[Closed] thanks to the f***wit who was running the FoD uplift earlier

Phone and complain dude. Cant be that hard to track him down.

Sounds like the bloke from forest of dean caravans has found a new job then

Did you speak to him at the time explaining your dis pleasure?
Or are you just shouting here as he can't respond to your complaint and as such make you look like the big guy?

Write something?

As above, did you say anything at the time?

no opportunity to say anything, was out with the roadies, he overtook beeping and then cut in aggressively, big trailer full of DH bikes so not hard to guess who he was!

Were you riding two abreast or doing anything to make it hard for him to pass?

Two sides to every story and all that.

Loving the haterz!

If you know the road, single or two abreast overtaking isn't safe, particularly when there is on coming traffic. for the record two abreast but when there are 10 of us.

somouk, are you suggesting beeping and pulling in is ever acceptable? regardless of the situation?

iolo, as this is meant to be one of the most popular MTB websites i felt this the most appropriate means of telling him he was a p****.

somouk, are you suggesting beeping and pulling in is ever acceptable? regardless of the situation?

Not at all, as I said in my other post, just asking for the other side of the story as your first post wasn't overly informative.

If the road's not safe to overtake on then you should make a complaint to his boss. Wouldn't have looked good if he'd wiped out a bunch of roadies when working for a bike shop.

The old two abreast wheeled out !!!!! C'mon mate it's legal to do two abreast unless on narrow roads but yes if I'm out with club mates etc we do single up when we can . If you can't safely negotiate a group of cyclists two abreast or not without aggressive driving you shouldn't be on the roads !!!

I merely thought if you knew this was the uplift truck all you had to do was sit on the side of the road and wait for him to pass either going up with bikes or down empty. You could have stood in the middle of the road for him to stop.
This would enable you to have a conversation regarding his irresponsible road actions.
I'm not a hater and if the driver was a prat he should know. I just feel keyboard warriors swear in the way the original post is not the way forward.

There are THREE sides to every story.

Yours.

Theirs.

And the actual truth.

Never any situation where aggression is warranted on the road just endangers life whatever the rights or wrongs. Stupid behaviour

You could have stood in the middle of the road for him to [s]stop[/s] run over you.

but when there are 10 of us

In a single group, riding 2 abreast, so 5 bikes in a row with say 1 bike gap making a 9 bike long stream of bikes riding 2 abreast on a public road when there is not a sanctioned event on. I can see why he may have been unhappy.

But that does not excuse any dangerous actions on his part. Inconsiderate road users are an annoyance. Dangerous ones unacceptable.

Although if the road really was not suitable to be passing on, and remember he probably drives up it a lot so has less feeling of risk when overtaking (which can be bad), then I am all for slower road users using blocking tactics to keep themselves safe. Unfortunately the people they are having to act against don't normally see it that way.

Are you most upset about the incident or the fact it was your clients, just curious like.

Are you sure he was from the FoD?
Did you get close enough to see his six toed feet?

Are you most upset about the incident or the fact it was your clients, just curious like.

No what f***s me off is that someone who i guess has some interest in bikes, would do something that dangerous, firstly oncoming cars, secondly a group of cyclists.

Fact we are reasonably local and some of the group have been known to use the uplift. Just strikes me as stupidity.

So what will you do to ensure it won't happen again?
I suggest you talk to the driver.
If you ride in groups of 10 I'm sure he'll listen.
I just suggest you don't use the language you seem to love. Swearing get's you nowhere.

Downhillers who do uplifts are known to be chav thugs, it's no wonder the obviously homosexual roadies on their 5k carbon bikes wearing spandex to show their micro-penis's to each other caused a bit of consternation.
😉

interesting thread,

if you do meet them and have a moan face to face, could you ask them to pick all the litter up at the top of the downhill runs, that their customers leave

Why do bikes riding two abreast get abuse but fatrzed horses riding two abreast, taking up more room seem immune? Probably because it's usually girls riding horses and grown men should know better!

Absolutely nothing wrong with riding two abreast, far safer so long as the drivers aren't gonna drive like that. And it's got nothing to do with whether there is a sanctioned event on or not!

I'm surprised mrmo. The regular driver is local and helps run the DTV (Dean Trail Volunteers) who help build and maintain the mtb trails.
There may have been two vans on today; I saw two as I was riding from Monmouth direction this morning. You also get similar rigs (minibus and trailer) in the area from schools, youth groups, activity companies, etc.. Was it definitely FlyUp?
Which road were you on? Cannop to Mireystock or the A4136 Monmouth road? Just being curious really.

Might be legal and might well be nothing "wrong" with riding 2 abreast, but ALWAYS go single file when a car approaches. Being on the right side of the law isnt going to help much in a hospital bed.
Of course, it doesnt excuse bad driving.

So superfli, on a road where it is necessary to cross the white lines to pass a cyclist is it safer for 6 riders to ride tightly as 3 pairs or for the 6 riders to be strung out in single file? If you were driving and needed to pass, which grouping would make things easier for you? Just being curious really as you've just TOLD all of us to ALWAYS ride single file and I'm assuming you must therefore be some kind of expert.

I have seen that many times someone driving the Transit back with empty trailer like a complete idiot.

Maybe he was trying to get past as he had to deliver handbags to some of the posters on this thread?

there is not a sanctioned event

It was a sanctioned event, it's an event called using the public highway in accordance with the highway code.

http://ukcyclelaws.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-laws-according-to-highway-code.html

8) (@ mattbee)

2 points. There is nowhere on that road that needs singling out. That would be more dangerous. Even passing a single rider means crossing a white line on almost every road in the country so 2 abreast is shorter and makes no difference, the driver still has to wait. Been riding those roads for 35 years and I can't see single file being needed.
I assume that those commenting on this issue also know the road although you are probably not as old and grumpy as me.
More to the point , lets assume that the OP does the [i]right thing[/i]and gets in touch with the company. When he has done that and reported back we can make a fair assessment. Otherwise its all rather silly isn't it?

xiphon - Member

There are THREE sides to every story.

Yours.

Theirs.

And the actual truth.

You are Gary Cherone and I claim my £5.

[quote Even passing a single rider means crossing a white line on almost every road in the country so 2 abreast is shorter and makes no difference, the driver still has to wait.

You do know it's legal to cross a solid white line to pass slow moving traffic?

Don't ride double. End of!

[quote=andyl]5 bikes in a row with say [b]1 bike gap[/b] making a 9 bike long stream

Ridden on the road in a group much, andyl? I had to read that several times to work out what he meant - I'd expect to get shouted at if I left a 1 bike gap on the local club ride.

Not to mention that as discussed above, the cyclists have a right to be on the road riding in a group, and 2 abreast is the most considerate way to ride for other traffic.

sm - Member

Don't ride double. End of!

Yeah, it's much safer to encourage people to overtake in gaps that are too small. Do you also recommend riding in the gutter?

"Don't ride double. End of"
no idea! My mum would say that 😆

SM you dont drive for a caravan firm or a uplift service do you?

Caravan with trailer for my moto x bikes and 4wd.

Op were you the awesome guy on the lappeire mtb overtaking the glos county cycling club going past harts barn cos you were the shiz!

You do know it's legal to cross a solid white line to pass slow moving traffic?

You've completely missed the point.

The point is that if you have to cross the centre line then it doesn't matter if you cross it a little or a lot, you need to find a place where you can see that there's no oncoming traffic. In which case, a group riding 2 abreast is easier to pass because it's half the length.

You do know it's legal to cross a solid white line to pass slow moving traffic?

Unless you're going to give a lot of proviso's, that's incorrect - only legal in a very limited range of circumstances.

Not that I'm sure what it has to do with the bit you quoted, given that's simply explaining that on most roads it's no harder to overtake cyclists two abreast than singled out - not if you're following the HC to do so.

If there are more than 2 riders it is probably easier to overtake them safely/correctly if they are riding two abreast. I t saddens me to think that even plenty of riders can't get there head around this.

Not really connected to the op as have no idea what happened but..
2 abreast is fine but you still need to ride considerately (even more so in a strung out pack.)

You become a slow moving vehicle that is difficult to overtake so think of others (just as you want other road users to think of you.)

So has anyone actually contacted FlyUp yet?

2 abreast is fine but you still need to ride considerately
(even more so in a strung out pack.)
You become a slow moving vehicle that is difficult to
overtake so think of others (just as you want other road
users to think of you.)

This.

Most car drivers are fine but a few give the rest a bad name.

Most roadies are fine but a few give the rest a bad name.

The end.

"You do know it's legal to cross a solid white line to pass slow moving traffic? "
Can't see how this matches the comment you quoted. who said you can't cross any lines. You bloody well should when passing a bike other wise your are too damn close.
And yes I did know. and you technically are wrong. I beleive its sub something like 10mph or stationary so slow doesn't mean a lot. and even then its been a huge item of debate as there are so many variations of that rule and it has yet to be proved in court.However as I have yet to be stopped by watching police when I cross solid lines on the m/c to pass traffic queues I reckon we are right there.
Anyway how the hell did I get into this pointless conversation. the OP was whinging about inconsiderate drivers.

"You do know it's legal to cross a solid white line to pass slow moving traffic? "
Can't see how this matches the comment you quoted. who said you can't cross any lines? One bloody well should when passing a bike other wise one is too damn close.
And yes I did know. Anyway how the hell did I get into this pointless conversation. the OP was whinging about inconsiderate drivers.

Another example of road riders blocking the carriageway riding two (or more) abreast. When will these people realise they aren't in the TdF?

You know, manners these days are sadly lacking.

I guess the skills needed to move to a single line have been lost since I was a kid.

Don't lose your rag when drivers get annoyed, you're the ones slowing them down whether you are blocking an uplift or any other road user.

This is the reason I ride off-road; rude people on road bikes.

Chris

PS. Feel free to flame; you ain't changing my mind.

[i]Riding two abreast also allows the motorist to overtake the group of cyclists quicker as there is less distance between the front and rear of the group (about half!!). This means that the motorist is past the group in less time, spending less time on the other side of the road and along side the group of cyclists and therefore safer all round.[/i]
[url= http://ukcyclelaws.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-laws-according-to-highway-code.html ]Clicky[/url]
[url= http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wBjPU43Sd8k/UHSjy2xPx8I/AAAAAAAAAAk/KD6crsEOeDk/s640/both.bm p" target="_blank">http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wBjPU43Sd8k/UHSjy2xPx8I/AAAAAAAAAAk/KD6crsEOeDk/s640/both.bm p"/> [/img][/url]

There you go, justification for stopping overtaking of pelotons.

Nice.

Wrong.

Most vehicle drivers are "challenged" by wider groups of cyclists. Science does not equal behaviour.

[img] [/img]

I dont have any trouble over taking cyclists even when they are 2 abreast. Even when driving a truck all you have to do is slow down and wait for a sensible space to overtake. Its not science just common sense and being courteous. If your struggling to get past most cyclists will even move over drop into single file and generally try to make it easier for you. If your just going to barrel past blasting your horn while climbing out of your window shouting abuse at 70mph your a bellend.

Chris_db,

Thanks, for the confirmation, you haven't got a clue how to drive, could i politely ask you to sell any car you may have and hand you licence back to the DVLA.

anyway as the previous post seems to have got lost,

I can't say it was Flyup, just a white transit with a big trailer and lots of DH type bikes hanging off it. ( i think the trailer was yellow. )

As parksie mentions most groups will single out, when safe and sensible to do so. There are roads when singling out is not safe or sensible, and i accept plenty of drivers don't understand this. Where we were was a reasonably narrow road with oncoming traffic, two cars could pass fine, two cars and a bike not safely.

psling, couldn't say for sure where, it was somewhere in the cannop area, but as i was in the process of dying, and avoiding pot holes, it was definitely not the main drag through the forest i know that much! there were trees over hanging the road if that makes sense.

Doesn't sound like any of the regular FOD Uplift drivers at all tbh..

In defence of Chris and those of us in the real world... The overtaking picture above is all very well, but it completely misses the point that no car drivers, who are not cyclists as well (and probably a fair few of those) give that much room when they pass cyclists.

In fact I cannot ever recall being given that much room.

Rule 66 states you should never cycle more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads.

Why does it matter if its busy or narrow (what does narrow mean? single track road?), if they are still supposed to give you the same space as a car then they should wait until they can give you the same space as a car.

But no, the Highway code is ambiguous, we choose to interpret it in a way that suits us, and by and large car drivers ignore it.

Both Fly Up buses are heavily graphic'd up. On the basis of your description seemingly contradicting that fact, I think it's only fair for a mod to change the thread title to protect their brand.

In defence of Chris

Really? You're defending:

Another example of road riders blocking the carriageway riding two (or more) abreast. When will these people realise they aren't in the TdF?

You know, manners these days are sadly lacking.

and

Don't lose your rag when drivers get annoyed, you're the ones slowing them down whether you are blocking an uplift or any other road user.

I'm not sure how the fact some drivers are idiots gives other idiot drivers free reign to spout bollocks on here.

andyrm's post reported, so a mod will see it.
I've answered the phone before to someone who simply phoned up the biggest bus depot in the nearest big town to complain about a bus hitting his car.
He sounded a bit disappointed when I explained we didn't have a bus route within 5 miles of where he was hit and our buses were a different colour.

I can't say it was Flyup, just a white transit with a big trailer and lots of DH type bikes hanging off it. ( i think the trailer was yellow. )

chris_db - Member

This is the reason I ride off-road

Is there any chance we could convince you to only drive off-road too?

Keyboard warriors should really get their facts right before posting slanderous comments regarding somebodies livelihoods.
Flyup could make an issue of this thread should they so wish.
OP, engage brain before typing.

why were you on roadbikes if there was an uplift day on?

a white transit with a big trailer and lots of DH type bikes hanging off it

errrm, you do know that all sorts of people do their own shuttles? did you get the licence number?

this smacks of 18 year olds organising their own do.

When I was out today, I saw a roadie stopped and standing in the road to eat his banana. His banana! There was a layby/entrance thingy about 20 yards further along, but yet he chose to take up 3ft of a narrow country road to eat his banana.

I suppose I should have been glad he was riding solo eating a banana. A banana! 2 abreast banana eating, would have been too much.

A banana!

PS. Feel free to flame; you ain't changing my mind.

Fair enough, you tiny brained cock.

so no one got hurt or injured when a van with trailer overtook a group of roadies?

Fair enough, you tiny brained cock.

Well. That's not helping.

...apart from speeding up the thread getting closed.

I was out today when a massive group of approx 30-40 riders came the other way.

They were taking up the entire side of the road and I wondered how anyone would get past on the road they were on.

Anyway, I went over the motorway bridge and found a chap with a puncture so asked if he was OK, apparently this massive " peloton " had come from behind him and barged him into the gutter where he had ripped his tyre on a grid.

He was just out on his own doing nothing wrong and reckoned he had just been pushed off the road.

I've never seen so many riders in a group without it being a pro race,