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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:
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6
samsmum2 · 03/04/2023 17:41

@Mumski45 haha fair play, good response! But, respectfully, they're not a car, so could have pulled over to let me pass safely as I didn't want to be driving at 20-25mph. There does seem to be a slightly passive aggressive vibe coming from cyclists who (legally as you point out) drive 2 abreast. Why the objection to letting cars pass? I don't really get it...

ChristmasCurry · 03/04/2023 17:42

Been going to the Yorkshire Dales for over 30 Years, have never been stuck behind a cyclist for 10 minutes !

Mumski45 · 03/04/2023 17:45

@nomoremerlot

The OP is questioning the rudeness of the cyclist and at no point has she indicated she is 'het up'

In fact she stated

"I think these cyclists do feel under pressure and a bit conscious of the fact they’ve been holding up a car for ages. But the irony is that I don’t mind (much). I’m never in a rush. I’m a very chilled driver. If they feel pressured it’s not because of anything I’m doing."

I would imagine those drivers who are het up are bad drivers and do cause lots of accidents and agree with you on this.

ConcordeOoter · 03/04/2023 17:45

Dreamstate · 03/04/2023 17:35

There is no law to say what they are doing is wrong. You might think its wrong.

Show quote history

It's actually basic road safety.

Cyclists who do this and get angry when the responsible person in the situation ignores them are every bit as ignorant and dangerous as motorists who think they do not have to give a cyclist the samd space as a car.

Small point if you go to someone else's local roads and do this, their family and friends may drive on that road, too. In my case my daughter, a new driver, and new drivers can potentially be intimidated into going.

I have had to have a special word with her about it so believing a 'safe to overtake' from a cyclist who should not be on country roads doesn't kill her. Funny how horse riders manage to never do this, and tractor drivers (as annoying as the delays can be) actually pull over to let us past, and the cyclists we know who are local ride safely without doing this ridiculous behaviour.

Cranarc · 03/04/2023 17:49

YANBU. It is for you to judge what is safe for you to do. I would not be annoyed at a cyclist trying to be helpful but I would be seriously cheesed off if they got angry with me for not obeying their instructions.

I write as a pedestrian who has lost count of the number of "kind" car drivers who slow down and wave me to cross the road in front of them, oblivious to the cars whizzing down the opposite carriageway ready to flatten me. And then get annoyed when I refuse to cross and wave them on.

Original poster
SpanielSprint · 03/04/2023 17:50

nomoremerlot · 03/04/2023 17:40

A bit goady?!?!

Well that's the understatement of the year!

It's bloody awful.

And again getting "het up" behind the wheel of a car, with other road users makes you a bad driver.

How many accidents do you think are caused by "het up" drivers?

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Why do you think I was ‘het up’? I can assure you I wasn’t, are you confusing me with another poster?

I’m sorry people are getting hung up on my thread title as it distracts from the discussion.

OP posts:
memesndmoreme · 03/04/2023 17:50

YANBU hate cyclists

Mumski45 · 03/04/2023 17:51

@samsmum2 I think it comes from the 'us and them' attitude of a lot of drivers in this country who don't seem to accept that cyclist have as much right to be on the road as drivers.

I do cycle on my own and in groups and like to think I am courteous to all. I will pull in if a car is stuck behind us and I have been known to blast it from the back of a group to the front to stop a group I was in who were holding up traffic. It's not always obvious if you are at the front that there is traffic waiting behind. I think large groups should communicate better when this happens.

Gilmorehill · 03/04/2023 17:51

SpanielSprint · 03/04/2023 17:34

The waving is one thing (it’s annoying because it’s wrong, but hey ho) but a lot of them seem to get so angry when you don’t obey their command! Such unnecessary aggression.

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I agree with you Op. I’m happy to wait behind a cyclist. I don’t get it why the ones who get angry at you for NOT overtaking 🤷‍♂️.

Whichnumbers · 03/04/2023 17:52

another week another goady post about cyclists

Original poster
SpanielSprint · 03/04/2023 17:53

ChristmasCurry · 03/04/2023 17:42

Been going to the Yorkshire Dales for over 30 Years, have never been stuck behind a cyclist for 10 minutes !

Well, it’s a very big area. And I actually live here. But I bow down to your greater knowledge 🙄

OP posts:
ConcordeOoter · 03/04/2023 17:54

SpanielSprint · 03/04/2023 17:50

Why do you think I was ‘het up’? I can assure you I wasn’t, are you confusing me with another poster?

I’m sorry people are getting hung up on my thread title as it distracts from the discussion.

Show quote history

I thought it was a marvellous title. Made me briefly think I'd blundered into the Relationships forum.

lljkk · 03/04/2023 17:54

Has no one else not been stuck behind a fellow driver for miles & miles who drives rather slowly but you can't safely overtake? Especially the always 40 people (they only drive at one speed, whether the sign says 50, 60 or 30, they drive at 40). I theorise they are all from London.

Where I grew up, it's legal requirement to pull up if you're leading a Q of 4 or more cars, so I do that even in UK (if somewhere safe to pull aside) even if I'm driving >= speed limit.

I am just so jealous of people who never ever have had a slow driver hold them up for miles and miles. And then if I drive the speed limit I often get other drivers tearing past me the moment they can, because they are so annoyed about driving the speed limit. I meet so many drivers that find that intolerable.

I'm so jealous at you lot who only ever encounter considerate drivers, for whom there is no other type of driver on the road.

EmmaGrundyForPM · 03/04/2023 17:57

I'm a driver and a cyclist. YABVU to tar all cyclists with the same brush due to the poor behaviour of one cyclist.

No, the cyclist shouldn't have waved you in and no, they shouldn't have sworn at you. However, as a driver I've never been sworn at by a cyclist. As a cyclist. I've been sworn at countless times by motorists (all male) for no good reason other than they don't like cyclists.

Personally, I'd make cycling a mandatory part of the process of learning to drive, because until you're cycling on rural roads, you don't know how vulnerable it feels. I know it's impractical but I can but dream!

nomoremerlot · 03/04/2023 17:57

memesndmoreme · 03/04/2023 17:50

YANBU hate cyclists

Such an enlightening post!

Original poster
SpanielSprint · 03/04/2023 17:57

lljkk · 03/04/2023 17:54

Has no one else not been stuck behind a fellow driver for miles & miles who drives rather slowly but you can't safely overtake? Especially the always 40 people (they only drive at one speed, whether the sign says 50, 60 or 30, they drive at 40). I theorise they are all from London.

Where I grew up, it's legal requirement to pull up if you're leading a Q of 4 or more cars, so I do that even in UK (if somewhere safe to pull aside) even if I'm driving >= speed limit.

I am just so jealous of people who never ever have had a slow driver hold them up for miles and miles. And then if I drive the speed limit I often get other drivers tearing past me the moment they can, because they are so annoyed about driving the speed limit. I meet so many drivers that find that intolerable.

I'm so jealous at you lot who only ever encounter considerate drivers, for whom there is no other type of driver on the road.

Yes I regularly get held up by slow tourist drivers. I don’t even attempt to overtake as the roads around here are far too narrow. But the difference is they are not trying to wave me on and then getting irate when I don’t do it. So it’s no big deal.

OP posts:
Rosula · 03/04/2023 17:59

On the face of it, it seems quite surprising that there was absolutely nowhere you could pass a cyclist over the course of several miles.

viques · 03/04/2023 18:02

Mumski45 · 03/04/2023 16:27

To be totally honest it is unlikely that a cyclist would encourage you to pass if it's not safe as they are by far the more vulnerable road user. Are you sure you aren't being a bit too cautious and sitting behind them too close. It can be intimidating to have someone stick behind you when you are trying to give them time and space to overtake and if you have slowed down to allow an overtake it's even more frustrating if the driver doesn't take the opportunity.

Most drivers who don't like cyclists would complain that the cyclists never let them pass so this does sound unusual.

Poor cyclists can't do right these days, hated by pedestrians if on the pavement (even shared use ones) hated by drivers when slowing traffic on the road and now for trying to let someone pass.

One thing my driving instructor told me all those years ago is that you don’t trust other peoples judgement, you do what feels safe for you, so ignore being waved out by other drivers, or believing a driver is about to turn because they are indicating. (My driving instructor also told me that the reason so many drivers drive for miles with their indicators flashing is because they are kindly warning you that they are unpredictable idiots, and he has been proved right on that one many times.)

TheyWentToSeaInASieve · 03/04/2023 18:03

Something similar happened to me yesterday and I felt bullied into overtaking a cyclist by breaking the speed limit (it was 20 mph) and the cyclist was going at just above 20 but kept waving me on. Also, if he/she doesn't drive, how would he/she the exact width of my car (I was driving a borrowed 4X4)?

On another note, I saw a cyclist not stopping for a pedestrian crossing and nearly mowing down a toddler the other day. It was really scary, the mum was shaken but the cyclist didn't even look back.

Why is there no stricter controls of all these dangerous cyclists on the road? Why do you have to take a driving test to use the roads in a car, but cyclists don't? So many regularly break the speed limit.

OneTC · 03/04/2023 18:06

Why do you have to take a driving test to use the roads in a car, but cyclists don't?

Because of the relative dangers of both modes of transport as demonstrated by the statistics on series injuries and deaths associated with them

MsJD · 03/04/2023 18:06

Yabu for getting so wound up about this and then bothering to post on MUMSNET. I was nearly knocked off my bike today by someone who overtook me on a mini roundabout. FUCKING car drivers. 😀

Original poster
SpanielSprint · 03/04/2023 18:06

EmmaGrundyForPM · 03/04/2023 17:57

I'm a driver and a cyclist. YABVU to tar all cyclists with the same brush due to the poor behaviour of one cyclist.

No, the cyclist shouldn't have waved you in and no, they shouldn't have sworn at you. However, as a driver I've never been sworn at by a cyclist. As a cyclist. I've been sworn at countless times by motorists (all male) for no good reason other than they don't like cyclists.

Personally, I'd make cycling a mandatory part of the process of learning to drive, because until you're cycling on rural roads, you don't know how vulnerable it feels. I know it's impractical but I can but dream!

I’ve used an example of one cyclist from today to illustrate my point but it is in no way just one cyclist that I’m referring to. As a horse rider that rides on the roads I’m well aware that drivers are not faultless and I know what it’s like to feel vulnerable but I don’t see what that has to do with my thread. It’s not tit for tat. I’m referring to a particular behaviour that I as a driver experience regularly from cyclists.

OP posts:
DdraigGoch · 03/04/2023 18:11

UWhatNow · 03/04/2023 16:37

YANBU - I feel the same op about ‘leisure’ cyclists - usually male - holding up all the traffic on rural roads just because they want a day out. Arrogant twats.

On the other hand, I have endless patience for those clearly cycling for work purposes. That’s entirely different.

I understand the frustration there. I was cycling home from work and got stuck in traffic behind a load of cars going to the shops. It's disgraceful that people block valuable road space just because they are off to Primark...

I also had to stand on the train because a bunch of families were off to the seaside. The nerve of them!

MsJD · 03/04/2023 18:12

There is so much irrational hatred of and anger towards cyclists out there.

Tumbleweed101 · 03/04/2023 18:12

I never understand why cyclists on these kind of single track winding roads don't just move into a passing place for a.moment if they have a queue of traffic. Even tractors do if they create a tail back.