Bl***y Cyclists

sharpy · Postby **sharpy** » 28 Jan 2007, 7:18pm

Spent most of yesterday on 2 wheels enjoying the hills and dales of the Peak District.

Today went out in my car and whilst travelling up Frogatt Hill (which I had slogged up yesterday) became involved in a lengthy queue of traffic being held up by 3 cyclists who were travelling in a line (abreast) across the road at approx 7 mph.

This is just not on. :evil:

As a cyclist, I am more than aware of the antics of some drivers who cannot wait to get past you at all costs, but these cyclists were just asking for trouble from an impatient car driver.

If we want to be treated with respect by other users of the highway we must act in a responsible manner.

Paul

Dai · Postby **Dai** » 28 Jan 2007, 7:39pm

Goes without saying mate. Giving the good drivers a wave and a thank you helps to - it has a snowball effect. Good cycling and good driving are basically just good manners

hubgearfreak · Postby **hubgearfreak** » 28 Jan 2007, 8:04pm

there's a fundamental difference, of course,
inconsiderate cyclists add a few minutes time to your jourey.
bad drivers kill people.

reohn2 · Postby **reohn2** » 28 Jan 2007, 8:22pm

Bad cycling can make motorists irrate,its just a fact of life.

Three!!! a breast at 7mph does us no favers at all.
That IMHO is stupid behavior.

hubgearfreak · Postby **hubgearfreak** » 28 Jan 2007, 8:31pm

reohn2 wrote:Bad cycling can make BAD, IMPATIENT motorists irrate,its just a fact of life.
.

doesn't bother me when i'm driving :lol:

horizon · Postby **horizon** » 28 Jan 2007, 8:55pm

sharpy: I felt so sorry for those poor motorists that I had to cry. 7 mph is ridiculous - everyone must be able to travel at least at 30 mph to get to those places they used to go to (e.g. shops, work, school, relatives) that were round the corner but are now 15 miles away (Tesco, work, Mum etc). And using all that petrol is their birthright. And, after all, the roads do belong to the motorists. And, oh, the few seconds they had to queue before lustily and justly putting their foot down again, oh, oh. And how right they are to assume that they must be able to drive everywhere. And how right that cyclists should be condemned for slowing them down and thus making the road safer for the next cyclist along that road. Oh, oh, the shame of it all.

sharpy · Postby **sharpy** » 28 Jan 2007, 9:07pm

horizon wrote:sharpy: I felt so sorry for those poor motorists that I had to cry. 7 mph is ridiculous - everyone must be able to travel at least at 30 mph to get to those places they used to go to (e.g. shops, work, school, relatives) that were round the corner but are now 15 miles away (Tesco, work, Mum etc). And using all that petrol is their birthright. And, after all, the roads do belong to the motorists. And, oh, the few seconds they had to queue before lustily and justly putting their foot down again, oh, oh. And how right they are to assume that they must be able to drive everywhere. And how right that cyclists should be condemned for slowing them down and thus making the road safer for the next cyclist along that road. Oh, oh, the shame of it all.

Well, actually 7 MPH is ridiculous for car drivers and is also not an efficient use of petrol.
The point is that riding like this just infuriates car users and gives all of us bad press. :roll:

Cyclists, I believe, do not have a right to use the road like this. We should aim to live in harmony with other road users especially when they are comfortably entombed in 1 ton weapons and we are vunerable to the slightest collision.

Good manners on our part may, and I am keeping fingers crossed here, lead to good manners from car drivers.

Paul
Paul

horizon · Postby **horizon** » 28 Jan 2007, 9:35pm

paul: thank you for responding calmly and intelligently to my sarcasm.

Actually, I do want to and should have made the more serious point that there may be value in those cyclists riding as they did (having agreed with you that good manners are vital):

although the cars were inconvenienced, they would have been in any case by a single cyclist, that is, they should have waited to pass and not tried to get by. It could be that on the road you described there would have been ample room to pass one (or even two) cyclists but not three. But on many roads here in Cornwall and elsewhere, cars cannot pass even one without going onto the other side of the road. Drivers therefore need to be more accepting that cyclists will impede their progress from time to time, whether it be one, two, three, a trike or whatever. The advantage of this interruption is that it may slow them down and make them more aware of cyclists in general on the road ahead. There is a proven road safety effect from this.

Otherwise we might as well be talking about Telford. Thank you again for your response.

Tony · Postby **Tony** » 28 Jan 2007, 9:45pm

Froggatt hill. Not the widest of roads, is it? Safe to overtake one cyclist?
I assume the three cyclists were all to the left of the white line, so that to overtake them would have meant crossing it.
Same as for one cyclist, if the HC were to be followed.
I remember a similar argument about Richmond Park, where evil cyclists were preventing drivers from overtaking by riding two abreast at, er, the speed limit.

reohn2 · Postby **reohn2** » 28 Jan 2007, 10:19pm

hubgearfreak wrote:
reohn2 wrote:Bad cycling can make BAD, IMPATIENT motorists irrate,its just a fact of life.
.

doesn't bother me when i'm driving

Hubbers,
You miss quoted me.

hubgearfreak · Postby **hubgearfreak** » 28 Jan 2007, 10:28pm

reohn2 wrote:
hubgearfreak wrote:
reohn2 wrote:Bad cycling can make BAD, IMPATIENT motorists irrate,its just a fact of life.
.

doesn't bother me when i'm driving

Hubbers,
You miss quoted me.

sorry if it peas you off :oops:

i have made it clear though, the bit i added

today on a 5-6m wide road, a merc mclass passes me & my 2 year old with less than a foot to spare the other side of the road being clear. just could not be buttocked to steer out a bit.....or didn't see me in my hi viz jacket on a clear day?

reohn2 · Postby **reohn2** » 28 Jan 2007, 10:50pm

hubgearfreak wrote:
reohn2 wrote:
hubgearfreak wrote:
reohn2 wrote:Bad cycling can make BAD, IMPATIENT motorists irrate,its just a fact of life.
.

doesn't bother me when i'm driving

Hubbers,
You miss quoted me.

sorry if it peas you off
i have made it clear though, the bit i added
today on a 5-6m wide road, a merc mclass passes me & my 2 year old with less than a foot to spare the other side of the road being clear. just could not be buttocked to steer out a bit.....or didn't see me in my hi viz jacket on a clear day?

There is no one more anti bad driver than Iam,I just don't think riding three abreast helps our case.We cannot condone bad cycling practice,it just confirms what the likes of the Jeremy Clarksons of this world want to believe.
If we want to be taken seriously then we have to be serious about it and that means toeing the line not abusing it.
We can and do,do wrong lets be man enough to admit it and not try and blame everthing on the car. Coexistence is the reality of the situation, there is no other alternative on the roads.

hubgearfreak · Postby **hubgearfreak** » 28 Jan 2007, 11:05pm

reohn2 wrote:I just don't think riding three abreast helps our case

nor me. if i was one of them, and there was a queue at all behind us, then i'd have braked or accelerated to get into single file.

i expect that some of the motorists would have then took the opportunity to pass with less than a foots clearance :evil:

however, i stand by my earlier points

there's a fundamental difference, of course,
inconsiderate cyclists add a few minutes time to your jourey.
bad drivers kill people

Bad cycling can make BAD, IMPATIENT motorists irrate -- doesn't bother me when i'm driving

thirdcrank · Postby **thirdcrank** » 29 Jan 2007, 7:19am

sharpy

Could it have been a rural offshoot of critical mass? If so, opinions are likely to remain divided. :roll:

reohn2 · Postby **reohn2** » 29 Jan 2007, 9:27am

hubgearfreak wrote:
reohn2 wrote:I just don't think riding three abreast helps our case

nor me. if i was one of them, and there was a queue at all behind us, then i'd have braked or accelerated to get into single file.
i expect that some of the motorists would have then took the opportunity to pass with less than a foots clearance

however, i stand by my earlier points

there's a fundamental difference, of course,
inconsiderate cyclists add a few minutes time to your jourey.
bad drivers kill people

Bad cycling can make BAD, IMPATIENT motorists irrate -- doesn't bother me when i'm driving

Hubbers,unfortunatly not everyone is as enlightened as you,some aren't driving but being driven(by ego, Clarksonism, etc), until the ego is conquered in manunkind we need to coexist (as our ancestors coexisted with the neanderthal man)with the neand...oops bad drivers or they will kill us,I'm reminded of the saying about poking a mad dog in the eye with a sharp stick,namely that its not such a good idea.
I realise this is not the way this green and pleasent land should be but unfortunately until things change its the way things are.
Riding THREE abreast is also illegal so serves to make the loonies feel justified however unjustified they are.