To have been annoyed with the cyclists

[EverybodyLovesWine]

On the way back from visiting a friend yesterday I was behind two cyclists in the proper Lycra gear riding two abreast.

The roads were single carriage way roads through villages with on comjng traffic, corners, parked cars etc. I was not confident to overtake but the cyclists didn't move over for a good ten mins ( where the road widened out a bit anyway).

There was a LONG queue of traffic behind me and I was getting a bit stressed, even though of turning into a side road so I wasn't first. I am not an aggressive driver but wondering if I should have beeped them. They turned round a few times so certainly knew I was there.

Just as the road widened the man behind shouted loudly at them and gestured as he passed.

AIBU to have been really annoyed with the riders (the words arrogant tossers were going through my mind) as they should have pulled over IMO, should I have been more forthright with my driving? Or perhaps I should not have been annoyed and was in fact an arrogant tosser of a car driver!

[LAlady]

This is my pet hate. Riding in packs, or two or three abreast. No consideration on the roads around here. I refer to them as middle aged men in Lycra. As they generally are!

[AThingInYourLife]

Yeah, so much easier to take down a lone cyclist than to have split one off from the pack.

[whois]

AThingInYourLife funny! :-)

[ivykaty44]

I remember being a waitress in a bar and a man demanding to know where his food was as he had ordered 30 minutes ago and his food still wasn't on the table.

Given that we only opened for service at 7pm and this was at 10 past 7 how the hell could he have been waiting half an hour for food he hadn't ordered but 5 minutes before?

People do not judge time well when they are waiting

[Tailtwister]

They were probably riding 2 abreast deliberately to avoid people chancing it and overtaking a single bike. Sadly drivers pass far too close, especially on 'fast' roads. The guy behind you was in the wrong.

We had a very unfortunate incident near us where a woman was killed by a driver. It turns out he actually killed another cyclist years ago and even though he has done it before he wasn't banned from driving permanently. The number of idiot drivers around is terrifying. There's no way I would cycle on roads, it's just too dangerous.

[PatPig]

I had an incident where I was riding along with my son, no more than a couple of hundred yards along the road, the car behind me was patiently waiting, but the one behind that was beeping his horn continuously. This was very distracting, and we nearly got hit by a car when we turned right just up the road in the confusion.

[claraschu]

As a cyclist I always try to let drivers pass me as soon as I can. If the road is very narrow, I will pull over for a moment to give them room. I am not trying to win the Tour de France.
As a driver, I let impatient drivers pass when necessary.
As a driver, I never squeeze past cyclists or beep at them, but I think they should make a small effort to let me pass.
It isn't much fun being followed by annoyed drivers.

[ivykaty44]

motorists who unlike them pay road tax and insurance

motorist don't pay car tax - it was abolished in 1937

roads are paid for through council tax paid to your local authority, so if you don't pay council tax you are not contributing

motorways are different - but guess what cyclists don't get to ride on motorways thank goodness

motorists pay vehicle emissions tax and this is gauged on how much pollution they make with their engine makes - since cycles don't polite they don't have to pay , some cars have very low emissions and also don't pay or pay a very small amount.

A lot of cyclists have insurance, they join the ctc and get insurance for the whole family as it assists them with all sorts of issue they may face and gives them liability insurance.

[Cerisier]

Three cyclists were killed on the roads in my city last weekend, including the partner of one of my colleagues.

Anything cyclists do to keep themselves safe is a good thing, as they are so vulnerable.

[sparechange]

Ah, another cyclists thread..!

All the points I would have wheeled out have been done so already, and more eloquently by others, so I won't repeat

But I will say the typical cruising speed for yer average fairly keen cyclist on a flat-ish road will be north of 20mph, so if you were stuck behind them for 10 minutes (which like others, I think is a huge exaggeration), it would have added wow, literally minutes to your journey time.

So if a cyclist has the weigh up the difference between making someone a few minutes late but staying safe by riding 2 abreast, vs having cars barge past, I know what I would do.

[Chipschipschips]

YABU

[Pootles2010]

Oh for the love of god. Some people are cunts. Some cyclists are, some motorists are, some men are, some women are, some young people are, some old people are.

It makes no ruddy difference

[NUFC69]

I am another person who used to ride close into the kerb when I was out on my bike, but I realised that the closer in I was, the more motorists pushed their luck overtaking me - not very pleasant having a bus pass within a foot of your ankle! I am not able to ride much now because of health issues, but I would certainly be riding further in towards the middle of the road if I was.

[Lazyjaney]

"AIBU to have been really annoyed with the riders (the words arrogant tossers were going through my mind) as they should have pulled over IMO, should I have been more forthright with my driving?"

By the time a large queue of cars had built up they should have given way, that's what tractor drivers etc do. By then they are taking the piss and all bets are off.

I find sitting on the car horn right behind these sorts of people tends to sort things out fairly quickly.

[Rufus20]

LazyJaney - tut tut!

[Sparklingbrook]

This morning, a cyclist pulled over just before the road went very narrow and very steep and let the four or five cars following him past. Very sensible.

[WilsonFrickett]

That's rubbish Lazy. Tractor drivers don't just stop dead in the middle of the road and let other users in - they pull over when it's safe to do so. Which is exactly what these cyclists did - they pulled into single file when the road widened.

Sparkling I totally agree, that's what I would do. However, that does pre-suppose the cyclist knew the route, so knew to pull in at that point. But yes, it's polite to do that.

I don't rank politeness over safety though!

[Sparklingbrook]

Oh yes, he pulled out of a drive just up from the narrow bit. He was thinking of his own safety and ours, I gave him a wave. It's a horrible bit of road whatever means of transport you have.

Coming that way back though it's common to get stuck behind a very red faced sweaty cyclist going very slowly up the really steep hill. There is no option but to stay behind at a safe distance.

[saintmerryweather]

i think if you dont know your highway code to know that cyclists and horseriders can ride 2 abreast where necessary you shouldnt be driving. also if you arent confident enough to drive at a safe speed regardless of what people behind you are doing, you shouldnt be on the road

[Lazyjaney]

"That's rubbish Lazy. Tractor drivers don't just stop dead in the middle of the road and let other users in - they pull over when it's safe to do so. Which is exactly what these cyclists did - they pulled into single file when the road widened"

I very much doubt the only safe passing point could only be found after 10 minutes cycling, what with the road going through villages and past fields etc (OP?) The polite thing to do would be to pull over much earlier.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

WilsonFrickett
"Why do you think they should have pulled over? Would you have expected another car to pull over?"

The highway codes states that slow movging vehicles should pull over to allow faster vehicles to pass them.

[inabeautifulplace]

It's quite hard to understand this without knowing the road. I would generally ride single file with mates on roads where there's room for overtaking. On really narrow roads overtaking can be difficult (or dangerous, depending on the patience of the driver).

As suggested, sometimes some cyclists will own the road if they have cause to believe they are safer doing so. There are sections on my commute, mainly pinch points, where experience tells me that if I'm not in the middle of the road I'll be put in serious danger.

OP, I think you did the right thing in not beeping anyway, even if they were being slightly selfish. Nothing is achieved by being agressive in these situations. Personally I would be moving over and letting a queue of cars past, as it's my nature. Boney, that is a rule I've not seen many road users follow, regardless of their mode of transport.

[Sparklingbrook]

Honking your horn is totally unnecessary and a stupid thing to do.

[NoWayPedro]

YABU

How much faster do you think you could go considering the road conditions?

I'm sure you're already aware that even if you drive BELOW the speed limit, if you were in an accident you could still be charged and prosecuted for dangerous driving if you weren't paying due care and attention to the conditions of the road.

Think about that next time you start getting annoyed and worrying about what drivers behind think.