I've always considered myself a fairly compedent and confident cyclist on the road (where I do most of my riding) but seem to be getting increasingly nervous. A few weeks ago I had a mild altercation with a driver who thought (I believe wrongly) that I was in the wrong lane, I got beeped at in the same lane yesterday by someone who wanted to get by (in fairness I was fairly central in the outside lane but a bike is, in theory, meant to be able to take up the same amount of space as another vehicle). Also on a ride yesterday a stationary car I was coming up to pass suddenly pulled out and away in front of me and today whilst approaching traffic lights correctly positioned in the inside lane I had a school coach come up alongside in the outside lane and suddenly cut across into my lane just as the cab area passed me, forcing me to brake and respond to avoid getting side swiped. I've had plenty of incident when drivers of buses, tractors and trailers and lorries have pulled in in front of me seemingly unaware (or unconcerned) about the rest of the long vehicle they're dragging along behind, but it seemed to bother me more today. I resisted raising the middle finger as I guess that getting into an argument or getting clobbered isn't going to help. Just to finish things off somene shot through a red light at speed at a pelican crossing we were about to cross.

I seem to be feeling rather nerous now on busy roads and riding less confidently which will probably result in vehicle drivers treating me with even less respect, so I probably need to reassert myself a bit.

I don't suppose this is a proper rant (in capitals and everything) but I just fancied getting it off my chest!

Have a guess why I am re-qualifying and have pretty much stopped cycle training? Or ask my wife why she's going back to her art.
Or ask several long-term trainers who left the industry.
Good luck, mud awaits me.

I don't really think there's anything that can happen until a major shift in the attitude of police and car users occurs.

I would personally be sending a cycle plod out on a busy road incognito with a helmet cam and a radio, and pull in every car that drives dangerously (passing too close, abuse, cutting up etc). Six points and a hefty fine.

I avoid riding on the road now if at all possible.

I have to say that incidents with me are very rare and my (newish) commute is right into Manchester on busy and very cycle-unfriendly roads.

However today I was waiting at the lights (yes, I wait at red lights!) in my ASL box and as I pulled away the driver behind hooted a long blast at me and roared past – presumably because I was in the middle of the lane but moving over to the left, I'd obviously delayed him by 1/2 a second. Instinctively I shouted "F*** off!" at him, not sure if he heard.
Unsurprisingly I'd caught him up in the traffic within half a mile and for the net few miles we seemed to alternate positions as one would catch the other. I thought for a while he might be following me as he seemed to hang back but then I lost him in heavy traffic and turned off earlier than normal via a back route home just to make sure.

No point to it at all, our average speeds were identical but clearly he was too thick to see it that way. 🙁

Hi dont be to hard on your self,these days riding on the road makes you very nervous,everyday you ride to work someone is doing crazy things.What most people do now is expect the worsed and are ready for it,which i expect you do.I cycle the roads around the cotswolds,cheltenham,Gloucester,Stroud etc.The last year its got alot worse.alot of drivers just dont give a toss about cyclist as you know.Great when you get out on country roads just getting through the town first.A mate tryed MTbiking for the first time a few months back and the first thing he said about it was how relaxing it was compaired with riding the road and he has been a roadie for 35 years says it all.

Ton is the expert on cycle etiquette today 😉

Joking apart, there does seem to a growing negative opinion towards cyclist on the road, fueled by lenient sentences for drivers who hurt cyclist and the generalization that all cyclist are tax dogging RLJ hot heads.

Maybe Flaperon idea of under cover cyclist on bikes might not be a bad idea, but I fear not too many serving Police officers would be keen to do it.

Pjay I had the same feelings as you, about this time last year, came close to giving up all my road riding after a week of rather close encounters with ignorant drivers.

I decided to alter my routes a bit, take in more off road tracks and use quieter roads for a while, just to give myself a break, it worked for me.

I get nervous sometimes, however you have a right to be on the road and it's your choice how you choose to travel. I'd suggest getting a copy of John Franklins book which I think is called Roadcraft as it has a lot of good advice about placing on the road and techniques of road riding. All of us go through it, sometimes having a little cry at the side of the road. Stick with it, make sure that you're spacially aware of what's around you and say "thank you" as you could pronounce it with a silent N, but doesn't cause red mist driving.

aP, after 10 years of teaching people how to do it I've almost given up. When I can carry a machine gun I'll train full-time again. Until then, nope. Books are great, life is better.

Hairy – I live 3 miles from you. I cylcle pretty much every day, sometimes I arrive at work livid, however I arrive. Just keep bloody cycling, you know it's right.

dunno, but my current commute is only 3.2 miles, and I average narrowly avoiding two brainless twunts each way.

The pick of today,

sat at trafic lights, cant go foreward even though the lights are green as the roundabout is gridlocked, car behind me beeping almost got a Ton style thankyou for his persistance.

Leaner driver overtakes on the aproach to a roundabout and tries to take me left with it! The instructor got a well deserved 20mph "what the f****" through his open window.

By wearing headphones, the sound of honking morons can easily be replaced by nosebleed techno 🙂 Seriously though, don't be bullied off the road.

I truly believe that nearly all flames directed at cyclists are fanned by those that run red lights

every time I have a 'discussion' with another road user they bring this up as a reason (excuse) for their vitriol

Sadly, I've given up riding recreationally on the ride. I used to do up tp 150 miles a week when training, now the only time I'm on the road is when linking off-road trails in the sticks. Several reasons, but fundamentally the risks outweighed the rewards. I simply can't trust drivers not to try to kill me – and it only takes one to do the job. It's somewhat illogical – I've never had a really bad experience on the road, though a couple of close shaves, but I do know of several bike riders who are either dead or disabled.

I work from home, don't have to ride on tarmac daily. Let's put it this way – if I were working withing a cycling distance I'd cycle there. But as things stand I much prefer having mud in my hair to being hooted at by a driver who knows best.
I used to work in Hammersmith and live in Hanwell. I cycled daily along the A4 at 5.15 a.m. to work and back along the towpath in the afternoon as the drivers were plain stupid. What has changed since is my becoming a dad. My daughter needs to have her daddy around for many years to come, alive and kicking.
I have no issues cycling in Central London, West End and the likes, it's the suburbs that try to kill me and I won't have it. We have 3 large school on our road and local morons still go over 60mph there. At least down Oxford Street they need to drive more slowly.
Maybe I'm just grumpy these days but I can't see a point in riding on roads unless necessary. It isn't for me right now, long may it continue, so I'm on my 2.4" Advantages. Much safer, more enjoyable, cleaner air, no need to listen to DJ Whatever-His-Name blasting from a souped-up £150 Corsa with a bucket for the exhaust.
Or is it the sign I need to move away?

the rlj issues annoy me
i mean as a pedestrian do the anti cyclists only cross at traffic lights or when the green man is showing? do they ****
i think its all about envy- they see us cyclists whizzing past them as they sit listening to the sound of their arteries hardening in their traffic jams
i cycle from chiwick to kensington daily and i overtake every car i see in the rush hour it makes their blood boil
and they remember that some twunt jumped a light the other day and they hate us for it

Was in Germany recently & France for a day, every town centre had racks and racks of bikes parked up.

Interestingly a helluvalot of the towns and villages seem to have have separate cycle only lanes 6ft wide and running adjacent 6ft from the roads.

Whilst the pretty cycle route signs are all well and good there is no way that things are going to change while the councils think painting the gutters green is enough.

In Britain a serious eduction scheme needs to be brought into effect about cyclists. If you ride a bike you're scum. It's an applling attitude but I see it every single day I ride a bike on the road.

Cycling helps EVERYONE. It helps the people who ride, it helps the people who drive and have one less car holding them up, it helps the environment and the heath service, and the companies who employ cyclists, EVERYONE.

So it should be treated as such and the only way we're going to get treated differently is education. Drivers need to have the advantages of cyclists on the roads forced onto them as part of the driving test, cyclists need to be mandatorily taught in schools on how to ride a bike (number one point being 'traffic lights are for everyone'),second point being 'signalling saves lives'. And the advantages of having people cycling rather than driving needs to be drummed into people constantly, from school through to work.

Until this sort of process starts, we're going to have people like the OP who is a proper enthusiast but is so worried about riding on the road that he's thinking about not doing it any more. That's a tragic case and needs to be addressed.

But Brits are by and large, **** bellends. So there's no chance. Britain is ace, 90% of the cocks that live in it are hate and alcohol fueled morons, so there's no chance.

Yes cyclists should stop fully & properly at red lights, only we usually can't do it safely because the advanced stop boxes and cycle lanes to the side of the roads are actually full of cars/lorries/buses in Sheffield.

Car drivers are trying to kill us, albeit mostly from carelessness and ignorance, so anything that makes you visible and raises their awareness of you is a good thing.

Alternatively you can sit in the queue and wait to be sideswiped or go over the bonnet as some moron pulls out in front of you, travelling at the same speed as the cars. Might as well drive.

Current main menace is the new freshers spending too long looking at maps and just wandering into roads with phones in. At least the traffics slowing again now schools are back.

It does seem worst out there now. I used to commute from Hemel to North London every day without incident for years, but now!
And strangely my town now seems worst since they've put traffic calming measures in.
20MPH limit, ignored.
Speed bumps, ignored.
Cycle lanes, ignored.
Box junctions, ignored.
Advance stop boxes, ignored.
I think motorists believe we have deliberately had these installed to slow them down.
That said I still don't have any problems myself, as I said polite aggression ride like you have the right but don't break the rules. Also lots of spitting and nose clearing does the job, they might not mind a dead cyclist on their bonnet but a bit of snot will freak them out.

Motorists are aggrieved because even now adverts still show "the open road" with slogans like
The drive of your life
The ultimate driving machine
But in traffic it doesn't matter if you're in a Porsche or a Panda, you're still going nowhere. The council/government have spent YOUR "road tax" on speed bumps, cameras, more lights, more signs without there being any tangible benefit. You've just had to fill up with fuel which is £50, most of it tax. So the motorist feels angry and persecuted.

And then someone on a bike, one of those cheap things that costs 1/10th the value of their car, comes charging past, pauses just long enough to make sure it's safe to jump the lights and is gone.

Now the logical conclusion is "Hmm, that looks like a cool way to beat the jams, I'll try that"
But with all the points above and the ingrained view that cyclists are scum means that the actual conclusion is "W****r!!!! I'll f***ing knock him off, tax dodging scumbag"

Geez I must have been on a long break from road riding-where when did this anger come from?

Road tax goes straight to the government.

Isn't it council tax that goes to pay for the roads?

I need to keep a clean record but I can see myself defending/punching out a driver if he tries anything physical on me.

Think I will buy life assurance so my family can buy nice stuff when I get by a bus and remember me when they drive their new car! 😈

Interestingly I'm finding the roads better than, say, 2 years ago. My commute into Manchester is along pretty grim roads quite a bit of the way and I have far fewer incidents than I used to. Maybe a combination of me being more assertive in my positioning etc, and there being more riders on the road, rather than drivers starting to get the message (obviously apart from the occasional c0ck)? but it's far more likely these days that I see someone on a bike being an idiot than someone in a car doing the same…

Yes cyclists should stop fully & properly at red lights, only we usually can't do it safely because the advanced stop boxes and cycle lanes to the side of the roads are actually full of cars/lorries/buses in Sheffield.

poor argument. Yes, the ASLs and cycle lanes shouldn't be full of cars, but you should always be able to stop safely at red lights. You might just have to sit a bit back from the lights rather than right on the line…

I really don't get people who says France is safer than UK for road riding. I don't pretend to know both the whole countries, but south of england is way much safer than south of France for road riding.
When commuting in southampton I only had on average 2-3 close call incident a week.
In Cannes it's generally once a day.

Around here (Brighton) it does seem to me that there is more aggression toward cyclists on the road in the last couple of years, I seem to be getting less room and every ride and it seems a good fews cars almost take out my front wheel while pulling back in.

What confuses me is that we are lucky enough to have some pretty ok cycle paths here, which in some areas are separate to the main road. However some people still cycle up the main road running parallel! There are certain cycle paths that I will not ride on (glass, pot-holes, dangerous routing etc.) but I am taking about clean, well surfaced and routed paths. I think this also winds up motorists.

However I don't think it will ever change here, as mentioned above most people in this beautiful country are no angry, stressed w*nkers who will never like cyclists. The population density is too high and the road network too narrow to ever build a real network of cycle paths.

We are back off to italy asap where not RLJing on a bike is considered strange!

Seriously considering selling my lush italian road-bike too 🙁

NB I am not attacking the current STW riders who have been in self-defence situations, they must do what they think right.

BUT The riders who talk about 'teaching a driver a lesson' are adding to the problem, I believe. It escalates and the next cyclist down the road gets cut up 'for no reason' and the vicious circle rolls on until some poor sod gets killed.

I agree with AndyP that it's getting better. I ride in Exeter and surrounding areas and it is definitely better now than three years ago. Largely because of the higher numbers of riders. Drivers just have to get used to it. And cyclists should stop at red.

I’ve been commuting for 2 years and only had a couple of near misses from vehicles, mainly due to cars weaving whilst avoiding speed bumps. I’ve never had anyone shout or scream at me.
I am able to use cycle paths which are frankly an expensive joke- dismounts, junctions etc every 100m but at least I can legally ride on the footpath for most of my journey, albeit a dangerous place itself due to oblivious pedestrians walking in cycle lanes, often 3 abreast with colleagues, students in their own little world etc etc.

I signal at junctions, stop at red lights and wait at pelican crossings but look after myself as priority. If that means riding where I shouldn’t so be it. I often go home the long way down country lanes which can be ratruns, but most drivers a pretty good. I’m feeling more confident in town always now overtake rather than undertake stationary lines of traffic. A hi vis vest or bright top does help IMO.

A cyclist was killed by my house a while back. Young girl driver had been racing on the carpark, then lost control going up the road, bounced between the curbs and careered into cyclist at 50 in a 30, riding on the pavement. She got about 3 years and a ban, he is dead. In the local press there has been outrage at her long sentence, she had a clean licence before this (she had only passed her test 6 months ffs. Writers in have tried to apportion some blame to the cyclist as he has no lights and was on the footpath. Its also started people writing in moaning about cycling on pavements running red lights.

I don’t think its a battle cyclists can win until personnel transport using cars stops due to oil running out or a massive investment in other means of transport by Government.

I'm spending a few days in Copenhagen later this month, in part to check out the cycling culture. Compulsory helmet laws have been rejected there as encouraging a 'culture of fear' – fewer Danes wear helmets than we do yet they have far lower injury rates. Perhaps it comes down to two things: infrastructure and driver mentality. London and other UK cities will never be bike-friendly thanks to the layout. We have too many people trying to share a poor road network with fellow Britons who have a 'me first, screw you' attitude. I've watched a London bus driver harass a cyclist off the road, only to pull in a few yards down the road. I don't believe that mentality will ever change.

In Cannes it's generally once a day.

That's because they're all tourists from Britain trying to get to La Croisette…. 😉

BUT The riders who talk about 'teaching a driver a lesson' are adding to the problem, I believe.

Broadly, I do agree, though the red mist descends pretty quickly. Happily, these days, it ascends just asquickly, and no sooner have I shouted "Oi" at a driver, then I'm over it and don't want any more aggro.

All I want to do is make sure that I'm safe, rather than exacting some sort of revenge which is, IMO, no different from a car driver cutting someone up because of a perceived slight. Very rarely do I completely lose it, and then it has to be with very good reason.

OMITN this season has now past and I still have trouble 😉
Yesterday someone cut me getting in the roundabout and when I shouted she just waved here head and hand saying I don't care.

No sure kick the living shit of any driver is good. Down here cops can't be bothered (now that is a surprise). Bike is regarded as either a middle class sport (high end) or a poor man mean of transportation (specially here as well).

I can't really see that chanching. For various reason. As for the red light, well lets face it I run them or not, it depends in which country I am.

In Cannes it's generally once a day.

What happens is that brits who live in cities/suburbia go on holiday to France and pootle around backroads in the middle of nowhere at off peak times and say 'oh isn't France great for cycling'.

Keep your 'personal' space just that. You must be very assertive whilst on the road, i use the road for the most part like a car,ie i take up the space i need to ensure i have plenty of space and that cars behind me will just have to wait until i see fit to move aside..if you get a beep or two…thats life, just ignore it, or make a piont and take even longer to get out the way.

Also hold your lines, deviation causes drivers to try and worm past you, if your line is solid it gives them a much clearer indication of where you are going….could go on but won't.

This is all in london and it works very well for me.

Another issue 'not proper cyclists like us' cyclists i.e no lights or lid, ride along the pavement, then the road, ride over zebra crossings, then pavement, road etc etc. And the highway code is something in fairy tales.
They even annoy me.

I think its just another symptom of the general decline in respect for others and the demise of our communities which is increasingly affecting all areas of life and society not just the roads – for example people throwing fast food cartons on the pavement when there is a bin 5 yards away, having overly loud convesations on their phones, or at the gym I go to people leaving wet towels lying around when there are two bins where they can put them, or using the hairdriers (hint in the name) to dry their feet and genitals FFS!

I agree with the poster above about the number of cyclists riding like idiots not helping with drivers' perception of cyclists in general.

It really annoys me when cyclists feel they have the right to use pavement and/or road, whichever lets them ride fastest. The red light jumping thing is annoying too.

Do we still have decent cycling proficiency training in schools like when I were a lad?! 🙂

But Brits are by and large, **** bellends. So there's no chance. Britain is ace, 90% of the cocks that live in it are hate and alcohol fueled morons, so there's no chance.

here here!!

a country that cant have a bike share scheme in a city because within 72 hrs they are all smashed isnt a place i want to live.
shame we're stuck in it though!
(been in paris over the weekend)

you could be more assertive physically.

where you would hold a line in the road, at certain places, that would discourage overtaking for example ( hanging out towards the crown a bit on blind corners) you could get yourself into a position that STOPS it until YOU are ready to let them past, youll wind them up a bit more, but thats what middle fingers are made for.

dont give in!

I've ridden bikes on the road for about 20years. I've done less recently and when I do I find it very unpleasant due to the behaviour of drivers. The level of congestion is very high, which possibly adds to the problems.

I'm almost certain that Traffic Light jumping by drivers and cyclists is much more common than it was 10 years ago.

Without wishing to sound like an old git, I think that Philby is onto something there.

There is an attitude of "I'm alright, Jack" in the UK. We are certainly not the stiff upper lip, mustn't grumble stereotype of old -We probably never were and it's probably a fairly universal attitude.

Unfortunately, the big stick approach is a civilising one. In 2009, there is no fear of any repercussions as a result of poor, selfish behaviour and people just do what they like. Police beating people up, fitting people up and authority figures dishing out corporal punishment are obviously not desirable though.

Cars provide a very safe environment for the driver and seem to give people a sense of bravado. A large number of drivers -often young women who are much more confident(overly so?) than they were in the past- can be seen/heard mouthing off to other drivers/pedestrians/cyclists. Take away the car and most of those people wouldn't be anywhere near as aggressive….

I reckon I'd now like to live somewhere quieter than a big UK conurbation.

I don't road ride for pleasure, just to commute and although I'm not as safe as in my car, I'm way less stressed.
Far more seperated from all those morons who don't know how to use lanes, indicators, their eyes, etc etc.
Most of the problems seem to stem from utter ignorance, not aggression.

Assertive riding, owning your space etc. is all well and good on urban roads, on country lanes how are you going to stop someone using the oncoming lane to overtake you on a blind corner and the then pulling in inches from your front wheel? If another car comes round the car you are all going to die.

This is the difference I have noticed, less patience and people literally not prepared to wait a few seconds to go round a bend before overtaking and risking not just my life but theirs.

Well, I stop at red lights and obey the rules as best I can. Being on a bicyle makes it feel even more important – if you get grief when riding legally and safely it's surely going to be a whole lot worse if you're being an idiot. I also believe that acting sensibly on a bike is about not letting the side down and increasing the dislike of other cyclists.

Assertive riding, owning your space etc. is all well and good on urban roads, on country lanes how are you going to stop someone using the oncoming lane to overtake you on a blind corner and the then pulling in inches from your front wheel? If another car comes round the car you are all going to die.

you have to think. Oh look, car overtaking me on blind corner. Perhaps they'll pull in inches from my front wheel. I'll scrub some speed and get ready to take evasive action.