. Now imagine a pair of cyclists - they would take up a patch of tarmac the same size as a horse. And then multiply that by four.
Which of those two sets would be quicker to overtake?

Speed limits do not apply to cyclists.

If you are in a car behind a cyclist waiting to pass safely, you would not be fined for driving at a speed under the speed limit, because it would have been a legitimate choice given the road conditions.

You can only get fined for driving slowly if you are causing a hazard (i.e. doing 25 on a motorway) and if you have no reason to be driving slowly.

My general issue with them is that I live in a high traffic area as a non driving, non cycling pedestrian. The cars do stupid things, but do them on the roads. Well over half the cyclists are on the (pedestrian only, not shared) pavements, where they also do stupid things, often at considerably higher speeds than the cars.

It still hurts quite a bit when they crash into you at 20 from behind, even if it's not a car. Often they bomb along the pavement tinging their bell, expecting me to leap into oncoming road traffic or be cycled into (or vanish? Fuck knows what expect), as they are on the pavements, but too fast to stop. The ones on the road, I mostly have no issue with.

I also don't understand why lycra is used as an insult.

Is it because it's clingy and revealing? Because on MN if anyone suggests people shouldn't wear skin tight / see through leggings to the shops because it's inappropriate there is usually anger from MN because people can wear what they like and how dare you shame them...