How do you road riders deal/cope with ******** drivers?

Not a troll, serious question.

I was on a 33mile arranged road ride yesterday and I witnessed cars overtaking into blind bends, oncoming cars having to stop at least three times. It was almost as though Godzilla was behind the driver and he/she literally needed to escape asap.

Then there was the driver coming towards us who ‘sawed’ his steering wheel at us- I stopped there and then and wanted him to stop. Funnily enough he wasn’t adult enough to explain why.

Is this normal? How do you rise above this? Some people really are **** stupid morons.

Call the police?

I stick to quiet country lanes.

Were you riding in a large-ish group? I’ve stopped riding in groups of more than about 4 riders as cars take stupid risks to pass.

Yes- it was a largish group. The thing is the overtakes weren’t ‘hang back’ then go (we created pockets for any to pull in if needed)- they literally rocked up- then went for it. The most bizarre one was turn in from the right across traffic- he just pulled out and onto the wrong side of the road straight into a car who had to stop and wait for him to go round him.

mrblobby – Member
I stick to quiet country lanes.

+1

As a new roadie, I’m going to guess that you probably stick to roads you know which are good in a car but not so nice on a bike.

Get out the maps and find quiet roads to link together areas that you want to ride on.

I’ve been lucky enough to spend most of my life in either rural Dumfries and Galloway or Fife. Both of which (D&G more so) have loads of brilliant little roads with very little traffic. It means that the number of bad drivers I encounter are pretty few. Usually unless they’ve actively endangered me I just let me them get on with it and try not to let them ruin my ride. Its just easier that way.

Somebody posted a quote on here that always help me out – something along the lines of “we will not allow their anger to poison our minds”.

I avoid main roads and town centres and ride mainly on roads with little traffic.
I’m not a proper roadie, only had a road bike since last autumn and I can’t say I really enjoy riding it.

Some days it’s easier than others.

I get more stressed if the missus is with me. Simpler to accept and get on with it if I’m on my own.

It’s strange. In London I felt safer though there was more traffic. In Berkshire, there’s less traffic, but it’s faster and people overtake like arseholes, hence I feel less safe. There’s a sweet spot when traffic is low and the light is still good, but I really hope I’ll find it soon.

Every ride I don’t get clipped, or ploughed into by a car is a win for me.

In answer to Hora’s question, I very rarely encounter them so I’ve never felt the need for a strategy to cope with them. Staying off the main roads always helps of course.

I tell myself that if it happens no more than once an hour, it must be a good day out.

due to the rain and a lack of time I was on road for most of last weeks commuting, strangely I think I only shook my head at someone once, thta’s pretty good going. Unfortunately I’m guessing it was a fluke rather than a change of driver behaviour/my temperament.

<edit>whoops, just remembered I slapped someone’s rear quarter panel when they cut the corner (into a mandatory cycle lane) entering a roundabout, I forgot about it pretty quick tho.

Not riding with a big group is the key for me. I don’t normally have any trouble, if I did I can’t see how I’d bother with the road bike. Once in a while you come across an idiot, but I meet them when I’m in my car as well 🙁

I’m gonna argue a counter position here! 😈

My commute is 10 miles along dual carriageway. Most drivers are actually courteous. The bellends in order (I’ve thought about this for years…..) 1. Old ‘exec cars’, 2. Flatbed trucks, 3. Whitevan man, 4. Woman in MPV.

I find that in my neck of the woods people drive at the same speeds on b roads but there is far less room for driver error. I actually feel safer at speeds over 20mph or so on a dual carriage way.

For leisure I’ll ride mtb, off road. For commuting, mainline it!

some real idiots out there

I just ignore it. I just hope they are not being d1cks deliberately and get on with my ride. Little/nothing I can do about it.

I think its normal, rarely go a ride of any distance without seeing “punishment passes or somekind or aggresion from drivers.

What would you expect when the media portrays “cyclist” as a plaque on modern society?

It was kind of busy yesterday. Sunny Sunday – Mother’s Day as well – guaranteed to get pretty much everybody out on the roads

All part of life’s rich tapestry eh

Hang on a minute. Never mind all this nonsense. We need an answer to a pretty fundamental question here….

Hora… were you wearing lycra?

I remind myself of the many cars that pass safely, courteously and carefully, and deduce that it can’t be my riding that is the problem.

Hora… were you wearing lycra?

Years ago I bought some Raceface leggings. I got 1/2mile down the road from my house, looked down, turned round and rode back. A grown man in lycra is hideous. Only young, fit professionals can wear lycra. Middle-aged men in lycra is similar to a 40yr old woman with pig-tails.

A different kind of wrong, but wrong all the same.

Lycra isn’t for the older man.

Rules:

#1 Keep off A roads
#2 Keep off B roads unless linking a loop together
#3 Ride in lanes only
#4 Give yourself enough room to ride, don’t be intimidated by car drivers
#5 Wear Pink
#6 Shave your legs

HTH

I rant impotently about it on cycling forums on the internet

Historically my solutions have been:
stop riding road and go back to MTB
build up a cx style/drop bar hybrid/gravel racer and link dirt stuff to minor roads
go back to riding road because training for something mates want to do and realise that most road cyclists tolerate bad driving to get their fix and I’m crap at getting up early*
*actually not bad but its a family priority issue
repeat

Standards of driving seem to be falling dramatically at the moment. I nearly t-boned a Beetle which drove straight out of a side street on Saturday… how the ‘lady’ driver failed to see a Ford Focus from about 50 yards away is beyond me…

And have you tried driving at 30 in a 30 limit for any length of time without silly overtakes or tailgating?

As a cyclist 2 things:
1. Get your Bikeability training – however long you’ve been riding it will teach you useful stuff. The basic premise of the training is that driving standards are lousy so you need to ride accordingly…
2. Angry people are angry, you’re just their target at that moment – they’re essentially having a tantrum just like your average toddler… so ignoring their abuse/hand signals etc rather than getting infected by their anger is one way of dealing with it… or a friendly wave can be quite fun… you never get a friendly wave back, but it definitely helps you deal with the situation 🙂

I admire roadies for their determination, but I just can’t see the fun road cycling in the South East of England. Way too much traffic, bad driving, potholes, and simply too many people!

i hate riding on the road mainly due to issues in the OP – sold my road bike a while ago in favour of a CX bike which i ride on mix of off/on road routes, sticking to very quite roads, gravel paths and ncn routes (plenty round here). in fact its quite enjoyable! 😀

As above, I avoid busy roads, busy times of day, large groups and I make sure I wear bright clothing and ride defensively.

TBH prett much all of my road miles are with just the one mate or solo, we’ve both tried bigger groups and clubs but not gotten on with it, in large part due to the way drivers deal with it when faced with more than two cyclists.

We tend to try and plan interesting routes on quieter roads, but it is sort of sad that avoiding dickish driving has to be such a consideration when choosing a route. And you are right I think roadies sort of do accept inconsiderate and dounright dangerous driving as “The Norm” and hence don’t challenge it.

We did a Charity ride last Sunday which was pretty well planned, executed and routed IMO, but where it did have to take in busier road sections there were still issues, mainly due to impatient and stupid drivers, perhaps also partly due to the mix of cyclists you get on a Charity ride, Big groups that vary in speed (and control), with lots of gaps inbetween do sort of serve to tempt bad drivers into sketchy overtakes, only to then sit in the gap revving or just hang it out and try to take the lot on a bend, I did see some interesting displays…

Ultimately it is down to driver education and temprament, as a cyclist you can “choose to make yourself less of a target” by riding solo or in small groups, taking the quietest routes and picking less busy times, but then you really shouldn’t have to do that.
Cycling is a legitimate use of the roads, if a driver can’t read the road ahead, spot that an overtake isn’t safe, and in that split second accept that they are going to have to wait a little bit, rather than dip their right toe and hope for the best, then then they really shouldn’t have a licence.

I refuse to ride a bike on UK roads. The driving is just too dangerous.

Luckily I enjoy Spanish roads where drivers are courteous and safe.

What the hell is wrong with the UK I’ve no idea.

It’s not just driving. I won’t go out in a provincial town in the UK on a Saturday night for all the drunken violence.

The more time I spend away from the UK the more weird it becomes.

I refuse to ride a bike on UK roads. The driving is just too dangerous.

Luckily I enjoy Spanish roads where drivers are courteous and safe.

You do know a fair portion of UK drivers like to holiday in Spain? if anything it should be worse…

You can never be entirely safe from lairy Chris in his Meriva of Doom! especially when abroad as that’s when they go “Rental Mental!”…

The Steering wheels on the wrong side, The signs are in Kilometres and all the locals talk funny, Normal rules just don’t apply anymore…

hora I’m going to dig out my tightest of tight lycra just for you the next time we meet. There are only a few way out of Manchester for us but once out there are loads of decent quiet lanes to have fun in 😉

I live in a village surrounded by quiet country lanes and avoid them like the plague.
Apart from these lanes There is one two lane well lit road out the village leading to far more busy built up areas which is where I head for.

Because the country lanes are very tight and twisty with plenty of blind corners a equally blind peaks and troughs.
And a lot of motorist suddenly seem to think they are Colin McRae.
And the one closest to my house is closed at least a couple of times a year due to a big car tree interface.

I would much rather take my chances on a busy high road any day of the week.
And I don’t bother to react to bad driving mostly, unless It’s a genuinely life threatening situation.

chip you live in Wales?

mrcrispy

I stick to quiet country lanes.

I’m fortunate enough to live not far from miles and miles of quiet lanes in the rolling Lancashire countryside.

I only ride on A/B ‘trunk’ roads out of necessity.

Wear white gloves. Then they can see your “wet anchor” gesture more easily.

I’m eternally grateful that, when I go out on my road bike, I don’t have to face these horror-roads that you lot have to put up with. It’s not like I even live in the middle of nowhere. If my road-riding experiences were half as bad as some of you lot make out, I’m sure I would have given up long ago.

chip you live in Wales?

No,

Does any one ride on the wrong side of the road on tight country lanes.
As drivers expect to come across oncoming traffic and tend to hug the left tree line when going around blind bends.
So on the wrong side of the road I would have a chance to ditch.

When I used to road run I always ran these lanes on the wrong side as it amazed me how close people passed at speed, literally inches when I ran on the left.

I don’t let it get to me. If they pass close, well at least they passed and I’m still here. There’s no point remonstrating with them in their rear view mirror because they wont even realise what they have done, so wont learn from it.

On the few occasions where an accident has occurred/enough of a close shave for them to brake and realise what they did wrong, I’ve found most drivers to be apologetic.

I’m going to guess that a lot of the animosity towards cyclists outside London has increased due to the popularity and coverage on TV/internet of GoPro commuters careering through gaps that aren’t there putting themselves in harms way just to make a point, screaming at the top of their voices and pontificating at anyone who they think will listen/can hear over the sound of the car radio. These people mostly have done 2 years on a C2W scheme and are the reason cyclists who can remember cycling proficiency tests at school are being harassed by car drivers.

If the car came THAT close, you wouldn’t have time to take your hands off the bars and wave your disapproval, you’d be taking evasive action as self preservation kicks in.

Dont ride in the gutter but don’t take the p1ss, the 2ft of space to your left is your escape lane.

Wear white gloves. Then they can see your “wet anchor” gesture more easily.

A driver of a large Merc did a really inconsiderate move on me in the Peaks (tried cutting across my path causing me to brake hard) so I did the shaking beans movement with my hand in my rear view mirror- he turned round and roared passed me, slammed on at an angle blocking the road and jumped out. So I got out and told him to get back in his car. He was in his late 60’s. I’d say 5mins away from a stroke/heart attack. I don’t care if your ex Special forces or a small Accountant- getting THAT angry at his age is a trip in an Ambulance.

Doing those sort of symbols to anyone is just lighting the paper to their already simmering anger of the day. So I agree with all of the above- don’t rise.