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

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.

and they don’t so what’s your point ?

The difference is that the “lycra louts” are unlikely to suddenly meet another cyclist coming the other direction, run out of room, swerve into the rambling group and kill half of them.

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

Are you sure that the Spanish respect cyclists?

let’s do some maths children…..

4 miles behind the Peloton which may have been averaging 20mph?

= 12 minutes sat behind the spandex massif??

With patience like that they should have pulled you over and given you a Nobel Peace Prize, anyone else with a pulse would have either driven over the top of them or forced their way by and made them single file.

Either way, keep hugging those trees dear pacifist 😆

Graham … ever played a game of cricket in the local shopping centre? Maybe a game of football in the library?

Sorry but that’s how a lot of drivers see it.

I’ve been out with road groups didn’t like it for this very reason… yes we have the “right” to be there… but arrogance I witnessed on those rides and on here this afternoon,I could do without.

Because those who don’t wanna play our little game just happen to be in charge of 1+ ton of metal… (thanks for illustrating the point, with your last post)

Be careful guys… remember what Mum said…. Don’t play in the road.

Threads like this are great for giving an insight into why things like the Good Friday Agreement took so long to be written.

Graham … ever played a game of cricket in the local shopping centre? Maybe a game of football in the library?

I’ve played cricket and football in the park. The park is a public space.

Graham … ever played a game of cricket in the local shopping centre? Maybe a game of football in the library?

No, but I’ve played football in the road. I’ve seen people walking and jogging in the road. I’ve seen horses on the road.

I’ve even seen drivers who looked like they were enjoying themselves.

Because those who don’t wanna play our little game just happen to be in charge on 1+ ton of metal… (thanks for illustrating the point, with your last post)

Ahh.. “might is right”. Tell me, should cars be forced to pull over and get out the way of HGVs at weekends?

I mean, the cars are probably out for leisure reasons. The HGVs are working. They don’t want to play and they are bigger, heavier, will come off a lot better in a crash AND they pay more “road tax”.

Sure the cars have a right to be there, but the HGVS happen to be in charge of 12 tons of metal.

I cant believe the comments on this a cycling thread about other cyclists being on the road.
perhaps some people need to undersatnd they are not so important when in their car and that the road is a shared space.

If you dont like getting stuck behind cyclists, or a slow moving vehicle, then think about the other road users and how they might feel rather than getting all hot and bothered about being held up.

Ransos… You’re missing the point old chap.. Everyone else in the park were also there, enjoying themselves.

Take your football match on the alloments next door… you’d getta hoe up your Harris.

Sancho – Member
I cant believe the comments on this a cycling thread about other cyclists being on the road.

+1

Am surprised and saddened to read so much antagonism towards cyclists on the road. Am also somewhat bemused as to why so many people get so angry about having to slow down a little, for whatever reason.

Like many of you, I’m a road cyclist, mountain biker, car driver, and hiker – and generally think the majority of folks in all ‘groups’ are on the whole decent and considerate.

In this specific example, I suspect there might be many, justifiable reasons why a group of road cyclists acted the way they did. When I’m out riding with a group, we are often wary of going single file as it leads to drivers trying to squeeze past when there isn’t enough room. Spliting into 2 groups isn’t usually practical or safe to have a car in the middle. And often stopping a group in a layby etc us pretty hard as there is limited room and it’s often not possible to spot such opportunities in time to communicate it through the group in time to allow everyone to safely stop.

Why the impatience? Does a few minutes really matter? Personally, I can happily sit behind a group of cyclists and admire some very fit legs 🙂 If I’m on my bike (road or off-road) I have no problem slowing down for ramblers or dog walkers that are often using the back roads round here. And let’s just appreciate the fact that hopefully most road users will get home safe and sound to their family and friends.

Graham.. did you carry on your game of footie in the street when a car came?

Ro5ey

we all get you don’t like roadies, so stop talking sh!te.

perhaps some people need to undersatnd they are not so important when in their car a large’ish cycling group and that the road is a shared space.

Goes both ways, doesn’t it………common courtesy that is !

Pigeon Holed me there nicely Sancho. 🙄

So.. both sides have had their say.
I have read the lot and although I now know a bit more about road riding than I did, I feel I have learnt more aboute the human race in general.
All I really wanted was consideration, I wasnt rude, I didnt loose my rag or raise my voice, I kept a safe distance and never tried any silly Manoeuvres. I aproached the group in a friendly manner but was virtually ignored, those that did engage in CONVERSATION told me tuff S%it in so many words, followed by rudery, Shame on them.
I just hope when people see me or you with cycle kit on they dont jump to any conclusions and assume we are all like that.
Life goes on…

Amen to that.
Just pick a different route at weekends!

Graham.. did you carry on your game of footie in the street when a car came?

Nice swerving of my question. No I didn’t. But in the heady days of my youth, when such games were played, cars would drive slowly through streets because they’d expect kids to be playing in them.

Now, answer my questions, HGVs…

woody, you miss the point.
the faster car is slowed down, so has to share the space,
when a fast group of cyclists catch a slower walking horse they have to slow down and pass when safe and so on and so on, its about sharing the road, and you dont have to get out of the way to let someone past.

just learn that lesson please then we will all be safer.

I’ve been cycling on the road for about 15 years, but only started driving very recently.

I often feel incredibly vulnerable cycling on the road.

Now that I’m driving, I can understand why some drivers become frustrated/impatient with cyclists, not because their very very important journey is being delayed but because it can be quite unnerving trying to pass (particularly a large group). That said, I’m putting my own nerves down to concern my actions could have for the cyclist(s) and therefore added pressure to pass safely, along with a lack of experience.

Whilst the only correct answer must always be that the driver should stay behind patiently until it’s safe to pass, I now know as a cyclist that maybe the driver behind me isn’t a total c0ck, but just a bit worried/hesitant about passing, and I’ll try to make allowances accordingly (I would often ride with a mindset that as the vulnerable road user, the car should always be the one making the allowances).

Nice to see it from both sides finally.

That said, sitting behind anything is just something I gather you have to get used to 🙂 Singletrack roads on Skye are good for patience!

Ro5ey

we all get you don’t like roadies, so stop talking sh!te.

Nah… I just dont like blind arrogance in any form, from any one… be they a fellow cyclist or not.

You can think I’m talking sh!te all you like… just please be careful and dont pick a fight with a car.

Not all motorists will be as considerate as the OP.

specialknees id suggest you get on with your life and ignore most of what is said here and what was said to you by the other cyclists, that way you wont end up fuming on the forum like me.

Ransos… You’re missing the point old chap.. Everyone else in the park were also there, enjoying themselves.

You were claiming that road cyclists shouldn’t use a public space for private recreation.

I don’t recall any law that requires the sole function of road use to be utility, any more than park use is the sole preserve of dog walkers.

Roadie behaviour like that is no different to walkers who don’t get out of the way.
Both are being rude.

Why the impatience? Does a few minutes really matter?

Quite. You’d imagine there are an awful lot of houses on fire judging by the way cars Must Get Past At All Costs.

”that way you wont end up fuming on the forum like me”
Good point Sancho.

Im calm now.Im in a calm place now.

As I said I have learnt a bit today.

Sadly, if it were someone else in my shoes (well car) it could have been a very different outcome.

Im going to pat myself on the back and get on with my life.

Might even ride me bike tonight.

Look out for me.!

Zippy
Walkers are not being rude by not getting out of your way FFS
who do you think you are.

I don’t recall any law that requires the sole function of road use to be utility

So what is utility, i object to the school run, they can walk to school. As for commuters that is what buses and trains are for. Driving to the shops, well that isn’t very helpful is it.

Goods should be on railways, isn’t that the cry.

So that is road congestion solved.

just learn that lesson please then we will all be safer.

You’re preaching to the converted here sancho.

If you read my posts I am advocating courtesy from all sides and just because you don’t have to get out of the way, doesn’t mean that you don’t!

Re the ‘walkers’, if I’m walking and I see a bike coming towards me, I’ll usually get out of the way, especially if I’m walking the dogs. I don’t have to but it’s often a lot easier for me to do that. No big deal and it usually ends in a mutual smile and thanks. The 30-40% of mtb’ers who don’t even acknowledge you or bother to say thanks despite the fact I have ROW can go **** themselves however 😆

Woody +1

Roadie behaviour like that is no different to walkers who don’t get out of the way.

I think you need to read the law regarding cycling access to the countryside. You have no rights, cyclists are expected by law to get out of the way of walkers, horses, etc.

Walkers may give way to you but they have no duty to do so, but as a cyclist you are expected to yield the path without question. The usual crap about the path not being used, it being ok to build jumps, everyone should get out of my way because i am important, is just that, CRAP.

The number of times i read and experience people on bikes riding downhill refusing to yield to those riding up hill regardless of the climb pretty well sums up why i find most mtb riders a bunch of ********.

If mtbers want to ride off road there are some very simple rules to abide by, if you don’t like them, talk to the landowner, they can change the rules in specific cases. There is rarely any issue with cheeky trials as long as you remember your not meant to be there and act accordingly.

Re the ‘walkers’, if I’m walking and I see a bike coming towards me, I’ll usually get out of the way. I don’t have to but it’s often a lot easier for me to do that. No big deal and it usually ends in a mutual smile and thanks.

I do the same, but it’s not really a valid comparison, as moving to the side of the path is very easy to do. In the OP’s case, the cycling group would have to find a large space to pull over, and organise themselves so it could be done safely. Not very easy or convenient. On the other hand, the driver could spend a couple of minutes longer on his journey…

Walkers are not being rude by not getting out of your way FFS
who do you think you are.

Just to double check your tolerance levels – you roll up behind a bunch of walkers on a bridleway on your mtb, they turn and see you there then carry on plodding along as they were. You get off and walk too or do a bit of track standing and slow rolling.

1min gone – happy still?
3mins gone – still happy?
6mins gone – not getting a little tetchy yet?
12mins gone – how are those trees and birds looking – still chipper?
20mins gone – all sweetness and light with you?

Well that’s the length of time the op was slowed.

The point is in both cases the walker and cyclist are probably in the right in the strictest sense of the word by some book or other but they have failed the test of being a considerate human being and stepped over the line of being reasonable in sticking to “their rights”. Give and take is what makes the world go around.

Once more the conversation has drifted into the wrong assumption that the cyclists simply chose not to move on a whim.

A walker can just move without endangering themselves – a rider on a road could very well make the situation much more risky for themselves by inviting a car to come through in a dangerous place. If you can’t see the on-coming road, it isn’t safe to overtake.

The comparison is false.

Just to double check your tolerance levels – you roll up behind a bunch of walkers on a bridleway on your mtb, they turn and see you there then carry on plodding along as they were. You get off and walk too or do a bit of track standing and slow rolling.

1min gone – happy still?
3mins gone – still happy?
6mins gone – not getting a little tetchy yet?
12mins gone – how are those trees and birds looking – still chipper?
20mins gone – all sweetness and light with you?

Well that’s the length of time the op was slowed.

The point is in both cases the walker and cyclist are probably in the right in the strictest sense of the word by some book or other but they have failed the test of being a considerate human being and stepped over the line of being reasonable in sticking to “their rights”. Give and take is what makes the world go around.
Totally wrong – because the walkers would risk nothing by moving aside.

“You were claiming that road cyclists shouldn’t use a public space for private recreation.”

No not really… the point I was making was

Others road users do not want to be playing our cycling for fun, game.

Once more the conversation has drifted into the wrong assumption that the cyclists simply chose not to move on a whim.

A walker can just move without endangering themselves – a rider on a road could very well make the situation much more risky for themselves by inviting a car to come through in a dangerous place. If you can’t see the on-coming road, it isn’t safe to overtake.

The comparison is false.

You see this is where internet bickering is rubbish – what you have said there could be perfectly reasonable or complete bollox – you don’t know as you were not there and don’t know the road and neither do I. Facts remain that I’m struggling to imagine a 4 mile bit of quiet back road without a layby, little road junction or some such which a group could not roll through to let other traffic through if it chose. I don’t buy the its hard to do that as a group nonsense – I’ve done more group ride miles than had hot dinners and if that is the case the group should be having a word with itself about comms and groups leadership.

Totally wrong – because the walkers would risk nothing by moving aside.

I would suggest the cyclists were risking far more, as not all drivers are as patient and courteous as the OP.

Totally wrong – because the walkers would risk nothing by moving aside.

See my last post – it is ok to pull over and stop when in a group – you are not in the tdf! I have done it with groups thousands of times. Not one of those times was I risking anything (except a strava time!).

I wouldn’t want to be stopping all the time like that but road where this is a problem to this extreme are quite unusual so a bit of consideration in those situations would seem reasonable – you hold up others for just a few minutes and you have to stops a few times for a couple of seconds – both parties inconvenienced but not significantly. Seems fair.

No not really… the point I was making was

Others road users do not want to be playing our cycling for fun, game.

Well if it’s “no not really” then why say it?

The point about public spaces is that we have to share them. There is no particular reason why a motorist should take priority over a recreational cyclist.