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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
Spanielsarepainless · 04/04/2023 07:09

It's the same here. Narrow, windy lanes and steel hills. Sometimes I drive six miles behind some entitled blokes (occasionally women) and they won't pull over, just chatting and laughing.

midgemadgemodge · 04/04/2023 07:30

Well whilst I would pull over strictly speaking they are entitled to ride the road without pulling over for you

I also think tractors and other very slow vehicles should occasionally pull over

But that is only law on single track roads
When an aweful lot of car drivers are not aware of the requirements

Ktime · 04/04/2023 08:01

Highway Code for Cyclists

You should:

Be aware of drivers behind you and allow them to overtake (for example, by moving into single file or stopping) when you feel it is safe to let them do so

Badbudgeter · 04/04/2023 08:12

QuintanaRoo · 03/04/2023 21:23

Really? Really?

several miles? Really? I’m a decentish cyclist and average 15mph….so if you’d been stuck behind me for “several miles” you’d be looking at being behind me for 30 mins. We’re you really behind a cyclist for thirty mins?

if it is genuinely as you describe then of course she shouldn’t have acted like that. Just seems a crazy over reaction. Why would she call you a twat for being stuck behind her? It wouldn’t affect her. Unless of course you were up their arse and intimidating them.

of course you will say no. And possibly even have convinced yourself that you weren’t too close, etc. but I really think you probably were.

fucking motorists. I could certainly say that just about every bike ride. Certainly for the one who killed my friend last year and for the one who’s up in court for turning their car round and purposefully driving into another friend last year.

That makes no sense if you average 15mph and OP was behind for 3 miles then wouldn’t it take around 12 minutes?

Obviously sorry for the friends you have lost/ been injured.

I also live somewhere with windy roads and I know them well. I’m happy to sit behind a cyclist knowing there is a safe overtaking stretch a mile down the road. It’s not a particularly safe road there are regular accidents and it’s not unusual to see someone racing down the road at 60mph plus. It doesn’t give you a lot of time to get out, round and back in safely.

midgemadgemodge · 04/04/2023 08:13

When you feel it's safe is subjective however

I tend to pull over into a farm gate or the like as you cycle in without slowing down ( preventing being shunted ) and road/grass verges are often difficult to drag your bike up and out of the way, and trust me you need to because a small percentage of drivers are
To misquote the thread title "fucking drivers"

Depending on the road those opportunities may be rare

Use passing places to permit overtaking isn't so subjective and is written as an order above many passing places / at the start of single track

Devoutspoken · 04/04/2023 08:19

#ifiwerenot - to be fair, I still find the original post slightly muddled. Whatever the cause of the op's anger, we're ending with an angry driver because of a cyclist. My posts still stand. Given the sheer amount of unnecessary cars on the road, and the sheer amount of awful drivers on the road, and the sheer amount of death, carnage and destruction caused by motor vehicles, what is the point of singling out a couple of mardy arse cyclists?

Ktime · 04/04/2023 09:32

midgemadgemodge · 04/04/2023 08:13

When you feel it's safe is subjective however

I tend to pull over into a farm gate or the like as you cycle in without slowing down ( preventing being shunted ) and road/grass verges are often difficult to drag your bike up and out of the way, and trust me you need to because a small percentage of drivers are
To misquote the thread title "fucking drivers"

Depending on the road those opportunities may be rare

Use passing places to permit overtaking isn't so subjective and is written as an order above many passing places / at the start of single track

Yes, both drivers and cyclists can be dickheads. We all need to follow the Highway Code though.

Ktime · 04/04/2023 09:36

Devoutspoken · 04/04/2023 08:19

#ifiwerenot - to be fair, I still find the original post slightly muddled. Whatever the cause of the op's anger, we're ending with an angry driver because of a cyclist. My posts still stand. Given the sheer amount of unnecessary cars on the road, and the sheer amount of awful drivers on the road, and the sheer amount of death, carnage and destruction caused by motor vehicles, what is the point of singling out a couple of mardy arse cyclists?

On this occasion, as described in the OP, we ended up with a angry cyclist calling OP a fucking twat and giving her the finger.

There are some awful drivers on the roads, but that doesn’t give cyclists a carte blanche to behave badly. Just as OP’s experience with this cyclist doesn’t give her carte blanche to behave badly next time she is driving.

The roads are for everyone.

ifIwerenotanandroid · 04/04/2023 12:24

Devoutspoken · 04/04/2023 08:19

#ifiwerenot - to be fair, I still find the original post slightly muddled. Whatever the cause of the op's anger, we're ending with an angry driver because of a cyclist. My posts still stand. Given the sheer amount of unnecessary cars on the road, and the sheer amount of awful drivers on the road, and the sheer amount of death, carnage and destruction caused by motor vehicles, what is the point of singling out a couple of mardy arse cyclists?

The point of it, to me, is the apparent paradox. Cyclists (as evidenced by your first post, but I've seen so many examples, on MN & elsewhere) tell motorists that they will simply have to stay behind the cyclist. This usually comes in the form of a moralistic gotcha.

The OP gave her experience, echoed by those of us who live in the country - though Norfolk seems surprisingly free of this phenomenon. Our shared experience is that on a winding country road, a motorist who is trapped behind a number of slow-moving cyclists is seen as an annoyance by said cyclists. Why is this? Why do these cyclists take to country roads & expect them to be free of vehicular traffic? Why are they apparently delighted to hold up urban traffic & make cars crawl along behind them, yet angry when it happens in the countryside? That's what nobody's explained so far.

Our shared experience is also that said cyclists then get angry with the problem they have caused, leading to scowling, gesticulating, swearing & spitting. Again, why? If you take to the road, you must accept that other people will be using it too. That's what cyclists tell urban motorists.

And we've all experienced said cyclists waving us on round them, when the road conditions are such that this is dangerous. High hedges & twisting roads mean there are many blind bends. I've had a cyclist angrily tell me to overtake with a blind bend coming up; I hung back because of the danger & sure enough a car came round the bend at speed. I would've hit it had I done what the cyclist wanted me to do.

On another occasion I came across a large group of slow leisure cyclists. As I approached, they went to the side of the road in ones & twos, which might've been helpful if they'd left any gaps for me to pull into if I overtook some of them. But they didn't. They were thus a looooooong, slow-moving obstacle which I couldn't possibly overtake safely. And yet the last cyclist STILL repeatedly glowered at me & waved me on round this virtual juggernaut.

I find it interesting that you characterise OP's experience as 'an angry driver because of a cyclist'. She wasn't angry when she was driving. She left extra time, she was prepared to wait behind any cyclists who might be in front of her. It's the cyclist at the rear who was thick-witted, angry & offensive.

Devoutspoken · 04/04/2023 13:24

Ifiwerenot, yes you are right, that is why I called the annoying cyclist a 'mardy arse', but still the op did indeed get so mad that she felt the need to post her experience on mumsnet, now if I did that every time I get grief from drivers as a cyclist, I'd never be off here

Devoutspoken · 04/04/2023 13:27

Also cyclists don't 'hold up urban traffic', traffic jams in cities are caused by too much cars, vans etc, not bicycles, they filter through.

Original poster
SpanielSprint · 04/04/2023 13:44

Devoutspoken · 04/04/2023 13:24

Ifiwerenot, yes you are right, that is why I called the annoying cyclist a 'mardy arse', but still the op did indeed get so mad that she felt the need to post her experience on mumsnet, now if I did that every time I get grief from drivers as a cyclist, I'd never be off here

This wasn’t an isolated incident, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I’ve had this sort of thing week in week out over years of living in this part of the country.

It’s just this particular issue with waving that I have a problem with, it seems that most cyclists seem to be completely unaware how silly and dangerous it is.

OP posts:
Anyfeckinusername · 04/04/2023 13:46

"Fuck cyclists"?

Get over yourself. So one person gave you the fingers.

It's you that needs to F off not the cyclists.

Nasty hateful post.

Original poster
SpanielSprint · 04/04/2023 13:50

Nasty hateful post.

Right back atcha 🤷🏻‍♀️ amazing amount of double standards on this thread

OP posts:
Anyfeckinusername · 04/04/2023 13:55

SpanielSprint · 04/04/2023 13:50

Nasty hateful post.

Right back atcha 🤷🏻‍♀️ amazing amount of double standards on this thread

You whole thread should be removed. You incite hate towards cyclists because of one woman on a bike.

Seriously get a life.

Devoutspoken · 04/04/2023 13:58

Spaniel, it's not 'right back at you', when you started the whole sorry thread is it?

Ktime · 04/04/2023 13:59

Anyfeckinusername · 04/04/2023 13:46

"Fuck cyclists"?

Get over yourself. So one person gave you the fingers.

It's you that needs to F off not the cyclists.

Nasty hateful post.

Did anyone else read ‘Nasty hateful post’ in the voice of Gollum?

Ktime · 04/04/2023 14:00

Devoutspoken · 04/04/2023 13:58

Spaniel, it's not 'right back at you', when you started the whole sorry thread is it?

Are you saying only the first person to write a post can be called nasty and hateful?

MN deletions by HQ would disagree with you.

Daffodil91 · 04/04/2023 14:00

YABVU to have such an aggressive title. You don’t take priority on the road because you drive a car

Original poster
SpanielSprint · 04/04/2023 14:07

Daffodil91 · 04/04/2023 14:00

YABVU to have such an aggressive title. You don’t take priority on the road because you drive a car

I take it you didn’t actually read the OP, just the title. if you had your realise that I don’t expect to take priority. Quite the opposite in fact.

OP posts:
Ktime · 04/04/2023 14:07

Daffodil91 · 04/04/2023 14:00

YABVU to have such an aggressive title. You don’t take priority on the road because you drive a car

You do get that it’s the cyclists kicking off at OP because they want the road to themselves right?

ifIwerenotanandroid · 04/04/2023 14:11

Weird, isn't it, Spaniel? Your OP could be so useful to both cyclists & motorists, if it stopped cyclists waving motorists round them & reminded motorists to make their own decisions.

The fervour about cycling seems so bizarre to me, & I used to cycle (though mainly in forests/ cross-country). I've also, sadly, known two girls who were killed while cycling, one a child & another a Uni student. I'm not unsympathetic to cyclists; I just don't think they're the pure, innocent victims of every single situation, hounded by awful, vicious people in cars.

This is not a sorry thread or an incitement to hatred. It's talking about a shared experience (I thought it only happened round here, so it's interesting to see how widespread this idiocy is). Responsible cyclists will hopefully learn from this thread. I'm still waiting to find out why cyclists go from 'Hahaha you've got to go at my speed even though you're in a car, because you can't get past me' to 'GO PAST ME! GO PAST ME! I don't want you there behind me!'.

MaryMcCarthy · 04/04/2023 14:12

There's not really anything in the story that would infuriate a cyclist. They couldn't care less whether you're overtaking them or not, they're just used to the drivers behind them being frustrated so signalling when it's safe to overtake would be appreciated by drivers more often than not. It's considerate.

It makes no difference to the cyclist whether you overtake them, so what's your feeling on why they were so aggressive?

I think a key question is how close behind them are you driving, generally?

Original poster
SpanielSprint · 04/04/2023 14:13

Anyfeckinusername · 04/04/2023 13:55

You whole thread should be removed. You incite hate towards cyclists because of one woman on a bike.

Seriously get a life.

Show quote history

Inciting hatred? Come off it. I don’t think it’s me that needs to get a life. If you can manage to get past the (gasp!) swear word in my title you’ll see that I have a genuine, reoccurring issue with a significant number of cyclists in my area and - yes - I wanted to have a little rant about it. So shoot me.

OP posts:
Harrypewter · 04/04/2023 14:14

I think dithering drivers are worse than cyclists.
Instead of stalking them just overtake.

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