Road cyclists?…

[Humphreyshead]

Do you genuinely enjoy having cars following behind you? Or is it just something you’re willing to put up with?

I live in a very popular road cycling area, with scenic routes and lovely windy and hilly roads. Some of these roads are busy though and it can take a few miles sometimes to be able to overtake a cyclist safely.

When I’m driving behind them I often wonder if they’re constantly aware of the cars behind them, which then in turn ruins their experience. Or do you have to just switch them off?

I also ask as I’m an avid mountain biker, and sometimes I have to use the roads to connect trails. But I always pull over when I can, to let cars past, as I hate it!… But road cyclists never seem to do this.

Dogs on long lines on cycle paths - stupid dog owners.

Dogs on long lines on shared paths - ring your bell, slow down, give us time to get the dog in and move onto the side of the path. No-one wants an accident and this approach shows consideration on both sides. Not, as has happened to me, a ring of the bell and a shout of MOVE for me to get into the side as the cyclist rode at speed at me, gesturing for me to move off the narrow canal path, or say ‘bike behind’ (I didn’t actually know what he said as I’m partially deaf, my daughter had to grab me to move in and told me) with no bell and no reduction in speed. Those are just two examples of a-hole cyclist behaviour on shared paths, I have many more.

Oh - and cyclists on pavements. Pedestrians aren’t safe anywhere it seems.

there is only one time when I detest cyclists on the road and it’s at rush hour heading home from work. There in a busy stretch of road on my route home which is twisty with lots of junctions off it. Has a few farms and hamlets on this stretch of road. It ranges from a 30 to National speed limit and lasts approx 4 miles and you can guarantee that there is always one cyclist on it on the drive home.

stuck behind a cyclist on a long line of traffic is so annoying.

my son is a road cyclist and says if he can sense there are more than 8 cars behind him he finds a safe place to pull over as a driver got really close to him before and ds came off his bike into a ditch so he’s a bit more wary on the road. R also never cycles at busy times either.

@SirChenjins I agree. I would say in day to day life, I am 70%of the time a pedestrian, 25% a cyclist and 5% a car driver. There are annoying idiots, not obeying the rules in all 3!

Oh definitely. I’m predominantly a pedestrian, then a car driver way after that, and then a cyclist. The idiotic and/or dangerous behaviour I see is in reverse order - cars, cyclists, then pedestrians. Pedestrians are definitely the most vulnerable.

Honestly you being annoyed is the least of my worries.

i need to get to work on my bike safely. If I annoy car drivers so be it.

i get annoyed by groups of lads shouting comments out their windows about my arse, or vans catching me with their wing mirrors because they’re annoyed so overtake too close. I get annoyed when drivers overtake me on a blind hill then have to slam to a stop in front of me. I get annoyed when drivers overtake when there’s no room and then stop, blocking the road, when they could have stayed behind me for 5 seconds.

if all of us cyclists were in cars you’d be more annoyed when traffic at rush hour increases proportionately. That would hold you up more than waiting behind a cyclist.

do you get annoyed at all the other drivers in rush hour holding you up? If they stayed off the road your journey would be much quicker.

we are all road users. The aim is to get there safely. If someone slowing you down, cyclist, other cars, tractors, annoys you, maybe you should be the one not driving in rush hour.

Makes you wonder why the Govt, councils and Sustrans go to the bother and expense of creating the things in response to demands from cyclists and in conjunction with cycling groups when cyclists actually think roads are safer and more convenient.
Yeah

Conveniently ignoring the other part of that post and my previous ones.

Of course, the solution to all this is for car drivers to simply peep their horns at cyclists on shared roads to get them to stop and move off the road or get right into the side in the same way cyclists ring their bells to tell pedestrians on shared paths to stop and move right over or get off the paths. I feel that would work.

Actually the idea of a bell is simply to make a pedestrian aware that a cyclist is approaching so be aware of that. If you choose to ignore that warning or you have headphones on or are simply bloody minded I can't control that. What I do is adjust my speed accordingly. But don't believe the idea that the bell is a threat to you. Back to the OP I would hate MTB. Rough tracks, mud, heavy bikes, not for me. The road when chosen well is fantastic. But I am aware of the shortcomings and adjust according to the conditions I find myself in.

You sound more annoyed than me! 😂😂😂

I have no option but to drive in Rush hour, I’m a perfectly good driver and at time cyclists annoy me, but not half as much as everything seems to annoy you!

Oh really? It seems that many cyclists haven’t got that memo - they appear to think it means pedestrians have to move out of their way. I’ll bear that in mind though - next time I hear the ting ting of the little bell I’ll remind myself that all it means is that I simply need to be aware of the cyclist and continue on my way. The cyclist will then have to work out how to get past me when I don’t move - probably by slowing down and waiting for a safe space to overtake me like car drivers have to do to cyclists on shared roads

Just means you have been alerted to an approaching cyclist. In the ideal world the rider would modify their speed and poss direction. A little consideration by both parties would work well.

A perfectly good driver? By whose standard is that? It's safe to say most of us are adequate but most of us would stand retesting every few years. Both theory and practical.

Agree. I mentioned this shared consideration in my post at 17.02, I think everyone who uses a shared path or road should take that approach.

I did read all of the other posts.

I debated whether to say in the post that it was a joke, but assumed people would understand it for being such an extreme opinion.

But I think the underlying message encapsulates some of the attitudes that drivers show to cyclists ie. how dare they inconvenience me in my car.