Ridden the M25 twice.

First time was a Surrey League road race before it was open  – straight up for a couple of miles , turn around a cone, back down, repeat. Not the most challenging of courses.

Second time was when it was open but I think before it had been completed . A friend and I cycled down a hill we didn’t know somewhere over Kent way and found ourselves on the M25. We just stopped, walked across the carriageway and went back up the slip road.

Changing tyres – got a drivers side at Hermiston Gait – TRISS wagon turned up immediately with FO big jack. Was off in no time. That service is a life saving legend. Big van behind you with the flashy arrows!

I hit some debris in the middle lane one dark winter night in heavy traffic – managed to get the badly damaged car onto the hard shoulder next to an emergency phone, called for help. There was fuel pouring out of the damaged tank and within minutes a Highways patrol car was on scene followed a few minutes later by one of the big crash protection trucks behind me. That was a huge relief, it felt SO unsafe being there.

And then a tow truck to collect my crippled (later written off) car. Many flashing lights.

Going back to 2001 we were in a cab going home along the M602…it was early Sunday morning and there was a group of naked men having a jog down the hard shoulder! I presumed it was rugby club antics!! 😀

But, yeah, cycling on a motorway isn’t a terrific idea!

Are there genuinely people on here that read the Highway Code on a regular basis or have memorised a lot of the content?

I think its just STW world where people seem to keep a copy of the Highway Code next to their bedside for some light reading.

August 2005 on the M1 somewhere in Yorkshire. Our trailer tent had an offside blow-out so pulled over, emptied the boot (a two week rainy holiday with three small children = tons of stuff) to get the jack only to find it wasn’t suitable for the trailer tent (I’d never thought to check), tried lifting up the side of it to wiggle the wheel off and put the spare on. Wife holding 6-month-old baby and two other infant children stood in the nettles up the embankment. Lorries thundering by mere inches from my arse. Finally gave up and rang the AA, who attended a few hours later, only to find the spare wheel holes didn’t line up as the pcd was slightly different, so I was never going to get the spare on anyway. I very nearly unhitched the thing and drove off abandoning it! Thinking back, I can’t believe how stupid I was. The entire family nearly watched me being spread all along the carriageway in a thin smear. I’m much more respectful of hard shoulders now, I’ve had enough crap cars in my youth to know what a lonely place the hard shoulder is.

In fact I was only reliving this at the weekend, and realised that I don’t really know the proper way to use an emergency triangle. Right behind the vehicle? Half a mile back? Same lane or next one out (to ensure vehicles give a wide berth)? Is it different between A roads, dual carriageways and motorways? I need to do my research.

I would happily destroy a tyre and wheel if it was a valid alternative to stopping on the hard shoulder (eg getting to a slip road or refuge). Way too many HGV drivers using the rumble strip as a lane-keeping aid while they cook dinner.

“Riding the hard shoulder of the freeway is legal in many places in the USA. Mostly where there is no good alternative at the freeway was built over the old road.”

We’ve got this in Spain,I have a local piece of motorway that you can happily and legally ride along.

Cars have to move over to the other lane and they do tend to be pretty good but its not a place I would ride as cycling over the exits/junctions is meh and its got steep downhill sections its pretty disconcerting as it doesn’t actually feel right to ride on.

The most recent cycling accident on it was a cyclist riding uphill who got hit by 2 motorcycles, i’m not sure of the outcome.

In fact I was only reliving this at the weekend, and realised that I don’t really know the proper way to use an emergency triangle. Right behind the vehicle? Half a mile back? Same lane or next one out (to ensure vehicles give a wide berth)? Is it different between A roads, dual carriageways and motorways? I need to do my research.

If you’d ever bothered to read the highway code you’d already know the answer 😑