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.

Your comprehension skills need some work, please read my posts

If car drivers learned to be a bit more patient, there would be far fewer accidents on the road.

Just because you have an engine gives you no extra rights to the road than anyone else.

If they pulled over for every impatient driver then they'd be forever stopping.

Why aren’t people reading my posts?

On single track roads (ie ones just wide enough for one vehicle with passing places) you should use passing places on your own side to let vehicles behind you to overtake.

On single carriageway (ie room enough for one car in each direction) the emphasis is on the vehicle wanting to overtake to wait until a safe spot. However, as someone who lives very rurally in a tourist spot, you should always be aware of what's behind you and if you are slow then pull in to lay-bys to let people past, or hold your speed at overtaking straights so people can get past safely (and definitely don't accelerate as someone is overtaking you...).

Your road sounds a slightly hybrid between the two. It would've been polite for the cyclists to let you past but you had to wait for a safe overtaking spot which it sounds like there wasn't.

Yes. But anyone with a modicum of sensibility would realise that behaving like a tw@t does nothing to promote anyone’s safety, either theirs or other drivers. It’s just being silly

In all probability they do pay “road tax” as they will own cars.

A lot of them will put their bikes in or on their cars and drive out into the country to ride in front of you.

You don’t have to keep pulling over. As a cyclist, it’s perfectly possible to ride in a way that allows people past as needed

Lycra cyclists can also be arseholes to other cyclists who they deem unworthy of being on the road, like me when I do the shopping on my normal non-racing bike (don’t know what the proper name is, like a Dutch bike).

I’m also sick of having to leap out of the way when I’m running because I don’t want to get mown down. Car drivers tend to leave quite a wide gap when overtaking pedestrians, racing bikes never do.

Is 10 minutes delay on the road really that much of an issue? Although i guess it eats into hours of mumsnet time

Because they just don't OP.

You wouldn't have had space to squeeze your lorry past because it was a teeny tiny track and you shouldn't have got so angry and SHOUTY and rude and you were only held up for 2.5 seconds so YABU!

😂

true and i agree, but it does take the biscuit that for every eg 10 cars that i pull over for only 1 or 2 drivers actually put their hand up to say thank you,

THIS. ^ Many cyclists think they own the roads, and are largely obnoxious and entitled middle aged men. You have to be a special kind of obnoxious dickhead to drive 2-3 abreast on a road that is only slightly wider than one car wide. They know you can't get past but they don't give a fuck.

Absolute melts. I loathe (most of) them. Living in the sticks I experience these kinds of arseholes on a weekly basis. Infuriating. Only a small percentage of these groups of #middle aged men in lycra' (MAMILs) are reasonable and considerate. As has been said, it's the lycra clad men are the worst offenders. Cyclists (who are often alone, or with a partner and sometimes their childrent.) in aren't bad, it's the lycra clad MAMILs in their big groups who are a pain in the arse.

im similar i ride a mountain bike and the ones that just zoom past very close to me is omg at times

We live on a road like this. It's very popular with the local cycling group and they do really annoy everyone - they won't pull over or slow down, although I always stop so they can pass safely when I meet them, They also never even put their hands up to say thanks.

I think it's legal but I also think they milk it! Good manners would suggest you pull over for faster vehicles (as with slow tractors etc).

We also get single cyclists who are presumably trying to make a PB or whatever - they will cycle the whole three miles in front of us and never pull over. I find it rude but assume they are within their rights.

DH went (slowly and carefully) around a nasty bend recently and some idiot came flying towards him and swerved and crashed into the ditch! I promise we didn't feel any karma-related schadenfreude.....😂

Occasionally when I pull over for a single cyclist they thank me - it's a rarity!

Cycling is great for fitness and the environment. It's just a shame that some of the cyclists can't behave with respect and common sense when using shared highways.....

Not on a single track road, it's not. You wouldn't overtake a car on a road like that, and the HC requires leaving cyclists at least as much space as a car.

its a factor of mumsnet, usually it needs to all be in your original op and even then it can be a mix

Do they annoy everyone, really? Just you and a handful of others

What is so crazily bad about being held up by 10 mins? It wouldn’t occur to me to be even remotely bothered.

I get the tube pretty much every morning. The amount of times that the tube stops and gets held for 10 minutes for door issues, signalling issues. No one bats an eyelid about it. Nobody starts getting angry at the driver or the staff at the stations. We just accept journeys take a bit longer than planned.

i read the first one and couldn’t be bothered after that… 10 mins off your life my heart bleeds. It was highly unlikely it would have been able for you to pass 20+ cyclists safely so just chill.

God what a dick I am 😂

Quite, Drivers must never be held up!

Do you live in Cambridgeshire by any chance as this happened to me today, I couldn’t believe it! I’m a cyclist myself and no issues with cyclists cycling two abreast, but today we had a situation where they straddled the whole road. You can fit two cars through at a push so should have been able to fit one car plus a couple of abreast cyclists. They literally blocked the road in both directions.

Legal but fucking annoying. I say that as a cyclist who has been out this evening. I hate having traffic built up behind me on a narrow road and ALWAYS pull over at the nearest and safest spot to let them pass by. It takes a few seconds and makes my ride and the car drivers life much more pleasant. To be honest, I rarely have a problem with motorists. Maybe the odd one who is too close but the vast majority are considerate and safe. I know some cyclists get a kick out of antagonising motorists (I've met one who admitted it with glee) so it doesn't surprise me that nobody pulled over.

If road space doesn’t permit it due to being too narrow and you can’t overtake entirely in the opposite lane leaving ample space as a driver (I am one far more than a cyclist these days)
then you just have to wait!