[Closed] Regular road riders, how do you cope?

I ride in the countryside mostly and make a point of planning routes that avoid traffic as much as possible.
When I do have to use main roads then my experience is pretty similar to yours, it definitely feels as if drivers are giving less and less thought to other road users these days. Gits.

It's just bloody mental on the roads, there are so many more cars now than 10 years ago it's crazy, and so much less consideration for 'others' it makes me sad 🙁

edit- I'm not a road rider as such, just someone who sometimes has to use roads to get to where I'm going on my bike.

This time of year is particularly bad, low sun, wet slippy roads. Some drivers DGAS but some are ok.

I know my area well enough that I can plan rides from 50 to 100 miles on very quiet roads (well, lanes mostly)- that was one of the main reasons I moved there (from London). If I had to live in another, busier part of the southeast I'm not sure what I'd do. I sympathise with cyclists who have to ride out of large towns and cities to get somewhere safe.

I wouldn't necessarily choose this time of year to start road riding again as the frenzy of Christmas shopping adds to the low sun, wet roads and general crap weather conditions. I'd wait until things improve in the spring before getting back into it if the conditions bother you.

You get use to it. Mostly I try and plan routes that avoid the traffic.

i took up MTBing

I'd say standards are better now than they were 10 years ago here round Derby. Fewer idiots, still too many though. Tend to avoid the busiest routes, but even commuting into Shottingham isn't as fraught as it used to be.

I think I get less wound up than other people I ride with. Maybe I expect bad driving so i don't get upset by it unless they are desperately stupid.

Go out mostly on my own - club rides with large groups or through busy areas are a nightmare for winding drivers up and prompting unsafe & dangerous behaviour.

Plot routes that avoid busy/fast/dangerous roads.

Ride predictably, safely and (mostly) legally so the driver sees what they are expecting to see from a cyclist.

And never, ever get involved in anything.

In spite of that I'm reasonably assertive on the road and will happily take primary position or indicate that it's unsafe to pass. The vast majority of drivers are actually fairly understanding, there seems to be a tacit acceptance at least.

And never, ever get involved in anything.

I there a Jedi mind trick that enables you to do this? Can you teach me?

Not to mention being dazzled by car headlights at night and having idiots shout at you through the car window as they're passing because it's so hilarious.

Avoid busy roads where possible. Actually I do think that drivers are getting better. There are some idiots out there but most people are ok. I think that assertive riding coupled with knowing when to back off helps.

I ride in that London a couple of times a week - you get used to it, and I can only remember a couple of truly dangerous passes in the last 6 months.

So long as they have passed, thats the main thing. Hitting you is another matter.

Most drivers are actually ok, its just you remember the bad ones so it seems like theres more of them.

Dont give up else we'll all eventually be banished to dedicated cycle lanes.

Route choice is key, was out for over 6 hrs today and if 50 cars overtook me i'd be suprised, but I stick to quiet lanes. I particulary avoid major routes where I can as drivers seem to be less considerate, it feels to me some are annoyed as i'm invading 'their' space.

I find winter better than summer, and the worse the weather the safer people drive. Was very foggy this morning and everyone gave me lots of space.

To give balance to above two vans pulled out in front of me today, nothing too close though

Go out mostly on my own - club rides with large groups or through busy areas are a nightmare for winding drivers up and prompting unsafe & dangerous behaviour.

Plot routes that avoid busy/fast/dangerous roads.

Ride predictably, safely and (mostly) legally so the driver sees what they are expecting to see from a cyclist.

In spite of that I'm reasonably assertive on the road and will happily take primary position or indicate that it's unsafe to pass. The vast majority of drivers are actually fairly understanding, there seems to be a tacit acceptance at least.

That's the approach. And try living in another country with much worse standards of driving for a few years; helps with getting some perspective.

What they said.

Choose your roads carefully, and don't ride around rush hour because people are arseholes then. During the day or after say 7pm it's a completely different experience.

I ride in various locations all over the country. I was in Farnborough for a while. Head East from there, it's a total nightmare; West, and it's miles of beautiful almost traffic-free country riding.

What @ajantom said

as above early sunday mornings, midweek after 10am, country roads away from towns (and rat runs which are the worst).

Mostly it's planning.

http://singletrackworld.com/columns/2015/05/bez-receding-hare-lines/

Although occasionally that still doesn't work out.

http://beyondthekerb.org.uk/2015/05/17/that-friday-feeling/

I there a Jedi mind trick that enables you to do this? Can you teach me?

I think he means avoid turning things into confrontations that risk getting out of control. I normally ride alone or with just one or two people but I've been on some larger rides where people seem unable to let things go. Not much point turning a brief brown trouser moment into a fist fight or a deliberate assault with a car.

Got a cx bike and do as much of my comute off road as i can and steering clear of the crazier spots and times.

I think he means avoid turning things into confrontations that risk getting out of control.

I know

The reason I stopped riding on the road was after being knocked off by a hit & run driver, loss of confidence followed so stuck to mountain bike afterwards. That happened at 8am on a sunny summer sunday morning so the timing of going for a ride seems a bit arbitrary... but it was a mid afternoon ride, suburb/countryside ride that made me start this thread.

Montgomery Wick...theres a blast from the past!

By staying indoors on the turbo

I know

Oh. Well, it doesn't exactly require a Jedi mind trick, does it?

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Exactly what crazy legs said.
I prefer off road , but sometimes needs must.
Riding into London this morning only two drivers tried to kill me.
I've taught myself to shrug my shoulders... Getting upset only spoils the ride.

Like others I ride when and where traffic is quiet. Generally country roads either weekday lunch or early Saturday mornings. Never on busy routes or city.

East Lothian is pretty good but there are a lot of cyclists

All the roads around me (Hindley near Wigan) that go anywhere are all very hostile which has left me with no option but to continue with Mountain Biking, and Mountain Biking only.

All the roads around me (Hindley near Wigan) that go anywhere are all very hostile

No, they're not.

Not riding in rush hour is great, unless you commute then you don't have a lot of choice. Make yourself as visible as possible, take a defensive line in the road and as others have said, avoid really busy roads if you can.

Well, i complain about the never ending cold overcast weather here in Fife, but the one thing i do have going in my favour is there's loads of quiet roads, and outside rush hour even the main roads arent that busy. I really do feel sorry for people that have to ride in cities - i'd hate it.

My only tip as mentioned by others is to avoid the busier routes at rush hour as it instantly turns 90% of drivers in psychopaths.

I only ride on the road for commute on weekdays and only during peak traffic hours.

Any other time I feel bloody dangerous to ride.

Peak time you get the bus lane and also no car can park on single yellow so it is actually the safest time to ride not to mention during rush hour most cars are grid locked so you are even safer.

But come weekend or after peak hours it is plane dangerous and as you said they just cut you off even when they know you will have to hard breaking, they will over take you with little room and all those things you've mentioned.

So I just do mountain biking on weekends. Road is for commute and I happy with that setup.

I commute and ride around the city a lot. I don't road ride for pleasure. How do I cope? I am on it at all times concentrating hard, I look behind me every 20 seconds or so, I ride assertively and defensively, I have learnt not to let the buggers wind me up, I have wide sticky tyres and disc brakes and cover the brakes at all times. I jump the odd red light where it gets me out of the way of traffic. I mock and laugh at the numpties - I try not to get angry. I try to use creative insults. " hope year next crap is a pineapple" " thrombus" ( medical term for a bloody clot) I laugh at all the car drivers stuck in traffic s I ride past smiling

I now train on my turbo instead of my 25mile commute

I did a 50km loop today and, once away from the village, saw no more than 7-8 cars. Any that overtook me left plenty of room.

I must be lucky as I don't seem to have much hassle. Get the odd car that overtakes a bit close but most give plenty of room.

I either ride on very very quiet lanes or in a group with the club, generally 2-3 times a week with the club and 1-2 times solo.

Our chaingang goes on main roads, but because you are 10-20 riders it is like a driver having to pass a lorry. That said the group is often passed by an irate driver held up for valuable seconds.

Commuting is a lot easier if you aren't riding flat out all the time. Took me a while to learn that, and it takes some effort from a competitive person such as me to back off and not try and chase the buggers down in parts of London.

but because you are 10-20 riders it is like a driver having to pass a lorry.

Don't do many club rides but the few I've done recently were pretty scary due to some of the crazy impatient overtaking manoeuvres. Much safer solo.

I nearly got taken out by an Uber driver on my mixed road/towpath ride today. He was too busy working out which side of the road to pick up on. It was pretty close to a full sideswipe but I managed to stop in time.

I actually enjoy it on the road, but I just assume everyone is a dick.

I started road biking in February after 10 years of mountain biking - I was scared at first and had a massive chip on my shoulder/ sh*t bricks at the sound of cars coming up behind me but i think (hopefully) now i've mellowed out a bit. Maybe If you've had 10 years off it might take you a few months to mellow out again? I assume everyone is a bad driver and i've learned not to hug the kerb, that way drivers have to take more notice and overtake properly instead of trying to squeeze past.

At this time of year especially It's really important to be visible so use front and rear lights and reflectives for when it's dark or overcast, high viz does absolutely jack sh*t in the dark.

As most people have already said just plan routes that avoid main roads, that way you're not battling rush hour desperadoes and football mums in 4 x 4's.

And yeah low sun is a killer 🙁 Stay visible, stay safe!

All the roads around me (Hindley near Wigan) that go anywhere are all very hostile

I ride through there a fair bit. The roads are fine. And you have some spectacular riding on your doorstep. Winter Hill etc

I commute every day on busy hostile roads. I find drinking helps

No idea how people around London cope. Up here in the grim north you just pick quiet roads. Once I leave the city and head out onto the hills there are very few cars if you stay off the biggest a roads

In the new forest waiting to join a road and a chav dad driving towards me encourages his prob 9 yr old kid to chuck their recently eaten bag of McDonald's crap at me, hitting me in the face. Lucky I was stopped as I might have fallen off. Luckily I remembered the ref no and dreported it and he got ticked off.

It seems it's easy to "hate" cyclists especially given the clarkson, daily mail types winding everyone up about being held up for 2 minutes on their way to the shops.

I ride through there a fair bit. The roads are fine. And you have some spectacular riding on your doorstep. Winter Hill etc

It's a constant stream of traffic on any of the roads which go anywhere, until you get to the Rivington area. Unless you went very early in the morning.

I don't ride for "pleasure", but I've been commuting pretty regularly since 1990. Only knocked off once (and I could've avoided that). Yeah, there are close passes, the odd left hook, but it's not really [i]that[/i] dangerous, just intimidating. So don't let yourself be intimidated.
One thing I tell myself when I've had a bad run - it's a damn sight better than being in a car amongst the morons.

It depends on a lot of factors, time of day, route etc. It's not necessarily the case that quieter roads are worse. There's a big NSL road I go along daily for a couple of miles on my way to work, never had a close pass except going into roundabouts as it's wide enough to pass comfortably even with a bus or truck coming the other way.

There are a couple of narrow sections where I've had people cause oncoming traffic to leave big long skid marks because they can't possibly wait until they're around a blind corner to overtake. I took one of these around 3pm instead of my usual 7-8am/6-7pm and despite similar levels of traffic, every single car was absolutely desperate to get past, one even got up next to me around a blind corner going down hill (NSL, twisty, I was doing 30+ which is often faster than the cars go round the corners as it's only a short stretch before a T junction) before giving in to common sense/oncoming traffic. A couple had already squeezed through in potentially dodgy spots. Usually that only happens once a week or so.

There will always be a couple of idiots on any road, of course. But riding a bit further out etc. does help a bit.

I mostly cycle on quite roads 'cause there's not much traffic on the back roads of Fife, but for the occasional busy one I just pay attention and make sure I'm pretty aware of what's going on. It's just easier if you are prepared for the idiocy as then it's not terrifying, just predictable. If you assume that people waiting at junctions haven't seen you, cars coming up behind you will pass with minimal clearance and so on then there's just less OMFG moments.

It's a bit sucky and I'm glad I mostly have nice quite roads so I can largely zone out from this sort of thing.

I find drinking helps

Before, during or after?

Pick your route, ride sensibly, keep an eye (and ear) out at all times. But I'll be honest having ridden all over the UK, I'd say once out of the cities things are generally okay except for the odd knob head.

cars coming up behind you will pass with minimal clearance

I got the garmin rear radar thing recently and must say it's pretty damn good. Won't stop someone driving into you obviously, but it does make you a lot more aware of what's behind you and how quickly it's approaching and you can plan and position yourself accordingly.

Maybe its the area i live

This is probably a large part of it. Where I live I can have some extremely pleasant road rides and rarely have issues with cars. I can get a good ride in and hardly see any traffic despite being in one of the most central parts of England.