to think cyclists on country lanes are selfish gits

[justonemorethen]

Ok not talking about children,people nipping around town or coming back from the pub.IMHO thats who bikes were designed for.
I just hate those people who use country lanes to do their time trials and cycle up and down the same hill to make their calves bigger than their brains.

Roads surely were designed to get people from A to B. They weren't designed to be a fitness track or a playground. I really resent getting stuck behind some lyric clad arse (and they are ususally in packs) at 20 miles an hour. I can't overtake cos it's a country lane you see. I'm not a speed freak, I am happy to slow down for horses or to be behind a tractor.The differnce is they are meant to be there. I don't think townie gits who have nothing better to do should clog up our country lanes when they could use country parks or dual carriageways.I wouldn't mind if they even appreciated the countryside they go through but I don't think I've ever seen one stopping to have a picnic or looking at the wildlife.It;s head down with those stupid glasses and clothes that would scare the animals

There are so many on a Sunday where I live that it's getting dangerous. Still it'll be the poor motorist blamed for going about their business rather than the cyclist won't it.

Would love to see that accident report for your insurance company Ingles, "there has not been a pedestrian on that road for ten years,imagine my surprise when I hit one"

I didn't post the OP... so I didn't ask.
and I don't care what you think....you may be a decent cyclist and road user but I know a large chunk of cyclists are not.
It is not reasonable to round a bend and come face to face with a pack of cyclists riding 2,3,4 abreast!

Ingles, if you are having to brake hard to avoid hazards round a blind bend, then you are still going too fast!!

notimetotidy - I'd agree that slow-moving commuter cyclists, those on mountain bikes and the likes, should be in the cycle lanes. When I'm on my commuting bike on the way to work, I use the cycle lane, for the tiny distance that there actually is one! And it's a shame if they're not being used. But road bikes really do just go too fast.

I got heaps of abuse from a pack of school run mums who were wandering all over the cycle lane/pavement on my way to work the other day, for having the audacity to ask them to please move over. They yelled and screamed at me to get on the road. Can't win!

the only pedestrian would be some bloody cyclist walking their bike up the hill!
Shame they don't realise you step into the ditch when the tractors go past

Ingles,a slow moving tracor would be the same width as the cyclists...are you justified in driving into the tractor?

According to the highway code they should ride in single file on narrow roads so they don't hold people up.
I nearly hit a cyclist the other week. She was sitting in the middle of the road, on her bike, on a country lane with 6ft high hedges, round a blind corner off the top of a hill. If I hadn't been doing under the 40 limit, I'd probably have killed her. No way I could have stopped in time to avoid her. Sure, car drivers need to look out for vulnerable road users (I started my driving career on motorbikes so I do understand that), but some of those vulnerable road users seem to be abdicating all of the responsibility for their personal safety onto car drivers.

don't be ridiculous! I can't drive at 10 miles an hour for 8 miles of country lane just incase I come across cyclists out on a jolly, with no understand of the road!
I drive, slowly carefully and with consideration for everyone I meet in RL.
I can fume here about the lack of consideration I'm shown in return

no Birds...because cyclists are meant to cycle single file!! so not the width or a tractor at all

You should adjust your driving accordingly on single track country lanes with no visibilty round the bends...doesn't sound as if you are driving with care and consideration for other road users.

Ingles I know they're meant to cycle single file. I didn't say anything about tractors. Was simply recounting scary experience of coming round blind corner on country lane to be confronted with stationary cyclist in middle of road.

Your attitude to other road users is shocking Ingles. You need to drive at a speed appropriate to the road conditions - the speed limit is not a target. If there are blind bends there could be any hazard around them.

scurry I did. Slow down that is. Much to the chagrin of the bloke tailgating me. Which is how I didn't hit the one round the bend from me. But surely that doesn't mean it's OK to sit in the middle of the road round a blind bend?

Emsie - choir practice. Well, and toddler group and to take DD1 to Sunday school but I take the car when the DDs are with me.

I'm really struggling to believe that people believe they should feel entitled to drive at the speed limit on narrow country lanes. It's a limit not an entitlement. You have to drive at a safe speed for the road, no matter how long the road. On many lanes with blind bends that does require lengthy drives at 20 mph, sometimes less. If you round a blind corner and hit a slow moving road user, it will be your fault because you were driving too fast. Nowhere does it say in the highway code that you can drive at the speed limit regardless of having no view ahead of you and mow down other road users.

course scurry,...cos you can tell from this thread
I can tell you I do, hence the reason I haven't hit anyone.
I think there should be obligatory cycle licenses for people cycling on the highways.

Whydo, my comment was aimed at Ingles and I think Ingles'comment was aimed at me! Getting confused now.

eclipse, fair enough. I do always slow down for blind bends. I was taught never to drive at a speed above what I can see to stop in, if that makes sense. I do 15mph on one stretch with a 60 limit because I know the road well enough to know that any more could cause an accident if there's something coming the other way. It frequently means I've got silly arses tailgating me, then nearly smacking into me when I have to stop, which, given I have a tiny car and 2 dcs in the back is just a bit unnerving. But surely, it's just common sense not to stop in the middle of the road round a blind bend.

it's not Murple...I only put the speed limit in to prevent people immediately jumping on the..you must be going to fast... I'm not, I'm driving at a reasonable, to slow, speed for the road.
As I said,if licenses were introduced with fines for poor road use it would be a different story.

Good lord you are quite mad and SO unreasonable.

So let's see, getting to a-b to go to the gym and work the lard off your fat arse is ok, but CYCLING from a-b purely for pleasure isn't ok?

What about people who go out for a "nice drive" on a sunny sunday afternoon? is that more acceptable than people who go out for a pleasure cycle?

Who died and made you road police?

Like others on here, my DH cycles to work and other places in lycra. Just because he chooses to wear cycling gear it doesn't mean that he deserves less consideration than horses, pedestrians or other road users.

He's also a tax payer and a car driver and pays road tax just as much as you do.

Finally the comments about cyclists being "road hogs" and "inconsiderate" are extremely ignorant and selfish. There has been a lot of research done to show that cyclists who cycle "aggressively", ie far out in the road, are much safer than those who hug the kerb.

Firstly because car drivers have been shown to give roughly the same passing distance as distance from kerb (ie if you cycle a foot out, they will pass with a foot to spare. If you cycle 2 inches out, they are more likely to pass with 2 inches to spare).

Secondly because by cycling far out, you have time and space to react. If a car passes you dangerously close and you are a foot out from the kerb, you can swerve to safety. If a car passes you dangerously close you have nowhere to go but into the car or into the ditch.

They are not being selfish by cycling far out. They are being responsible and cycling in a way that may save their life. If that slows you down by 2 seconds, well too bad. Do you really think that saving 2 second on your journey is more important than someone's life?

scurry me too. Had a grand total of 1.5hrs sleep last night, perhaps it's beginning to show...
off to bed I think.

Anyway I've got to go to bed... I'll post some pics of my road come Sunday
night all

I've lived in the country for most of my life and used to quite happily walk and cycle for miles down narrow country lanes.
Of course this was 25 years ago and cars didn't hare round narrow lanes like it was Branshatch and the hedges were cut lower.
Now I am driving I hate taking country lanes as other drivers like to stick to 60 all the time and try to pass you at stupid places.

Cyclists, Pedestrians and Horses all have a right to be on the road and should be treated with respect and consideration. If a cyclist falls off into the road he will cover more then the distance of a car.

yes some cyclists seem to take up all the road but it is only for their safety. You try being overtaken by a car. or in my case double decker and feeling it scrape gainst your elbow

Oh and YABVU