Roads you would not ride on.

[Philip Benstead]

Roads I would not ride on? All roads (excluding those with wide cycle lanes) between 7am-7pm.

So you mustn't do much cycling then?

[awavey]

there are quite a few roads I wont ride on thinking about it, which can make routes challenging sometimes, and its hard to explain why because its not speed, its not necessarily volume of traffic and its not around the types of traffic, its sort of nebulous combination of all 3 mixed in with a healthy recognition of the number of crashes involving motorised vehicles on them.

so basically if its an A road, NSL, with a record of crashes that involve speeding, overtaking,pulling out of junctions and a combination of cars & trucks/hgvs, I do my best to avoid them.

[Tandemist]

There is a dangerous dual carriageway from The Maypole to Becketts Farm around Wythall South of Birmingham. Okay in the light but in the dark oncoming cars keep their lights on full beam and there is no white line at the left hand side of the road so with the dazzling of the car lights you can't see where the edge of the road is. It is a death trap. I nearly got hit by following cars when staying clear of the left hand side of the road because I didn't want to crash. I gave up half way along it and had to scramble up the side of an overbridge to escape from it.

[JerseyJoe]

The road from Inverness to John O'Groats it's for the most part a complete stinker.

[Pinhead]

I am lucky, where I live in Wales, I use the B4343 from Bont to Tregaron, or Bont to Aberystwyth, a B road, if I am passed by three cars it is busy

My main concern is well two really.

1. Never happened (yet)( a driver opening a door without looking
2. Prat the pedestrian stepping off in front of me especially in supermarkets

So no roads really.

But 1 reported on gosafe yesterday

Glad I was well over less than 2' from me

[Cowsham]

I am lucky, where I live in Wales, I use the B4343 from Bont to Tregaron, or Bont to Aberystwyth, a B road, if I am passed by three cars it is busy

My main concern is well two really.

1. Never happened (yet)( a driver opening a door without looking
2. Prat the pedestrian stepping off in front of me especially in supermarkets

So no roads really.

But 1 reported on gosafe yesterday

Glad I was well over less than 2' from me

Cars pass of this close ( as picture ) every day but I don't consider them too close.

[Pinhead]

I am lucky, where I live in Wales, I use the B4343 from Bont to Tregaron, or Bont to Aberystwyth, a B road, if I am passed by three cars it is busy

My main concern is well two really.

1. Never happened (yet)( a driver opening a door without looking
2. Prat the pedestrian stepping off in front of me especially in supermarkets

So no roads really.

But 1 reported on gosafe yesterday

Glad I was well over less than 2' from me

Cars pass of this close ( as picture ) every day but I don't consider them too close.

1.5 metres

THE LAW.

Give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders and horse drawn vehicles at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car (see Rules 211 to 215). As a guide: leave at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists at speeds of up to 30mph, and give them more space when overtaking at higher speeds. The car was exceeding 30mph as well.

[Cowsham]

I am lucky, where I live in Wales, I use the B4343 from Bont to Tregaron, or Bont to Aberystwyth, a B road, if I am passed by three cars it is busy

My main concern is well two really.

1. Never happened (yet)( a driver opening a door without looking
2. Prat the pedestrian stepping off in front of me especially in supermarkets

So no roads really.

But 1 reported on gosafe yesterday

Glad I was well over less than 2' from me

Cars pass of this close ( as picture ) every day but I don't consider them too close.

1.5 metres

THE LAW.

Give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders and horse drawn vehicles at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car (see Rules 211 to 215). As a guide: leave at least 1.5 metres when overtaking cyclists at speeds of up to 30mph, and give them more space when overtaking at higher speeds. The car was exceeding 30mph as well.

Yes I know and accept that.
When I'm in the car or van I make sure I'm on the other side of the white line but many do pass with nearside wheels on my side of the road but like you I'm well in to the left. The perils with keeping well in is potholes of which there are many ATM so sometimes that's not a good idea either hence I try to avoid the roads.

I don't enjoy riding on the roads with cars but there are places where it can't be avoided.

[pjclinch]

The road from Inverness to John O'Groats it's for the most part a complete stinker.

There's more than one way to get from Inverness to JoG though... if you take the A836 up to Tongue and turn east across the north coast it's lovely!


Pete.

[VinceLedge]

The only road round here that I avoid is the A7 , fairly busy, narrow and windy, plenty of other quiet roads to choose from.

[pjclinch]

I am lucky, where I live in Wales, I use the B4343 from Bont to Tregaron, or Bont to Aberystwyth, a B road, if I am passed by three cars it is busy

My main concern is well two really.

1. Never happened (yet)( a driver opening a door without looking
2. Prat the pedestrian stepping off in front of me especially in supermarkets

Both of these can be sorted by riding further out, and this is part of National Standards Cycle Training. When passing parked cars keep out to the tune of an open door, when riding without parked cars about a meter out is a good general default, and as well as giving you space to spot and avoid kamikaze pedestrians it keeps you clear of debris that tends to accumulate at the margins and also drains.

It's easier said than done as a Mind Game to move more in to the track of cars if you're used to keeping very far left, but it is generally reckoned to be better practice (why it is in the DfT's National Standards). In practice you tend to get given what you take because there's no advantage to a driver to run you over. If you're sensibly out then a proper overtake (i.e., at least 1.5 m spare) will need to use the oncoming lane in any case, so if they're going over a bit they may as well do a lot. On the other hand, if you're close in to the left than drivers may feel they can get past you in the face of oncoming traffic, and if that means squeezing you you'll get squeezed. If you're well out and someone does squeeze you then you've got a fair bit of safe escape space. That's not the case if you're already in the gutter.

Pete.

[Pinhead]

I am lucky, where I live in Wales, I use the B4343 from Bont to Tregaron, or Bont to Aberystwyth, a B road, if I am passed by three cars it is busy

My main concern is well two really.

1. Never happened (yet)( a driver opening a door without looking
2. Prat the pedestrian stepping off in front of me especially in supermarkets

Both of these can be sorted by riding further out, and this is part of National Standards Cycle Training. When passing parked cars keep out to the tune of an open door, when riding without parked cars about a meter out is a good general default, and as well as giving you space to spot and avoid kamikaze pedestrians it keeps you clear of debris that tends to accumulate at the margins and also drains.

It's easier said than done as a Mind Game to move more in to the track of cars if you're used to keeping very far left, but it is generally reckoned to be better practice (why it is in the DfT's National Standards). In practice you tend to get given what you take because there's no advantage to a driver to run you over. If you're sensibly out then a proper overtake (i.e., at least 1.5 m spare) will need to use the oncoming lane in any case, so if they're going over a bit they may as well do a lot. On the other hand, if you're close in to the left than drivers may feel they can get past you in the face of oncoming traffic, and if that means squeezing you you'll get squeezed. If you're well out and someone does squeeze you then you've got a fair bit of safe escape space. That's not the case if you're already in the gutter.

Pete.

Not easy to "ride out" on country roads

But someone did say once "ride in the gutter and get treated like rubbish"

[pjclinch]

Not easy to "ride out" on country roads

But someone did say once "ride in the gutter and get treated like rubbish"

Once you tell yourself you can, you can.

Riding further out on narrow roads, particularly twisty ones with hedgerows etc. makes you more visible. As Franklin's Cyclecraft has it, perspicuity is generally better than conspicuity (i.e., a bright jacket around a left hand bend tight to the kerb is invisible, any jacket far enough out to be seen is more visible than invisible).
As long as you're well inside what would be the outer wheel track of a typical car you're less ostentatiously in the firing line than most of the traffic other drivers are expecting.

Pete.

[Pinhead]

Not easy to "ride out" on country roads

But someone did say once "ride in the gutter and get treated like rubbish"

Once you tell yourself you can, you can.

Riding further out on narrow roads, particularly twisty ones with hedgerows etc. makes you more visible. As Franklin's Cyclecraft has it, perspicuity is generally better than conspicuity (i.e., a bright jacket around a left hand bend tight to the kerb is invisible, any jacket far enough out to be seen is more visible than invisible).
As long as you're well inside what would be the outer wheel track of a typical car you're less ostentatiously in the firing line than most of the traffic other drivers are expecting.

Pete.

"Once you tell yourself you can, you can."

You assume, never assume But I 100% agree

Such as this ROFLLOL my jacket


.

[pjclinch]

Not easy to "ride out" on country roads

But someone did say once "ride in the gutter and get treated like rubbish"

Once you tell yourself you can, you can.

Riding further out on narrow roads, particularly twisty ones with hedgerows etc. makes you more visible. As Franklin's Cyclecraft has it, perspicuity is generally better than conspicuity (i.e., a bright jacket around a left hand bend tight to the kerb is invisible, any jacket far enough out to be seen is more visible than invisible).
As long as you're well inside what would be the outer wheel track of a typical car you're less ostentatiously in the firing line than most of the traffic other drivers are expecting.

"Once you tell yourself you can, you can."

You assume, never assume But I 100% agree

I never said it was easy, or that everyone/anyone can do that... Telling yourself you can do something scary can be very tough, especially if the basis of the scare is you worry that you may end up dead.
But if you can get the mind game part then physically doing it really is easy.

Such as this ROFLLOL my jacket

There's nothing wrong with wearing loud stuff if you want but the degree to which (or even if) it's actually protective is proving hard to pin down. Easier to see doesn't seem to translate to getting in to A&E less often, with proportions of hi-viz wearers in emergency departments being broadly similar to proportions on the streets The camera symbol may well help you get fewer close passes, but dayglo has no track record in that respect.
You can also get camera signs like the Passpixi that fit to luggage so you don't have to dress up specially to ride your bike.

Pete.