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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Fucking Cyclists

624 replies

SpanielSprint · 03/04/2023 16:17

I live in a very rural area that is super popular with cyclists. All of the roads around me are narrow, bendy, single track lanes - no white lines. Wherever I go I get stuck behind cyclists. I accept this, always leave extra time for my journeys and never drive aggressively.

The issue is that the cyclists always seem to try and wave me past when I don’t feel it is safe to overtake. Either into blind corners, or when the road is too narrow so would necessitate going onto the verges which are rutted and full of hidden rocks and pot holes - I’m not willing to risk my tyres driving at pace along them. Obviously I just ignore them but this seems to infuriate them.

I’ve just returned from yet another journey where I was behind a pair of cyclists for several miles. The cyclist at the rear kept waving me on and when I didn’t go past she seemed to get increasingly angry about it, gesticulating etc. when I finally did pass, she screamed fucking twat at me and gave me the Vs.

Nice. So basically that’s my ‘thanks’ for trailing patiently behind them for 10 minutes and almost doubling the duration of my journey.

disclaimer: I realise that not all cyclists do this, but there seems to be a significant enough number of them around here to make this sort of thing a weekly occurrence.

AIBU to overtake cyclists when I’m good and ready, and think that some of them need to learn a few lessons about manners and road safety before they go out on their bikes?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
nomoremerlot · 03/04/2023 18:56

Cymraescwtch · 03/04/2023 18:52

YABVU OP:

  • 'Fucking cyclists - thanks for stirring up more hatred, it puts us all at more risk (I drive and ride a bike)

  • If you were right on their tail (hard to tell from your OP), the police consider this unacceptable behaviour and will act on cyclecam footage which shows this.

YANBU if:

You weren't tailgating and waited for a safe place to pass, wide and at a safe speed. Absolutely right to make your own calculation as the driver.

You're still very, very wrong to encourage hatred against someone's mother, daughter, sister, brother, son etc - we're all human beings going about our lives.

Excellent post!

Threads like this just bring out the cyclist haters. So bloody goady!

Original poster
SpanielSprint · 03/04/2023 18:59

nomoremerlot · 03/04/2023 18:50

@SpanielSprint no it's your irate nature, just saying fucking cyclists, shows your anger.

Not a good combination.

You’re extrapolating desperately then. It’s just two words put together. In the same way I might say ‘fucking men’ if DH left the toilet seat up or something. Has no bearing at all on my driving.

OP posts:
nomoremerlot · 03/04/2023 19:03

@SpanielSprint I think not....

Mumski45 · 03/04/2023 19:04

@AskMeMore no I didn't. I actually said
"Are you sure you aren't being a bit too cautious and sitting behind them too close" as I am aware that I sometimes find it difficult to judge how much space I need to overtake a cyclist and I was speculating as to why the cyclist may have been rude to the OP.

At no point would I expect someone to overtake if it is not safe to do so just because they have been waved on.

nomoremerlot · 03/04/2023 19:04

@SpanielSprint I also think you deliberately brought out all the

I hate cyclists

I despise cyclists

Birds of a feather and all that.

Badbudgeter · 03/04/2023 19:09

I'm the same as you I am happy to trail behind cyclists till I get to a safe point in the road. I know some of them aren't happy to have a car trailing behind but it is what it is.

Fishonabike68 · 03/04/2023 19:17

I cycle on fairly wide country roads. Most of the time cars pass me and give me enough space when they do. Every so often a car overtakes too close. However, there was an incident recently when I fully stopped my bike, pulled over, and the car behind still didn't overtake. I then gestured for them to pass and they appeared extremely put out. I wasn't on a bend! All I need as a cyclist is respect and consideration, I try to show the same to other road users. However, I AM vulnerable and in the last few months there have been more inconsiderate drivers and weird incidents like this. Horse riders, cyclists and cars all together can also make for an interesting experience too!

MrsDukeOfHastings · 03/04/2023 19:18

I absolutely agree with this, it's like as soon as we mention anything about cyclists we must have the upmost respect because they are so vulnerable but actually they don't make it better for themselves and the majority really do not follow the rules of the road! What annoys me the most is, they snail along on the road backing up traffic and then casually hop back on the pavement when they feel like it!

Atethehalloweenchocs · 03/04/2023 19:21

I fucking hate cyclists. Never used to feel this way, but living in a national park, over the last 10 year there are more and more of them and a small but noisy minority who use the roads like complete arseholes. Makes me hate them all, which is totally unreasonable, as there are some very nice ones. But there are too many and lots who are fucking rude.

nomoremerlot · 03/04/2023 19:24

Atethehalloweenchocs · 03/04/2023 19:21

I fucking hate cyclists. Never used to feel this way, but living in a national park, over the last 10 year there are more and more of them and a small but noisy minority who use the roads like complete arseholes. Makes me hate them all, which is totally unreasonable, as there are some very nice ones. But there are too many and lots who are fucking rude.

And another

I fucking hate cyclists....

Well done @SpanielSprint! You've done a cracking job!

Original poster
SpanielSprint · 03/04/2023 19:32

nomoremerlot · 03/04/2023 19:03

@SpanielSprint I think not....

Touché 😂

OP posts:
Soapyspuds · 03/04/2023 19:33

How close are you to the back of them?

Perhaps you are so close behind them that they feel nervous and as such waving you on, feeling that you are going to do something silly.

I am a cyclist, pedestrian and car user. Cycling with a car close behind you makes you feel really vulnerable so if you have no intention of passing them please do not stick a couple of metres off their back wheel.

Give them ten or so metres and see if they stop waving you on.

No offence intended but thought it worth asking.

DivaDarling · 03/04/2023 19:33

Get a fog horn and as you approach them, bellow down it.

What you bellow is entirely up to you. It depends on their behaviour. If they have been holding up traffic, know that they are doing so or are riding two or more abreast. may I suggest the following "Get off the road you twat".

The volume you use is optional but it should correspond with their level of twattiness.

nomoremerlot · 03/04/2023 19:34

@SpanielSprint are you happy that you've incited hatred of cyclists?

Shemovesshemoves21 · 03/04/2023 19:35

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Shemovesshemoves21 · 03/04/2023 19:37

nomoremerlot · 03/04/2023 19:34

@SpanielSprint are you happy that you've incited hatred of cyclists?

The second-hand embarrassment from your overly-dramatic and nonsensical posts is palpable.

Devoutspoken · 03/04/2023 19:38

Another angry car driver takes to the road, just chill the eff out, unless of course you're on your way to perform brain surgery

nomoremerlot · 03/04/2023 19:38

The second-hand embarrassment from your overly-dramatic and nonsensical posts is palpable.

GrinGrinGrinGrinGrinGrin

nomoremerlot · 03/04/2023 19:39

Devoutspoken · 03/04/2023 19:38

Another angry car driver takes to the road, just chill the eff out, unless of course you're on your way to perform brain surgery

👏 👏

Blueisthecolour1 · 03/04/2023 19:44

Most cyclists are very careful & considerate here & we get loads of them (Surrey Hills!) I always err on the side of caution & keep well back - I would prefer not to go near them at all but, on the whole they’re careful & cycle responsibly. The only ones that frustrate me are the pairs or fours, cycling side by side. Unless it’s a safety thing? To make sure cars definitely see them?

In any case I just hang well back. Cycling is a dangerous business, I’ve seen a man knocked off his bike & lying on the road. Most cyclists are only too aware how dangerous it can be - you do get the odd one who thinks he’s in the Tour de France but most people are sensible.

Soapyspuds · 03/04/2023 19:48

The only ones that frustrate me are the pairs or fours, cycling side by side. Unless it’s a safety thing? To make sure cars definitely see them

Yes this is a safety thing

  1. It means that the driver has a shorter distance on the wrong side of the road
  2. It ensures that the driver cannot attempt an overtake between a single line of cyclists and oncoming traffic. ie it means the driver is in a position where they can allow the cyclist more space when they are overtaking.
Devoutspoken · 03/04/2023 19:59

God I could get every where much quicker if there weren't so many fucking cars on the road

jaqual · 03/04/2023 20:12

I am not going to stay ten metres behind cyclists. I understand this would make the ride more pleasant for them. But although i refuse to overtake on a bend, i do want to overtake when i can. Not crawl along at ten miles an hoyr ten metres behind a group of cyclists for miles.

Soapyspuds · 03/04/2023 20:14

I am not going to stay ten metres behind cyclists. I understand this would make the ride more pleasant for them. But although i refuse to overtake on a bend, i do want to overtake when i can. Not crawl along at ten miles an hoyr ten metres behind a group of cyclists for miles

Okay perhaps 10m is a little excessive. But the point is if any driver intends to sit on a cyclists rear wheel they should not be surprised when the cyclist raises their displeasure.

In an ideal world every driver should spend an hour cycling before being allowed to pass their test, then perhaps they might understand how cyclists feel. Rather than us having to endure a "fucking cyclists" thread every few days in the warmer months.

WestwardHo1 · 03/04/2023 20:19

ifIwerenotanandroid · 03/04/2023 18:34

OMG yes!

I also drive on a lot of country roads & I get exactly this: cyclists...

  • blocking the road (because it's narrow & twisting so lots of blind bends which makes overtaking impossible)
  • getting furious with me because I have the gall to use the road behind them
  • waving me past on potentially lethal blind bends

Anyone who denies this happens simply doesn't drive on this type of road. I see you're in Yorkshire, OP. I'm on the south coast & I get exactly the same thing. Cyclists (on MN anyway) seem proud of the fact that they hold up cars, so why do they get so angry when we're stuck behind them? At least it means I don't feel angry with them, because I know they're more put out by the situation than I am. It gives me a sort of grim satisfaction to sit there while they turn & glower at me every so often & I decline their invitation to drive headlong into oncoming traffic (which also convinces me that they're morons, giving me a warm feeling of superiority).

Why do they feel like this? The only explanation I can come up with is that they feel that if they cycle in the countryside, there should be no cars around at all, so they can arse around doing a Fotherington-Thomas ("Hello flowers, hello trees!") & pretending they're back in the 1950s. Well, tough luck.

This is exactly the kind of post I genuinely don't understand. It's like the writer is too wilfully ignorant to realise that far from being a group who ONLY cycle, almost all cyclists are also car owners who drive as well.

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