Public apology

Pink?
Gay?
Road cyclist?
Ssssh! You’ll be waking the troll up.

Oi! I’ll have you know I’ve got a shop AND a big boat, so that makes me definitely, absolutely, NOT GAY – ok?

Cake and eat it!!!

i’m gay and so is my girlfriend.

on roads that should be driven around 40-55mph depending on the conditions.

It was going so well until that bit.

[Flame proof jacket]

Why should it be driven at 40-55 mph? Why not 60? I’m all for driving to the conditions, but at the same time an expectation of a license holder is that he / she can handle a car safely at the speed limit where appropriate. No, I know the roads are not my personal racetrack, but neither are they a day-dreamer’s sightseeing loop. They are conduits for communication, and the expectation is that road users should use them as such.

[/Flame proof jacket]

Clearly I’m not expecting cyclists to be hammering along at 60, but car drivers dawdling at 40 are as much a cause of accidents as morons hooning around at 90.

the roads i was specifically thinking of in my head are twisty turny, full of blind corners country roads with random junctions dotted along it, and in my imagination it was raining with a lot of standing water on the road due to it being very dry recently.

i could elaborate further on my imaginary situation but it’d be pointless…. just imagine the kinda roads where if you went round a blind corner at 60mph you’d have no chance of stopping safely before hitting the stationary car just around the corner waiting to turn off 🙂

(the amount of cars i’ve had skidding nearly off the road/into the back of me trying to brake as they see us waiting in a queue of stationary traffic as one poor sod a few cars ahead waits to turn right!)

but yeah… i agree with you dude when you say:

I’m all for driving to the conditions, but at the same time an expectation of a license holder is that he / she can handle a car safely at the speed limit where appropriate. No, I know the roads are not my personal racetrack, but neither are they a day-dreamer’s sightseeing loop

i think we’re of similar opinion, but my post was poor in that it didnt elaborate well enough.

but car drivers dawdling at 40 are as much a cause of accidents as morons hooning around at 90.

Really?

Really?

Two main reasons:

1) Dawdling and not paying attention = longer reaction times if an unexpected hazard emerges. Most dawdlers seem utterly incapable of reading the road.

2) Whilst it will always be the overtaker’s fault (unless dawdler chooses to change speed whilst being overtaken), driving unnecessarily slowly may encourage others to take risks overtaking, when if the driver in front had been travelling at the correct speed, this need would no longer be there.

we cool yeah zokes? 8)

If the roads are narrow / bendy / busy then I think riders (road or MTB) should try to ride single file to avoid becomming a statistic. As an ex-road rider (now 100% MTB) who has been clipped and knocked off by a car ‘passing’ whilst I was 2 a breast on a similar sized country road I have learned my lesson.

I am NOT sticking up for cars but do you really want to be the one in A&E saying “a bike is a vehicle too and should be treated as wide as a tractor….”

As a Husband and Father to 2 I now feel it is my obligation to my family to ensure I come back from a ride alive, not put myself in danger by riding 2+ a breast when it is not 100% safe to do so.

As invincible as we all feel we will never win a fight with a car / white van / lorry….

I don’t really get this attitude of cyclists are always right.

Well if they are not breaking the law waht do you expect us to say on a bike forum or in general? The OP here passed to close according to the highway code adn the riders did nothin illegal – who else can we blame?
Oddly when cheeky trails are involved we seem to be VERY supportive of riders breaking the law. However give us some roadies doing something legal that may interfere with my god given right to have an unhindered car driving festival and suddenly we get all shitty about cyclists NOT BREAKING THE LAW

Just think what non cyclists think of us and how they act towards us if fellow cyclists wont give us any respect on the road

we cool yeah zokes?

Yes indeedy – definitely on the same page. Sorry – Just went into internet rant mode – pet hate of mine is the 40 mph everywhere brigade….

when if the driver in front had been travelling at the correct speed

It’s called the speed limit, not suggested speed.

Dawdling and not paying attention = longer reaction times if an unexpected hazard emerges. Most dawdlers seem utterly incapable of reading the road.

😆

Chuckle you may, but the next person you see trundling merrily on at 40 mph, oblivious to the tailback behind them, will probably also be the next person you see trundle into a village at the same speed, only now 10 mph over the speed limit. That lack of awareness must surely translate into a lack of observational skills when it comes to spotting potential hazards.

Must admit i think riding 2 abreast when cars are trying to pass is ignorant.

“Must admit i think riding 2 abreast when cars are trying to pass is ignorant.”

This.

How about cars trying to push past when there is insufficient room. have you guys actually read the highway code?

How about cars trying to push past when there is insufficient room.

I’d think that is ignorant also. But the situation here is 3 abreast and a car trying to pass, the car passed by when 3 abreast, so clearly there is enough space, the car wasn’t trying to squeeze past one cyclist on a single track road by the sounds of things. The cyclists should have went to single file imo. Sounds like there was plenty of space for the cyclists to show a bit of common courtesy.

yes, i have, that’s why i’ve got a driving licence and everyfink!

oldnpastit…nice. Reminds me of a book…”A Scietific Romance” by Ronald Wright. Very good.

Must admit i think riding 2 abreast when cars are trying to pass is ignorant.

Because forcing the overtaking cars to stay on the other side of the road for longer is clearly so much better.

Just think what non cyclists think of us and how they act towards us if fellow cyclists wont give us any respect on the road

yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn
you can trot out all your trite nobisms as ofen as you like.. it will not change my view that mutual respect is required by road-users.. and cyclists have to face the fact that they are in a huge minority and can very easily become an obstruction if they are not willing to ride with respect for other traffic.. and that’s not good PR no matter how much you delude yourself..

Because forcing the overtaking cars to stay on the other side of the road for longer is clearly so much better.

Well for the 2 secs longer it takes, I’d say yes it is preferable to holding up a driver for the few minutes while you go along merrily on your wee power trip.

btw i’m all for riding defensively, I do it all the time, but there does need to be a bit of give and take.

zokes – Member
…I know the roads are not my personal racetrack… They are conduits for communication, and the expectation is that road users should use them as such.

Conduits for communication – very good description.

And these are used by various types of user such as:
pedestrians – children & adults
cyclists – ditto
horse riders
tractors
folk driving below the speed limit for various reasons (eg new baby, old person with all faculties but driving appropriately to their reactions, etc)

If your driving is such that you have no margin of safety in case you meet one of the above, then it’s about time to admit to yourself that you are either selfish or incompetent. The ownership of a car does not give you a greater right to use the road than them – it is a shared resource.

As far as being a cyclist is concerned, I work on the principle, there’s being right, and there’s being dead right, but I do object to **** trying to bully me out of the way with 1.5 ton metal weapon.

we get all shitty about cyclists NOT BREAKING THE LAW

Are you certain that riding 3 abreast is not breaking the law? (notice I didn’t get all shouty)

Has anybody mentioned the roadie the op was writing about is obviously a complete twonk?

pretty sure Dezb.

You should
* never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends

~Highway code – should meaning it is good practice but MUST is used where the force of law applies.

Then there is this

I wasn’t asking you 😉

You MUST NOT

carry a passenger unless your cycle has been built or adapted to carry one
hold onto a moving vehicle or trailer
ride in a dangerous, careless or inconsiderate manner
ride when under the influence of drink or drugs, including medicine

Riding three abreast is an inconsiderate manner.

ride when under the influence of drink or drugs

bugger! shirley i’m allowed a couple or 5 pints and a wee smoke? 😀