Ro5ey's OP may well be the single most ridiculous post I've ever seen on here. And I remember when Luke posted as 15 year old Moonshine...
Personally, I really can't be arsed to reason with such a stupid post.
Ro5ey sounded like a troll on first post but dissappointingly seems serious in thinking that road riding is stupid and dangerous. I know it's a [i]mountain[/i] biking forum but come on!
iamtheresurrection
Does that somehow make you more intelligent ?
Yes - its safer to ride like that - the line of bikes is shorter and by being further out into the road it is safer as visibility is greater.
JEngledow, I recognised that yours was a mostly honest question, and I hope that the answers that we've given hint that its not simply a matter of being selfish/ confrontational with group riding.
Sometimes theres very good reasons behind the way cyclists ride, that are not always obvious to the following motorist.
Thank you and yes, I do appreciate that there is often a need to ride in ways that don't immediately seem safer (but actually are!). I appreciate that it is safer to be seen and that by bunching up cyclists are easier to overtake and apologise for the slightly stupid title for this thread, but will still get p*ssed off by the inconsiderate ones (whether they're in a car or on a bike).
Obviously, yes.
if you had happened upon a large horse would you have been on horseriderworld.com moaning that horses shouldnt be on the road because fast cars are held up for a few seconds.
No, because I'm not signed up to horseriderworld.com and they generally ride in single file (around here) unless there's a young horse / inexperienced rider in which case they're boxed in for support / safety (I unfortunately know more about horses than bikes).
Taking risks to discover the half the world ..... is somewhat different to getting kicks with your mates on a Sunday morning riding a bike on the road... its a past time a hobby that is all... Ridiculously a dangerous one.
The point being that if people felt that doing something as simple as riding a bicycle on the road is too dangerous how on earth would you ever get to point where any risks at all are taken?
Sorry guys... I honestly do... and you can ridicule me all you like for thinking it's stupid... but you can not deny that it's dangerous.
Please let me make myself clear..... Roadies can hold ME up all they like. It does not up set ME.
But what other past time is sooooo reliant on others NOT actually participating in that sport
I/we have a strategy on narrow raods, ride two abreast until the car approaching behind slows down and then single out to allow it to pass. If we ride in single file all the time cars don't slow down and if a car comes the other way we're in trouble as there isn't enough space for two cars and a bikes in single file - the car behind is going too fast to pull in and we get crowded out.
So, in answer to the OPs originall question, it's a survival strategy that works very well.
I get you rosey, if I get hurt doing cycling I want it to be my fault 🙂
Cars & bikes can mix, but they don't mix well.
iamtheresurrection
Please disguard anything I have said and go PLAY with the Traffic
thing is JE a horse will take up as much room as two cyclists, but no one moans about slowing down to pass a horse with consideration.
Just think that its a person and an animal on the road, in the same way there are two people on the road on bikes, just pass sensibly when its safe and rethink your driving.
The pro's know how to handle traffic and stay alive and it isn't by keeping away from it.
I wholely agree, and believe that cars and bikes DO mix well (generally), but sometimes you need to be considerate in both directions. Sometimes you're in a position to be helpful to drivers and they appreciate it, sometimes they will help you and you appreciate it. It's generally when either side acts like the other doesn't matter/exist that anger causes trouble.
Cars and bikes mix fine.
Its cars with stupid drivers, and bikes, that dont mix so well, so the bikes have do the thinking for the drivers.
Ro5ey -
Actually its very safe - as the stats show. Safer than many other pastimes. Cyclists live longer than non cyclists - as the health benefits are greater than the risks.
Its a thousands to one chance of death cycling in a lifetime of cycling
No they behave in different ways, they cyclist is effectvely naked while the driver is cocooned, the speed differential is too great, the handling is completely different...yes 99.9% of the time there's no problem but you would never design cars & bicycles to go together.
Ro5ey - Member
iamtheresurrectionPlease disguard anything I have said and go PLAY with the Traffic
Nice, thanks. I called your post stupid, not you. You go interpret it how you want. QED.
Sancho, I agree that a horse will take up as much room as two cyclists, but if I was given the option I'd want as much space while being overtaken as possible. I do now see the need for riding 2 abreast.
I think Edukator's strategy makes alot of sense and I wish more people around here would use that method (although some do).
There is an art to when and when not ride two abreast (i.e. single out in fast traffic etc..- its all been said).
But personally I just ride two abreast 90% of the time. I like to chat to the guy next to me, enjoy the ride, and dont like continously moving in and out as it becomes a chore. Potholes are bad enough to avoid at the moment without trying to sychronise a group of 10 riders to keep changing formation.
It may inconvenience some drivers a small portion of the time, but on balance I am safer.
While on the subject, yesterday a group of 10 of us were slowing up to take the right to the tea stop. Cars parked on the verge either side. Children and families walking along the road (no pavement). Then a complete dck in a Rover decided to floor it past. He got halfway through us before a red car popped up infront over the brow of the hill. Rather than stop, he floored it more. The red car screeched to a halt at the front of the pack, and he pulled in on the front to riders who had to scarper into the grass verge. C0ck!
p.s. if we know a car is waiting we will wait until there is a safe point in the road and if he needs us to single out to get past we will eventually. But it is us who make the call, not some arrogant driver.
I think it's better to ride 2 or even more abreast, as it slows down the cars behind, and they get more time to relax and enjoy the scenery! We're doing them a favour! 😀
And 2 MTB'ers will be far wider than 2 Darkside'ers...
We ride 2 abreast when on the road purely to ensure that cars have to actually overtake, as opposed to just squeeze past.
And quite frankly I don't give a 'flying' what they think.
A final (I'm away oot to play on the dangerous road now :twisted:) wee tip if you find yourself 'inconsiderately held up by arrogant cyclists'.
Simply count, in seconds (one/elephant, two/elephant- technique c/o Gregory's Girl!) how long you've actually been held up for.
Trust me, it wont be for as long as you think you are, one of the sad things about cars is they really feed our impatience and frustation when we're driving .
Ro5ey - MemberThat seems to me to be very dangerous...to other road users who are not "playing" but trying to get from A to B.
Others don't want to be in their "game" but have no choice if they come across them or are involved in a incident with them.
I have read, and re-read your OP and am astounded by your POV. Do you seriously believe that all recreational cycling should not be allowed on public roads, as it causes a danger to other road users?
Do you think the health statistics in this country would ever improve if we stopped people taking some exercise on a nice sunny day?
Would you rather that people just drove everywhere? How many of those people 'getting from A to B' are in fact, doing recreational journeys in their own right?
But you think that's OK do you? It's OK for someone to drive their car around the country lanes on a nice day (with all the associated impacts that that will cause), but not a cyclist?
😯
In a fuffy green world we all ride bikes and life is good... If only it could be so.
But in the real world cars and their drivers are DEFO not changing and big horrible cars and lorries are driven by idiots... You may think I'm one off them.
Do you think that type of place is a playground?
Why use it as such ?
I think it is very brave of cyclists who ride 2-3 abreast on a country road.
Good for them. Like **** would any mountain biker do this though. Why? We all know the roads are far more dangerous than off-road.
After all, offroad YOU cause accidents to yourself. On the road you have to worry about the world and his son.
**** that. Let them ride three abreast. Just hope they have insurance for both themselves or a car.
hora, one day you will eventually post something that I can agree with.
Today is not that day! 🙂
Ro5ey - Member
In a fuffy green world we all ride bikes and life is good... If only it could be so.But in the real world cars and their drivers are DEFO not changing
Really? Are you sure about that? Or should 'we' not bother about it, and continue to blindly increase the numbers of cars on the road, after all that'll make the roads great! 🙄
Hora - so by purely riding in single file, you have assumed that you are safer, than a group who has chosen to ride in file, thereby increasing their visibility to other road users and encouraged faster moving traffic to overtake them properly, rather than squeezing past.
Perhaps you should stick to talking about things you actually know something about....
Perhaps you should stick to talking about things you actually know something about....
Like what, exactly? 🙂
GavinB he's already said you are braver than him....so accept your compliment and move on, you roadie tough guy 🙂
My experience of riding a bike on the road, by myself or in groups, has always been that it is basically pretty safe. Very occasionally you get an inconsiderate prick driver, but mostly they will be aggressive and tiresome, or optimistic, or inattentive but only borderline dangerous. And obviously I've not run headfirst into the guy doing 60mph on the wrong side of the road in a blind bend yet. But I've ridden many, many thousands of miles with only minor incidents. Now, it may be that I'm extraordinarily brave, skilled, prudent, wise and lucky. Or it may just be that ro5ey and co aren't right about the basic level of risk. Dunno. 🙂
Well, I've just finished doing what I need to today so an hour or too on the road is called for, I'd rather be on the fat tyred bike but it's an hour to anywhere decent & the roads are bound to be chocked up by inconsiderate cyclists
so I'm going to chance it
with apologies to the memory of Captain Oates "I am just going outside and may be some time"
Hora - so by purely riding in single file, you have assumed that you are safer, than a group who has chosen to ride in file, thereby increasing their visibility to other road users and encouraged faster moving traffic to overtake them properly, rather than squeezing past.Perhaps you should stick to talking about things you actually know something about....
Have you ever heard of commanding the road space? Or when you ride single file do you always ride as close to the gutter as possible? Madness hey?
I commuted into Oxford Circus for years. I think I know how to survive and not be pushed around by drivers 😉
Hora - so you are saying that it is OK in your opinion to ride in a commanding position on the road? If so, then we are in complete agreement!
Riding in file would be fine also, as that is merely reinforcing that commanding position, but in this case in a group, as well as making it easier for faster moving traffic to get past, as they have a shorter queue to overtake.
Great. Glad you understand.
[i]In a fuffy green world we all ride bikes and life is good... If only it could be so.
But in the real world cars and their drivers are DEFO not changing and big horrible cars and lorries are driven by idiots... You may think I'm one off them.
Do you think that type of place is a playground?
Why use it as such ? [/i]
Your posts are stupid and ignorant and display a remarkable lack of intelligence..
If it wasn't for road cyclists, there wouldn't be any mountain biking in this country at all; do you think pedestrians suddenly decided to take up mountain biking back in the 1980s?
If you get scared by riding on the road, don't do it, but please keep your silliness to yourself.
I don't know that it's [i]stupid[/i] or [i]ignorant[/i] as such. It's just [wi]wrong[/i], depressing, negative and defeatist. 🙂
Why do all motorists drive two abreast?
It's [i]ignorant[/i] of the history and development of cycling as a leisure activity and a sport, and when stated by someone on a cycling forum, demonstrates [i]stupidity[/i] in posting.
Said ignorance allied to said stupidity produces a display which demonstrates a [i]lack of intelligence[/i] in regard to said subject.
...it was so much easier when we could just call people '****s'
Wow, what a load of rubbish!
do you think pedestrians suddenly decided to take up mountain biking back in the 1980s?
My first bike was used primarily off-road, before MTBs were sold as such. Am I the sole purebred MTBer? 🙂 God help us! I was once forced to use a road bike, but I broke it, offroad!
[i]Said ignorance allied to said stupidity produces a display which demonstrates a lack of intelligence in regard to said subject.[/i]
I am convinced. 🙂
Read your highway Code, cyclist are allowed to ride 2 abreast, But you cannot ride a horse 2 abreast.
Makes the Buggers slow up to go round you if you are 2 abreast
Next he will be moaning about tractors and trucks, Well Sir, if it was not for either of them, all those nice meals you like to eat would not get grown or transported to the shops, roads were built for horses in the first place, Just step back and think about things a little more.
I'm back - I know you were all worried sick for me 😉
As a bonus, I got to see a stoat chasing a rabbit on the verge - never seen that before, it was ace
For those that care about these things - I've no idea who won, they disappeared in a ditch 🙂
Was it chasing the rabbit in single file?
Was it chasing the rabbit in single file?
Oh yes - the stoat was definitely right behind the rabbit
jd-boy, when you say 'Next he will be moaning about tractors and trucks....' is the 'he' you refer to me? If so please read my original post, I was NOT moaning about Cyclists holding me up or slowing me down, but I was asking why they rode beside each other, which I (wrongly) thought was more dangerous than riding single file. Although it doesn't appear so I was actually thinking about other people’s safety! 😕
Yep, I think it was some other 'differently intelligent' folk who were being a bit daft with their views, not JEngledow.
It used to annoy me but now I understand why they do it and it makes sense. As a driver you just have to be patient and give them lots of room. Personally I prefer to ride in single file because I feel safer that way.
I'd like to commend the OP for actually using a forum correctly: he's asked a question and then admitted to having learned something. Sadly it's difficult to understand where people are coming from since there are often rhetorical questions and obvious agendas.
Right, what burning torch for a reasoned witchhunt?
Good point, richpenny, very good point.
Sadly its much harder to use the forum in that manner for those of us who do know everything. 🙂