Im still fuming..Is it just me or are rodies a breed apart…arrogant??

I haven’t really read the entire thread, but from the OP..

So, Im driving along a country lane near home, its wide enough for two cars to pass but not two cars and a bike.

So if you can’t overtake them two a breast, you can’t overtake them single file. In fact, if they went single file it would be even harder to overtake, as they’d be longer.

Sounds like they were a bit nobbish when you talked to them though, but maybe you came across as a bit silly or something.

Nothing wrong with riding two a breast.

Has anyone checked to see if the stretch of road concerned is a Strava seg? 😉

in the middle of my side of the road… Sadly this is often interpreted as selfish cycling…
Driver education is what is needed here so they can understand why we ride defensively and to respect our desire to stay alive

100% agree with this.

It’s all very well teaching cyclists to claim the lane, but someone needs to teach the drivers and explain that yes we are doing it on purpose, but not to annoy them.

I’d love to see British Cycling/CTC/Sustrans/RoadPeace etc get together and fund a newspaper/TV campaign about this (and other myths/misconceptions like riding two-abreast and the dreaded “road tax”)

+1 crazy legs

In fact you’ve just reminded me of a car v bike incident I had earlier in the year.

I was out photographing a running event and driving towards a T junction of a country lane with high hedges.

I was in no hurry and as I approached the junction to turn right, two sportive riders swept in from my left, completely cutting the corner.

Had I literally been 2 seconds earlier they would have gone straight over my bonnet. Fortunately they didn’t but that didn’t stop the woman on the back mouthing off at me as if their piss poor road skills were my fault.

Twasn’t worth chasing after them because they would have reacted in the same fashion as the OP’s encounter.

Except that riding two abreast is entirely legal whereas jumping red lights and riding on the pavement isn’t??

It’s on the highway code as a ‘you should never’ so you can get pulled by a bored copper and it has been done

I really hope Taff is a troll.

I don’t really have the hair for it

What exactly is wrong with riding two abreast if the road is not wide enough for two cars plus a bike? If a safe overtake is already going to involve the car using the other carriageway, then what’s the problem with riding two abreast?

I think it has its place in certain locations. In areas of solid white lines I think it prevents people from doing stupid overtakes which I see fairly often on some of my local roads. You don’t have to overtake on the opposite side of the road giving a metre/metre and half of clearance is aduaqate in the majority of locations and this helps for visibility if here are small bends in the road.

Riding two abreast isn’t as much of an issue to me if it’s a small group as overtaking is just as easy as a car but in the likes of large group or sportive etc it does prevent safe overtaking unless the straight section of road is long enough same as overtaking a lorry although a lot slower. It’s more politeness towards other road users with a bit of impatience thrown in.

EDIT: apologies if I sounded harsh before.. bad day at work

It’s on the highway code as a ‘you should never’ so you can get pulled by a bored copper

Err.. wrong on two counts:

“Never” in the Highway Code is not the legally enforceable bits. The bits backed by road traffic law are MUST or MUST NOT in bold.

And it doesn’t say “never ride two abreast”, it says “never ride more than two abreast”

It also advises (but doesn’t enforce) that we should “ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends”

So the Op was on his way to the mountain bike playground in his car and was held up en route – big deal.
Id suggest the OP should have just carried on when they pulled in and not thought any more of the matter, to follow them in to the petrol station to give his two penneth, was so unbelievably childish and pathetic, to then come on a forum for a group hug – shows a very “mountain biker” attitude to life.
(ie insecure middle aged male who is frustrated at the world)

where i live it is literally crawling with big groups of roadies..mostly fat and clad in lycra tbh most of them do ride like a bunch of prats, they think they own the road and they are mostly arrogant…they dont do themselves any favours at all..get those bombers out.

strange thought they had closed roads off for the olympic road race

As I and a couple of others have posted but not got a response from the OP – what exactly did you want the cyclists to do? By your own admission the road was only wide enough for 2 cars not 2 cars and a bike so wtf difference does it make if they were two abreast? It would have only made things harder for you to overtake (if an opportunity to do so safely arose) as the line would have been longer.
Two abreast on a narrow lane where you can’t overtake without going dangerously close to the outside cyclist (regardless of oncoming traffic) is the only time cyclists should make an effort to change to single file so you can at least attempt to pass (although as in my previous post it’s often instinctive to pull left if an oncoming car appears rather than just brake so you’d end up going into the line of cyclists).
The only other thing they could have done was stop and pull over for you, that’s a reasonable expectation for an HGV or on a really quiet lane but not for a single car on a road with regular traffic as otherwise you’re asking them to ruin their ride.

Well here we are………5 pages of disagreement, some fairly ill-natured, on a cycling forum.

Can we really complain when a large number of motorists and the general public look down upon cyclists in general, when quite evidently various factions of cycling do exactly the same thing.

Utterly bloody pathetic 👿

They probably ride like they are entitled to use the whole carriageway and you are obliged to give them room, you could always be a c@nt and clip them with your wing mirror like a woman did to me, smashing me to the floor in front of the following traffic. But then that is what you get with mountain bikers in their cars thinking they have an entitlement to the road and that all other road users are obliged to get out of their way.
Get a life you people, cyclists on the road is something you need to get used to.

What grhams S to taff re the Highway code from your own link …to prove the point

You should wear
a cycle helmet which conforms to current regulations, is the correct size and securely fastened
appropriate clothes for cycling. Avoid clothes which may get tangled in the chain, or in a wheel or may obscure your lights
light-coloured or fluorescent clothing which helps other road users to see you in daylight and poor light
reflective clothing and/or accessories (belt, arm or ankle bands) in the dark

I dont think you get done for ignoring any of those that you should do any more than the should re two abreast. As noted it says not more than two abreast rather than saying you cannot ride two abreast

no need to clip em with your mirror, they are probably all going to die prematurely due to all those traffic fumes they are inhaling..

It’s probably already been said, but even on my own I would ride with enough space to my left for another cyclist. I will move further in if I decide it is safe, and it usually is. But it is 100% my decision – the only thing at stake is my safety (well, and a few seconds’ inconvenience for the driver).

I’m a 2nd cat on the road and an elite level xc racer the latter being my true love anyway yes I can say 99% of roadies are cocks….just saying like

I pull in and without loosing my rag and politely question them, asking why they never let me pass (I had cycle gear on too as I was on my way to a ride). To say they where arrogant and non-caring would be an understatement, not one of them came up with a reason as to why they never let me pass.

The OP made the mistake of not being clear when he said that ‘if’ they had cycled in single file then he ‘may’ have been able to get past safely and in true STW stylee he was taken absolutely at his word, whereas he should have given a yard by yard account detailing the exact position of each member of the group, road width along the entire route together with any areas of ‘special interest’ eg. lay-by’s, bus stops etc etc.

None of that really matters of course, as he was left fuming by a bunch of tossers, one of whom told him to **** off when asked a perfectly reasonable question. Probably tells me all I need to know re the cyclists 🙄

XCneil, I take it you are in that 99%
as you have given yourself very good odds for being in that group.

Woody, none need give a reason as to why they didnt let him pass, they are not required to let him pass.
don’t you get it, when in a car you are not the number one honcho on the road, you must allow for slower road users and show consideration, like horses, learner drivers etc.
since being knocked off anyone that gives me shit for riding my bike on the road will get knocked out, I am so **** tired of motorists and their **** attitude to cyclists.
bring it on any time.

xcneil – wish I was like you, just saying like. 🙄

None of that really matters of course, as he was left fuming by a bunch of tossers, one of whom told him to **** off when asked a perfectly reasonable question. Probably tells me all I need to know re the cyclists

Apart from not telling him to f off, in what way could they have not been “tossers”?

The road was not wide enough. What should they do – invite the car in: “yea – come by, it’s well worth the risk.”?

The OP was very cautious and considerate but I think it’s you who needs help with some ‘issues’ there sancho.

I find having a girlfriend helps 😉

Apart from not telling him to f off, in what way could they have not been “tossers”?

How about if they had given him an answer to his question?

Yes. That may have helped.

specialknees – Member

”If there is a spot, they got to a garage and pulled in”.
They passed at least three other places they could have done the same.

Perhaps they felt too embarassed.

The OP was very cautious and considerate but I think it’s you who needs help with some ‘issues’ there sancho.

He was considerate until he followed them into a petrol station for a rant.

I can see sanchos point, most of the people on here would change their tone if it was a bunch of fat overweight IT managers on Orange 5’s blocking the road instead of roadies.

I pull in and without loosing my rag and politely question them….

Maybe the OP would care say exactly how he worded his polite questions which have miraculously been transformed into a rant in the space of 6 pages?

How about if they had given him an answer to his question?

As a supposed cyclist, he should already know the obvious answer, but I do agree that it would be better to answer him nicely.

Two separate things:

1. how they were riding (nothing wrong)

2. how they behaved after (rude)

The second one doesn’t mean they were wrong in the first one.

As a supposed cyclist, he should already know the obvious answer

Quite possibly but from the differing responses on here it is fairly obvious that there are different schools of thought, even amongst regular road cyclists.

I’m not reading all that but I do hope it’s mostly discussion about the mispelling of ‘roadies’ in the thread title?

How about if they had given him an answer to his question?

You must have cycled on the road to know that when people shout amongst other things
– why don’t you pay road tax?
– why don’t you use the cycle lane?
– why do cyclist cycle in the middle of the road?
etc.. they almost always have no interest in the answer, they just want you out of their way.

.. so in the same way that the OP has incorrectly assumed they were cycling in that way purely because they were arrogant, they must have incorrectly assumed he was stopping his car and coming over to talk to them purely because he impatient and aggressive.

Maybe the problem is that cyclists like these are seen to be enjoying themselves on the road…. not sure anybody else does?

They are using a public space for thier private past time. But, as such, they are including other members of the public into their little game…. thing is, other members of the public don’t wanna be play… for them the road is a tool to get from A to B and not a playground.

Ro5ey
The road is a place for vehicles other than cars
**** off with this cyclists on the road need to get out of your way crap.
the cyclists appear to have been cycling in a group down a country lane, they dont have to give up the road to a car.
and if those cyclists are getting from a to b then you have to sit behind them and wait.
just like you do for horses, learners, tractors etc.

Try riding on the road and see what its like Ive been spat at, stuff thrown at me, knocked off, run in to run over, hit, abused, horns etc etc.
And for what minding my own business riding a bike on the road.

Learn to share the road you car driving ****.

I struggle with long sentences, but from the first page…

If ten riders got into single file wouldn’t that just leave you with a very long line to try to get past safely? Or would you just start to pass and then push into the middle of them if something was coming the other way?

Having been educated on the motorbike thread, I believe the correct action would indeed be to push yourself in between two of the cyclists, you would clearly then have to argue about safe gaps and braking distances to justify your beheviour. Here is the warning though, never and I mean never even hint at the fact that you might be wrong or that this could be considered a dangerous manouvre. You are in control of the car and if the cyclists can’t deal with it then they should not be on the road if they’re simply going to prevent you making progress. Inconsiderate idiots.

Sancho …. chillout, dude.

Maybe step away from the keyboard for a moment

You have super over-reacted to my post as you know nothing of my road use.

Would like to apologise, so that you can be taken seriously

Skills and consideration could certainly be improved on all sides.

Riding ‘through and off’ is, and has been, standard group riding procedure for decades. And I mean decades. Since early 1900’s if not earlier. It’s effective for riding efficiently against the wind.

Are we saying that cycling practice which takes place for good reasons and has done so for c 50-60 years before cars came into mass ownership, has to change now because car drivers (and I am one) don’t like it?

Not sure I can see a good rationale for that.

And if the French, Italians, Spanish, Dutch, Danish can STILL manage to respect cyclists, why can’t Brits?

Just get a beat up Land Rover they soon get out off the way.

They are using a public space for thier private past time. But, as such, they are including other members of the public into their little game….

I see.

So should we ban all private past times in public spaces?? Not all of us have our own lands and private estates to occupy us.

Or are you just suggesting that the law is changed to force people enjoying themselves to give way to miserable people?

the cyclists appear to have been cycling in a group down a country lane, they dont have to give up the road to a car

On another forum, there’s a bloke in red socks explaining how he and the rest of his rambling group has the right to walk down the middle of a bridleway, and they don’t have to move to let those lycra louts get past.

Try riding on the road and see what its like Ive been spat at, stuff thrown at me, knocked off, run in to run over, hit, abused, horns etc etc.
And for what minding my own business riding a bike on the road.

Me too, cycled to work every day for the past 25 years.
And in that time, I’ve noticed that the proportion of idiots on bikes is roughly the same as that in cars.

169

Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass.

Is it ok to hold up single cars?