London Club Cyclists?!?

[BearOnWheels]

OK this is a rant. Twice over the last few days I have both been subject to and seen what can only be called poor road manners from London Club cyclists (how do I know this? They had their club names plastered all over various bits of their anatomy!).

First, near Brickendon (Hertfordshire) some cycling event was taking place over the bank holiday weekend. No problems - great to see! Nice to see the routes I use are being used for such events - I must be doing something challenging! What was poor was the cyclists from a North London Club who had finished the event standing in the road having a conversation! Where is the intelligence in that? I have what looks like a finish line on the other side of the road and these selfish individuals ignoring the rest of us going about our business (I was driving my family at the time). Do I hoot? No. I don't want what looks like a lycra'd version of The Mob (super dark sunglasses, US marine style haircuts and the odd tattoo on show) pounding the car.

Second, back in the area for a ride and this individual from another club with mythological origins comes snorting past me no more than 1 inch from my handlebars with a gruff 'morning' (OK, civil, but wrong..it was afternoon). No warning that he was passing - nothing. Suppose I had decided to stop? Or turn round to check before turning right?

So please - if you belong to a London Cycling Club be aware you are in Hertfordshire - other rules apply - like courtesy and consideration - something I have always found from club riders from outside of London (but not seen any from other metropolitan areas!). If you can't adopt your behaviour to the countryside, STAY IN LONDON!

Rant over.

[beardy]

That is why they built the M25 in the eighties, to try and enclose them. Unfortunately the junctions are not entirely impermeable and they sometimes escape.

Who shall we have a go at next?

I guess if you lived in London, you would say it is only that club/borough not all Londoners.

Just as English say it is only Londoners and the Scottish say it is the English and the Europeans say it is only the British.

[BearOnWheels]

Not sure on this one…..there is always an element of them and us but…

Oh and its more then just one club…I saw two in the events described in the OP and have seen this behaviour from many London clubs - I will not say all…

My wife cycled in London during the last Underground strike and she was appalled by what she saw cyclists do…and she cycles regularly here in the Shires too…

I think all I'm saying is that behave like a Londoner in London if you must, but when in Rome….try and behave like a Roman…

Apart from being rude, culturally insensitive behaviour will get you killed in some parts of the world!

Enjoy Hertfordshire, the lanes, the hills, the views, but leave the London behaviour where it fits…in London!

[eileithyia]

Standing in the road, sadly is not unique to London cyclists' and we have probably all done it. I have often been events where we are waiting to start, 1 rider arrives, 2nd rider arrives and stands just behind but outside line of 1st, start a conversation, 3rd rider arrives and tries to stand where they can join the conversation..... and suddenly riders are egressing across the road..... frequently 'told' by the event organisers/officials not to do so.... Riders are also requested not to stand around at the finish, blocking the view of road users and or the finishing time keepers who need to see approaching riders... but when they get chatting to mates thought goes out of the window.....

I too have passed a cyclist and said 'Morning' sometimes it is just easier to say than 'Arrnoon' and is often first thing that automatically comes to mind... Does is matter? You were acknowledged
Yes you might have stopped but as rider was on your outside (he would not be that affected by a sudden stop) he probably had already assessed your riding style, that you were riding in a straight line and judged he had enough space to pass you safely... feel glad that he (she) had judged you to be an experienced safe rider that they could overtake closely... most cyclists will not risk a close overtake if they think the rider is inexperienced and likely to swerve around..... Similarly I was in a time trial last week where a rider I was closing on had an appauling style... and could not ride in a straight line... I had to call a warning that I was passing as I was concerned he would swerve out and take me out in the process.

Have you never been out with fellow cyclists and done something daft like stop somewhere which, with after thought was perhaps not the best place to stop and caused a bit of an obstruction... have you never stopped somewhere to mend a puncture then realised there was a safer better place a few steps up the road where it would have been a safer place to stop? Have seen these scenarios oh so often in my early days of cycling and do try to think if I need to stop and see things fromother perspectives.

[661-Pete]

Not just in London! 99 times out of 100, if I get a "good morning" from a fellow cyclist, it means just what it says on the tin, and of course I respond in kind.

But not always.

I remember being on a narrow country lane and hearing quite a chorus of "good morning"s, repeated by several different voices and with gradually increasing volume and assertiveness. It was of course a peloton, doubled and tripled-up, coming up close behind. The coded message underlying those "good morning"s appeared to be "please-move-over-no-way-are-we-breaking-formation-just-so-as-to-pass-you".

I complied, but I didn't return the "good morning".

But as I said, that was just the 1%...