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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU to bloody hate cyclists

845 replies

FortyAndFlagging · 30/05/2019 16:20

I have just trailed three cyclists during the course of the day. Honest to God, why don't they just pull over and let people pass?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
cyclingmad · 03/06/2019 07:59

Just because cyclists wear lycra doesn't make them lycra louts. Seriously people just need to check themselves and what utter shite they are coming out with. Beacuse after all the comments here is a summary of what I'm hearing....(not what I think)

If your cycling in normal clothes it's okay
If your cycling on your own it's fine
If your cycling for a purpose like going to work or to the shop it's okay

If you don't follow the above rules then your an arrogant arsehole who deserves to be hit by a car if your doing the following:

  1. wearing lycra
  2. cycling for any other reason then to go to work or shops
  3. cycling in groups

I just don't get the arguement about being stuck behind a cyclist ...what if said cyclist was a learner driver, or a driver going slow? Would you be cursing them to hell and wishing to kill them as well... I doubt it. You certainly wouldn't be on here complaining how dare they hold you up for a few miles.

As a cyclist it definitely makes me a better driver and I never complain being held up by cyclists. Infact yesterday there was a group out, about 8 of then riding single file. I overtook them, it was fine but I totally understand why they should of rose 2 abreast because it felt like a long time to overtake them single file then it would have otherwise. The video someone posted showing the difference really made me think especially after my experience yesterday. Luckily it was 8am and super quiet on the road but still a car coming towards did appear but by then I was just passing the head of the group so yes I totally understand rising side by side.

Vulpine · 03/06/2019 07:59

Could you cross the cycle super highway at the traffic lights? Living in a city everyone has to learn to share the space.

UserX · 03/06/2019 10:18

That's a bit of a stretch. And again, unnecessarily rude and edging close to personal attack territory.

Not as much of a stretch as you equating aggressive and dangerous driving with being held up a bit.

FarTooMuchWashing · 03/06/2019 10:47

Happy World Bicycle Day - it’s today!

The UN launched this celebration of the bicycle because ‘it is a simple, affordable, reliable, clean and environmentally sustainable means of transportation’.

What’s to hate? Such a strong emotion to express.

boobirdblue · 03/06/2019 12:06

Op I'm with you. We visited family and drive across the Epsom downs. So many middle aged men in lycra who weren't strong enough to get up the hills so wobbled about. No safe way to pass either so big queues of traffic on both sides of the road with cyclists at the front holding everyone up.

They need to train to get fit to get up hills, Epsom Downs has loads of space to overtake.

JacquesHammer · 03/06/2019 12:12

YABU to hate all cyclists

YANBU to be regularly astonished by the idiocy of some cyclists.

HouseName · 03/06/2019 12:33

Not as much of a stretch as you equating aggressive and dangerous driving with being held up a bit

I didn't equate dangerous driving with being held up a bit, I equated the attitudes of the driver and the cyclist. Both entitled arrogant wankers. Both only interested in their own immediate wants with a big fuck you to anyone else on the road.

HouseName · 03/06/2019 12:46

jasjas it's accurate. I'm guessing by 'unique' you mean 'imaginary', but no so. There are loads of winding hilly roads around here. This one is long but not that steep for most of the way so the good club cyclists wouldn't take 30 minutes. The wobblers are another story.

UserX · 03/06/2019 12:53

I didn't equate dangerous driving with being held up a bit, I equated the attitudes of the driver and the cyclist. Both entitled arrogant wankers. Both only interested in their own immediate wants with a big fuck you to anyone else on the road.

One person acting perfectly legally held up you journey, which you thought was rude. One person, acting illegally by passing unsafely endangered several lives. There is no equivalence here. Stop apologizing for motorists. Happy world bike day indeed.

HouseName · 03/06/2019 13:37

Stop apologizing for motorists. Happy world bike day indeed.

I haven't apologised for any motorists. Not once. On the other hand you are determined to defend any and all cyclists however bad their behaviour and lie to make petty points.

Tara336 · 03/06/2019 14:14

We took our classic car out in the New Forest yesterday. There were many cyclists about. The holiday makers (families/couples) where all cycling sensibly and considerately. BUT once again the large packs of club cyclists were about causing havoc! One large group got stuck behind a tractor going the other direction to us and were swearing loudly at the inconvenience it was causing (irony was lost on them I’m guessing) but the worst was another club swarming around a car on the opposite side of the road/track who then tried to squeeze past while we were driving past them, I had to swerve to avoid our car getting damaged. This is only the beginning of the season and these groups basically use the forest roads as a race track.

jasjas1973 · 03/06/2019 14:18

HouseName

You followed a male and female cyclist for 4 miles uphill and there was nowhere to overtake?
The tailback would have been horrendous and would have carried on long after you got by.

They don't sound like good club cyclists, so 8 to 10 mph is reasonable, especially as you then they they descended at speed once at the top of this climb... where was it? i ask because that length of uphill in England is indeed rare.

As i implied earlier, plenty of idiotic cyclists on the roads, who don't ride with a club so never learn any form of etiquette, which gives those who do try to do the right thing, a bad name.

FizzBuzzBangWoof · 03/06/2019 14:22

Tara363 there was no excuse for cyclists being abusive to the tractor driver but I'm guessing that your jaunt out in your classic car was no more of an essential trip than the cyclists' ride out was so it's annoying that leisure cycling is seen as a nuisance by some but a large percentage of cars on the road (esp on a weekend) are out for leisure reasons rather than anything essential

Its a shame that because some cyclists behave badly we all get tarred with the same brush. A similar minority of drivers behave atrociously (and are far more dangerous than badly behaved cyclists) but it wouldn't be acceptable to declare "I hate all bloody drivers"

jasjas1973 · 03/06/2019 14:29

Tara336

Weird that you blame the cyclists for almost causing an accident, when in fact it was the over taking car that was only to blame.

When classic car/motorcycle clubs have drive outs on the public roads, what are they treating the road as? a Track.

They crawl along, cause queues and no doubt frustration too, perhaps you should stick to Goodwood?

JacquesHammer · 03/06/2019 14:36

In my experience on MN, it simply isn't possible to criticise a cyclist for anything because people try and prove how it is anyone else's fault.

Yes there are shit drivers - they quite rightly should be criticised.

There are equally shit cyclists, and it should be ok to criticise them without the assumption you immediately mean all cyclists.

The OP is quite unreasonable to hate cyclists en masse.

CassianAndor · 03/06/2019 14:43

the OP and a fuck of a lot of other people on this thread, some of whom clearly are happy for cyclists to be killed or injured.

A shit cyclist is simply not comparable to a shit driver.

FizzBuzzBangWoof · 03/06/2019 14:44

Exactly Jacques - nothing wrong with pointing out that some cyclists are a nuisance but the OP's thread title made it very clear that wasn't the thrust of her argument

As a cyclist and driver I'm not in denial that some cyclists behave badly but I'm sick of seeing threads on MN which imply that cyclists are more of a danger to pedestrians than cars are which is simply incorrect

By all means have a moan about the idiots but there has been a lot of BS spouted on this thread about "all cyclists jumping red lights" etc so not surprising that lots of cyclists coming to the thread to defend ourselves!

poopypants · 03/06/2019 14:53

Lone cyclist is ok. Groups in single file are generally ok as long as they aren't so long a train that they are creating a massive tailback. It's the groups that sprawl all over the road acting like they are a single entity that piss me off. Cyclists need to accept that they are slower than cars on the whole so cars will want to safely overtake. Which they can do when cyclists are single file. But holding up a massive tailback because they want to cycle 2 or 3 deep is just inconsiderate and arrogant. And don't get me on how they behave around horses. Many cyclists want it ALL their way. They want to have everyone accommodate them whilst not accommodating any one else. They want to undertake, over take, skip red lights, ride on the road, ride on the pavement, ride multiple deep.... and they always have some justification.

Tara336 · 03/06/2019 15:08

@jasjas1973 I stuck to the 40mph speed limit through the forest so not crawling. The bikes were trying to overtake a normal car going the other way and were too impatient to wait for us and another car to pass given no them to do so, so yes it absolutely was the cyclists fault!!

Tara336 · 03/06/2019 15:36

@FizzBuzzBangWoof our trip out was leisure in the car and same as @jasjas1973 have ignored I said that there were families and couples cycling who were being considerately (as were car drivers that’s I witnessed) but the large groups of club cyclists I feel need to be managed better. We saw quite a few groups but the two that stuck out were the ones yelling and shouting at the tractor driver and the ones who tried to squeeze between us and a car travelling in the ther direction. These are the types who give cyclists a bad name. The forest is a national park is meant to be for the enjoyment of everyone but every summer the amount of club cyclists seems to increase to the point where it’s better to avoid the area. Last summer I saw a group of club cyclists riding towards a group of ponies (ponies have right of way over all traffic through the forest) they made no attempt to slow down as pony started to cross in front of them and instead were yelling, swearing and had to swerve onto the wrong side of the road to avoid hitting it. As far as this type of cycling goes it’s just not a safe place to do it maybe they need to stick to the velodrome 🙂

jennymanara · 03/06/2019 15:38

You followed a male and female cyclist for 4 miles uphill and there was nowhere to overtake?
The tailback would have been horrendous and would have carried on long after you got by.

I have seen long tailbacks where I live. Last one on Sunday on the other side of the road. Happens all the time here now cycling is a popular sport.

JacquesHammer · 03/06/2019 15:39

but I'm sick of seeing threads on MN which imply that cyclists are more of a danger to pedestrians than cars are which is simply incorrect

The ones I'm thinking of definitely are....but then I'm being slightly facetious in that these cyclists are in pedestrian only areas and no cars in sight Smile

jennymanara · 03/06/2019 15:47

I think this is about personal experience. Cars rarely hit pedestrians, but when they do they tend to kill or do them serious damage. IME cyclists do hit pedestrians more if you compare hit per cycle versus hit per car. But they are far less likely to kill or seriously injure pedestrians.
I personally have been nearly hit by more cyclists than cars, even though there are far more cars on the road.

CassianAndor · 03/06/2019 15:59

jenny not true. Very quick Google has shown in 2017 531 pedestrians were hit by cyclists. In 2016 there were 181,000 casualties and 1790 deaths, and as far as I can tell these were caused by drivers.

There is no comparison between 181,000 and 500. None whatsoever.

jennymanara · 03/06/2019 16:02

But most pedestrians hit by cyclists don't report it, that is my point. And you have to look at number of car drivers and number of cyclists.