For some reason I've started getting increasingly nervous riding on the road and have made a mental note to make sure I'm paying attention to everything & don't make mistakes.
However, it's not always what you do and having had a look at this article on the Beeb hasn't really helped; it can get really unpredictable out there.
These are a couple of really, really lucky guys.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cpq1xdn31dyo
Aye.
Texters,stoners and big screen distractions are the things that I think about more these days on the road bike.
I am lucky that I can still cycle in a quiet ( and relatively) ,unpopulated area,so the ratio of bellends I encounter is a lot less than many people.
I also notice ( with the extra height)when riding the motorbike, just how many are on their phones. 😡
Phone use is epidemic. The number of times sitting in the car at lights and you can see the driver ahead (first in queue) looking down at their phone. Lights change and no reaction. I have on more than one occasion with no oncoming traffic rather than tooting just drove round them and left them and their phone to it.
Yeah I saw that. George Fox holds the uk road bike tt record for 10 miles (something daft well under 19 min), so a very experienced rider.
Won't help you when you have idiots on the road. Probably just going too fast for the conditions
What I found interesting is the contrast to what would have happened to the cyclist (ie serious injury or death if they were hit) vs what happened to the poor bugger in the car behind who the clown hit. Basically walked away with a few scratches.
Does make you feel a bit vulnerable doesn't it..
That sort of thing is why I bought a gravel bike I keep off the roads as much as possible. Just driving on the roads these days is worrisome enough. Like above, I see texters every time I walk the kids up the street to school, lads puffing weed whilst driving along, Lorries ignoring a 7.5t limit, drivers ignoring the school zebra crossing lady. The amount of transit drivers who get caught for weed, coke and booze locally when stopped for random waste carrier checks is worrying. That’s not to mention how many of their vehicles get prohibited for being unsafe.
was riding to work on Friday, arm out indicating to turn left off a roundabout. See a silver Golf approaching the roundabout from the turning before I'm about to take, doesn't look like he's going to slow up and give way to traffic on his right so I'm ready for it. Didn't slow down at all, looked right at the last minute and pulled out right in front of me, phone in his right hand fumbling with it and trying to hold the steering wheel at the same time. Knobscratcher right there, whatadick.
But there again it's a regular occurance these days. Cars pulling out of turnings in front of me without looking - I know they havn't looked 'cause I'm looking right at them, close impatient passes, cars driving passes parked cars on the wrong side of the road heading straight towards me, pedestrians stepping out into the road without looking, the list is endless.
Every time I'm back in the UK I think to myself "**** riding on the road", and I ride lots in Italy.... At least there the drivers, as mad as they seem, are expecting there to be bikes on the road and pass you with a decent amount of space.
I only ride on the road for utility journeys these days, or to get off road. Used to be about 50% of my riding but just lost interest after being knocked off a while ago.
Took up gravel, but then realised xc was much more fun so that's what I do for those 1-2hr rides that used to be on road.
I used to feel like I didn't wanna let the bell ends win, but I'd rather just feel safer now TBH
I gave up commuting and road riding after being knocked off 3 times in 3 months, final straw was a close pass by an ambulance where I had to take evasive action. Can't say I miss it, I ride for fun
I used to feel like I didn't wanna let the bell ends win, but I'd rather just feel safer now TBH
Yeah this is where I'm at with it now as well. I still ride on the road at the minute but there's anxiety whenever I hear a car coming. Had quite a few near misses over the summer, the worst one almost being a head on collision with a **** overtaking round a corner at speed - luckily he saw me in time and was able to drop back/pull in. Wish I'd got a gravel bike instead tbh, I think the road bike will be retired to just a rollers/turbo bike.
The problem with road riding in the UK now is partly because it is now so busy all the time. There's no real "rush hour" any more, it's just busy all the time and the rare occasions you get a clear bit of road, everyone floors it to "make up time".
Law of averages, the more people out there the more bellends too even if the percentage stays the same. It's just a constant stress - mostly fairly low level stress but it's always there.
Are they going to give way? Is that person going to pull out? Is that SUV going to squeeze past anyway?
It's never ending. But that's what 50+ years of car-centric planning with near zero consistent provision for public transport or cycling or walking results in.
Must vary by area though. Riding around the north of Glasgow I can't remember my last near miss. I do choose my routes and go low traffic or no traffic where possible. Even riding busy roads like in the inner city though drivers are pretty good.
Fast rural roads you are at the mercy of drivers to some extent. 30mph roads the speeds are lower and there are more escape routes if required.
Best cycling decision I ever made was selling the road bike during Covid and building up a monstercross. I'm very, very careful with my route planning when it comes to roads precisely because of this^ and I'm constantly amazed at the number of 'serious' cyclists I see slogging along dangerous roads where I live - when there are safer, quiet, scenic, more physically challenging minor lanes running everywhere! Just look at a map...
Some 20 years ago, I was about to leave my house for a ride starting up Rivelin Valley in Sheffield. As I locked the back door, I remembered my pump. Opened back up, went into the basement, got pump, back out on bikes and away.
5 minutes up the road we came across a car on its side. It has somehow come from the other side of the road, hit a tree on our side and flipped on its side. There were 2 cars queued.i reckon we'd missed the accident by a minute, possibly the same minute it took to get my pump.
That day started the decline of road riding for me, and when I saw the OP clip on the socials it's an even closer example of why.
That incident is horrific and almost matched (not literally of course) by the stupidity of the Facebook comments that followed whichever regional BBC account posted it there.
Just back froma holiday in Sicily that involved quite a lot of urban driving. Back home afterwards I was driving along in my hometown wondering why everyone was driving so slowly, why I wasn't contantly being overtaken, why were people indicating, why weren't people cutting out in front of me and why weren't folk parked diagonally across zebra crossings with their arses halfway across the carriageway? Thing is, like Alpin says, they are actually paying attention when they do crazy manouevers.
But I saw zero folk on bikes in the towns.
I got run over on my local loop. Classic SMIDSY as the guy pulled onto the roundabout I was already on. Irony was that the guy was training to be a policeman.
me and the wife go out of our way not to ride on the road nowadays. west yorkshire could possibly one o the worst areas in the country for road cycling.
if we go on the road it is only to cross roads or to link off road loops up.
quite lucky i suppose, we live on a BW that is 1 mile to the TPT so we can do loops of up to 100 miles with very little roadwork.
we go to Europe a bit o the bikes...... heaven compared to here. car drivers are pretty laidback over there and give you plenty of time and room.
holiday in Sicily that involved quite a lot of urban driving. Back home afterwards I was driving along in my hometown wondering why everyone was driving so slowly, why I wasn't contantly being overtaken, why were people indicating, why weren't people cutting out in front of me and why weren't folk parked diagonally across zebra crossings with their arses halfway across the carriageway? Thing is, like Alpin says
Mate, Sicily is another world.... Even the Italians don't consider it as Italy, referring to it as Africa. It's certainly a completely different style of driving even to the mainland....
ooops
Must vary by area though. Riding around the north of Glasgow I can't remember my last near miss. I do choose my routes and go low traffic or no traffic where possible. Even riding busy roads like in the inner city though drivers are pretty good.
Fast rural roads you are at the mercy of drivers to some extent. 30mph roads the speeds are lower and there are more escape routes if required.
I beg to differ, I’ve been knocked off twice cycling into Glasgow from Clarkston and have been close passed numerous times, last week being the latest whilst heading to Whitelee for a gravel ride. Yesterday the Glasgow Southside bunch were overtaken by some arse, wrong side of an island and had to come to a standstill as there was a car coming the other way (vid sent on WhatsApp group).
Having had my spine broken by a stupid driver 10 years ago, I am more careful/defensive these days. I still commute, but on a slower bike that does off road too. I haven't touched my proper vintage road bikes for a few years now as I got a CX bike to fill the gaps. My riding has changed.
Brand new road opened near us last week, got a nice bit of cycle path all the way along it, except crossing a junction to a minor road off it is prioritising the minor road instead of cycle path which contravenes highway code 🤨 we just can't bloody win.
Must vary by area though. Riding around the north of Glasgow I can't remember my last near miss. I do choose my routes and go low traffic or no traffic where possible. Even riding busy roads like in the inner city though drivers are pretty good.
Fast rural roads you are at the mercy of drivers to some extent. 30mph roads the speeds are lower and there are more escape routes if required.
I beg to differ, I’ve been knocked off twice cycling into Glasgow from Clarkston and have been close passed numerous times, last week being the latest whilst heading to Whitelee for a gravel ride. Yesterday the Glasgow Southside bunch were overtaken by some arse, wrong side of an island and had to come to a standstill as there was a car coming the other way (vid sent on WhatsApp group).
Maybe northside drivers are better?. Commuting into glasgow and utilty cycling for 40+ years. No knock offs. Near misses I could count on two hands.
Must vary by area though.
It does. I do like a good road loop, it's great. I used to live in the Chilterns and there were loads of good lanes and roads, though the SE is generally busier. Now live in Glos/Ox border area and there's miles of quiet riding on the doorstep. Drivers around here are generally pretty good. I do see the usual drivers looking at phone on lap and the distracted school run types but if you avoid rush hour and school run times/areas it's fine. I'm pretty defensive in my riding anyway. I feel fairly relaxed about cars these days, assume they will do something daft (but most don't) and wave a big obvious thumbs-up / thanks to many drivers when they give you the full lane when overtalking - reinforce the good behaviour instead of getting wound up by the bad. I end up waving a lot more thanks than I would need to gesture 'you wnkr!'. From time to time I get pissed off at something but it's rare.
Must vary by area though. Riding around the north of Glasgow I can't remember my last near miss. I do choose my routes and go low traffic or no traffic where possible. Even riding busy roads like in the inner city though drivers are pretty good.
Fast rural roads you are at the mercy of drivers to some extent. 30mph roads the speeds are lower and there are more escape routes if required.
I beg to differ, I’ve been knocked off twice cycling into Glasgow from Clarkston and have been close passed numerous times, last week being the latest whilst heading to Whitelee for a gravel ride. Yesterday the Glasgow Southside bunch were overtaken by some arse, wrong side of an island and had to come to a standstill as there was a car coming the other way (vid sent on WhatsApp group).
Maybe northside drivers are better?. Commuting into glasgow and utilty cycling for 40+ years. No knock offs. Near misses I could count on two hands.
Could be! Though my mate got knocked off cycling through Bearsden a few years ago.
I commute into Manchester by bike. I pick as much an off road route as I can, but on the return I stick to the roads - why, because I've been attacked and seen someone attacked in the early evening by scallies on these off road routes (Reddish Vale and Fallowfield loop for the locals). It's OK in the morning though. I stopped commuting for a number of years, and road riding, as a driver broke my spine. I was very lucky not to be in a wheel chair. 7 weeks in hospital and 7 months off work.
I'm back road riding, but it's mainly on my CX bike (when not commuting) as I can pick my route. I avoid a lot of roads now, where I once would have ridden them.
I've been hit by drivers too many times.
I don't ride on road for pleasure. To get me to offroad routes and commuting only, and even then I actively avoid road use whenever possible. Lucky to have a reasonable network of traffic-free routes around me, but even those are getting worse*. Not commuting as often but still hoping to do so. Been knocked off twice in 15 years and struck another time. Seeing more carelessness and aggression towards folk on bikes even on the limited time I spend on the road.
* Absolute cluster**k around the Falkirk Stadium/Helix area currently with road 'improvements' - the end result will be at the detriment of active travel with replacement of an underpass with a two-stage pedestrian crossing across a dual-carriageway, which if it's the same as the existing two-stage crossing further along will prioritise road users until a gap appears (said gap being big enough your granny could cross in without the traffic stopping). The initial design was supposed to be a 'Hovenring'-style separate network but delays in starting the project meant it was no longer affordable...
I've been thinking about this a lot recently. I'm lucky where I live (Stirlingshire), to have a lot of quiet roads to pootle along. But getting onto those roads means exposing myself to stoners, speeders and close passing idiots. I had a wee sit down and cry to myself in the summer after two cars racing each other whipped past me on the A803 heading towards Stirling. I have never had such an awful fright. I got the full triple of speeding (its a 50mph road, they must have been doing 80-90), close pass on a curved blind summit (I don't believe they saw me at all), and the stench of weed as they passed.
I used to jump on my mountain bike and do the 10 mile ride to Stirling's trails maybe 4 times a week and in the winter that meant riding 4-5 miles of unlit A road in the middle of the night. I just won't do that anymore because I don't feel safe. I appreciate that I'm getting much more risk averse in my middle ages, but driver awareness and ability has declined significantly over the last few years as well.
My evening winter riding has shrunk to a few local mountain bike trails that I can access with limited road time, but even these now have their hazards as they are also used by the local Balaclava / Suron drug courier club. I think I've been on my lovely Bianchi road bike twice this year. ☹️
I had a wee sit down and cry to myself in the summer after two cars racing each other whipped past me on the A803 heading towards Stirling. I have never had such an awful fright. I got the full triple of speeding (its a 50mph road, they must have been doing 80-90), close pass on a curved blind summit (I don't believe they saw me at all), and the stench of weed as they passed.
Hate to reinforce your experience shock, so I mean this as justification for your concern and also to say I don't take road riding lightly despite saying I enjoy it in a quiet area - when I was younger my friend was killed by the driver of 1 of 2 cars racing in that way through a village. They were ~2x the speed limit, unseen until crested a bridge and he was scooting across the road by his house 150yds further along, next to the layby at the local shop where we used to meet up and do 'wheelies'.
I'd have them in jail for a long time for anything like that. Needs a decade or 2 of strong no-tolerance messaging before ******s slow down. Policy makers are weak for not doing that.
My Fairlight Strael road bike has only been used this year on a week's holiday in France. Real shame as it's a wonderful bike. If I didn't love it so much I'd probably sell it.
Use it's sibling Secan in the main now. My gravel routes do entail a fair percentage of quiet road riding but I can be much more selective about the type of road. Doesn't stop the odd head case, quite often in a hulking great tractor or farm 4x4 going out of their way to ruin your day though.
How the hell 2ft wide Infotainment screens have been normalised is absolutely beyond me.
I still road ride but these days I am mostly on the turbo in the week and then only do proper rides early doors at 6am (ish) on either a saturday or sunday morning.
Riding at those times I guess is not nearly as bad as regular rush hour commutes as I generally find it broadly OK and largely incident free (and I live in Manchester).
I ride with a Garmin Varia on the rear and a dedicated day-flash light on the front and I do think both of those make a positive difference. If for some reason I end up riding without the Varia now it feels really weird to me and almost like losing one of my senses.
I see more people out road riding than ever before around here (at all times of the day or week) and so its clear that many people are comfortable with the risk.
I don't ride on the road as much as I used to - partly because my commute has become significantly more bike-friendly with improved towpath surfaces, segregated cycle lanes etc, partly because I'm not road racing any more so don't feel the need for the base miles and partly because I've replaced my winter roadie with a gravel bike and enjoy trying to link up tarmac and gravel when I'm out, which means quieter routes.
Becoming more risk-aware as you get older is definitely a thing, but I always try to keep my view of driver behaviour in balance. The good drivers hugely outweigh the bad - you'll barely notice 99 safe considerate passes but one poor pass will stick with you.
Maybe it's age, maybe it's a result of spending less time on roads with vehicle traffic, but it does feel a bit wild west out there these days! Two or even three cars continuing through junctions when the light has turned red, drivers of moving cars clearly looking at the mobile phone they're holding down near their right leg rather than the road, cars stinking of weed, drivers looking at large dashboard screens for long periods, that sort of thing.
My guess is that less visible police presence has a lot to do with this - a lot of people probably feel they can behave this way because the chances of being seen and caught are so obviously smaller than 10 years ago.
People are just so damn stupid, that's the danger. You've gotta be so aware all the time. I'm quite grateful for Covid - means I only commute twice a week now, so my risk factor is massively reduced!
This wasn't really dangerous to me, but was the last thing that happened to me on the commute with an utter moron in a car.. my SWEARY (warning! I am foul mouthed 🤣 ) comments will let you know what's happening, but my gawd, what an idiot. This driver had sooo much time for the manouevre they were attempting, but no, I shall stop in front of on-coming traffic! I can only assume they were waiting to let me turn right. I was baffled.
about 54 secs is where it gets entertaining, though prior to that you can see how fast the traffic is on that road!
I still regularly ride on roads, but I am selective where and when I ride. That said, I'll happily ride the A6 between Derby and Ashford if I need to.
Doing Bikeability 3 made a big difference to my confidence - learning better positioning for protecting myself and approaching multi lane junctions etc.
As others have said, you remember the few bad passes, not the majority of safe passes. And that has led to a groupthink approach that road riding is "too dangerous".
Totally understand that reaction, but I refuse to be bullied off the road.
Watched the video above, I'd remove your van invisibility cloak! As for the driver in the Swift, I think they were trying to give way, by sitting right in your way, maybe.
Two or even three cars continuing through junctions when the light has turned red
Red light jumping is normalised now, see it all the time at the lights at the end of the road near here. A guy went through a pedestrian crossing just after it went red last week as a guy with a walking stick started to cross. The 'war on the motorist' needs ramping up a bit and re-naming as the 'war on drivers who DGAS'. It's a noble cause to save lives, right?
My guess is that less visible police presence has a lot to do with this
100%. Cut services and look what happens. Cameras on lights managed by a private company could help, people don't like to mess with debt collection agencies and won't take the risk - if it's a genuine error like speeding cameras sometimes just learn from it, you needed to, and move on.
As others have said, you remember the few bad passes, not the majority of safe passes. And that has led to a groupthink approach that road riding is "too dangerous".
The thing is, I'd inevitably experience a close pass almost every ride. So it doesn't really matter if it was only 1 in 100 cars, it was still EVERY ****ING RIDE.
And it's not really groupthink IMO, my experience is that non-cyclists are even more pessimistic about the danger.
As I said above, I used to refuse to be bullied off the road - but eventually just didn't have any desire to ride on the road for fun anymore.
I'd remove your van invisibility cloak!
Oh, they can see me (See.Sense rear light always on) - they just don't give a ****. In the scheme of things, they aren't as close as some. Though, of course, they are going reasonably fast. Having a mirror on the drops has helped considerably with that turning.
[edit] a rear view mirror that is, not a vanity one 😆
As others have said, you remember the few bad passes, not the majority of safe passes. And that has led to a groupthink approach that road riding is "too dangerous".
If I drive to work I'll encounter some poor driving, which might inconvenience me but rarely endangers me. And, being in a car, moving at the speed of other cars means that I don't actually encounter all that many other vehicles, even in a seven mile drive. Many will be going in exactly the same direction as me, so the car behind may only change a handful of times. That means that I might encounter the 5% of bad drivers once every few commutes in the car.
Riding, the drivers overtake, so instead of being exposed to a handful of cars, I am now exposed to a couple of hundred vehicles in those seven miles. So, the chance of encountering one of those 5% of bad drivers is significant on every commute.
(I've chosen 5% as the amount of bad drivers completely unscientifically. It's definitely more than 1% and less than 25% ime...)
The unexpected and accidents do happen and some of it is avoidable, but the DGAF attitude of many drivers where they do see you but don’t care about what their actions will mean to you or other road users is that bit which is so depressing, and that is reflection of a decline in our society’s attitude of how we interact with others. I battle on with road cycling, in part because off road options around me are limited, but when you find yourself viewing every motorised road user as a potential problem it’s mentally draining.
" Having a mirror on the drops has helped considerably with that turning."
I find my mirror hugely useful. Approaching a turn or change of road position I can monitor traffic and only do one shoulder check before moving. The final check both confirms my sense of traffic from the mirror is correct and signals to drivers I am about to change direction.
It also eliminates close passes. As I can see any potential close passes coming I can move left at the last minute to stop them being close passes. And of course I am always far enough out from the kerb or parked cars I have room to move left.
It also increases confidence in taking the lane where needed as I can see what the following traffic is doing. It turned a very small number of punishment passes over the years into comfortable passes. For example I just laughed at the motorbiker who changed course from the center of his lane to the edge of the 6ft wide hard shoulder to try and buzz me. I saw it coming and just moved 3ft right (this was midwest USA) at the last moment.
It saved my life once. In Nevada I had to ride off the road to avoid a 60mph RV hitting me as the driver (who couldn't overtake because of oncoming traffic) chose to drive thru me instead.
Riding, the drivers overtake, so instead of being exposed to a handful of cars, I am now exposed to a couple of hundred vehicles in those seven miles. So, the chance of encountering one of those 5% of bad drivers is significant on every commute.
100% this. You see so much more dangerous driving when you're out riding because of that speed differential (it works the other way too, filtering down the side of stationary traffic and seeing everyone sitting there on their phones or smelling weed).
On that note, I think there's a difference to how you're treated depending on your speed. Slower cyclists get noticeably worse treatment, drivers are more desperate to get past - most of the slower cyclists are older people, younger people, more novice riders which puts them off disproportionately more. The faster riders who can sit there at 20mph get better treatment but they're the ones confident and fit enough to be doing that speed.
The result is that the roads lose the very people they need - the "utility" cyclist, the kid cycling to school etc and they retain the "lycra lout" treating the road as their own personal velodrome (I'm paraphrasing from the point of view of a cyclist-hating gammon).