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!

[lljkk]

it used to be advised to cyclists that they should ride 2 abreast in The Highway Code (back in like 1992). The idea was that if forced drivers to calculate the risks properly of overtaking. If driver didn't feel it safe to pull out completely into opposing traffic lane, then it wasn't safe to overtake just one cyclist, either.

I get what OP is saying but does sound like it wasn't safe to overtake, hence their defensive road positions.

Where I'm from any driver with a queue of 5+ vehicles is legally required to pull over & let them pass, so that's what I do as a cyclist, too.

[ivykaty44]

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

Pootles was just talking about you

[LessMissAbs]

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

I went out cycling with my friend tonight. Shes a doctor, and I'm a lawyer. I wonder what sort of person Lazyjaney is.

[maddening]

It you are travelling slowly in any vehicle (eg tractor) and are holding up traffic I thought you were meant to pull over where it is safe to do so - surely this applies to cyclists too?

[PatPig]

Depends on the road, which op hasn't linked to. A lot of places bikes are faster than cars over several miles,even if their top speed is lower.

[EverybodyLovesWine]

I asked if I was BU because I wasn't certain of the rights and wrongs. I don't think that feeling stressed because I was the first one behind the cyclists ( or indeed any other slow moving vehicle) is that unusual a feeling and certainly doesn't make me a shit driver.

It would seem that I did the "right" thing albeit without fully appreciating the reasons behind why they were riding as they did. I grew up driving on very rural roads and had not experienced this to that extent. It wasn't far off ten minutes as it was a good deal of my journey home.

[Startail]

I try and fail not to hate 50% of cyclists.

Some are politeness it's self, but some are down right rude.

We have lots of horses and tractors, both of which do their best to let you past if possible. Some cyclists on the other hand...

And don't get me started on the weekly summer cycle race on a A road leading to the motorway. They were still getting in the way in the gathering gloom the other night and nothing like all of them had lights.

[LaLaGabby]

Never mind. I agree to differ with virtually everybody.
I dont really care. It is really just a debate about words.

[Toadinthehole]

I've cycled pretty much on a daily basis in various cities for 20 years (before anyone asks, I've also held a driver's licence for the same time).

I will regularly position myself on the road to prevent motorists overtaking. This is because motorists will regularly overtake in a manner they think is safe, but isn't (leastways for me). My attitude is that my responsibility is to keep myself safe, and those irritated by the minor inconvenience this causes can go stick their exhaust pipe up their arses, preferably with the car running at the time.

(as an adside I'm pretty law-abiding although I sometimes jump lights and sometimes don't bother to indicate. On the other hand I don't speed, use a phone at the wheel, tailgate, run pedestrian crossings, or do any of the other far more dangerous things I see motorists doing on a daily basis.)

BUT I have rarely if ever been in the situation where I've needed to block motorists for more than, say, 400 metres and I question the judgment of the cyclist that does so.

[roundtheback]

I cycle and I drive. I'm very puzzled by the assumption of a small number of people on this thread that cars somehow take precedence on the basis of being, well, cars.

The number of cyclists on the road in my area has increased hugely over the last few years. And cycling has felt increasingly safer as drivers get used to sharing road space with them. You still come across the odd idiot on both sides, but drivers and cyclists have largely reached a happy equilibrium here.

Pedestrians and cyclists is a whole other issue . Largely I think the fault of the pedestrians. And actually I am one of those more often than I am a cyclist or a driver.

And not wanting to labour the point, but in this case I think the cyclists were clearly riding defensively in an area they felt it was unsafe for drivers to try to pass them. And that should be completely fine. Better the drivers have a minor hold up than someone gets killed.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Sometimes on a narrow road I will ride in the middle of my carriageway. It's prevents any cars trying to squeeze past me while there's a car coming the other way. The road isn't safely wide enough for two cars and a bike but idiots will still try it.

On the road I'm thinking of I won't keep pulling over for cars to pass as I wouldn't get anywhere if I did! However its a straight road with good visibility and people don't have to wait more than a minute before getting a gap in oncoming traffic.

There's another very narrow lane I use and cars can't get past me, it's like that for two miles. Don't see many cars but I will pull off the road for cars coming up behind me on that one as otherwise they'd be behind me for ages. Didn't stop some twat not waiting for me to pull off the other day and he zoomed past me doing a good 50mph about 2" from my elbow. I need to start riding in the middle of the road on that lane as well.

[lljkk]

My current approx weekly calculations:

6 hours pedestrian
1 hour cyclist
3 hours driver

Maybe that's why I don't cop resentments against any other particular road users. Then again I don't really buy into any culture of resentment.

(Mind you, some motorcyclists are fairly loony & scare the blank out of me).

[AThingInYourLife]

"I went out cycling with my friend tonight. Shes a doctor, and I'm a lawyer. I wonder what sort of person Lazyjaney is."

I think a person whose behaviour frightens people into doing what they want, because they deliberately do things that make them seem dangerous, is normally called a thug.

[Lazyjaney]

What a load of sanctimonious crap some people here are spouting.

There is no way there wouldn't have been somewhere to pull over in 10 minutes of country road, the Code says they should pull over, and strapping two wheels on does not give anyone the right to delay a whole bunch of other road users. The reason cars have hooters is to remind selfish people that they have obligations to other road users.

[saintmerryweather]

it doesnt mean you can act like a selfish twat though lazeyjaney and put your need to be at your destination over someone elses risk of serious injury because of your self entitlement

[Rufus20]

lazyjaney "The reason cars have hooters is to remind selfish people that they have obligations to other road users"

Err, no it's not. It's dangerous drivers like you that mean cyclists have to be a lot more assertive and defend their space on their road

[ivykaty44]

the Code says they should pull over
so why don't cars pull over when they are crawling through town traffic at 5mph for cyclists to pass - I have never ever had any cars pull over in heavy car traffic to let a cyclist past?

If it meant as a rule for every vehicle on the road then every vehicle should be obeying the rule - not just tractors and bikes

[lljkk]

Does anyone have a link in high way code (page number?) where it says to pull over? I can believe it's there, just don't want to hunt for it.

[Rufus20]

The rules for cyclists (66) state that cyclists SHOULD (but note, this is not a MUST)

never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends

I can't find the bit on slow moving vehicles - though there are rules about "being considerate"

[BoneyBackJefferson]

ivykaty44


"the Code says they should pull over
so why don't cars pull over when they are crawling through town traffic at 5mph for cyclists to pass - I have never ever had any cars pull over in heavy car traffic to let a cyclist past?"

If a cyclists is going faster than the motorist and it is safe to do so they are allowed to filter through the traffic.

[ivykaty44]

filter - so one rule for cyclists tractors and another rule for sow moving car drivers who clog up the town streets driving along at 5mph and not leaving enough room for other road users to get past safely

[BoneyBackJefferson]

rule 169

"Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass."

[Sparklingbrook]

When walking down the canal I have to dive into the long grass to let the cyclists past, so I pull over. And they ring their bells at me.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

The ability to filter is one of the practices that cyclists and bikers rave about.

Unless of course you would like to see cyclists arrested for undertaking?

[Rufus20]

I suppose the highway code is a bit advisory in regards to what the cyclists were doing - and they quite probably had very good reason to cycle the way they did - therefore YAB ever so slightly U