Huge road gangs?

me and my lad were riding back into sheffield this morning, from eyam.
while we were riding towards town, we were passed in the opposite direction by 3 huge road gangs of cyclists.
i reckon there were 20 or 30 in each group, riding 2 or 3 abreast.
it is amazing that cycling is so popular, but is this type of group riding a good idea?
riding into a very busy area (peak district) on narrow roads in such big groups.

good or bad?

*puts on kettle* etc

I think it’s a shit idea and one of the main reasons I stopped club riding.

good and bad.

Our local club run can be 20-30 but then we have good quiet roads. Personally I prefer our race team training rides as they are normally a max of 8 and much more disciplined.

Is 20-30 riders much worse than a tractor, caravan or horse box.

Good for cyclists, bad for cars.

Pick a side and be a dick about it.

There a pain in the arse when trying to over take also riding 3 abreast are just being pricks i **** hate rodies in groups they just come across as ingnorant pricks.

Even on the way to Delamere on side roads (country lanes) you get groups of 5 riding 3 abreast taking there time chatting away holding people up just bloody ingnorant IMO

Should spit into smaller groups and staggered times, great to see people out on bikes but as road users they should show consideration for other road uses.

There a pain in the arse when trying to over take also riding 3 abreast are just being pricks i **** hate rodies in groups they just come across as ingnorant pricks.

Why is 3 abreast any harder to overtake than two abreast? Or even one if you’re fully crossing to the other side of the road?

Not an issue until every club in the country start organising club runs on just two significant routes, which is how it’s going to be this summer and probably for the next few years. I’m really looking forward to trying to get up and down Wharfedale and Bishopdale this summer

If the roads are wide enough……

Sportive came through the village the other day. On both sides of the road. Asshats.

Safety in numbers. So a good thing I say.

Of course, they should have consideration to any other road users .. just the same as other road users should have consideration for them.

2 or 3 abreast is ok if theres ample space to overtake.

This is going to be big year for cycling, big groups are possibly a bad thing but way better than one truck.

30 people strung out single file inevitably leads to cars cutting in the middle or squeezing past when they misjudge the distance and time required to overtake.

There a pain in the arse when trying to over take also riding 3 abreast are just being pricks i **** hate rodies in groups they just come across as ingnorant pricks.

Better stay away from busy motorways, I have been stuck behind thousands of cars, nose to tail 3, 4 or even 5 abreast, pricks. 🙄

I was cycling through town the other day about 5pm. Motorists everywhere, all trying to use the same roads at the same time. Total chaos. No consideration for other road users. Dicks.

If said truck was moving at <20mph.

Bad thing IMO, not a fan of riding in big groups either, so it’s a no in both camps for me.

Loads of cyclists out yesterday on the roads in the Surrey Hills, stopping on junctions and just standing around in the road. Saw more stood around than riding. It’s no wonder car drivers get annoyed half the time!

Oops. I was trying to be a smartarse but took too long about it.

horseboxes
horses
groups of walkers (no pavement)
tractors
towing large trailers
groups of old car enthusiasts on a rally
groups of motorcyclists on popular summer roads
coaches
caravans
cyclists
old people in charge of motorcars

all doing their thing, all potentially stopping you from doing as you please, deal with it and find a coping mechanism.

Good for cyclists, bad for cars.

Pick a side and be a dick about it.
Sums up all of these debates
I think if you ride in big groups you know why you do this but yes a large number of any type of vehicle is going to get in your way be it 30 folk on horses, in tractors,on their way to a funeral , driving to the supermarket
TBH what really annoys me is the way they all try to get to work at the same time as me the bastards.

How you deal with it is your issue as they are shared use spaces and they are perfectly entitled to be there.

Were they wheelie’ing whilst text “their Julie” 😆

I say get over it, everyone’s entitled to ride, some choose to, some don’t.

Too big I’d say. One local club, the Verulam has about fifty plus every Sunday which is a lot. They split into five or more groups.

Why is 3 abreast any harder to overtake than two abreast? Or even one if you’re fully crossing to the other side of the road?

Quite obvious really. They’re harder to see through/round,even on a straight road.
Also, on a narrow two lane road it is possible for a driver to leave adequate space when overtaking two abreast, but with three abreast,even on a clear straight road it may not be possible to leave sufficient room.

Even on the way to Delamere on side roads (country lanes) you get groups of 5 riding 3 abreast taking there time chatting away holding people up just bloody ingnorant IMO

so you were holding up other people just so you could DRIVE to go ride a bicycle????

We have about 60 riders on a sunny day. But groups are broken down into no more than 8. Faster groups go first, and you can’t just merge if you catch a slower group. “Through and off” works best with about 7 riders, anyway. I have no issues with two abreast if the riders are disciplined.

on the rare occasion a horsebox/roadie group/tractor/wagon moves out the way to allow faster moving traffic past on country roads it restore my faith in humanity.

Cyclist have as much right to the road but you have to except that people will want to overtake and creating situations where danger is likely to occur is not a good idea. Large groups on rural roads are a problem as it can be impossible to overtake for potentially miles. The key is to split the group into short block so people can overtake in stages. Long spread-out groups can be dangerous, or at least result in dangerous driving. It doesn’t matter who is technically in the wrong the danger is created. Also in large groups people are more likely to act like dicks. This is why I stop doing group riding.

TiRed – Member
We have about 60 riders on a sunny day. But groups are broken down into no more than 8. Faster groups go first, and you can’t just merge if you catch a slower group. “Through and off” works best with about 7 riders, anyway. I have no issues with two abreast if the riders are disciplined.

This is the way to do it! To be honest its basic group riding skills in some respects but skills that many don’t know or think about or adhere to.

Cyclist have as much right to the road

Wrong, they have more rights than motorists.
As subjects of her majesty we have the inalienable right to walk, cycle and ride a horse on the queens highway, motorists are merely licensed, this privilege can be revoked by the state at any time.

There’s a club near me that feel the need to shout at each other about everything…The cars, the gravel, the junctions, the potholes, the Trees (I shit you not). They seem happy enough though, and always (weirdly) I only ever meet them going the other way.

Whatever floats yer boat, some folk love the whole club thing, the rides, the banter, whatever. some don’t, s’all good.

Riding in a group takes discipline. I’d agree that big groups are just counter-productive in that they p*** other road users off. A group of around 8 – 12 is ideal, any smaller and you don’t really get the benefit of being a group – drafting, etc., any larger and it’s hard to keep things under control.

There’s so many variables about when and where you should go single line both for the safety of the group and for the convenience of others, which are often perceived to be at odds with one another.

There’s a wide variation in the ability of cyclists to ride in a group (I’d put myself somewhere in the middle – still a lot to learn), the worst group rider in our club is from a mountain biking background, he just can’t ride in a group: inconsistent speed/effort; riding against the flow of the group. We’ll get him in to shape, even if the air turns a little blue!

There a pain in the arse when trying to over take also riding 3 abreast are just being pricks i **** hate rodies in groups they just come across as ingnorant pricks.
Even on the way to Delamere on side roads (country lanes) you get groups of 5 riding 3 abreast taking there time chatting away holding people up just bloody ingnorant IMO

You do know you’re supposed to give cyclists 3 metres overtaking room don’t you so you would need to move to the other side of the road to overtake. I guess you don’t know that or care.

You do know you’re supposed to give cyclists 3 metres overtaking room don’t you so you would need to move to the other side of the road to overtake. I guess you don’t know that or care.

3metres? utter bollocks!
They’ll get 3 inches and think themselves grateful!

You do know you’re supposed to give cyclists 3 metres overtaking room don’t you so you would need to move to the other side of the road to overtake

On half the roads I drive on you’d have to move to the other side of the hedges or drive along people’s front gardens.

It’s great to see anyone out on a bike, but let’s not kid ourselves, big groups of roadies are a pain, I’m content to sit behind and wait for a safe overtake, but when it’s a big group that can take a while

The big difference is, people going about their business on bikes are normally alone

On half the roads I drive on you’d have to move to the other side of the hedges or drive along people’s front gardens.

Best just squeeze past then.

I also ride on those very same roads.

And what is your solution?

I lead a club group ride each Saturday. We had sixteen in my group this week and I reckon that’s about as many as I’d comfortably take out in a group. Any larger and I reckon we’d start to cause a moving hazard on some of the smaller roads.

You do know you’re supposed to give cyclists 3 metres overtaking room don’t you so you would need to move to the other side of the road to overtake

1 Metre but you’re supposed to be in the other lane.

Edit: Oops! Getting mixed up it’s the cyclist who should be a metre away from the kerb the driver in the other carriageway.

Good for cyclists, bad for cars.

Pick a side and be a dick about it.

Best comment for a long time 🙂

You do know you’re supposed to give cyclists 3 metres overtaking room don’t you so you would need to move to the other side of the road to overtake. I guess you don’t know that or care.

You’re also meant to never ride more than 2 abreast, and even then only on wide, quiet, straight roads.

https://www.gov.uk/rules-for-cyclists-59-to-82/overview-59-to-71

Pick a side and be a dick about it.

🙂

Certainly seems to be the way you approach any wheel size discussion. 😛

You’re also meant to never ride more than 2 abreast, and even then only on wide, quiet, straight roads.

read it again, it doesn’t say that… or at least not in the way you are assuming it does.

And it certainly doesn’t define what a busy road is.