A329 Streatley

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AlanD
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A329 Streatley

Post by AlanD »

Do you ride along the A329 through Streatley?

Seen this morning just after 7am today as my carshare companion and I stopped at the red traffic light at the crossroads with the B4009 - Streatley Hill, heading south east towards Pangbourne: A male adult on a very swish looking road bike and dressed in lycra, passed us on the nearside, went past the red light and came to a stop almost in the middle of the crossroads, looking each way as he did so. There he stayed as vehicles emerged from our left to take the croddroads, one lorry turning right nearly colliding with the rider, who was in the lorry's turning circle.
His antics provoked the comment from my companion, "Red light applies to you as well". I just cringed :shock:
When the traffic from the side stopped and before the phasing changed, the rider continued straight on, which is where we also went.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 3,135,,0,0

As we continued our journey, I felt it necessary to say something to my companion. I commented that although this sort of thing does happen, It's not that commonplace, but that there are those motorists who are anti-cyclist, who choose to paint us all with the same brush.

So if that cyclist is on this forum and reading this.....
I don't think that the rules of this forum would permit me to write what I am thinking now and the regard in which I hold your judgement.
Suffice to say that I feel very angry over your stupid, reckless behaviour.
You are not a child, you are a responsible adult. Your behaviour is for all to see and you don't know who might be watching.
I found your actions embarrassing. Especially at a time when there is a strong anti cyclist feeling from some and the cycling community is doing its best to promote our cause in trying to be taken seriously by other road users.
The rules of the road apply just as much to you as they do to every other road user and if you are not willing to abide by them, then you have no place on the road.

Don't do that again!!!
broadway
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Re: A329 Streatley

Post by broadway »

While not disagreeing with the comments, if he did say I would imagine you will get a chance to do the same back
northstar
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Re: A329 Streatley

Post by northstar »

Looking at the junction I can see why he did, doesn't exactly look cycle friendly, I hope your companion says the same to every driver they see do the same....
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anniesboy
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Re: A329 Streatley

Post by anniesboy »

I know this junction well,I understand why he went forward but not why so far forward. Move forward out of the way of traffic filtering left OK but not in front of the first traffic light. For to do so puts in some risk of traffic coming from the right,which for those that dont know the area is the bottom of a longish 1 in 6 hill.
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horizon
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Re: A329 Streatley

Post by horizon »

I passed through this spot last Friday morning so it wasn't me. Maybe we can remind the motorists though that there is a 20mph speed limit on Goring bridge (where there is also a nice cafe called Pierreponts for rather posh elevenses, but I digress).
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
jochta
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Re: A329 Streatley

Post by jochta »

I've cycled through this junction many times from all directions. I've never seen any need to venture beyond the white stop line on a red light on any of the approaches.
AlanD
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Re: A329 Streatley

Post by AlanD »

Good morning all.
I want to speak on the subject of how we behave on the roads again. No doubt we are all aware of how some motorists treat us and most of us have read the sort of bile that gets written by a small number of motorists about cyclists. Well I have dug up this thread because this morning (Tuesday 29th May, at approx 07:10), my travelling companion and I, as well as numerous other motorists witnessed something appalling.

Driving southbound along the A417 Wantage Road towards Streatley, we passed a cyclist on a very smart looking road bike, the rider was wearing a red and black outfit. In front of a couple of cars ahead of us was a lorry hauling a trailer. As we reached the junction with the A329, the lorry driver used the junction to perform a U- turn, swinging around the traffic island to turn around and come back along the A417. I am posting here a view from Google street which approximates to the position my driver and I were at, with a couple of cars in front of us. The cab nearside was brushing against the hedge to the right, whilst the tail of the flatbed truck was in danger of hitting the bollard; the trailer was completely blocking the A329.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Streatle ... 40.26,,0,0

It was at this point that the cyclist came from behind, swept past the queue of cars and the rider then wedged himself between the cab of the lorry and the right side of the traffic island. Despite our windows being closed, we could still hear some considerable exchange taking place between the cyclist and the lorry driver and I think it was the cyclist who made the first outburst.
Now there is nothing wrong in passing a queue of stationary cars if it is safe to do so. What I was amazed about was that this cyclist was trying to pass to the right of a KEEP LEFT sign. And trying to do so within the turning circle of a lorry where it is clearly visible that the way is blocked. We have well discussed the subject of passing lorries in their turning circles. After this angry exchange, the rider lifted his bike over the island and continued on his way.

As someone previously said in this forum, "we all make mistakes". Very true. However, I think that there can be no room for mistakes here. What we do on the road is in front of motorists who will not hesitate to condemn us all for the stupidity of a few. We need to make sure that our act is absolutely squeaky clean. My partner commented most succinctly, "You all get blamed for the mistakes of the few".
Now I don't know if this rider is a CTC member or not. He might be reading this, perhaps not. Perhaps someone who is a member knows who this rider is? This rider might even be the same person who I previously observed doing something wrong, as commented on at the start of this thread.

This rider exercised very poor judgement. Not only was he trying to disobey The Highway Code, he was putting his life at risk. He did so in front of numerous motorists and in doing so fuelled the sort of brickbats that get thrown at us all. I do so hope that the rider concerned does get to read this, because he needs to know that he behaved really stupidly.
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al_yrpal
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Re: A329 Streatley

Post by al_yrpal »

I see this sort of behavior all the time and it makes me wince. It isn't cyclists or motorists its just people. There is a minority of people with no consideration for others. It seems to be worse and more visible in cyclists and it gets all of us a bad name. Whether its riding on pavements, running red lights or making aggressive gestures its all deplorable.
I only answered this post because I live near that road, just like this incident many posts on the on the road board seem to reflect six of one and a half dozen of the other. As cyclists we are very visible and bad behavior adversly affects us all.
Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
AlanD
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Re: A329 Streatley

Post by AlanD »

Yet again, I need to comment about the behaviour of a cyclist on this stretch of road.
This morning, Tuesday 4th Sept, the time was about 07:15, I was driving in a south east direction. At the traffic lights were several cars ahead of me and I saw a cyclist in rather 'flash' looking apparel, appear from the B4009 turning and go in my direction at quite a good turn of speed. By the time I had caught up with him, we were in a section of road that had a double unbroken white line down the centre. It was not possible for me to overtake safely, so i had to stay behind with the following car closely tailgating me. My speedo was indicating 20mph. When we reached a straight section of road with a broken 'hazzard' line, it was safe for me to pass, which I did and I could see another cyclist about 200m further ahead. By the time I reached the second cyclist, the centre line was again a double unbroken line, so I had to slow down and stay behind. This must have come as quite a suprise to the following driver, who appeared to accelerate with a heavy right foot, followed by having to decerate sharply.
So there I was on this stretch, behind a cyclist and closely followed by a long line of following cars. As you can see from the link, the road is twisty and narrow.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Streetley ... 40.55,,0,0

What happened next was that the first cyclist who I had overtaken, catches up and I can see him in my nearside door mirror, undertaking the line of cars behind me. He is now alongside me, barely inches away from my nearside door and it looks like he wants to complete his pass, to pull out in front of me and pass the second cyclist. We were in this position for about 30seconds. I could see that he had a very smart looking road bike.
This was putting me, and himself, in a very dangerous position. Suppose either rider wobbled? Suppose I braked and caused a pile-up behind? Suppose a car came the other way and drifted across the centre line?
The only option that I could see, was to pull wide, crossing the unbroken white line to overtake the lead cyclist.

I do hope that this cyclist is reading this, for what he did was absolutely reckless. Even if he is not reading this, there is still something to learn from this episode. When riding a bike we can easily think that the smallest of gaps is big enough. Well it's not! And cars need a bigger safety margin that bikes do. Whether on two wheels or four, we all need to make sure that there is sufficient margin of safety around us.
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philg
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Re: A329 Streatley

Post by philg »

Sorry if I've missed something here, but as you (correctly) realized you cannot overtake without crossing an unbroken white line, the cyclist however can.

Why not drop back a few yards and let the guy overtake the slower cyclist?

And why are you so close to Captain Slow anyway so the fast guy can't get past?
The weekend comes, my cycle hums
AlanD
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Re: A329 Streatley

Post by AlanD »

You're missing the point Phil.
I was positioned correctly and the slower cyclist in front was at no risk from me.
The faster cyclist came up on my inside, with very little gap between my nearside and the kerb. He should not have been doing that in the first place.
Also, if he was trying to do what I think he was, then he would have swung out right in front of me.
Did I mention that the following driver was closely tailgating me, as no doubt every driver following. :shock:
Since you took the bait, it begs the question....

Was it you by any chance?
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philg
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Re: A329 Streatley

Post by philg »

Alan

Whether or not the cyclist should have been where he was isn't my point, and no it wasn't me.

As you have described it, you have a car on your tailgate; a cyclist hugging your nearside and you are close enough to the cyclist in front to stop the fast guy from getting past.

IMHO you are not in a good position. If the slow guy, say, hits a pothole and falls, at best your going to get rear-ended from the idiot behind you?

All I suggested was you hang back a little bit to let the faster traffic (cyclist in this case) get by - I guess you don't do a lot of cycling in towns? :wink:
The weekend comes, my cycle hums
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: A329 Streatley

Post by [XAP]Bob »

I read it that the speed difference was small - he was following one cyclist, thus approximating a cyclists speed.

The second cyclist therefore went into a small gap which would take a good while to navigate, and require significant extra attention from both parties for the duration, at a time when there were enough other things on the road to watch out for. He's just advertised the amount of space he wants from overtaking cars :(
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
AlanD
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Re: A329 Streatley

Post by AlanD »

I have made my point and Phil has made his. I don't think there's any more either of us has to say on this matter.
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