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.

I'm also at the idea that the existence of a few stupid cyclists is somehow indicative of the thousands of people who cycle day in day out, and somehow excuses this blanket hostility to all cyclists.

"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."

Well yes that wasn't very clever of her, but that could equally have been a stationary dog, escaped sheep, broken down car, person crossing the road... etc etc.

You should be driving at a pace that takes account of what you can see. If you can't see the road is clear, then you can't assume it is. NOT because of cyclists, but because of all the things that could be around the bend.

whydobirdssuddenlyappear,
I agree everyone needs to be sensible. When walking on single track bendy roads we always swap sides to avoid drivers coming towards us around blind bends. There's lots we can all do to make ourselves safer. But drivers always need to drive as if there'll be a baby in a buggy round the bend and that really helps to keep the speed down and only overtake cyclists when they can give them plenty of space.

I hate it when they ride in packs making it impossible to overtake. I find the prevalence of lyca lamentable.

"never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends"
Is what they're supposed to be doing according to the direct gov website

YANBU at getting annoyed at road races clogging up the roads.
This is a major bone of contention ebtween my brother (who is veyr well known in cycling circles for various reasons and races a lot) and I.
They don't pay road tax. So until he bought his car he was not paying for use of the road.

And he ahs the cheek to complain when someone driving 'slowly' fucks up his time. tough shit little bro, use a different road.
Oh, and I don't enjoy seeing my brother in skintight lycra either

DH has just pointed out that if he uses the road, that he pays road tax for, as a race track with his friends at the weekend he'd be looking at a large fine and possible prison time. so how is that fair?

(it is a motorbike, but still...)

YABVU. Cyclists have a right to be there just as cars, tractors, horses and pedestrians.
I live on a country lane which is designated as part of the national cycle network with a 40mph speed limit. Cars still see 40 as their target speed though there is actually nowhere on the whole 2 miles where you could actually safely drive that fast. Its been a huge pleasure to see the number of cyclists increasing, including DCs and I who cycle to school and back daily. I am really glad that our presence forces the rat runners to slow down. I'd be even happier if they were so pissed off by our presence they would stick to the main road and leave us in peace, with the other cyclists, horse riders, walkers, and wildlife.

I'm with DrNortherner, but would add, hope to see more of them and consequently more consideration and awareness on the highways and byways.

YABU - I can't bear the horse riders on the country roads in my manor, but I realise that this is my problem not theirs! Similarly, cyclists have a right to use the road

Are you my FIL? Hi!

Thank God the Tories are in now so that all the country lanes can be turned into dual-carriageway A-roads and petrol can be 5p per litre and all us Motorists can safely tarmac the UK from Land's End to John-o'Groats and we can forget about all that greenhouse effect nonsense......

Holy shite I was just channeling a total twunt. Sorry. YABU, however they do look like nobs in that lycra stuff especially when posing about in great packs al-fresco at some cafe.

the Tories introduced the Fuel Price Escalator in 1993, to make petrol more expensive....

Anyways, some of the people in this thread are incredibly ignorant.

There is no such thing as 'road tax'. There is Vehicle Excise Duty, which is levied on a sliding scale according to how much CO2 you emit, from £435/year (over 255g/km) down to £0/year (under 100g/km). Bicycles pay the same VED rate - zero - as a Toyota Prius, which are very much more polluting (emissions and filled with toxic batteries), dangerous.

Roads are funded out of general taxation, and though some people pay more tax than others, that does NOT give them preferential treatment. If you want preferential treatment, build your own roads; meanwhile, the ones we have in this country are PUBLIC.

If you don't want to be held up, don't go down country lanes - there could be horse riders, tractors, cyclists slowing you down. Don't like it? Go on the motorway.

OP I think you're missing the point about your speed - whether there are cyclists or not you always ought to be going slow enough round a blind bend to make sure you've got time to stop if there is a hazard. You never know when there might be a fallen tree/tractor/horse/broken down car/etc. Equally they shouldn't be cycling round blind bends taking up the whole width of the road but ultimately it's you who is behaving dangerously by driving around bends at such a speed that you don't have time to stop.

Up to a point YANBU. Where I used to live there was a very narrow road that went alongside the river and buses also used it (it was too narrow for two buses to pass each other in most places). The racing cyclists were very careless on the roundabouts which was lifethreatening for them; but the really off-pissing thing was when they travelled 2 abreast and refused to go into single file.

They need to be sensible and have manners on the road, same as other road users.

However, they are an absolute menace on dual carriageways - I used to live in Oxford as well and they used to have races on the A34, FFS! Extremely dangerous having a string of them going past a junction - for them, mostly! COming onto the A34 via slip roads was marginally more terrifying than coming off on a slip road but both were pretty nerve-wracking.

YABVU

Cyclists have as much right to use the road and the quiet 'B' roads and country roads are the only safe ones to use.

I shall think of you all when I'm riding the London to Brighton Bike Ride on Sunday....along with 27,000 others. Hope none of you want to travel this way, there might be one or two hold ups

in the 8 years i have been driving i have only seen ONE person signalling to turn.

book em if they don't use hand signals i say

YABVVVVVVVVU.

I don't have a car. I have to cycle to get around. I also enjoy it. Just have a little patience.

Not saying you're like this Riven, but an awful lot of drivers 'cut through' country lanes as they think its quicker and they are tearing about far too quickly. Would much rather come across a cyclist as a pedestrian than some idiot in a machine that kills. Like DrNortherner, my husband is a cyclist and his sport is time trials and road cycling. He pays taxes and has the right to use the road. At the end of the day, it is not the fault of cyclists that there are far too cars in this country. Most cyclists who cycle for a sport are polite and move out of the way any how, it is the ones in towns who don't wear helmets and fart-arse about one minute on the pavement, the next minute off that wind me up.

oops sorry, meant to put justonemorethen, sorry Riven, although agreeing with you on the bit about towns!

I think while we are at it, we should ban all sport in public places. Children playing football in the field is a menance to sensible dog walkers who also should not be allowed out as their dogs s**t on said field making unsafe for the runners who, head down, plough on regardless, mowing down mothers out with babies in buggies who keep ramming them up the shins of lovely people like me. Really I am the only person who should be allowed out as everyone else is an inconvenience to me.

GooseyLoosey

but why do the majority of cyclists NOT USE SIGNALS???