Riding on the road 2 abreast. Yay or Nay

Out with a mate for a road ride today and got shouted at by the passenger of a car who was unhappy we were riding two abreast. We were doing about 20 through a village with a narrow section of road that wouldn’t have been safe to pass us on even if we’d been in single file and the car passed us as soon as the road widened with the passenger hanging out of the window shouting that we should have been in single file when there’s traffic around. Apparently, he’s a cyclist so knows what he was talking about. What is the hive mind’s take on this?

It’s perfectly legal.
It may not always be sensible.

Cough at him as he drives by. If he’s close enough to be offended, he’s too close.

Classic case of passengers being ****.. Always ride 2 abreast in that situation to discourage close overtakes. Unfortunately car drivers can’t wait 10 seconds anymore

No, 2 abreast is in the highway code, its fine. For politeness I tend to single out where cars can pass, but that’s my perogative. Best ignored, probably not a cyclist, just a bell end justifying bell endery.

I do at times, mostly because I’m with my 12 year old so protecting him.

Not always, depends when the car comes and how clear a view they have. If approaching a bend I think they shouldn’t overtake on, I’ll actively discourage if with my positioning.

Had a few yesterday that were rubbish on a road we need to link up trails, the overtake would have been ok, if they’d looked and seen 2 small ones had pulled 20m on our 2, so they then had too big a gap to do in one hit, but not enough space to pull Inbetween.

Do you not keep socially distanced when out with others?

Of course Yay. It is legal and, more often than not, safer

Simple truth is that if a driver can’t safely overtake riders who are two abreast, then it probably isn’t safe for them to overtake riders in single file either. There are not many circumstances where two abreast prevents drivers from legally and safely overtaking

How close together do you think we were?

Of course Yay. It is legal and, more often than not, safer

Simple truth is that if you can’t safely overtake two abreast, then it probably isn’t safe to overtake single file either.

That’s what I thought, but I wasn’t certain.

This was tweeted by Surrey’s Road policing unit a while ago – explains their view on the subject

The passenger was two abreast with the driver, right?

And presumably when they pass another car he must shout the same at them… I mean, he’s going to be logically consistent, suuuurely, so he would expect the driver of the slower car to rearrange their car into single file so that they don’t have to move fully into the other lane to pass.

Yes the Surrey Road interpretation above sums up good practice.

Anyone who is prepared to lean out of a car window and shout at you is automatically an idiot, and you don’t have to take any notice of them.

Nothing wrong with two abreast just get in when a car comes behind people are so impatient at the minute even though the roads are quiet classic was the other morning coming along a road two cyclist two abreast car behind could not pass them because I was cycling the other side of road so he blow the the horn at them only had to wait 5seconds no hope.

It’s legal, and recommended in certain situations, including the one in the opening post if I understand it correctly.

People that aren’t aware probably need to revisit their driver/cycle training.

Two abreast may have prevented the driver squeezing by when there wasn’t enough room for a safe pass.

Every driver who has ever had a go at me has always said “I’m a cyclist too”

Yeah right🤪

Anyway 2 abreast is fine but you should single out if there’s a queue of traffic behind. Even if it’s just for image sake e.g your not out for a chat and holding up traffic and not giving a sh##.

Sometimes you need to think about how it looks to the driver rather than purely practical overtaking opportunities.

I have an issue with this
2 abrest, starting say 1mtr from the kerb, plus bike say 44cm, plus 1mtr gap between riders. Then add in 44cm for second rider 2.88mtr
On most roads it the becomes difficult for the overtaking car to give the outer rider 1.5m of space as you have taken up 4mtr of roadspace. If you include 1.12 of passing space
Ok on alot of roads each lane is 3mtr wide but car drivers dislike fully crossing the the white lines, and wont drive in the gutter of the opposing carriageway
I guess if you do this you have to accept that the outer rider is going to be passed at under 1mtr, somtimes by dick heads, but somtimes unavoidably

Lots of muppets in cars and an equal amount on bikes.
As an old roadie I am constantly amazed by how shit a large number of road cyclists are at actually riding along. I used to go out for 40-50 mile rides with a training partner and we would ride close enough together side by side to bump elbows because we were used to riding close from racing. We knew when to single out, when to ride side by side.
Watching the wobbly wheelers these days wandering about metres apart makes me sad…

I have an issue with this

And yet the Police don’t, based on their guidance posted further up.

No, 2 abreast is in the highway code, its fine. For politeness I tend to single out where cars can pass, but that’s my perogative. Best ignored, probably not a cyclist, just a bell end justifying bell endery.

Pretty much this..

I’m a cyclist too you know! But I have to admit to getting realy pissed off with large groups of road riders here in the dales. Most carriageways here are pretty narrow and I often get stuck behind a group who seem to be on some kind of training ride they will often be two or three abreast and spread along quite a length of road making it really difficult to pass safely. I can often be stuck at twenty or less mph behind them for a mile or more before I can pass safely. There doesn’t seem to be any consideration for the fact that many people on the roads during the week are actually working and have to get somewhere. As a postie I am under genuine pressure to get around at a decent speed which can be difficult enough without hold ups.

How mamy mm’s apart are those riders in the Surrey police pictogram?
No covid spacing
No allowance for pot holed roads
No allowance for sidewinds
No allowance for dogs/cats/ pedestrian stepping put
Also holding a tight line on an open public highway isnt easy
I get nervous if someone i know gets within say 60cm
Be realistic, and i have ridden on Surrey s roads and they are shocking

Totally do it but if you going single file then lets another vehicle safely past then do so.

I ride with one other and we often go in line and give an indicator to cars behind if it is unsafe to pass. My mate goes one step further and waves cars through, I am nervous in case do so and it turns out bad.

If we had ridden side by side more when out today we would have avoided some terrible overtakes by not giving the impression of space – but that would have ended up pissing drivers off even more.

Toss up between an accidental close pass from someone naive to the danger and having some dickhead trying to run you off the road as you held them up for a few moments.

Absolutely fine. I’ve noticed the standard of people’s driving out their is horrendous at the moment. Perhaps because there’s less sensible drivers on the road. It is amazing though how many people are in a rush to get no where.

2-abreast, and go to single-file on a single-lane road if there’s space to pass.

If they can’t get past 2 cyclists, they can’t safely get past 1 cyclist either.

Go and watch some flat earth videos on YT if you need convincing that a sizeable proportion of the UK population are ignorant nutters.

I get nervous if someone i know gets within say 60cm

If you get nervous like that I would suggest you shouldn’t really be riding with other people.

I’m a cyclist too you know! But I have to admit to getting realy pissed off with large groups of road riders here in the dales. Most carriageways here are pretty narrow and I often get stuck behind a group who seem to be on some kind of training ride they will often be two or three abreast and spread along quite a length of road making it really difficult to pass safely. I can often be stuck at twenty or less mph behind them for a mile or more before I can pass safely. There doesn’t seem to be any consideration for the fact that many people on the roads during the week are actually working and have to get somewhere. As a postie I am under genuine pressure to get around at a decent speed which can be difficult enough without hold ups.

If they were in a single line 2 or 3 times as long would they be easier to pass?

Whenever anyone uses “I’m a/was a [whatever you happen to be doing]” to support their argument, it’s always garbage.

Most carriageways here are pretty narrow and I often get stuck behind a group who seem to be on some kind of training ride they will often be two or three abreast

If the roads are narrow they won’t be 3 abreast, its not really possible ( well it is but not on a normal ride unless you want to bump elbows like that cycling God up the thread)

I can often be stuck at twenty or less mph behind them for a mile or more

OMG that sounds awful how do you cope!!

How mamy mm’s apart are those riders in the Surrey police pictogram?
No covid spacing
No allowance for pot holed roads
No allowance for sidewinds
No allowance for dogs/cats/ pedestrian stepping put
Also holding a tight line on an open public highway isnt easy
I get nervous if someone i know gets within say 60cm

The article predates Covid.

Riders at the front call out potholes and other hazards and the group reacts appropriately.

Sidewinds you space out wider

Dogs/cats etc – see potholes and other hazards

It isn’t easy and takes practice.

If you don’t like it – and there are times when I don’t fancy it – then don’t do it.

There are riders I don’t want within 60cm of me too!

As a postie I am under genuine pressure to get around at a decent speed which can be difficult enough without hold ups.

I get you have pressures, but if you’re a postie in the Dale’s, how do you cope with tractors, horses, sheep being moved on the lanes? Let alone all those impromptu emergencies- I’ve seen that Postman Pat documentary!

@boombang That car wouldn’t have been overtaking me on the approach to a central island because I would be in the middle of the lane to prevent it.

Ok on alot of roads each lane is 3mtr wide but car drivers dislike fully crossing the the white lines, and wont drive in the gutter of the opposing carriageway

You say that like it’s reasonable 😂

Single out just to shut the **** up, then both take primary if you feel it’s necessary

The **** who get offended at two abreast and defensive riding are the same **** who more than likely couldn’t tell you one thing from the Highway Code other than red lights mean you should think about speeding up, the minimum speed limit on a motorway is 70 and you can’t park on double yellows unless you have something important to do. S’about time people got retested every 10 years and after an infraction and it’d be a riiiight money spinner.

Anyone who is doubting this one bit…. how come you know better than the Police?

car drivers dislike fully crossing the the white lines

People seem to generally manage it just fine when passing cars, tractors, lorries, horses, basically anything except someone on a bike.

Next bullshit excuse?

Came up in my car the other day behind a pair of cyclists on an A road. Ahead were some bends so not a safe overtaking spot. They moved to single file as I eased up behind. Seems ridiculous. Yet in their shoes I have a habit of doing the same thing, just because I know 2 abreast annoys the kind of people in 2 tonne boxes I don’t want to annoy when I’m the squishy thing. The roads round here are either that or narrow single lane, where the only available safe overtake is the cyclist stopping. Oh the irony that hardly ever does the move to single file facilitate a safe overtake that wasn’t already available.

On what width of road is this not the case? Some massively wide but still single carriageway A road?

2 abreast or single file has never bothered me, its the big groups that spread out to create one big train that grinds my gears!

It means even if your in a position to overtake safely, you have to do it for much longer than necessary to clear the whole group which actively increases the risk for both as most people seem to get caught out by how long it takes to do an overtake on a big group.

In these situations, these big groups are actually better spreading out more leaving gaps for vehicles to overtake parts of the group safely.