Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
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cycleruk
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Re: Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Post by cycleruk »

It's strange when riding a road the other way how different it seems.
You'll never know if you don't try it.
simonhill
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Re: Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Post by simonhill »

Wind.

Most of my rides are more ellipse than circle and I do choose which route depending on the wind direction. Out against the wind when I'm fresh and keen, back with it on my back.

From a little campsite I use at weekends I have a number of rides. I tend to do them in the same direction, which previously unbeknownst to me is usually anti clockwise. How odd.

Even odder in that I do them that way for completely different reasons (eg pub near end, lunch stop ⅔rds way round and town got out of way first).

Has Freud got anything to say on this.
Ron
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Re: Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Post by Ron »

cycleruk wrote: 31 Jan 2023, 2:43pm Depends on the wind direction. :)
Exactly, but when there is little or no wind I waste a lot of time in deciding which way to go round :?
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Cowsham
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Re: Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Post by Cowsham »

I tend to go clockwise cos it means I'm on the correct side of the road where the big black horse lives and then if there's some trouble with the bike he usually can tell me how to fix it. If I go the other way round I'll meet the big white horse and he knows buggor all about bicycles.
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mattheus
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Re: Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Post by mattheus »

Ron wrote: 1 Feb 2023, 3:01pm
cycleruk wrote: 31 Jan 2023, 2:43pm Depends on the wind direction. :)
Exactly, but when there is little or no wind I waste a lot of time in deciding which way to go round :?
Oh yes - I much prefer a clockwise wind day to a still one, takes one more decision out of your day :)
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foxyrider
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Re: Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Post by foxyrider »

depends entirely what i feel like when i leave the house although some regular routes do tend to be one or the other, guess my riing is ambidextorous! :lol:
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
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Cowsham
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Re: Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Post by Cowsham »

Some motorcycle racers prefer one or tuther -- I think I'm a clockwise one cos I could always seem to get the right knee slider to brush the kerb on roundabouts but that may have only been because most of my time on two wheels was on road and not on track. When I'm on a two stroke ( on track ) I can have my two fingers over the clutch easier on left corners simply cos I'm laying over the left front of the bike. So two stroke left -- four stroke right.
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DaveReading
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Re: Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Post by DaveReading »

Anti-clockwise, obviously, because you cover a shorter distance (in the UK, that is).

:shock:
Carlton green
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Re: Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Post by Carlton green »

Mostly I ride with the purpose of going somewhere particular so my rides aren’t normally circular but rather linear or maybe elliptical. Of the rides that aren’t near enough straight line I like to vary between clockwise and counterclockwise as doing so allows you to see the countryside from the other direction.
Don’t fret, it’s OK to: ride a simple old bike; ride slowly, walk, rest and admire the view; ride off-road; ride in your raincoat; ride by yourself; ride in the dark; and ride one hundred yards or one hundred miles. Your bike and your choices to suit you.
peetee
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Re: Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Post by peetee »

If I had the choice and could arrange the geographical features and meteorology in my favour I would do an anti-clockwise circuit.
I’ve never felt comfortable leaning the bike for right-hand bends. I think we’ve discussed the phenomenon before and I am definitely a ‘fall on my left’ kinda guy.
The older I get the more I’m inclined to act my shoe size, not my age.
hoogerbooger
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Re: Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Post by hoogerbooger »

I have often pointed out to my Missus that I am completely rational and make all decisions based solely on facts........until, that is, she pointed out I only plan cycles, tours, walks that go anti- clockwise.

For the life of me I do not know why, but clockwise just seems wrong and if someone suggests a clockwise route I find myself trying to advise otherwise.

From a vary young age my mum sent me off on the bike to see friends( and keep out of her hair) The best I can come up with is that my habit its derived by my early personal risk assessment that left turns were safer than right turns....so I'll see my friends in that order......or I could just be nuts?
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Biospace
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Re: Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Post by Biospace »

hoogerbooger wrote: 10 Feb 2023, 8:31pm For the life of me I do not know why, but clockwise just seems wrong and if someone suggests a clockwise route I find myself trying to advise otherwise.
I've been following this thread and wasn't going to say anything but your comment has prompted me to do so - I feel naturally happier going clockwise, but will choose a circuit according to gradients, wind direction and so on.
cycleruk wrote: 1 Feb 2023, 10:57am It's strange when riding a road the other way how different it seems.
Isn't it just and a completely different road in so many respects more than in a three dimensional spatial perspective - different view, different ascents and descents, different obstacles, altered junctions, different sun and wind angle, perhaps even different traffic. The only similarlties I can think of would be distance and microclimate. I really must take the children the other way round a route we often take, to feel the contrast.
mattheus
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Re: Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Post by mattheus »

Biospace wrote: 10 Feb 2023, 11:19pm Isn't it just and a completely different road in so many respects more than in a three dimensional spatial perspective - different view, different ascents and descents,
Those two are so closely entwined. Some roads when I descend them, all I see is the road-surface, possible hazards, that stuff ...
Climb up it - at 5mph - and I have plenty of time to soak up the view, 360' !
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freiston
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Re: Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Post by freiston »

Thinking about it, I live on the north-western edge of the city (Coventry) and most of my rides are clockwise out to the north-west but when I go south, I am more inclined to go out south-west and go anti-clockwise.

I tend to have preferred routes to get out from home and back to home and most of my rides happen to be short. I tend to go in the same direction (northwest) because I get the best little lanes and minimum busy/main roads. So a lot of my rides go in and out the same way for the first/last 7 miles or so. Beyond that, I have a few "sub routes" and so sometimes my rides are balloon on a string shaped, sometimes badly drawn clover shaped, sometimes figure of eight. If I get bored with a particular sub route, I sometimes start doing it in the opposite direction. Saying that, I reckon I go clockwise more than anti-clockwise and I don't know why.

Going west would mean many very busy roads and limited options. Going east or south east would mean a lot of urban cycling across the city. North-east means going through or around Bedworth - that doesn't appeal. So if I don't go north-west, I usually go south through the city centre (and back the same way) or south-west and return through the city centre.

Longer rides are different and rarely happen but are usually planned via a combination of Google Earth, maps and online planners, and are usually dictated by points of interest and the order i want to do them or the time I want to arrive (for, e.g., eating).

I'm wondering if, when looking at a map (or Google Earth), I'm inclined to "track" clockwise in much the same way that I track writing left to right, or a gauge clockwise - meaning that I'm biased to planning a route clockwise.
Disclaimer: Treat what I say with caution and if possible, wait for someone with more knowledge and experience to contribute. ;)
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freiston
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Re: Clockwise or Anticlockwise?

Post by freiston »

cycleruk wrote: 1 Feb 2023, 10:57am It's strange when riding a road the other way how different it seems.
Yes! Especially the little undulating, winding single-track lanes. Some blind bends that terrify me going one way feel quite tame going the other. Effort and speed due to gradient makes a big difference too.
Disclaimer: Treat what I say with caution and if possible, wait for someone with more knowledge and experience to contribute. ;)
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