Can you explain why they had to let you pass? There’s no legal requirement for cyclists to do so..

Personally, I think you’re making a mountain out of a molehill.

For their own safety 😀

Karma has everyone’s address

Good to see this is all going as well as expected.

The 1st answer should have been “because they’re all weirdo’s” then there would have been no need for however many pages this ends up at.

I thought that was the standard answer to any questions about roadies 😆

wilburt – Member
Good to see this is all going as well as expected.

actually feel a bit let down – with bad eyesight and not fixed photo zooming on my android I was really quite excited to see a hummer with a loft extension – back at my desk its all just the usual

How thoughtless of them, having a leisure pursuit that involves leaving their cars at home and enjoying getting out that doesn’t involve sitting in a metal box!

I’m glad I’ve only got three jobs on today this should be interesting.

My bets are the OP reads the daily Mail pays road tax and has used the term should be riding in ‘single file’

I’d be interested to see what OP you actually read, cos the one I read was pretty reasonable – 0/10 for ranting 😀

I wouldn’t say they were definitely being d*cks by not letting him pass given the reasons others have provided (might have just pulled over to let others pass, etc), but in their situation (either on a bike or in a car) I’d have pulled over to let him pass. The stopping in the middle of the road because they missed a junction is pretty d*ckish though.

I wonder how many drivers here will regularly pull over to let a following car get past?

Because most cyclists are t*****s same as most car drivers, some motorcyclists and a few lorry drivers.
It’s? a part of life now the F you attitude.

An attitude of entitlement on two wheels or four is ugly. Consideration of others is important in nearly all things.

I wonder how many drivers here will regularly pull over to let a following car get past?

Back when I drove a car (over 12 years ago, now) – plenty, when the situation demanded – the same way I let cars past now cycling the narrow rural lanes where I live. It’s not a big deal – coast slightly at a wider spot and wave them through. I choose not to drive but, while there are some assholes in cars, I’m generally struck by the fact most drivers I encounter seem pretty considerate. Maybe it’s a two-way thing; maybe it’s coloured by living abroad where driving standards were much worse.

By contrast, I wince at the attitude and behaviour of many big groups of cyclists I see.

It’s that kind of selfish behaviour that gives cyclists a bad name.

But I wouldn’t say it was typical.

Yes, there are dickhead bike riders as there are in all walks of life – but being a dickhead on a bike is only risking their welfare, not anyone elses’.

Yes, there are dickhead bike riders as there are in all walks of life – but being a dickhead on a bike is only risking their welfare, not anyone elses’

Except it doesn’t, riding erratically on a road risks everyone around you’s welfare as well. Ok your most likely to come off worst but no one comes out well. Consideration is a two way thing.

An attitude of entitlement on two wheels or four is ugly. Consideration of others is important in nearly all things.

This. A million times this.

I usually pull in to let cars past, or at least slow down where the road is wide enough. I don’t want them behind me tbh. I mostly ride on my own though.

ransos – Member

I wonder how many drivers here will regularly pull over to let a following car get past?

Me.

How exactly does it put all the people surrounded by metal boxes at risk? Assuming that is that all the people in metal boxes (the ones who are actually introducing the danger to the roads) are driving safely.

Seriously? So somebody driving to a leisure activity has a higher priority than somebody doing their leisure activity? 🙄

Mrs_OAB, one Mini_OAB and Matt_OAB out for a ride last week.
Twisty local A-road, with blind corners, about 1km in length.
We rode two abreast at front, me at rear keeping an eye out behind.
A couple of cars held back, until I waved them past. Smiles and happiness all-round.
One pensioner decided that waiting around a blind bend for all of 30seconds was too much, so went for a punishment pass close to mrs_OAB and a tap of the brakes as he pulled in.
Even if the roadies were nice, there are idiots on the road.

Context and self-awareness is everything IMO.

I wonder how many drivers here will regularly pull over to let a following car get past?

I will if they’re in an obvious hurry i.e. tailgating. Probably rather dangerously I’ve also taken to opening the window, sticking out my arm and waving them to overtake but without decelerating, especially if doing 30 in a 30. It’s stunning the amount of drivers that will go to do so even though traffic is streaming the other way.

Caveat: haven’t read page 2, can’t be arsed 😉

Stopping to let traffic pass is relatively (but not totally) strightforward when you’re on your own. With even two people it just isn’t simple to safely co-ordinate pulling over, and with seven it’s just about impossible: if one of the guys at the front were to pull over a bit quickly then they’d risk some sort of pile up and if the guy at the back were to do it they’d just end up with one or more cars stuck in the middle of the group because of the previous point. (FWIW the main reason I hate riding in groups of more than about four mainly is that it becomes very hard not to irritate other people, but that’s just me; almost all the aggression I’ve ever encountered on the road has been on group rides and frankly it makes for a miserable day out).

As for stopping in the road to faff about, that’s just being dicks. People who do that are a little annoying.

slowster – Member

Road riding safely and well in a group is a skill

…an oxymoron.
You’re trading safety for speed, simple as that.

ransos – Member

I wonder how many drivers here will regularly pull over to let a following car get past?

Me.

Good for you. I must say I can’t remember the last time I saw a car pull over to let another car past. Yet it seems this is the behaviour we demand of cyclists. As others have said, it’s usually simple to let a car past when riding solo (within say 0.5 miles max) but much more difficult to coordinate a group. And I see no reason why the safety and needs of a group should be subservient to the desires (to go very slightly quicker) of a motorist.

I must say I can’t remember the last time I saw a car pull over to let another car past

Because car speeds are generally more equally comparable, even between a slow car and a fast car… the gap is FAR closer.

Riding in a group makes it easier for cars to pass…if the car can’t pass it’s not safe to do so, it’s simple really.

Still don’t know why people will happily sit behind a tractor for miles but get pissy about cyclists…probably the same reason they wouldn’t pick a fight with the bigger boys in class.

Because car speeds are generally more equally comparable, even between a slow car and a fast car… the gap is FAR closer.

The speed differential means there are more opportunities to overtake a cyclist, so you spend less time behind one. In which case, assuming your hair’s not on fire, why not show some patience and live with the extraordinary inconvenience of a minute or two on your journey time?

It looks like there is a split on this thread between posters who have never experienced riding in a disciplined group on the road (and who consequently are less familiar with what to expect when encountering such a group while driving, hence the OP) and those of us who have.

The OP was unsure about whether the group he drove behind should have behaved differently, and if so how they should have ridden. In other words, their riding created confusion and uncertainty in the mind of other road users, increasing the risk of drivers making a mistake, such as a decision to overtake when they shouldn’t.

A major part of road safety for drivers and riders is behaving predictably, so that other road users can anticipate each other’s actions. A group of badly disciplined cyclists is a major hazard to themselves and to others.

Riding in a disciplined group is safer than riding solo, because of the increased road presence which forces drivers to take more account of them, as opposed to just driving past a solo rider without altering speed or leaving an adequate gap.

However, it’s also safer and better for the drivers such groups encounter. If in a car you encounter a disciplined group, you will know it. The group will behave predictably, confidently and even assertively (which is sometimes essential for safety, as opposed to hesitancy). So the group will give clear hand signals for turns, it will have an awareness of other road users, if turning right it will make a judgement about when to pull out into the middle of the road (if necessary, preventing cars behind from overtaking them as a result).

Where the group considers it would be unsafe for cars behind to attempt to overtake, it may deliberately maintain a doubled up formation to discourage an attempt. A driver may not like this, and it might not always be in compliance with the Highway Code, but ultimately we all have to make our own decisions about taking risks on the road – that may mean briefly irritating another road user is the price paid to prevent an unsafe overtake. I think drivers are more likely to accept such actions from a disciplined group which is behaving in a safe predictable manner.

For those of you who have not experienced riding on the road in a good group, I would urge you to try it. It is a great experience, which can really add to the pleasure of a ride, and it will improve your road riding skills. If you do get the opportunity, be prepared to swallow your pride a bit: on my first group ride I made a mistake which caused the group to have to stop, and it was made very clear to me what I had done wrong (to prevent me repeating the mistake). I quickly got over that, fitted in the group, and acquired the necessary skills – it probably helped that I was young, whereas it’s often harder if you’re older to listen to (constructive) criticism and change, as indicated by theotherjonv’s experiences above.

This should be interesting. Kettle also on here….

A major part of road safety for drivers and riders is behaving predictably.

There’s truth in this but let’s also take an alternative viewpoint: Believing something to be predictable is essentially assumption. It’s a bit like indicators on cars: they make things predictable. Apart from the times when the prediction turns out to be wrong and you pull out in front of someone.

When I’m driving and I approach a group from behind it may or may not be clear whether it’s a chaotic or disciplined group, but I pass on the basis that it’s not disciplined. If the pack is tight I don’t assume it will stay tight for the time it takes me to pass; if someone waves me through I always ignore them and pass only when I’m certain it’s safe (just as a car’s flashing indicator just means the indicators are working, a rider waving just means their arm’s working). Whatever the group does, in theory I should have it covered as best I reasonably can.

Yes, it’s better to be a disciplined group than a messy one. But it’s up to the people behind to pass in a safe manner regardless. If you can’t pass safely, as if everyone ahead was a well-meaning idiot, then don’t, and if you can’t wait for a safe pass without blowing a fuse, chill the fup out. You’re still getting from A to B with no more effort than flexing your right ankle, so the sky hasn’t fallen in yet.

It’s that kind of selfish behaviour that gives cyclists a bad name.

I’m curious, why do we never hear this about motorists? Surely they behave more selfishly, more of the time, but no one ever worries about tarnishing the good name of the motorist, even when he is tearing up grass verges.

Also curious as to why, unable to pass me, a motorist will follow as closely as possible when I’m riding 30 in a 30 limit, trying to intimidate me into somehow going faster, but will happily sit behind another motorist (even me in my car) at the same speed on the same road.

Personally think it’s high time we stopped trying to appease these adult babies.

Personally think it’s high time we stopped trying to appease these adult babies.

I’ve long since come to the conclusion that there is no standard of riding that will appease a significant proportion of motorists. They simply think we should not be on the road so will use any excuse to justify it, whilst overlooking their own far more dangerous and selfish behaviour.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/rules-for-cyclists-59-to-82

Stand back, I’m going to present evidence and do maths ….

the road is too wibbly to overtake a 10m chain of cyclists. So let’s assume the reasonable *average* speed including bends when this road is empty to be 30-40mph.

If you follow the riders for 2.4 miles, it would’ve taken you 3m36s to 4m48s to drive at 30-40mph. Another car in front would most likely slow you down.

Groups of club cyclists tend to ride easy/blue (16mph), red (18mph) and hard/black (20mph+) averages. My club’s blue rides tend to ride at red pace but slacken the pace to regroup, rest after hills, etc – so 18mph on the flat then 14mph when recovering.

I doubt this was a “Breeze network” or other casual ride group riding slower, as I’m guessing they’re less militant. 🙂

The OP didn’t mention hills etc, so let’s say 18mph, or 3m20 per mile, = 6m48s for the 2.4 miles. Subtracting the 40mph average you’ve been delayed by 3 mins 12 secs. If its a 30mph day or you would’ve caught the caravan / grandad / learner in front, you’ve been delayed by about a minute.

Feels like more, of course – 2 minutes of being good natured, then building frustration for 4mins. Same reason I’ll drive the long country route home to avoid the through town traffic snarl, even though the two are the same.

Slowster

An interesting point of view. Personally I will NEVER ride in a chaingang under any circumstances because it puts my safety in the hands of others. I want proper gaps between vehicles so I can stop safely without folk going into the back of me. I find it odd that you can accept a bike a foot off your wheel and another a foot off your elbow but a car must be 2 seconds behand and 1.5 m off your elbow

differnt strokes for differnt folks

I think most of your argument stand up tho until you get to the larger groups like in the situation I described above where due to the length of the line of riders overtaking was very difficult as yo had to overtake the whole line at once and it must have been the best part of 75m long Keep the groups of riders under 6 then overtaking is not too hard. Overtaking a group of 20+ at once is not easy. Add in a lot of traffic and twisty roads and it becomes very frustrating. 40 cars stuck behind a 70m line of bikes at 15 mph means a lot of frustrated riders nd it certainly seemed to me a the 40th car in the line it was about 10 miles before I got past ( can’t have been really I am sure)

Now I am very pro bikes but this lot were selfish in not making it easier for the cars to get past – all they had to do was break up into smaller groups with gaps between. I am not asking them to stop.

^^ I wonder how many motorist s would see a group such as B in the diagram above and say, “they were riding three abreast you know!”

If a cyclist needs to get by a walker, they ring their bell. By the same logic you should honk your horn.

There’s no legal requirement for you to breath either

No legal requirement for you to be a dick…but you’re doing it extremely well!

I wonder how many motorist s would see a group such as B in the diagram above and say, “they were riding three abreast you know!”

I find that diagram on page3 well dodgy, option B has ~5 bike lengths between the group and that left bend apex, I would never contemplate passing that group there while driving. I would want to pass the group with plenty of space and return to the left side of the road well before the blind turn, which given the bikes will be moving, isn’t likely to happen unless we are all travelling up Mont Ventoux or similar! 😆

If a cyclist needs to get by a walker, they ring their bell. By the same logic you should honk your horn.

Not really. A bell or a horn is used to warn others of your presence. I usually warn a walker if I’m cycling past on a path as a courtesy, because bicycles are quiet and I don’t want to startle them. If a motorist gives a quick pip on the horn that seems ok, but it’s usually a rebuke as they pass aggressively, for the heinous crime of delaying them by 10 seconds.

Rule 112
The horn. Use only while your vehicle is moving and you need to warn other road users of your presence. Never sound your horn aggressively. You MUST NOT use your horn
while stationary on the road
when driving in a built-up area between the hours of 11.30 pm and 7.00 am
except when another road user poses a danger