Group of cyclists not letting cars past- is this legal?

[Serenity674]

Interested in whether this was legal. Was driving to my parents this morning, they live remotely so it was a single track country road, although not narrow, with wide verges on either side.

i came up behind a group of circa 20 cyclists, probably doing about 15-20mph and ended up stuck behind them for about 10 mins. Round the bends was fine and they actually went faster than I would have gone in my car but there were several very long straight stretches of road where I could have got up to 30-40 mph (it’s a NSL road) but they wouldn’t move to let me past, just rode 2 or 3 abreast taking up the whole road. They definitely knew I was there as the ones at the back kept looking behind at me.

i know the law says cyclists can ride 2 abreast and it’s actually safer as it means cars overtake them properly but surely this doesn’t apply regardless of the road? Were they just doing the safe thing or should they have let me past?

I am a horse rider so i am always on the side of passing more vulnerable road users safely but this just seemed like a bit of a dick move- or were they actually doing this for a reason I’m unaware of? If I was riding my horse on a road like this I would ride 2 abreast until the car slows down then move into single file to let them past.

Names are important, though. "Road Tax" implies it's a tax on road usage, which it isn't. It's a tax on pollution (the tax bands are based on the vehicle's CO2 production). Which cyclists don't create.

It’s all about the strava time…we live at the bottom of a big spiral hill that they like to come and ride up and down. It’s the ones dressed head to toe in black that irritate me the most - at least make yourself easy to see if you’re going to be inching up the steep bits on a blind bend!

Cycling UK think the Highway Code on this is confusing and needs an update.

Cycling two abreast considered something you ‘should not’ do. So it’s not a requirement
but the wording throughout is all very confusing and something even the police don’t seem to understand with cyclists often being pulled over incorrectly.

This from cycling UK on cycling two abreast

based on the ops photo to fully pass a cyclist the car would have to go fully over to the other side of the road to then pass

You've never paid Road Tax in your life.

Neither do car drivers

They are in the right.

I’m a cyclist and less often a driver. The cyclists’ behaviour sounds rude and anti-social to me.

Yes exactly, so the road was wide enough to allow the car to safely overtake the cyclists. The cyclists moving so far over in a manner to prevent a car overtaking is dickish.

true but then its more risky for the cyclist

Cyclists are a fucking selfish pain in the arse! Sorry not sorry! Recently I was the 5th car behind a group of 12 who took up the whole lane, 2/3 abreast on windy roads and we followed them for miiiiiiles, it was awful. Including several steep hills where they all struggled to the point that the cars were virtually stationary behind them, they were going so slow. The queue grew to at least 15 cars, they were all tooting (not initially but clearly all the drivers’ patience wore thin!) Honestly it was painful, ‘fucking get out of the way’!!! 😂

Slow you down, Matey, slow you down.

It's just selfish behaviour on the cyclists part. There's a sense of arrogant entitlement from some cyclists and blocking the road is not on.

Over the weekend I was in Richmond park, and the amount of cyclists was insanity. One pair were 2-abreast, which is fine, but they made it impossible to overtake - especially as one was a fat bastard, weaving all over the place. Very unsafe. The Highway Code needs to be updated to reflect the actual requirements, not recommendations.

Not the same at all. A tractor can't go "single file" to allow traffic to pass. These cyclists (always MAMILs) won't go single file as they are technically in the right and love the power they have to inconvenience every one else..

I rarely cycle in groups, but at the weekend I was riding at 23mph behind a tractor (tractor was not getting away) and a car user cut me up when they suddenly realised they couldn’t pass us both part way through an overtake. Had to slam my brakes on to avoid being crippled by a car. That’s why we choose to ride in the middle of the lane, due to idiots.

I think cyclists can be one of the most selfish, big headed entitled bunch iof road users there are. From my own exoerience
They all.need to groiw up

Where l live, they love to play lets block the road, or cat and mouse with buses .
They deluberately drive in front of buses and wont let them pass.

In fact, l think Cyclists should be banned from using the roads altogether.

I also think the person who posted that did youj want to go as fast as you can whenever you want, is definitely a cyclist. as well.

You have to remember that Cylclists are better than you and all car drivers and pedestruns are saving the planet

My oiwn gripe with them is pavement cyclists who also own the place. Hate pedestrisns, dont wear helmets or high vis clothing, no bells ir lights

The pavement is the real cyclist lane used by the vast majority of cyclists where l.live.

Despite sending ,15 million pounds on cuclist lanes that are rarely used and caused massive disruprltion for two years when they were being built.

Those orats should have moved and let you get in front of them

NO YOU ARE NOT BEING. UNREASONABLE.

YOUR WERE IN THE RIGHT

I cycled to work for years... So I do know what it is like to be a cyclist.
So I am not horrible to cyclists and I pass them safely.

But some sports cyclists do seem to have a very entitled attitude. I was driving somewhere recently, and I saw two cyclists approaching. I would have slowed anyway, as the road bends, but I started slowing earlier and less abruptly, and as I rounded the bend I was doing about 15mph, max 20mph. I also pulled right over as they came closer so that my nearside wheels were on the gravelly bit at the edge of the tarmac. I did all of this in plenty of time (and it's a NSL road).

And they carried on cycling not exactly two abreast, but with one slightly over-lapping the other, and one of them put his hand out, flapped his arm up and down indicating that I should slow, and mouthed 'Slow down' at me with a really indignant look on his face.

What did he bloody well want me to do? Put two wheels on the verge and stop? I was driving a small car, very slowly, as far over as I could go without risking hitting an unseen hole in the verge. Or did he mean that I should never do above 20mph on an NSL lane with good sight lines and which I know very well?

I was actually quite pissed off, as I had done my absolute best to be a considerate motorist and rather than the jolly wave of thanks that I would have given had I been on the bike, I just had some rude twonk in Lycra making me out to be a baddie. Dog walkers on lanes (and I'm one of those, too) are almost invariably actively polite to slowing motorists who go wide.

So yeah, my experience is that the twonk quotient amongst sports cyclists is unfortunately high, higher than amongst dog walkers, people cycling what you might call functionally (because they need to get to work, the shops etc) and horse riders.

I don’t speed so there’s no need to slow me down, I just prefer not to drive at 15 mph for bloody miles!!

excatly this

Well thankfully due to helmet cams a lot of awful angry drivers are getting massive fines for driving wrecklessly; better still getting their licences revoked. And I say that as predominantly a driver- I can’t ride on roads anymore as there are just too many idiots behind the wheel as this thread so obviously shows.

Time to start taxing them if they have rights to cycle using the roads !!!

It's the usual story. Men are worried that women might laugh at them, women are worried men might kill them. Drivers are worried that a cyclist might delay them, cyclists are worried drivers might kill them.
Not surprising given the stats, ~100 women are killed by men a year in the UK and ~100 cyclists are killed by motorists.

Tax solves everything

Would it not have been better, for everyone’s safety including your own, if you’d have backed off and put some distance between you and the tractor?