AIBU to find cyclists annoying

[MumOfTheNorth]

This probably is unreasonable but I just find cyclists so annoying. Not saying every cyclist does every one of these things. It just seems to happen a lot. Am I the only one that gets this irrational irritation?

What I find annoying...

• Taking up the whole road so you can't leave enough space to safely over take
• Weaving in and out of traffic
• Walking around cafes or the office in sweaty lycra with their click clacky shoes
• Running red lights when I'm trying to cross on a green man
• Cycling on the pavement
• Not tucking in on small country roads once in a while when there's a massive que of traffic behind them
• Having no lights or helmet on in the dark
• And most of all... talking to me about cycling

They have the right to use the road. Some of the behaviour you listed is about staying safe in a country where sentences are shockingly low for dangerous driving.

There's a lot of behaviour from motorists that's not only annoying, but potentially fatal for other road users. Notice you don't mention that.

Don't mind cyclists generally but the few numpty heads that cycle on the pavement really annoy me.

When I'm stuck in massive queue on a country road, behind a cyclist, I always think they should just pull to to the side for a minute. Just long enough to let the 30 cars crawling along behind them, get past! I find it really selfish.

And cyclists doing some of these behaviours can be fatal for pedestrians which I notice you don't mention

Yeah it's so annoying. Much like drivers who cut across you, speed, get too close, open doors on you.
Why can't we all realise that there are shit drivers, cyclists and pedestrians and not pit them all against each other. Like many others, I am all three at varying times. This anti cyclist rhetoric is dull and quite frankly dangerous as some people take that as an excuse to beep/swerve/ref/manoeuvre dangerously because 'cyclists are annoying' and 'don't pay road tax ' 🙄
Rant over 🤣

Good luck OP. Don't you know cyclists cannot be criticised on MN. I agree with you BTW

Cyclists are supposed to cycle in the centre of the lane now. If a car can't pass safely on the other side.of the road, as they would another car, then they aren't supposed to pass as they would be too close to the cyclist.

That being said, it's VERY annoying when cyclists/tractors/traction engines etc. don't pull over once in a while to let the queue past, especially on windy country roads where it isn't safe to pass for miles!

I must add that regular folk getting from A to B on a bike are not annoying in the slightest. It's the lycra mafia, middle aged bellend men. I think the reason MN defends them so vehemently is because they're their husband's.

@Regholdsworthswaterbed cyclists can’t be criticised?! Are u kidding?! Endless tedious threads like this. So much wrong with the OP’s criticisms but it’s all been said before so what’s the fucking point?

The mindless aggression and appalling behaviour of drivers over the last 10 years has forced me off my bike and back into a car so I’ll be joining the traffic jam with everyone else 🙄.

@PlantDoctor cyclists were always safest away from the kerb and cars shouldn’t be overtaking unless there is clear space - close pass overtaking is fucking terrifying on a bike.

I haven't had much issue with cyclists in the few years I've been driving. The ones that have annoyed me (this is in Australia so no country lanes) were

• riding on footpaths. Illegal and bloody dangerous.
• dashing across in front of traffic and giving very little time to brake (teenage boy, unsurprisingly).
• riding during peak hour along a major road that has no bike lane and has cars parked along the kerb, leaving no room to safely overtake him, when there is a much safer road parallel to the main one (man who was old enough to know better).

And this is why the planet is going to hell in a cart….some cyclists are annoying (especially mamils) but they cause far less damage to others than irresponsible drivers (of which there are too many). If we want to move in the direction of better quality of life, less pollution, congestion and an overall healthier environment, there should be far more cyclists and far fewer cars on the roads.

Single cyclist not so much of an issue. It’s the bunching of the cycle clubs, shouting to each other, don’t care there are people wanting to get past, we are not giving way for anyone, especially cars and pedestrians that annoys me

It's very rare that I see a cyclist in town but a lot of my driving is on country roads, the thing that annoys me the most about cyclists is that they don't make themselves visible. In my part of Scotland, it gets dark at about 4pm in the winter and there are loads of cyclists wearing black with only a pathetic flickering red light at the back of their bike meaning you don't see them till you are very close.

Please wear some high vis and get some brighter lights on your bike.

I'm a cyclist and a driver. (As most cyclist are)
Most of your points are true either way
Drivers and cyclists are shite in many ways.
Both are self centered, both dangerous . Some however kill more than others
.

This is what I find annoying about drivers as a cyclist:

leaning out of your window to shout sexual comments or general “amusing” abuse.

thinking it’s funny to drive right up my arse and then honk your horn very loudly because it’s “funny” to watch me nearly fall off in shock.

trying to overtake on a blind bend or bridge, realising someone’s coming the other way and having to pass seriously close.

getting too close and catching me with a wing mirror.

overtaking me, then pulling up next to a parked car or to the curb and stopping, forcing me to stop when there would have been plenty of room for me to continue had you not parked your vehicle in my way. See also deliberately pulling up to the curb at junctions so I can’t get past.

not signalling at junctions. I have to guess which way you are turning- if I pull up to the right to turn right and you also turn right I have to cross your path. If I pull to your left and you’re turning left I cannot turn right safely. Indicate then I can place myself in the safest position.

oh and the latest- electric vehicle drivers who don’t realise I can’t hear you. Gives us both a fright when I look behind as I think the road is clear to manoeuvre and there’s a bloody car sitting on my rear wheel.

I dont know if i should get some popcorn for the comments or some tissues for the cycling brigade..

Conflicted. 😆

They drive me batty too. Especially the ones who cycle around all in black, in the dark and heavy rain, on a country lane. If I hit one, I'm not going to be injured and they could die. I don't want to spend my life knowing I killed someone!

And the ones who have absolutely no shame about holding up a mile of traffic. How entitled do you have to be to prevent that many other people from making progress? It's maddening.

I live in a built up area. Often a car will be very keen to pass me if I’m on my bike and then moments later, they’re sitting there waving other cars through on the opposite direction as they’re too wide to pass. They see me as holding them up if I’m on a bike but don’t have a problem waiting if I’m in a vehicle.

There are some perfectly fine, capable cyclists up there but the ones that whizz along pavements at breakneck speed or cycle incompetently on roads get them all a bad name.

Another thing that passes me off is how they often think they can do no wrong, and are above the law in the way drivers aren't. They don't need licences to prove proficiency before getting on the road, have no number plates, cycle in the dark with no lights on and often aren't held to account fir any damage to vehicles they make or injuries that are caused when they knock someone over due to their bad cycling.

Drivers try and kill my dh on a regular basis when all he's doing is cycling within the law. Get over it, cyclists take car traffic off the road which I bet you complain about too. The anti cycling culture in this country is despicable.

Oh that mean side of mumsnet.
What I love is a big polluting 4x4!! Blooming love em.
It’s always good to know the people triggered by cyclists because they’re the ones to avoid.

Oh yes OP! I'm definitely with you on this one! Whilst I agree it's better to cycle for the usual reasons, including environment and health, alot of the cyclists I've come across are annoying arrogant gits! They seem to think just because they are doing the "right thing" and because everyone can see them doing the right thing, they then have the right to get all poncy about it and pretty much disregard pedestrians. The amount of times I've nearly been knocked over by a madly speeding cyclist when trying to cross the road when the lights are on red and it is the pedestrians right to cross! And by walking I'm being even more environmentally friendly so smug cyclists can do one! I know a woman who, when pregnant, was mowed down by a cyclist and instead of apologising the arrogant git cyclist stood over her shouting whilst the poor woman was lying on the edge of the road!