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@alpin - thank you for the considerate support. I hope you have no flaws and are the correct age.
No punchlines here but I do have some frozen sausages and a wooden mallet.
Interesting observation.
We as cyclists are pretty familiar with “othering” I think. Car driver seeing us as different and not worthy of respect or consideration. That generally makes us feel a bit angry.
Well that’s the same thing I felt when reading the OPs description of these other cyclists and as I found commonality with some of the things he said I felt this again.
Do we not think that this is wrong, and should not be doing it ourselves?
as crazylegs has said, I suspect if you knew the rules you'd be in the wrong
however, in my experience, the racing snakes tend to be the ones who have been cycling for a while and actually follow the rules of the road, whereas those who don’t tend to be middle aged fatties ..
perhaps it’s just a coincidence..
Perhaps the larger mass requires more space to change direction or slow down. Like oil tankers.
I am however a bit self conscious and am stuck in a loop of not wanting to go out in road kit until I’m in shape, but am staying out of shape partly because of not doing so and partly out of low self esteem.
That was a joke up above, I am skinny but also slow and old. I'm sure there are those who think I shouldn't be on a bike in lycra but I don't give a toss - and nor should you. Wear what you want and sod the judgement of others.
Wear what you want and sod the judgement of others.
Pretty much the antithesis of low self esteem; easy to write but nigh on impossible to do.
I'm guessing there's zero biscuits left now then.
Pretty much the antithesis of low self esteem; easy to write but nigh on impossible to do.
I don't know, I'm starting to get pretty good at it near the end of my forties... or just ignoring the feeling and putting it aside. Think doing sports in public places has helped... and being trim compared to a lot of my peers. Twenty years ago I didn't need to exercise to stay in shape, but now I do... luckily I've plenty of time to exercise as I don't have a social life!
If they're all fat lads then who goes at the back?
I was waiting for a punchline….. All we got was some geezer getting upset about his waistline.
Paunchline Shirley?
Groups of cyclists on roundabouts and intersections.
Cyclists when travelling in groups have priority – all of them, from first to last – on roundabouts, as well as in the rest of the intersections, when the first of the cyclists has already entered it.
Love that trailing comma.
Did you bother to ask any of the offending lardarses whether they drove an Audi or BMW when back home ? That information would probably have explained it all to you.
If they were only going 16mph and near a junction could you not anticipate that there were not going to slow down by looking at their lack of speed change/slowing down and avoid the need to cycle into oncoming traffic?
Yeah, I am victim blaming, but riding a bike on the road takes a good level of anticipation if you don't want to end up in accidents even if they would not be technically your fault so a lesson for you there.
@alpim Are Germans not allowed to ride bikes on the road?
The last time I went to Mallorca, it sort of did feel like a bit of a training ground for Mamils trying to get to the dizzy heights of 17mph averages. Didn't have any incidents at roundabouts but the worst road (by a mile) was up to the beach at Cap Formentor, coaches full of touristica, locals trying to overtake, riders single and in groups, it was pretty hairy.
I’m on a cycling holiday with my other half in Majorca.
Other destinations available, but there might not be pubs and wall to wall sunshine and cyclist friendly roads.
Think about why you are there, you are one of them and part of the problem, because the Islands have much more serious problems than bunches of cyclists thinking they own the roads, mainly mass tourism.
because the Islands have much more serious problems than bunches of cyclists thinking they own the roads, mainly mass tourism.
That's becoming a serious issue in both Balearic Islands and Canary Islands. It's exacerbated by cycling - whereas most tourists just go and lie on the beach, the sheer number of cyclists going to these places now means that on certain roads at certain times (like Sa Calobra for example) you literally cannot move for cyclists going up and down.
Locals get irate, accidents happen, there's an undercurrent of annoyance from locals that these cyclists are clogging up "their" roads and from cyclists that the quiet cycling nirvana that they've been promised doesn't actually exist.
Like those Instagram locations that look amazing on a phone screen but when you turn around, there's 1000 people all crowding in trying to get the same shot.
Here I was thinking my 16mph average speed was about to get me signed to the world tour. Devastated.
*Googles skinsuits in XXXL*