Cyclists who cycle incredibly slowly (out of choice not lack of fitness)

[postingandrunning]

Ok so my hard hat is on and I should preface everything by saying that I am very safe around cyclists on the road etc...

But what about the cyclists whom you can't overtake for quite a stretch, who presumably know that there is a car / there are cars behind them but who cycle as if they are out for a Sunday jaunt in the countryside. Sometimes not even pedalling but slowly coasting . No sense of urgency or of keeping the traffic flowing at all. I see this quite a lot.

Will it do you any harm to add a minute or so to your journey time? How do you know why they are cycling slowly? Sometimes I think there's nothing that cyclists can do right in the eyes of some car drivers.

I don't understand?

So what if they're cycling at a slow pace? Maybe that's what they want to do? Why would they bother doing it for themselves if they weren't going to do it how they wanted (especially as it's quite an individual sport)
Yabu!

Well, because the road is about getting to places.... but anyway I probably am being intolerant. Where I live is frenetic with everyone trying to get somewhere fast - it kind of makes you unable to accept a chance of pace.

Change not chance!

I hate everyone being 'frenetic' and madly busy as though it's some kind of competition. I loathe drivers racing along the roads and as a runner, cyclist and horse rider I wish I had a catapult for every idiot who roars up behind me usually in a BMW. Bring on the slow cyclists enjoying a meander any day of the week.

Tractor drivers are often courteous and pull over to allow traffic to pass, and I think cyclists and other slow moving vehicles should do the same tbh.

I was stuck behind a ten year old weaving all over the road at 5mph this afternoon.

So long as they're not mowing people down I'd rather see kids on the pavement as although we kept a safe distance away from him I wouldn't trust that all drivers would be as patient.

The cyclist has every right to get to their place as you do to yours, at what ever speed they like.
Even if they were going as fast as Chris Hoy surely they'd still be going slower than the car driver, so would still frustrate you (you as in the op)

How exactly is that different from driving at exactly the maximum speed limit for the conditions?

It's not, is it.

You control how fast you drive and so do they.

I can't understand why the slow cyclists don't just walk it really is like having a pedestrian walking in the road. I find Drivers behind me get irritable when I don't take risks to overtake. If a car drove so slowly wouldn't they get tooted at?

No if I can see that they are making an effort then I am not frustrated . (Nor do I roar up behind cyclists or do any of that stuff.)

I can't understand why the slow cyclists don't just walk it really is like having a pedestrian walking in the road.

yes this ^

uterus as you say, tractors are being curtious by pulling over, but they don't have to if they don't want to. Plus tractors are usually only doing a small stretch of the road so may only need to pull over once or twice.
But it isn't always practical to do that on a bike They may be on a long distance ride that pulling over all the time for cars is just not energy efficient, or plain time consuming!

I was behind a lorry on fire today! It was going very slowly (and had its hazards on, which was unnecessary really as it was belching smoke).

no point to this story really, just, well, it could be worse.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2500774-To-get-annoyed-at-cyclists-in-the-middle-of-the-road?msgid=57438138#57438138

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2500774-To-get-annoyed-at-cyclists-in-the-middle-of-the-road?msgid=57438138#57438138

My partner has CFS/ME. He cycles everywhere he can, albeit more slowly than you might like or deem appropriate (on the road, not on the pavement, appropriately with high vis and lights) . When we're both out cycling, we travel at his pace, so that's two slow but safe cyclists. What is an appropriate speed in your view?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2500774-To-get-annoyed-at-cyclists-in-the-middle-of-the-road?msgid=57438138#57438138

I'm a cyclist. I hate it when there's no space to overtake the slow cyclist in front, especially when they can't even be bothered to keep pedalling, and freewheel half the time.

I don't know who bores me the most. People whinging about cyclists or people who think cyclists can do no wrong. I think it's pretty much even.

slow cyclists I don't mind regardless of my vehicle, but OMG I go mental at slow pedestrians (when I am also a pedestrian). Why do people do that? Why don't they make themselves go insane with their slow meander thru life. Argharghargh.

Maybe if they are cycling into work they don't want to arrive all sweaty?

I guess the other question is how do you think you can reliably identify who might be cycling slowly out of choice rather than out of necessity?

Sorry Eanair did not mean to cause you offence. Will think of this in future.

(Not that any of this cycling stuff is really an issue actually - in the scheme of what is important and what isn't ).

No offence taken, just offering an alternative viewpoint -either way, you are clearly being unreasonably reasonable??