AIBU Cyclist Twats

[TractorAndHeadphones]

Walking down lovely canals with DP. Supposed to be romantic - but every 5 minutes we were interrupted by a cyclists whizzing along! Some had the courtesy to ring the bell but even so they rode straight at us instead of around us.

This really boils my piss because cyclists always complain that cars overtake dangerously and that’s it’s their god given right to hold up traffic. But cyclists can ride straight through pedestrians?

There was enough space for a cyclist to ride alongside us if they’d been slower ; even so you don’t expect people to walk in single file on canal roads which are meant to be enjoyed slowly! There were families in front of us, mothers with prams etc. Thé cyclists were probably scared of swerving into the lake but if you can’t control your bike then dont bloody ride!
It really ruined my day.

This has also happened on pavements with people whizzing along in the middle. Even if the road is dangerous there’s no need to go that fast.
AIBU to think that cyclists are twats and should be licensed?
People often complain that cars are rude to cyclists but IMO people in general are twats. Cars can do more damage but they’re not behaving worse than cyclists.

Everyone should begin on a bike, then move on to a motorbike, car, HGV, then we’d all understand each other.

@DroopyClematis

I've never understood the mentality of British cyclists. A two mile commute to work and they're head to toe in Lycra and all manner of expensive extras and need to cycle like they're practicing for the Tour de France.

In Holland, they just get on a bike and cycle , leisurely and safely.

I love to laugh at British Lycra louts when they don't realise that their sweaty butt cracks are clearly visible through their fancy Lycra mithrals !

I cycle to work and so do lots of my colleagues. I know one person who wears waterproof overtrousers and nobody who wears lycra. Maybe we are all secretly Dutch.

But anyway - once more for the hard-of-understanding at the back, and the drivers on my local roads.

The Highway Code says that cyclists should cycle two abreast

Also
When I am teaching my DS who has dyspraxia to cycle on the road you can bet your life I'll be cycling between him and the traffic

Just learn to be patient and wait until there is a proper gap before overtaking us. It won't kill you.

@YetAnotherSpartacus

Tip for cyclists: get a rear wheel with a loud freehub. When you get near a walker, stop pedalling. It alerts pedestrians of your presence passively and lets them know you're slowing down for them, it makes it so much easier to pass. Real game changer for me

That sounds like an excellent compromise! The key is "slowing down" (and being clear you are doing this) and being considerate, not ding-ding-dinging (or not), and zooming past and/or expecting pedestrians to walk single-file to accommodate them.

Regardless of how I do it , a discreet cough, an excuse me, or ringing a sodding bell, I am still doing the same thing alerting you to my presence, or asking you to move aside. A bell is designed for that purpose. And no one is asking you to walk single file for prolonged periods, just when a cyclist, or indeed anyone be that man, woman or beast wants to pass you, or is just cyclists that you take exception to ?

@ChardonnaysPetDragon I assumed you meant children but this bike will let you transport dogs as well

www.circecycles.com/products/helios/

Oh yes I see more and more dogs on bikes, but to be fair they're all small dogs, and to the people complaining about being worried about standing in dog poo when letting cyclists pass, that's a lazy selfish dog owner issue, for me dog poo on public paths is a far greater menace than cyclists

And no one is asking you to walk single file for prolonged periods, just when a cyclist, or indeed anyone be that man, woman or beast wants to pass you, or is just cyclists that you take exception to ?

Horseriders are generally so lovely! They approach by going 'clip-clop, clip-clop, clip, clop' and say 'thank you' when you move and you get to say 'nice horsey'. It all feels relaxing and adds to the experience.

Cyclists are all speeding up from nowhere and DING DING DING DING which is a loud, jarring and annoying sound (it's designed to be) and they scream past with no time for a thank you - and as a previous poster said you look down to make sure you haven't stood in dog poo after jumping out their way - whilst thanking your lucky stars they haven't actually hit you. It makes walking stressful and considerably detracts from the pleasure.

Really, they should stick to the roads.

@YetAnotherSpartacus

And no one is asking you to walk single file for prolonged periods, just when a cyclist, or indeed anyone be that man, woman or beast wants to pass you, or is just cyclists that you take exception to ?

Horseriders are generally so lovely! They approach by going 'clip-clop, clip-clop, clip, clop' and say 'thank you' when you move and you get to say 'nice horsey'. It all feels relaxing and adds to the experience.

Cyclists are all speeding up from nowhere and DING DING DING DING which is a loud, jarring and annoying sound (it's designed to be) and they scream past with no time for a thank you - and as a previous poster said you look down to make sure you haven't stood in dog poo after jumping out their way - whilst thanking your lucky stars they haven't actually hit you. It makes walking stressful and considerably detracts from the pleasure.

Really, they should stick to the roads.

Ok, so we will ban cyclists because you don't like the sound of a cycle bell. Seems wholly reasonable to me.

Yetanotherspartacus, you can't blame dog poo on the cyclists, also I don't have a bell, also the roads are pretty hostile for cyclists, d'ya think we could just share the space, just sometimes, when the traffic gets too much?

Dh had to use the road for his commute when the bike path was temporarily shut and a van driver drove into him - broken ribs cuts and bruises and a traumatised van driver (who was utterly and entirely to blame as he said himself he pulled out of a traffic jam fast and without looking and hit dh).

@FrankGrillosWrist

Everyone should begin on a bike, then move on to a motorbike, car, HGV, then we’d all understand each other.

100% this! 😎

@ChardonnaysPetDragon I assumed you meant children but this bike will let you transport dogs as well

Thank you for the suggestion, but it's two of the buggers, 6 stone or thereabout each, I think I'll pass for the sake of everybody involved.

Also, If were to I cycle past someone with the dogs on I'm sure there will be a few threads threads about it here.

Also, If were to I cycle past someone with the dogs on I'm sure there will be a few threads threads about it here.
So you don't want to consider a greener form of transport because someone might post about it on Mumsnet!

That's up there with "make cyclists go on the road at risk to themselves so I don't have to listen to their bells".

That was joke, but judging from your reaction maybe it was close to being true.

I don't consider cycling with two big dogs on a bike because that would be highly impractical and also because I don't want to do it.

Have you done it? Used the bike you recommended the way you think I should do?

If you think a bell is saying get out of the way thats your misconception, plenty of people are correcting you but your refuse to listen to then telling you that your wrong and thats is the crux of the matter wheb told what is right youbrefuse to accept fit and change your thought on the matter

In my experience, walking down the local canals it's very much 'saying get out of the way'. They aren't stopping or slowing down.

@Peaseblossum22

Some of those people who don’t love might be deaf . In my option pedestrians and cyclists should be on separate paths and unless on a dedicated cycle path cyclists,or scooters for that matter ( which are a menace to both the blind and deaf) ,should not be adjacent to water .

Until local councils and central government invest in active transport infrastructure, we will not have the privilege of separate paths or cycle lanes. Until we do, shared spaces will remain and everybody needs to treat everyone else with respect (especially people who don't pick up after their dogs).

I agree but as someone hard of hearing and with a deaf ( not old age ) mother it’s a subject close to my heart.

As two people who commute to work by bike it’s close to my heart too and being called a “twat” for being a cyclist and hearing others calling for my lovely husband to be hung 🙄 isn’t that nice either.

I would never call anyone a twat, actually I never call people names and I am sure you are lovely . But hearing my 80 year old completely deaf mother being called an f…,,g c…t by a cyclist on a towpath barely wide enough for one person for not climbing a steep bank at speed to get out of the way is not nice. It hasn’t happened only once either although that is the worst .

Obviously that’s outrageous and awful but I bet as women we have all pretty much experienced horrible abuse from car drivers I know have - but somehow that is not extrapolated out to “all car drivers” in the way all cyclists get tarnished with the grim behaviour of a minority and I wonder why that is.

@Peaseblossum22

I would never call anyone a twat, actually I never call people names and I am sure you are lovely . But hearing my 80 year old completely deaf mother being called an f…,,g c…t by a cyclist on a towpath barely wide enough for one person for not climbing a steep bank at speed to get out of the way is not nice. It hasn’t happened only once either although that is the worst .

I think anyone calling an 80 year old woman a twat, would be a thoroughly unpleasant individual both on and off bike. Its unfortunate what has happened, but those kind of people are in the minority, so its unfair to make out all cyclists are the same.

In my experience, walking down the local canals it's very much 'saying get out of the way'. They aren't stopping or slowing down.
Well they are telling you to move out of their way, in the same way that I am telling people to move out of the way when I say excuse me when I am out walking and I want to get past someone. Just different method for a different mode of transport.
Sometimes you have to ring the bell repeatedly, because people are not acknowledging and you are trying to make sure they have heard you.
That is the purpose of a bike bell, do you get equally upset about someone 'ringing' your phone.

@Sunshineonmars yes absolutely. Not sure what people think cyclists should do to warn towpath strollers of their presence - that’s what the bell is for. You keep to the side and usually, in my experience, get a thank you. It’s a shared path and it’s possible to co-exist there.

@Sunshineonmars

In my experience, walking down the local canals it's very much 'saying get out of the way'. They aren't stopping or slowing down. Well they are telling you to move out of their way, in the same way that I am telling people to move out of the way when I say excuse me when I am out walking and I want to get past someone. Just different method for a different mode of transport. Sometimes you have to ring the bell repeatedly, because people are not acknowledging and you are trying to make sure they have heard you. That is the purpose of a bike bell, do you get equally upset about someone 'ringing' your phone.

I was replying to the comment If you think a bell is saying get out of the way that's your misconception

Usually when my phone rings it's someone that wants to speak top me so I don't see your point there there's no connection between the two things.

Usually when my phone rings it's someone that wants to speak top me so I don't see your point there there's no connection between the two things
They’re both doing what they were designed to do - ring to get your attention.