Cycling UK Forum

My weekend ride in lanes and minor main roads is usually on a Saturday and there has been a lot more cyclists and far fewer vehicles since the lockdown.

Had to swap to Sunday this week and what a difference. About 3 times as many cyclists and very few cars. Out of curiosity I did a count over 15 minutes - 27 cyclists and 8 cars.

Usual wide range of cyclists, quite a few family groups, majority solo riders at all sorts of speeds, a few pairs and 2 clubrun groups of 4 and 6.

Yesterday the A1 through Northumberland was empty again. Some minor roads connecting small towns and villages were quite busy: possibly people shopping.

I’m finding it more and more weird! Actually getting used to the total lack of traffic, and wishing it would continue!

Vehicle traffic certainly on the increase over the last three days in my part of W/Sx, which I have noticed in my travels whilst working my job.

I haven't actually had to wear my louder lycra kits as motorists have been much more respectful than normal. Possibly less traffic equals less stress all round.

Some of my usual country lane rides are becoming so crowded with cyclists that I have started using the main roads!

From a DS on Twitter:

Incredible work by Traffic officers tackling #speeding. Last week we enforced 2,020 speeding offences across #London. By comparison it was 268 in same week in 2019. An 8 fold increase!

We are there 24/7 enforcing offences. Please drive lawfully, stay safe & keep a clean licence.

So an 8 fold increase when there's about 80% less cars on the road...

Speeding seems to the game at the mo as the roads are very quiet, sadly little enforcement in my part of West Sx it appears.

Hi
Six weeks after the original post...definitely much less traffic but the standards of driving haven't improved; most overtake safely but some don't seem to realise that if there isn't something coming towards them (plenty of those opportunities ATM) then you can allow plenty of space. I'd always assumed that close-overtaking was poor driving by those in a hurry squeezing through non-existent gaps, but no, it's just poor driving.
I haven't noticed the speeders, thankfully
Regards
tim-b

1982john wrote:From a DS on Twitter:

Incredible work by Traffic officers tackling #speeding. Last week we enforced 2,020 speeding offences across #London. By comparison it was 268 in same week in 2019. An 8 fold increase!

We are there 24/7 enforcing offences. Please drive lawfully, stay safe & keep a clean licence.

So an 8 fold increase when there's about 80% less cars on the road...

DS?

1982john wrote:From a DS on Twitter:

Incredible work by Traffic officers tackling #speeding. Last week we enforced 2,020 speeding offences across #London. By comparison it was 268 in same week in 2019. An 8 fold increase!

We are there 24/7 enforcing offences. Please drive lawfully, stay safe & keep a clean licence.

So an 8 fold increase when there's about 80% less cars on the road...

Speeding is such a universal offence that an eightfold increase in offences detected must surely reflect not an increase in the proportion speeding, but an increase in efforts to detect the offence.
Speeding is still prevalent, but it is impossible to believe it has gone up eight times, even as a percentage.
We should welcome this increase in enforcement effort.

MikeF wrote:Some roads around here are very nice and pleasant now, but some "minor" C roads are very busy cars with being exercised on essential? journeys which necessitates travelling greater than the speed limit. I haven't noticed any increase in numbers of cyclists though.

From what I've seen, I suspect some motorists are using C roads because they feel that the police are less likely to challenge them for breaking lockdown illegally. Some of them are doing breathtaking speeds and I think they might be trying to maintain the same town-to-town timings as the A roads despite using smaller roads through loads of villages with 20/30/40mph limits. I suspect there is quite a high chance of seeing some "Darwinian traffic calming" in action on the fen roads, but there are so many more people walking the drain banks now (enough that I've stopped cycling the bridleway ones because it's too difficult to keep my distance and not drop the bike down the bank), I suspect they're more likely to get rescued than usual!

The increase in numbers of cyclists is very uneven. There's a noticeable increase on the cycleway past my house and I've seen a lot on some of the minor road cycle routes and bridleways, but I've seen almost no change on other good quiet lanes well-known to local cycle tourers but not signposted.

I may have mentioned: at Easter, my wife and I rode a mile on a rural 60mph stretch of A47 and cyclists outnumbered motorists. I would have bet against me ever seeing that

deep thinker wrote:I haven't actually had to wear my louder lycra kits as motorists have been much more respectful than normal. Possibly less traffic equals less stress all round.

My riding apparel is a helmet, yellow Altura jacket or loose yellow waistcoat, jeans and cycle clips making me look like an ordinary old bloke on a bike. Motorists always give me wide berths, give way and are generally very respectful. If I was to dress up in lycra I think that would make things worse.

Al

al_yrpal wrote:

deep thinker wrote:I haven't actually had to wear my louder lycra kits as motorists have been much more respectful than normal. Possibly less traffic equals less stress all round.

My riding apparel is a helmet, yellow Altura jacket or loose yellow waistcoat, jeans and cycle clips making me look like an ordinary old bloke on a bike. Motorists always give me wide berths, give way and are generally very respectful. If I was to dress up in lycra I think that would make things worse.

Al

Exactly my experience. Around town it's ordinary clothes, gentle amble along waving at people and acknowledging other road users. No problems. On longer trips I wear shorts with legwarmers on colder days and a Dare2Be yellow or blue windproof/shower proof jacket. Mutual respect on the roads. I don't do confrontations with other road users. Keeps my blood pressure down.

We’ve got a few of those lamp posts with the smiley / angry faces on them, and your speed displayed, round my way. I was on my ride home from work this morning, at about 06:30, and I heard a car approaching from behind me, in a 30 mph limit. The engine noise was telling me he was probably not doing 30mph. According to the sign post’s ‘angry face’ and speed display, he passed me at 82mph. It’s a straight road, with good sighting, but there are side roads emptying on to it, and 82 in a 30 limit really was taking the proverbial.