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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Sunday cyclists

121 replies

ihatefuckingfrozen · 07/08/2016 14:34

I'm probably going to be flamed for this but here goes.

Out driving today and come across the usual Sunday cyclists, fine I just drive around them. They've every right to use the road and I've no issue with that.

However my bugbear is the ones in large groups who think it's ok to cycle 3 or 4 or even 5 in a row whilst having a chat when there are numerous cars behind them - these are on country roads too so not exactly easy or safe to overtake them.

I was waiting behind a group like this for over 5 minutes and there was a build up of cars behind me and the guy in front. There was no safe way to go around them as it's quite a windy country road so guy in front gives them a gentle beep to see if they can move over, he was met with a torrent of abuse! They cycled even slower to piss him off even more!

Aibu to think they are twats and should be thinking of other road users too? Especially the ones that pay road tax?!

OP posts:

Bubbinsmakesthree · 07/08/2016 20:18

On narrow lanes there is often scant space to overtake safely. If I am out cycling in a group (or even on my own) and it isn't safe for a car to overtake I will position myself wide so they don't have the option of trying. I will nip in and allow the car to overtake when it is safe to do so (eg straight patch of road with no cars approaching).

Sometimes people are deliberately riding two abreast because it is safer.

But I agree that some people do just ride selfishly!

ForalltheSaints · 07/08/2016 20:22

Presumably those who hate Sunday cyclists have never thought about the health benefits of cycling as a form of exercise and that they may be less likely to be visiting a doctor or hospital when they need it?

The car drivers who make journeys that could be walked, were they not to be so lazy or unable to be on time are a far larger issue. The number of inconsiderate cyclists are far fewer than the number of bad drivers, those too lazy to walk, those not medically fit to do so, or those under the influence of drink, drugs or just too tired to be driving.

OSETmum · 07/08/2016 20:30

Tbh I have to agree with you op. It's the sheer number of them that's the problem! We have a 2 hour drive every weekend to get to events for ds's hobby and we're held up constantly on the way. Obviously we can't walk that far and motorbike riding is outlawed pretty much everywhere, despite DS being taught to ride sensibly and respectfully, so we've no choice. But apparently it's ok for cyclists to ride dangerously and disrespectfully to other road users as their hobby is more important than other people's need to get places.

WhoTheFuckIsSimon · 07/08/2016 20:33

Maybe it's the sheer numbers of cars which cause problems on the UK roads?

Because when I'm driving every traffic jam ive ever been in is cars and lorries not cycles!

KidLorneRoll · 07/08/2016 20:35

I got held up something chronic by a sunday driver this morning. Obviously this single person is entirely representative of every driver (apart from myself, obviously) so I am fully entitled to whine about him/her and call every driver a cunt.

Greyhorses · 07/08/2016 20:37

I don't mind cyclists on roads as much as the ones who cycle along the bridlepaths at break neck speed and nearly squish my dog/scare my horse half to death by silently flying past pretending to be in the Olympics

I now take DP along to be on cycle watch

VeryPunny · 07/08/2016 20:44

What really gets my goat is drivers who shave past overtaking me instead of using the whole opposite lane. If you can't overtake using the entire opposite lane width, it's not safe to do so, and if the entire opposite lane is clear, why the ever loving fuck are you passing so close to me?

TheFuzz · 07/08/2016 23:25

God there are some nobs on here. Cyclists are a curse FFS.

They hold drivers up occasionally, so what it's not the end of the world.

Some of us have been hit that many times by stupid drivers that we have given up riding on the road. I've gone from 600 miles a month to zero due to injuries sustained by inconvenienced driver who didn't look before he turned into me. I was very close to being a paraplegic and was in hospital and a body brace for a very long time.

So, all you impatient idiots can go get lost.

Stupid drivers are the curse of UK roads be it to other drivers, cyclists or pedestrians. There are idiot cyclists and pedestrians but at least these aren't maiming thousands of people a year and leaving them with life changing injuries. All I was doing was cycling to work.

I've now got permanent damage from an idiot DRIVER. I drive too, and am now another car in front of you at rush hour with just me in it. I used to be a cyclist who wasn't in your way as my cycle route was twice as fast as the car.

I'm now a burdon on the NHS with my injuries too. Fab. Healthy person who is now a big cost in medical time. A driver caused that.

TheFuzz · 07/08/2016 23:31

The UK is full of cyclist hate. That's why it's becoming crap to ride here as so many drivers are nob heads and quite happy to hit and run. I've been hit and run a few times. Yep left for dead on the road. Nice.

If you need to be somewhere on time, set off early and chill out.

BoaConstrictor · 07/08/2016 23:54

What was I supposed to do in this situation recently? A road with national speed limit & what turned out to be some sort of family bike ride/race going on (or chance that a lot of families were out on bikes). It was a road I hadn't been on before and had a mixture of straight bits & zig zag bends.
With the first family (2 adults, 2DC in a long line), I waited several minutes for it to be safe for me to overtake them all only for it to then be a solid line on my side and then into the bends. I followed this family for 9 minutes after I had looked at the clock (so a few minutes longer) at less than 10mph. Gateways & lay bys were passed. I then hit a straight bit and fewer on-coming cars so "got" the next two families (1 adult & 2 DC in each group) quite quickly had to wait a few minutes before overtaking another adult & DC, a few more minutes before an adult with a DC on one of those bikes which toes behind & then realised I was behind a DC of no more than 8 - 10 (he was quite a long way ahead of an adult so I had had no chance of overtaking them all at once) and I then spent two miles of bends and on-coming traffic behind him at, again, less than 10 miles an hour feeling very guilty that I had "separated" him from his family group, worrying that he wasn't experienced enough to be riding effectively by himself but not having a clue what to do about it. I couldn't overtake him, didn't think I could/should stop due to the bends so I just went as slowly as I could and stayed well back so he didn't feel under any pressure. I finally overtook him when he stopped (on a bend) and just got off his bike (by climbing off it on the road side rather than the verge side).
I still feel uneasy thinking about all of this and it was a month ago.

OrlandaFuriosa · 08/08/2016 00:17

I live a bit more centrally than turtle but quite close. The clubs round us, in our suburban area, cycle 3-4 abreast interspersed with ones or twos, up to 60 at a time, ignoring the elderly pedestrians , parents with littlies and buggies.

Where I come from, in the country, v pretty, lots if endurance stuff, small lanes, they are even more difficult. . Really really bad behaviour. Ignoring rules of the road, no tolerance for country dwellers, appalling personal behaviour ( peeing/ pooing in hedges) , appalling behaviour about the movement of livestock, getting in the way of ambulances, no idea about horses. , I'm sure there are many virtuous clubs and individuals, but the countryside is a working environment and some are just abusive. There's no excuse.

maddening · 08/08/2016 00:50

The highway code instructs that slow moving vehicles SHOULD (not must) move over to allow others to pass - cyclists should observe this more imo

TaraCarter · 08/08/2016 01:18

It's sunday parkers that got my goat today. Someone on my estate parked a car right on a blind bend this morning.

Bloody car parkers. Think physics doesn't apply to them because they pay emissions tax...

Becles · 08/08/2016 01:31

Even in cities they are a menace. Walking along the Regent's canal with my doddery nan and walking stick behind a lady with a pram.

Next thing I hear is a bellowed 'move' from the cyclist bombing down the footpath and making no attempt to slow down. I jump and nearly end up in the canal, nan trips and falls but the cyclist is far away mowing down another group now - it takes months to rebuild her confidence and even now she won't go near the canal.

Lillygolightly · 08/08/2016 02:15

For those of you squabbling over car tax:

Car Tax...or RFL (road fund licence) whilst the rate of tax you pay is based on emissions it's is also paid for the upkeep of the road you drive on!

I have no problem with cyclist but I do have a problem with those who are a danger to themselves and other road users. You just have to accept that just as you get twatty drivers you can get twatty cyclists too! That is all.

Rudymentary · 08/08/2016 05:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

acasualobserver · 08/08/2016 05:59

Car Tax...or RFL (road fund licence) whilst the rate of tax you pay is based on emissions it's is also paid for the upkeep of the road you drive on!

You are completely wrong. The Road Fumd was wound up in 1936.

Statelychangers · 08/08/2016 07:10

I hate cyclists, not so much the crowds you find on a country road, yes they are annoying but the ones in town are worse, they cycle on pavements when it suits them, no significant reduction in speed - through red lights, pedestrian crossings, zebra crossings, they never use hand signals, on shared pathways they rarely use a bell to alert pedestrians. They fail to adhere to any rule or code and that just bugs the shit out of me. I think we need proper cycle lanes and some way to educate the idiots who are a law on to themselves.

NoahVale · 08/08/2016 07:32

there are lot of cyclists here, particularly on a sunday, they give me the fear, on the country roads, as do horses, tractors i just sit behind.

does the speed limit apply to cyclists does anyone know?

NoahVale · 08/08/2016 07:34

i hate the cyclists on the joint walking/cycling route i walk my dog down.
they have nearly decapitated by dd when in a buggy. they almost NEVER use a bell and I fear for my dog's life when they zoom past.
there is meant to be giving way by ALL users but the lycra wearing cyclists think that rule doesnt apply to them.

Chickydoo · 08/08/2016 07:39

YANBU
Selfish......many of them! but put the same people back in their cars on a Monday morning & they are still selfish.
Many cyclists have no idea about safety, it's like on a Sunday they don't care because the roads belong to them.

purplevase4 · 08/08/2016 07:54

It really isn't for cyclists to decide whether it's safe for a driver to overtake them or not, that assessment is for the driver alone to make. I accept that many drivers overtake when it's not safe (not just bikes, but other cars, tractors etc too) but cyclists who think they can decide when a driver overtakes may cause an accident themselves.

If you are a slow-moving vehicle, you should move over from time to time to let faster drivers past. But it rarely happens. I was behind a tractor for about 5 miles yesterday. At no point did it pull over. Eventually we took a different route to the one we'd planned to get away from it. I often cycle in a group and we do pull over from time to time to let motorists past, but I don't see the favour being extended by other cyclists when I'm in a car very often.

I also think there is a distinction between commuting to work and going out for a leisure ride. You are holding people up who may be trying to get to work themselves (yes, some people work on a Sunday, fancy that). So if you realise you are holding people up, let them get past.

As for the horn, well yes it probably does sound aggressive. But so do bells on bikes when you're dinging your bell to make a pedestrian leap out of your way. I'm surprised so many people on here are saying they like bike bells. I hate them and simply say excuse me when I am riding up behind a pedestrian I'd like to overtake. Much less aggressive.

As for hit and run, the only one I have experienced is in the apparently cycle-friendly Netherlands!

Piemernator · 08/08/2016 08:01

There is certainly more than one type of cyclist, some do it because it's all they can afford as transport or for days out with family. Cycling clubs in packs do get on my nerves they mainly seem to be men who look like total cocks in their Lycra.

I also have a particular dislike for off road cyclists who thunder past at speed on hiking tracks.

Rudymentary · 08/08/2016 08:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

UnexpectedBaggage · 08/08/2016 15:00

How very rude of you, in that case. No wonder people think cyclists are bullying wankers.

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