Riding down a slight hill towards a roundabout tonight whilst really going for it on an interval session – the road is wide, open, very well sighted and two lanes for the whole stretch. About 200 yards from the roundabout I looked behind me, no cars apart from one about.. 2-300 yards away. I’m doing about 40mph and it’s a 50 limit so I thought I’d move over into the right hand lane since I’m going to go around the roundabout and come back the same way, thinking the car was way away.

Well a few second later, maybe 3 or 5 not sure, I hear a massive screech of brakes as the car locks up and ends up 6 ft behind me. It was early dusk, and I had my flashing light on the back but not my backup as usual; and I’m wearing red with a white lid. I reckon he was speeding (as most people do) and he can’t have been watching at all.

What do you reckon – was I wrong to move out so early?

My mistake really was expecting him to have seen me…

Did you signal?

A 10 mph speed differential is 5 yards per second. If he was 200 yards away and closed in at 5 seconds, that would be a speed differential of 40 yards per second or 80 mph (so he would have been travelling at 120 mph). I suspect you misjudged the distance, and the car was speeding. Given your speed, I think you moved over a little early and the car wouldn’t have expected that.

Yep, expecting him to have seen you was your mistake.

I was riding home last week, looked over my shoulder, police car quite a long way away, I signal for a while, look over my shoulder again before moving out,police car hasn’t shown any sign of seeing my indication (I’m lit up like a christmas tree). I wave my hand about a bit, still no sign of changing course. In the end I had to abandon the manouver and do a u-turn to get back to my junction.

Changing lane 200m from the roundabout…that’s a long way out, even at 40mph, were you really doing that?

your mistake was to be going too slowly
Suck it up and MTFU

christ samurai that is poor I would have just let them hit me that will learn them

Changing lane 200m from the roundabout…that’s a long way out, even at 40mph, were you really doing that?

Yards not meters.

I dont think you were wrong to do it but i dont ever ‘expect’ anyone in a car to do, well, anything. After/during pulling out id probably have checked where he was, just to be sure. As has been said its hard to be certain of a cars speed if you only get a fleeting glance.

I always do my interval training on open roads, at dusk and with insufficient lighting too 😕

Suck it up and MTFU

I am, just thought I’d post it up, pointing out my mistake. Keeps safety at the front of our minds and all that.

Yeah I did pull out early, I thought I was claiming my road position. Not much point if he’s not looking though!

The distances are a little fuzzy in my memory of course, but he must’ve been going really quite fast. And there was a lot of skidding and tyre smoke to get down to 40mph. He’d have had large tyres on that car but his ABS was apparently not working. I’m guessing at least 60mph.

I always do my interval training on open roads, at dusk and with insufficient lighting too

Where else should I do them? It’s one the quietest, straightest most open road I know, and it was done at quiet time.

About here http://g.co/maps/jjrbv but the wide angle lens makes it look a lot further out than it was although it was indeed somewhat far out.

I was being sarccy surely my speed up bit gave it away?
Glad you are ok that is all that matters

It sounds like you were being a bit of a bellend and not signlling correctly.

I think everyone knows that the best way to signal whilst on a road bike is with the “shoot from the hip” style i.e. casually flicking your hand out (with out stretched index finger) from your hip like you were doing a “quick draw”. It works better if you ride bow legged aswell.

“Yards not metres” like he was even 10% accurate 🙄

Glad you are ok that is all that matters

Yeah I am strangely un-flustered by it all, not sure why. Funnily enough right about that spot on the other side there’s a sign saying ’22 casualties in four years’…

As for signalling, I probably did but he was such a long way off he wouldn’t have seen. Hell, he didn’t even see me at all never mind my outstretched hand.

Low sun? Rear light ‘on’ but battery near flat?

Driver thinks he’ll teach you a lesson for getting in his way?

Or more likely, drivers seen you, looks in mirrors to move over, moves over, looks forward, and ‘that’ cyclist has only done the same bloody thing.

Or, like you said, he could have just been half asleep.

Funnily enough right about that spot on the other side there’s a sign saying ’22 casualties in four years’…

…and yet you didn’t double check before moving out 8)

Glad to hear you’re ok, though.

Low sun? Rear light ‘on’ but battery near flat?

No, no sun, rear light had fresh batteries. He was also in the outside lane to begin with. He was a looong way off too so my guess is changing the CD or something. Plus he needs to get his ABS fixed.

Looks like a horrible road to ride on.

Combination of factors, biggest mistake IMO was ‘assuming’ what a car would do…

Goggle calls it a motorway? Is that just the name of the road?

Njee20 – yep.

It’s called a motorway on google, no idea why. It’s a good stretch of road to train on, cos it’s consistent, fast, not really hilly, no significant junctions, very quiet, and there’s a roundabout at each end.

As a cyclist, aren’t we supposed to go round the outside of a roundabout anyhow? Indicating right when passing lefts off. Not use the inner lane?

As a cyclist, aren’t we supposed to go round the outside of a roundabout anyhow? Indicating right when passing lefts off. Not use the inner lane?

No. That’s a stupidly unsafe way to negotiate roundabouts, exposing yourself to extra danger at every entry and exit. The HC doesn’t even suggest it as an option any more, simply warns of the dangers of doing so http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_069837

Ooh, so it has changed. Why didn’t I get my letter through the door on this? “If you should decide” so it’s not illegal then?

Yesterday riding to work in the morning I decided to impede a motorist by not riding in the gutter when a bollard was coming up. He tried to overtake me and couldn’t make it and was forced to brake and follow me through. 50m up the road he overtook me, then moved to the right and braked, got alongside me and took a swing for me with his car.

I choose not to impede and anger motorists by hogging the middle lane on a roundabout so I won’t get killed. This isn’t the first time it’s happened and it won’t be the last. The risk of drivers not seeing my indication on a roundabout seems less to me than the angry tits deliberately trying to kill me nowadays.

Yesterday riding to work in the morning I decided to impede a motorist by not riding in the gutter when a bollard was coming up. He tried to overtake me and couldn’t make it and was forced to brake and follow me through. 50m up the road he overtook me, then moved to the right and braked, got alongside me and took a swing for me with his car.

I hope you at least have the reg no, make and model of the car?
Keep an eye out as chances are the driver will be on the same commute as you , and get a small HD head cam perhaps?

I would like to make the dullards who design choke points ride through them repeatedly at rush hour , see how they enjoy being squeezed

I have a cam. It was the only day I didn’t wear mine, due to forgetting to charge it up. Sods law! £6.50 on a 808 keyfob cam off ebay, £3.50 on a microsd card, a wide elastic band and some velcro sewn in to strap through my helmet. Does the job and can capture peoples faces and registration plates easily. Virtually everyone can effectively afford one nowadays. The hassle of dumping the footage and charging it can get annoying though.

We have a lot of the new type of road furniture as well, it’s like a traffic island to slow traffic down, make them wait as oncoming filter through. There’s a cycle slot built in so we can pass. I find frequently cars pull over to stop us getting through, because they hate us. No other explanation for it. The fuel situation is going to make them nastier for a bit.

Surely if you’re turning right at a roundabout and following the outside lane all the way round, you’re running a greater risk of impeding a motorist/being taken out every time you cross an exit?

Primary position (ie middle) in the lane I’d use in my car every time for me. I find that my speed on a roundabout isn’t hugely slower than most cars anyhow.

I pull over quite early when turning right because I’d rather make cars wait a few seconds than wait until the last minute to try and find a gap.

Safest bet is too ALWAYS assume the car has never seen you.

IMO there are situations where it is safer to go right on a r’bout in the LH lane.

I have been flamed by “experts” for this view previously, I don’t really care though.

As for right turns, I think it depends on the circumstances as to when is best to change lane.

IMO there are situations where it is safer to go right on a r’bout in the LH lane.

Go on then – give us one.

Get yourself a turbo for intervals.

IMO there are situations where it is safer to go right on a r’bout in the LH lane.

Go on then – give us one

This is a good one, its fricking huge. Its questionable if it should even be a roundabout. It often used as an end turn for a 10m TT course (192 off the left) and if you go all the way around it in the right hand lane then you get in all sorts of bother when you try to turn off as cars are constantly passing you on your left.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ll=55.105388,-1.565037&spn=0.003781,0.01134&hnear=Newcastle+Upon+Tyne+NE2+3NT,+United+Kingdom&t=h&z=17

Hmm.. that looks a bit like this one:

http://g.co/maps/27e3t

Which is divided into nice wide lanes, and when going all the way around it I just use the lanes I would in a car. There’s plenty of room, no problems. It is traffic light controlled though, that’s probably the difference.

aracer, I can think of one but it no longer exists. I’d often have to take the 3rd exit, at around 1 o’clock to me, starting uphill. Cars coming from exit 1 (8 o’clock) to exit 3 could just fly over barely slowing. I thought it was safer to stay in the LH lane even though turning right as they’d be more likely to see me.

It’s the old King’s Road roundabout in Edinburgh, with me coming from Portobello going to Leith.

Here’s a sign as I would have seen it, but it got changed to a crossroads, to make it easier for cyclists, which it certainly has.

He might have seen you. But if he was speeding, all it takes is a mirror check, speedo check, glance at sat nax and the gap closes fast. Most likely wasn’t expecting a bike to take the RH lane that early. Staying in the LH lane until within 100m of the RAB means you are dealing with cars that are at least already slowing down. Some driver braking late for the RAB will still be at full speed.

His fault of course if you changed lanes when he was 200m back but I still think a late lane change is safer. Drivers will see a bike up ahead and just assume it will be staying in the LH lane.

Different in heavy slow traffic but if getting a gap won’t be an issue I’d change lanes just before the RAB.

Here’s a classic in York with stupid painted cycle lanes: http://crapwalthamforest.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/whats-so-magical-for-cyclists-about.html

If you look at where the rider is, he’s not using the lanes properly. I believe when our councillors visited this roundabout when it first opened up one of them almost got totalled when he tried cycling round.

Having used this roundabout myself I can state unequivocally that the external painted lane you can see to the left of the rider is utterly dangerous and unusable, with the area just in front of the straight white painted arrow being covered in gravel and debris most of the time. If you attempt to ride round at a progressive pace to avoid getting killed by fast car drivers you will slide into oncoming traffic coming from your left. I’ve lost my rear end numerous times, twice sliding to a stop and almost hitting the cars waiting to pull out. You have to take the inner lane and indicate very clearly with your arms to turn off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFKx_1fEydQ

Again the rider is not using the cycle lanes, obviously does not regard them as safe. However, at the speed he is going at I very much doubt he was able to signal legally to turn off the roundabout.