Cycling UK Forum

While I have never used camera footage or gone to the police over an incident, I have been cycling daily 3.5miles each way to work over the last 3 years in Cardiff. Unfortunately, despite being a perfect city for using cycling as a mode of transport (little in the way of hills and suburbs extending no further than 5 miles from the city centre), outside of taff trail users very few people choose to take to the streets. As such, a large percentage of people don't know how to drive around cyclists (disclaimer: may be equally true elsewhere). Recently, however, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of people using bikes which can only be a good thing if it leads to car users becoming more familiar in how to deal with bikes safely.

On average, incidents have been relatively rare on my commute with no more than one a week. The last two weeks, however, have been by far the worst I have experienced with multiple punishment passes, left hooks and must-get-in-fronts. This was topped off last night by a WVM who I caught up with in a queue after he had nearly t-boned me as he pulled out of a side street causing me to break and lock my back wheel. When I calmly spoke to him to ask if he was aware what had happened his excuse was that I "shouldn't have been cycling so fast" (uphill + headwind + panniers = 12mph max) go figure

I have toured extensively throughout Europe and the UK and while Cardiff isn't top of the list it is certainly up there among the cities I have cycled in with the worst attitudes towards cyclists. If the number of people using bikes in the city continues to increase then I seriously hope things will improve.

Three times over the last month I have come across cyclists with bright white lights on the back of their bike. The first time I was driving along a quiet residential street and was prepared to take an evasive manoeuvre from what I could only assume was a silly salmon cyclist. It was not until I got closer that I realised I was in fact approaching a cyclist heading in the same direction as myself. I can not be the only person who would be easily confused by this as common practise (if not the law?!?) dictates that white lights are used on the front of vehicles and red lights at the rear. Has anyone else come across something similar?

Last week while cycling I overtook someone with similar bright white light on the rear and a minute later dutifully took my place in the ASL at a red light. Said cyclist then proceeded to jump red light and come very close to getting squished trying to squeeze through the smallest of gaps between traffic stopped at the next light and cars merging from parking bays to the left. To me the careless riding and lighting style can not be merely coincidence

bikepacker wrote: when following my wife I move out to stop any vehicles trying to pass

My natural road position happens to be about 1 foot further out than my partner who lacks the confidence to hold a strong position despite my efforts to encourage otherwise. I have had a remarkably similar conversation to yours with a WVM (a cyclist himself of course ) who thought that we shouldn't be riding two abreast despite me being at least 2m behind my better half .

tykeboy2003 wrote:
2. didn't regard your safety as being remotely important

Exactly this, which is why I was so incensed at the time and took the best part of a day to calm down. I was interested in other peoples opinions on the driver's attitude that it would only have been a problem if he hadn't seen me. This perspective is a new one to me

Now I have had a few days to calm down I thought that an incident I was involved in may make for an interesting discussion.

On a recent commute I had a van pull out from a side road directly in front of me, forcing me to slam on the brakes locking the back wheel up. The side road enters the road on which I was riding just a couple of metres short of another T-junction onto a busier road, and so the van driver stopped immediately after pulling out. Having received a few stiff warnings from my better half, I no longer seek to confront people after such manoeuvres and so simply sat behind the van and shook my head. The driver having seen this gesture wound down his window and told me “before you start, I DID see you”. I couldn’t not respond to this so calmly asked him why, if he had seen me, did he still think it was ok to pull out in front of me. The conversation then went round in circles for a couple of minutes as the driver was adamant that his driving skills and judgement are fine because he had seen me. As far as he was concerned, his driving could only have been considered dangerous if he had not looked and wasn't aware I was there. Eventually, after a few mild threats from the driver he gave up and drove off.

This incident really angered me that someone could so recklessly put my life in danger and then be so blasé about it afterwards because he was aware of what he was doing and therefore that made it ok. Thankfully this sort of attitude is far from prevalent out there, but just a handful of people with this type of opinion on the road have the potential to put every other road user they come across in danger.

My question is would anyone agree the van driver here that a SMIDGAF, such as this incident, is not as serious as a simple case of a SMIDSY? While each have their own element of danger, is it worth distinguishing between the two? Is it a case that the former constitutes “dangerous” and the latter merely “careless”?

On the usual daily commute this morning with my partner we pass three pinch points in quick succession within a 60m stretch of road. As this is on a downhill section of road we were travelling 20-25mph at the time. As we approach the first pinch point I hear a car coming up behind me. A shoulder check reveals a man in a convertible Audi, roof down and with a 5-6 year old kid in the front seat. Experience (perhaps prejudiced due to the brand of car involved) told me what to expect next so I point out the approaching traffic island and make do not pass gestures with my hand (all while maintaining strong primary positioning). The driver pays no heed and pulls alongside me, only slamming on the brakes at the last second before he ploughs into the island. Safely past the first pinch point, I couldn’t believe it when the car comes alongside me again attempting to overtake just 15m from the next island. This time I struggle to keep my cool and tell him that I really hope he doesn’t teach his son to drive when he is older, without resorting to profanities (an achievement for myself). Again he cannot complete the overtake and is hard on the brakes to bail at the last second. The distance between the 2nd and 3rd pinch points is slightly longer and it is a case of 3rd time lucky for the driver as this time he just manages to make it past me and my partner, who is riding up ahead, before narrowly cutting back in forcing a brake check. Around half a mile or so further on, at the bottom of the hill, the Audi is parked by the side of the road and the driver standing by waiting for us to pass. Expecting a confrontation I am ready to take a wide arc to keep a safe distance between us. However, I was rather taken aback by the driver’s friendly face and offer of an apology! This is a first for me and has cheered me up for the rest of today. I can only hope that the driver will remember this and pay more attention to the road ahead in future, even if it did take 3 dangerous attempts to get the message across.

I am concerned by some adverts selling second hand bikes that have gone up in my work place over the last 6 months or so.

I work in a hospital, however the floor on which the adverts are placed sees very little in the way of public footfall as it houses only the student library and the security-locked research labs where I am based. It's not unusual to find adverts for rooms to let or electrical equipment for sale, given the presence of the students, but the bicycle adverts have caught my eye.

Two bicycle adverts went up in quick succession about 6 months ago and I noticed that the pictures accompanying each advert had been taken in similar locations in a nearby park but didn't think much of it at the time. A month or so afterwards another advert appeared with a similar photo and my attention was spiked by the repetition of the phrase "A reliable commuter that I am only selling because I am moving flats" which had been used in one of the earlier adverts. I decided to note down the phone number on the advert just in case. A short while later a fourth advert appeared, again with a photo taken in the local park and similar description. However, the number on this advert did not match the previous one. This afternoon, a fifth advert has appeared with photo taken at the same spot and this time the mobile number does match that of the third advert

Do you think I am right to be suspicious here? Is it likely that one person would be selling second hand bikes in such quick succession? Does the advertiser have multiple mobile numbers which are used in rotation? Or am I just being paranoid?

The bikes in each case are well-used and have asking prices of ~£50-80 appealing to the students. My concern is that this could be part of a larger theft operation where, when selling on the stolen bikes, these cheaper models are advertised directly to students and the more high-end bikes elsewhere.

If I was to report this, how/where would I do it?

Thanks

Cycled that route myself a few yars ago and it is has some stunning views particularly in the Cinque Terre region (see pics). It certainly is challenging to cycle though as it is very up and down. The climbs aren't the longest, 200-300m max at a time, but are pretty frequent so they do sap your energy. This was the only time on any of my tours where I had to concede defeat and stop for the night at the bottom of some switchbacks because I was just too tired to carry on. Looking back though I certainly do not regret cycling the route as it was a great ride.

By the time we got to Deiva Marina we elected to take the coastal road and run the risk of going through a series of single-lane tunnels at sea level instead of tackling some more mountains. These are traffic light-controlled and have signs before each tunnel letting you know the timing sequences. By taking note of the length of the tunnel we could jump onto the end of the queue of cars going in the same direction as us and pedal fast. When we thought that we would meet soon with the traffic heading in the opposite direction we would pause between tunnels and wait for them to pass before again joining on the end of the queue of cars travelling in our direction. This may sound dangerous but I would describe it as more of a calculated risk.

We stuck on the roads but given the attraction of tourists to the region there certainly may be more suitable designated cycle routes as suggested above...

Been using a pair of drylines for 4 years now and am very happy with them. They have lost a small degree of waterproofing in the front pocket, though this is due to a few microtears created by my tendency to lean the bike and panniers against stone walls. The main compartment, however, remains perfectly dry.

On a group LEJOG last year another rider was using a pair of the Orkneys. To our untrained eyes we could not find any obvious difference between them.

I can't speak for the cycle path but have cycled the road along the south side of the lake, no.7. At 50 miles long it took us the best part of a day to cycle its length and IIRC we glimpsed the lake a total of 3 times during this period, for no more than 10 mins at a time. I wouldn't recommend the road at all as it simply passes through multiple identical resort villages interspersed with campsites, not very scenic at all. As an aside, look out for the "working ladies" on the same road to the east of the lake, a rather unexpected sight this close to such a family friendly holiday destination...

Mark1978 wrote:Keep in mind that in the wet, especially in the dark and wet, motorists visibility is considerably reduced.

I absolutely accept that which is why I sport a "Christmas Tree" get up and adjust my riding style according to the conditions. I am speaking specifically about instances where I have most definitely been seen, but am still nevertheless disregarded, occurring less frequently when it is dry.

Is this just me? I always dread the cycle commute in the rain, not due to the fact I will get wet but rather because in my experience motorists' driving skills decrease in the rain. This isn't simply a case of people not adjusting their driving to suit the conditions, although very few actually do this. I find that I am subjected to more impatient overtakes, MGIFs and close passes in the driving rain, especially when it is dark, than when the weather is dry. Is this because the conditions are so miserable that the only thing the motorists have in mind is getting to wherever they are going so they can be somewhere dry and warm and therefore show total disregard to anything that may slow them down?

I was wondering if anyone else agrees with this observation, or am I perhaps more sensitive while miserable myself?

Turkunen wrote:Hi,

Once again, thanks to everyone who responded in this thread. It has been a big help.

After much humming and hawing, I did eventually settle on the Revolution Country Traveller, but not before taking it for two test rides first. On the second test, I took it around Whitworth Park outside EBC in Rusholme, Manchester. The surfaces in the park are mixed - pavement, gravel, grass, mud, pot holes etc. It met/exceeded all my expectations and I decided to buy it. With Christmas out of the way, the price was down from £500 to £400 so this was an added bonus. I was pretty fortunate in that I picked up one the last remaining 55cm framed bikes. I believe they are now sold out although the 2013 model is due out in a couple of months.

One of the reasons I opted for the Traveller over a hybrid-type bike was the peace of mind that came with buying a bike specifically designed for touring. I just couldn't be sure how an unloaded hybrid, however good the bike was, would handle once the racks and luggage were attached. As I explained earlier in the thread, we hope the trip will be pretty leisurely, around 250-350 miles each week. With this in mind, I asked the mechanics at ECB to turn the stem upside down to raise the handle bars about an inch. This gives me the option of riding in a fairly upright position when I'm idling along at 5mph. I also paid to have some back-up brakes added to the horizontal bar. ECB's service was excellent and I couldn't fault them.

I only have one mild concern about the bike which is the wheels. They only employ 32 spokes where I think 36 is standard on most tourers. I'm not sure if this will be an issue because I've never been able to find anyone on the internet complaining about snapped spokes on the Traveller. But it might be prudent on my part to learn how to replace a broken spoke at some stage.

Good choice of bike Turkunen. I was in the exact same position as you, planning my first tour a few years ago. A mate and I were planning 4500 miles round Europe, averaging 400-500 miles per week camping along the way. Eventually we both settled on the Country Traveller ’09 model. There appears to have been very little change in the components since then with the exception of (thankfully in both cases) the tyre and saddle.

The bikes served us well, transporting myself + gear (~110kgs total) successfully where we pleased. However, they weren’t without issue so I would give you some advice. The stock saddle was something straight out of hell and was immediately replaced with a B17 upon my return. The new saddle may be better but that depends entirely upon your own comfort, make sure you are happy with it before you leave though. The stock tyres were also next to useless and I had frequent puncture problems over the first 3000 miles, yet not even a single one after this point when I changed to new tyres. The new Kevlar tyres will alleviate this problem, I guess. You are right to be concerned about the spokes, I had one snap on me, while my mate had several more. Make sure the wheels are well trued before you set off, in fact it may be even better if you can learn how to do this well yourself before you leave. A few of my friends broken spokes were almost certainly due to a poor replacement job at one of the bike shops we visited. If you can keep them well tensioned then you should be ok. My last bit of advice would fall under the general touring advice category - regularly check and tighten all nuts and bolts on the bike as we did have one case of a loose rear rack.

The bike is still in great working condition now with entirely original components (except those regularly replaced, chain/tyres/brake-pads.etc). In fact, I was devastated the other day to notice a hairline crack on the rear rim which means a first major part replacement. I calculate a current mileage of 10000 on the bike, including the original tour, a LEJOG and ~50 commuting/leisure miles a week, so getting your "bang for the buck" is not a concern. The rear rack still holds well and can comfortably carry my weeks worth of food shopping, so no issues there.

Overall, I was very happy with my choice as I am sure you will be. Hope you enjoy your trip.