So Im out having a lovely road ride this morning descending back to Ladybower when I see this bunch riding from Hagg up to Rowlee on the A57:

http://labs.strava.com/flyby/viewer/#406345873,SY40GOMpNhj0MzYY

There are only a few on the flyby but the group was approx 15 MTB’s riding in single file strung out over 60m or so forming a rolling road block stopping a queue of over 20 cars behind from overtaking safely

My closing speed was about 30mph but in the seconds I went past they had one punishment passing and one extended blowing of horn which in my opinion was getting off lightly

Their fist and finger waving seemed to suggest they didnt see the problem but if its anyone off here then please think next time before riding like selfish numpties and bunch up into 2 groups riding side by side so people in cars can actually get past you

Thanks 🙂

PS Top lurking I know!

Anybody like to place a bet on whether the muppets in cars would give them more or less punishment passes if they doubled up?

I do find it interesting that you think they deserved more punishment passes 😈

Agreed about the short n wide groups are much easier to pass.

Warning: You are dealing with “Gaz”

What’s a ‘punishment pass’?

Yeah I hate it when 2-3 lorries driving nose to tail block me from making progress as well, everyone else on the road should make way for me when I’m out driving!

Very close pass, possibly with a cut-up pull in.

Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the Dark Peak.

If they can’t overtake safely then they shouldn’t overtake.

Riding 2-abreast requires two things.
(1) that they’re actually an experienced and competent group with some idea of roadie etiquette and (2) that they’re all climbing at the same speed.

The fact that they were spread out over 60m or so of road suggests that (2) at least was not part of the equation.

I’d also suggest that Snake Pass probably isn’t the place for 2-abreast riding anyway. While I, and most roadies, know the benefits of it, most drivers still don’t and Snake is a notoriously fast and dangerous road with several blind bends, hardly the place to start educating motorists on the subject of 2-up riding.

Funny isn’t it how a driver will sit behind a tractor doing 12mph without a peep but if you have a group of riders, 2-abreast doing 12mph, there’ll be all kinds of horn blowing and abuse. 🙁

I think we all most of us agree with that. Anybody who’s actually thought about it that is, which is unlikely to include many of the drivers trying to overtake them.

Who’s got the popcorn, this could get entertaining 😈

The fact that they were spread out over 60m or so of road suggests that (2) at least was not part of the equation.

Or the faster ones are not willing to slow down. We do beginners two abreast, with ‘vocal’ and ‘hand signalling’ instructor at rear outside placement – and slowest on front.

Anybody who’s actually thought about it that is, which is unlikely to include many of the drivers trying to overtake them.

Funny isn’t it how a driver will sit behind a tractor doing 12mph without a peep but if you have a group of riders, 2-abreast doing 12mph, there’ll be all kinds of horn blowing and abuse.

True, so true.

I’m with Crazy Legs on this.

and one extended blowing of horn which in my opinion was getting off lightly

So what in your opinion would have been the reasonable response if that was getting off lightly?

Where have you been for the last 6 years.. We’ve missed you

That is an impressively long time to sulk cos no-one commented on your post!

That’s got to be the KOM on the ‘Flounce’ segment…

I am really with crazy-legs on this one and would like to throw in horses as well. While it wouldn’t be clever to toot and ‘punishment pass’ horses nobody moans about them riding two abreast. I was in a queue the other day waiting while a very young girl tried to control a horse that insisted on dancing around on both side of the road. Nobody pointed out that she didn’t pay taxes or didn’t have a license. I am not knocking horses for using the road , it’s the selective attitudes of drivers I can’t understand.

Today I pulled over twice and let cars pass .
It didn’t inconvenience me in the slightest and both cars waved thanks.
I could have owned the road and ridden in a safe ,prominent position. Being on a bike doesn’t stop me being a nice person.

its just on here that you are a **** then 😉

They are entitled to use the road deal with it

It’s what, 600yds between those two tracks?

Are you “Ronnie Pickering”

And what makes you so precious, why wait till you got home to start gobbing off? Why didn’t you challenge the assailants.

I wonder how much time these horrible wastes of organs cost the OP in his day…

I’d hazard its a good three or four minutes, and that’s horrible to be sat in a car steaming for that long. And then, once you’ve overtaken those total morons, you get stuck at some traffic lights for two or three minutes.

Oh the HUMANITY!!!!!!! I just want to kill something!!!!

By southern standards op is right that said group got off lightly but I think his choice of language was sub optimal for what he MAY HAVE meant to say.

I am going to hazard a guess what he may have meant was given the number of ignorant selfish tossers on the road you might have expected more than one long honk and punishment pass in those circumstances.

Rather than “I wish I had been in my bull bar equipped Australian road train so I could personally obliterate all of them”, which seems to be how some have read it t, sort of understandably.

I have been on the receiving end of other drivers abuse for waiting before. After 3 miles of following people weaving all over the road unfortunately one consequence is that someone then tries to do the vehicles that are waiting And the cyclists usually somewhere idiotic.

When I am on the bike I tend to be a bit more flexible than some, if I can stop for 30 seconds and release a queue of traffic so it’s not munching my rear tyre and they can crack on with their journies without being too annoyed then that’s a win win, chances are they’ve been held up by me for longer.

You saw some drivers acting aggressively towards a group of vulnerable road users, so you take to the internet, like the hero that you are, and…

…blame the victims.

Tool.

allthepies – Member
relliott6879 said » What’s a ‘punishment pass’?
Very close pass, possibly with a cut-up pull in.

I much prefer to use the term “coward’s pass” in the vague hope that it enters common usage

I assume the OP is also writing to Derby County Council and the Peak Park Board to remind them of various commitments made to provide alternative routes to A roads for recreational cyclists – this is section that could be easily bypassed

On that same stretch I drove up behind a cyclist. I deemed it unsafe to pass (solid whites, blind bend where other cars round at NSL). So I pottered behind and was patient, the guy behind me decided to go for a overtake on both of us.

OP (and to everyone who treats cyclists etc) whats the rush? Need to get to Boots in Glossop? Late for your tea? Delivering an emergency tin of scones to your Aunt?

Every weekend I witness bad driving on Snake. Yesterday there were sheep round a bend. Why didnt the new Audi Q7 driver use his hazzards to warn as he passed me just before? I do (and did) out of courteousy to others.

Anyone else read Bez’s article and cultural conditioning in deference to the car ?

It’s an interesting read.

rickmeister – Member

Anyone else read Bez’s article and cultural conditioning in deference to the car ?

It’s an interesting read.

Link?

In other news, I was held up in a queue of 20 cars for 10-12 miles yesterday because some **** in a camper van thought it was acceptable to drive on a main arterial route at 25mph. Had it been a group of cyclists the following cars would have been squeezing past at every opportunity and furiously blowing their horns, but camper van/tractor/horses = sacred.

For all those who are assuming that the OP was in a car, just go back and read the first line again. We’ll be testing comprehension again later.

Carry on.

rickmeister – Member
Anyone else read Bez’s article and cultural conditioning in deference to the car ?

It’s an interesting read.

Link?

Here you go:

http://singletrackworld.com/columns/2015/10/we-do-not-negotiate-with-terrorists/

Found it very thought provoking as a subscriber to the “Behaviour breeds behaviour” train of thought.

Also interesting to reflect after reading the article, on cycle / pedestrian / car interactions here in Germany.

There’s a perfectly serviceable footpath on the other side of the water that avoids that stretch of the A57 quite nicely. I’ve never used the road to get from Hagg to Rowlee.

Edit: I’m not saying that that justifies any aggressive driving by the way.

is this careless driving?

http://www.driving-law.co.uk/offences/careless_driving.asp

When on my bike I try to make life easier for the other road users around me, and when in my car I try to make life easier for the other road users around me.
Am I wrong?

Why didnt the new Audi Q7 driver use his hazzards

LOL – most Audi drivers can’t operate their indicators. “Norfolk enchants” with hazzards!

Is there an equivalent to “Stockholm Syndrome” for cyclists who have been brainwashed into believing that motorists have every right to behave aggressively ?

Is there an equivalent to “Stockholm Syndrome” for cyclists who have been brainwashed into believing that motorists have every right to behave aggressively?

No is there a syndrome for cyclists who believe that responding to aggression with aggression is going to end well for them?

There has been a huge increase of cyclists (MTBers & Roadies) riding in largish groups with absolutely no road sense (OK the proportion of these to regular cyclists is about the same as idiot drivers to regular drivers).

Sorry while we are infinitely more vulnerable on the road than drivers that doesn’t make us all saints. As far as I could see the OP was pointing this out rather than condoning the drivers.

The irony is- yes, a lot of mtbers don’t have much road sense beyond the basic legalities, because they’re not roadies. But you’re complaining about them singlefiling? That’s exactly what most motorists demand of cyclists. Why are you in the middle of the road? Why are you taking up so much space? Get in the gutter where you belong. So it’s no wonder that the starting point for cyclists against that background is singlefile.

rickmeister – Member

Anyone else read Bez’s article and cultural conditioning in deference to the car ?

Best read in Bez’s voice, with a background of maracas.

Mad for it NW, Mad for it ….

Is the op genuinely complaining about cyclists spread out on a climb?

I have never once ridden a climb in a bunch – they’re always spread out. That’s been the same whether it’s a road club ride or a bunch of MTBers. The only riders I’ve seen climb at the same speed, two abreast, have been pros.

What if it was actually more than one group of riders? Should they merge into the same bunch while on the climb to avoid inconveniencing the poor motorists?

🙄