Cycling UK Forum

I got on a motorway around Stuttgart some years ago when the road I was cycling on changed to motorway without my realising.
It was terrifying even on the hard shoulder - I have never cycled so fast in my life as with no way off I was commited to carrying on to the next exit. Every car driver blasted their horn despite my keeping as far away from them as possible.
No body in their right mind would choose to cycle on a motorway!!!!

Jac wrote:I got on a motorway around Stuttgart some years ago when the dual carriageway I was cycling on changed to motorway without my realising.
It was terrifying even on the hard shoulder - I have never cycled so fast in my life as with no way off I was commited to carrying on to the next exit. Every car driver blasted their horn despite my keeping as far away from them as possible.
No body in their right mind would choose to cycle on a motorway!!!!

The helpful politeness of car drivers knows no bounds.

Mick, the limiter on a bus used to be set at 100k (62mph), now it's down to 90k & some vehicles are set to 75k. Fine in town, a pain when going back to base light on the motorway from 35 miles out! The technology is there, it won't be long before the limiter is set to the limit for the road concerned. All it needs is a combination of Satnav & mobile phone.

PW wrote:Buses have mandatory speed limiters, why not everyone else?

These are as a result of EU legislation and presumably because there are EU wide speed limits for buses and also for HGVs. It's different for cars with max speed limits being 70 in the UK, 80 odd in France , around 95 in in Italy and no limit in Germany.

I doubt if it's possible to have a speed limiting device controlled by GPS because it's not accurate enough - having an error of anything up to 20 metres. There are 30, 40,50 mph speed limit roads running alongside motorways, sometimes just a few feet away and GPS cannot reliably distinguish which limit applies in these circumstances.

Getting back to the original question...

I found thais weekend cycling on the A30 out of Penzance (Dual Carriageway) that my comfort margin is considerably higher than that of my stoker, especially when I instructed her to signal right to change lanes approaching an island!

Not Happy I think is the phrase that comes to mind!

We were doing an easy 22 mph with the tail wind & sailed past the queue for Hayle and round the island on towards Helston. The driver of car that followed us up to the island actually gave us a wave acknowledging that we hadn't held him up as he passed us after the exit!

I suppose I might be a little agressive in my road positioning and am very clear in telling other road users what I am going to do, to taht extent I have no problem riding on any road, I enjoy the extra free accelleration I get as buses and lorries pass me!

Mick F wrote:I'll cycle on any road I can get on. Motorways are probably safer than Trunk Roads - at least there's a hard shoulder!
All roads are made for all vehicles.

The hard shoulder is far from a safe place to be on a motorway. I think that the rescue service personnel are allocated six minutes to fix a problem before they resort to towing the broken down vehicle to a safer place to work on it.

Been there seen it done it.
Well, I've cycled along part of the M4 Motorway anyway - the short branch of it that goes to Heathrow Airport.
I arrived at a traffic island and could see the M4 motorway going to the left and right, so I carried straight on ignoring the motorway signs as I thought it couldn't be the motorway because I could see where that was.
It was also the most direct way to Kingston upon Thames and the only other exit from the island appeared to be the road I had arrived there on, so I had no choice really either.
Sure enough, I realised I was on a motorway when I saw the signs were blue and there was a hard shoulder and central barrier.
I cycled along as normal along the left hand lane, not on the hard shoulder, and not even one car beeped their horn at me.
If I ever cycle to or through Heathrow again I'll use the same route as it was fine.
I was probably lucky the boys in blue didn't see me though, as I did hear about a CTC member who was caught by the Police cycling along a motorway and was escorted off it !
I think the main danger of motorway cycling is that of motorists falling asleep at the wheel and careering into the cyclists - but then again, if there was a fair number of cyclists using the motorway then it may help keep the motorists awake.
While in favour of motorway cycling by adults, I think there may be a case for a cycling profficiency test pass and/or a minimum age limit for the motorway cyclists, to help prevent erratic young or inexperienced cyclists using motorways.
I've cycled along part of the M42 too - but that was before it was officially opened !

Motorway Cycling

Yeah ok. One or two of us have done it!

The thing is, a busy dual carriageway is dangerous for cyclists. A motorway is dangerous too - and illegal! But safer.

Lorries and other large vehicles can sway onto the hard shoulder, but at least you have a hard shoulder! On a dual carriageway you don't have the space - just a few feet to the left.

Edit: Why did my post go "bold"? Anyway, it ain't now.

mhara wrote:Weren't the first roads mostly for walking on?
We have to find a way of persuading all drivers to use speeds appropriate for the roads they're travelling on. But how ???

That's the question they should have asked - instead they came up with sustrans. That's my point.

The people who came up with Sustrans are not the same people who are in control of the roads system.
Cycling on a traffic free route can be a very relaxing and pleasant pastime, like going for a walk in the countryside. Cycling on the road can be full of hassle and the need to concentrate and pay constant attention. Why should all cyclists be condemmed to staying on the roads if they would prefer to use Sustran's paths instead.
If you want to be part of the rat-race on the road you can and if you are doing your journey for a purpose you have to! What is so bad about people having an alternative network to enjoy for recreation purposes?

Because for many people it isn't an alternative - they simply won't go on the roads.

meic - it's fine as long as it is an alternative. I certainly enjoy off-road paths. However, some cyclists fear them because:
* Statistically cycle faciliities seem to be less safe than roads
* There will never be a complete cycle network matching the roads
* Nevertheless some drivers and authorities seem to want to compel cyclists to use facilities regardless of the issues

It's passing the on-slip roads on dual carriageways that I don't like; too often when I'm driving my CAR I see motorists howling up the slip roads and just pulling straight out without looking no matter what vehicle is in the lane (the concept of giving way seemingly non-existant).

So given that seems to be the trend in my neck of the woods, cycling on such roads does seem a trifle, um, suicidal unfortunately.

But I'll ride on other A-roads without the slip-road system no prob- it's the on-slips that are the thing for me.

In fact, I prefer some A-roads to quiet roads round the local (council) estates- vehicles posing less risk that the local louts to a lone female in many cases.

P.

Yes, that's a problem I didn't really think about in the survey, but certainly something I think about. I do tend to stay on main roads especially after dark if I'm alone, because the back roads are far too isolated.

I do precisely the opposite. You're less likely to be attacked on a moorland road in the 4rse end of nowhere than in a suburban area.