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Why so much anger towards cyclists?

248 replies

Thatsthatthen87 · 09/09/2022 17:50

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. 😄

OP posts:
ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 10/09/2022 08:47

Lycra is used as an insult because it’s what the male mobs of cycling clubs wear. That’s why.

Lockheart · 10/09/2022 08:53

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 10/09/2022 08:47

Lycra is used as an insult because it’s what the male mobs of cycling clubs wear. That’s why.

It's also what loads of people (men and women) wear to the gym, what's your point?

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 10/09/2022 08:54

What’s yours?

Its an insult for a particular type of cyclist.

l don’t give a fuck what anyone wears in a gym. They can wear a plastic bag or full Lycra for all l care.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Brahumbug · 10/09/2022 08:56

Amazing how many people don't realise what a bell is for on a bike. If a bike sounds one on a shared path, such as a tow path, it is warning you of their presence, not demanding you get out if the way. Would you sooner they suddenly zipped past you with no warning?

Hopeandlove · 10/09/2022 08:57

PilatesPeach · 09/09/2022 18:34

Some ride on pavements when people are walking along and expect the pedestrian to get in the road
Some overtake or undertake cars
Some sit in front of the head car at traffic lights then take ages to pull away holding the line up so maybe 2 cars get through the lights
Some are very rude verbally to drivers
Some cycle down the inside of cars and bang into the side of your car causing damage
They are not required to have any insurance
Some ride 3 abreast in the lane making it impossible to get past and ensuring all the traffic drive at less than 10 miles an hour
Some seem to view red lights as an optional invitation to stop
Some are considerate

This ^ my short commute to work involves lots of cyclists. Just yesterday -there is a tight windy path up a hill. So their speed is low there is no place to overtake safety so I am giving the cyclist room and not overtaking. There are now ten cars behind me -because the speed has slowed right down there are more cyclists coming up the hill and well able to keep speed with the cars or go faster -they come on the INSIDE of cars eg left hand side but not leave 1.5m gap -very very close to cars who are driving to drive up a narrow winding road. The road levels out. The cyclists now pull in front of the cars, traffic coming the other way. Difficult to over take. Get to a huge 4 way junction. I am at the front. Cyclist in front still. Then I am surrounded (traffic lights) by cyclists I suddenly have 10 cyclists -4 in front of me a few down the left hand side of my car and some down the right hand side. Car behind. I am vulnerable -totally boxed in and surrounded on 3 sides by cyclists. The lights change. I have to let ALL the cyclists on the left right and in front of me go -as I can't move as I am worried about hitting someone. We get to the bridge. I have to trail slowly across the bridge as there is now a huge group of cyclists in front of me. Pull across the bridge and into the city now lanes are narrow as cars parked both sides and cyclists still in front. Get to work and try to park - done.

A 10 minute commute has taken me 40 minutes. Well done cyclists.

If I have to stay away from cyclists they need to stay away from me. Don't come up my inside. Stay 1m away from me. Don't take a short cut either in the city and pull up on the pavement and ring your bed at people. Just have some consideration for everyone else and don't be so self centred.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 10/09/2022 08:59

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?

Spare me the violins. It's a pity the arsehole who zoomed onto the pavement at speed a foot in front of me the other day didn't recognise me as a real, vulnerable, flesh and blood person who happens to enjoy getting home in one piece. Ditto the one who early on winter mornings zooms down the pavement to the station with no lights when I'm walking along it and likewise misses me by inches.

Hopeandlove · 10/09/2022 09:00

Brahumbug · 10/09/2022 08:56

Amazing how many people don't realise what a bell is for on a bike. If a bike sounds one on a shared path, such as a tow path, it is warning you of their presence, not demanding you get out if the way. Would you sooner they suddenly zipped past you with no warning?

No it's not. They don't use it like that -it's a get out of the way bell here. Once a cyclist shouted at my son in the woods and rang his bell at him -my son was 5 and shouted -are you deaf I was ringing my bell you nearly caused me to have an accident -5 years old and YES HE IS FUCKING DEAF ACTUALLY.

99% of cyclists use it as a warning I'm here get the fuck out of my way

Fififelix · 10/09/2022 09:00

I think when you are in a rush cyclists are annoying to overtake and slow . People are inpatient.

Thatsthatthen87 · 10/09/2022 09:04

Lockheart · 10/09/2022 08:44

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...

Yea, I'm not really insulting lycra it's just that, to me, a lycra crad cyclist is pretty serious about cycling as a sport whereas I'm just someone who uses a bike for transport. Most of the complaints against cyclists on this thread seem to be aimed at the former although, as I say, I've been shouted at from a car window simply for not driving 😄

OP posts:
Thatsthatthen87 · 10/09/2022 09:05

Tut. Lycra CLAD*

OP posts:
Blossomandbee · 10/09/2022 09:08

Near me there are quite a few combined cycle/pedestrian paths that are clearly signposted every few yards. Yet still cyclists choose to use the road, riding adjacent to the cycle path, and hold up endless amounts of traffic.
I get that it's optional to use, however it's selfish.

deplorabelle · 10/09/2022 09:33

As a pedestrian I often find cyclists annoying - they do expect walkers to just move out of the way which is infuriating on a footpath if every ten minutes your chain of thought is interrupted by a bell (or actually no bell but the expectation you'll hear them and move is worse). Then you have to guess which way to jump and plaster yourself against a hawthorn bush while they rumble by.

I do (reluctantly) drive a car and try to be as considerate as possible. As a regular public transport user I get cross how often policy making is done through a "cycling and public transport" lens. Cyclists have more in common with cars than public transport users and it's a distraction. Add that to the fact local councillors are far more likely to be cyclists than bus users and their interests dominate.

Just like car drivers, they want to nip A to B on the shortest route possible. They need flat roads and parking. They are unconcerned by accessibility unless they themselves are a disabled cyclist They are untroubled by timetable issues and don't need to keep to defined standard routes. Yes they are virtually non-polluting but they are still a private transport lobby, and in policy terms you treat them like a special class of slow-moving car with no crash protection, limited passenger capability and the handy ability to park and travel on pavements.

GoldenOmber · 10/09/2022 09:53

BluOcty · 10/09/2022 07:48

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

Yes, I think this is it.

I was cycling home from work the other day on a quiet residential road, and a car came up behind me, crawled a few inches off my back wheel, then suddenly decided to overtake coming up to the brow of a hill with no visibility of any traffic in the opposite line they were half in, and then turned left sharp right ahead of me so I had to slam my own brakes to avoid going into the passenger door. Without indicating either.

If they’d just stayed behind me they would have reached that junction about 0.4 seconds later and endangered none of us, but noooo, must get in front.

GoldenOmber · 10/09/2022 09:55

Blossomandbee · 10/09/2022 09:08

Near me there are quite a few combined cycle/pedestrian paths that are clearly signposted every few yards. Yet still cyclists choose to use the road, riding adjacent to the cycle path, and hold up endless amounts of traffic.
I get that it's optional to use, however it's selfish.

Because on shared pedestrian/cycle paths, you have to cycle at walking speed to avoid endangering anyone. And then it’s still not brilliantly safe because of unpredictable toddlers, dogs on long leads, etc. Road is safer even if it does mean drivers have to share (the horror).

Plantstrees · 10/09/2022 10:06

As a horse rider the big issue for me is politeness. We alway pull in to gateways etc to allow traffic to pass us as soon as practically possible and always thank the drivers for their patience. In all my 40+ years of driving I have never seen a cyclist be considerate to other road users.

Anon778833 · 10/09/2022 10:19

Speed limits do not apply to cyclists.

Which is precisely why it’s inconsiderate of cyclists to stick in the middle of the road, deliberately holding up traffic ‘because debris’

Matildahoney · 10/09/2022 10:22

Because there's millions spent on cycle paths for their convenience which already generally take up half a lane of the road which creates more traffic, and they still choose to cycle on the roads. They ignore red lights, lots use their phones but this seems to somehow be acceptable! Weave in and out of traffic, the list is endless

loveisanopensore · 10/09/2022 10:24

I see a lot more motorists using their phones than people on bikes.

GoldenOmber · 10/09/2022 10:26

Anon778833 · 10/09/2022 10:19

Speed limits do not apply to cyclists.

Which is precisely why it’s inconsiderate of cyclists to stick in the middle of the road, deliberately holding up traffic ‘because debris’

Ah, you’re one of those drivers who wants to be allowed to overtake cyclists by squeezing past in the same line without crossing the central line, right?

Loopyloopy · 10/09/2022 10:29

Thatsthatthen87 · 09/09/2022 19:12

I live in a city where we have dedicated cycle ways designed to get around the city easily by bike without needing to use the main roads yet there is always those bell ends who will ride on the road when the cycle way is LITERALLY parallel and in view of the road!! I mean, why!!! Ride on the fecking cycleway, that was designed to keep YOU safe!!

Yeah, I definitely don't get this, I'll avoid using the road wherever possible.

Often the bike lane is unusable. Built over a gutter, right next to car doors, full of debris / gravel, that sort of thing.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 10/09/2022 11:03

+As a horse rider the big issue for me is politeness. We alway pull in to gateways etc to allow traffic to pass us as soon as practically possible and always thank the drivers for their patience. In all my 40+ years of driving I have never seen a cyclist be considerate to other road users*

Thiis^

Which is why horse riders are great.. Always polite and wave you past

perenniallymessy · 10/09/2022 11:15

Cyclists are equally frustrated by drivers. I bike, drive and walk and do all three considerately and legally.

I bike to work in Lycra and change- am I worthy enough to be on the roads? I stick to cycle lanes where practicable (so not the ones where they suddenly spit me out somewhere on the wrong side of the road with no easy way to safely get back to my route; not the shared pathway that is so busy with pedestrians that block the whole way and death stare you if you dare the ring the bell to get past them) and obey all red lights.
I cycle as far to the left as is safe but move towards the middle of the lane where I need to be visible. I wear fluorescent and reflective clothing, lights on when dark and a helmet light for extra visibility.

And for my troubles I get cars coming far too close behind, overtaking without giving enough room, beeping at me for daring to exist.

We have cycled in the Netherlands and it was fantastic- safe cycle lanes that often go a more direct route than the road. Cycle lanes are separate from the road where it's a fast road. Where the roads are shared the speed limit is no more than 30kmph and the signs remind cars this is a cycle way and cars are guests. And where there are cycleways then bikes must use them and not the road (whether they are getting from A to B or Lycra clad racers). We happily biked around Amsterdam with the DC, wouldn't do that in London.

If we had better cycling infrastructure, especially within cities, then cyclists and drivers would be less frustrated. Now they are looking at actually legalising electric scooters it makes even more sense to have decent cycle lanes as they can be used by the electric scooters too. The more we can encourage people to do shorter journeys by bike/scooter/foot the less congested our roads would be.

The Netherlands does have the benefit of being super flat, but electric bikes can be used by those who are less fit (or live somewhere very hilly) and as they become more common they might be available second hand more reasonably.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 10/09/2022 12:18

How do you fit cycle lanes on narrow country roads?

LimboLass · 10/09/2022 13:34

they hold up traffic (which is not good for the environment)

Surely you must see the irony with this comment. Or are you just thick?

Spectre8 · 10/09/2022 13:36

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 10/09/2022 12:18

How do you fit cycle lanes on narrow country roads?

Well I suppose we can always cut back the greenery and trees to make room ...not popular though is it

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