StuartO Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 I've come across assertive, and sometimes aggressive and bad mannered, cyclists before but there was a chap yesterday who was in a new league for me. On a busy, and not particularly wide, A road I came upon a queue of slow moving traffic and it took a while for it to become clear what the hold up was. A cyclist was "commanding the lane" (as we used to call it in my motorcycling days, as a way of discouraging riding in the gutter) and wandering about a bit, sometime well towards the centre of the road. It was taking a while for motorised traffic to overtake and as it came to my turn I could see that the cyclist was waving his R arm to direct traffic to take a wide berth when overtaking him. Not only did he want to avoid riding in the gutter (understandable) but he clearly also wanted everyone to go right over on to the other carriageway to pass him. From his expression he was very up tight about it. The law, as I understand it, gives pedal cyclists the right to "at least on e wobble" and so motorists should pass with an adequately wide berth - and I always took this to mean at least a metre, more at higher speed. But that wasn't enough for this guy and he clearly wanted to make his poin and force the issue. I think he was causing an unnecessary obstruction and therefore commiting an offence. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 I think.. ...you would've got more responses if you had said that this cyclist was a Labour voting Muslim.... (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted July 1, 2017 Share Posted July 1, 2017 pepe63 - 2017-06-28 4:52 PM I think.. ...you would've got more responses if you had said that this cyclist was a Labour voting Muslim.... (lol) You are right on that! (lol)(lol)(lol)(lol)(lol)(lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 I cross to the other carriageway when overtaking cyclists.The Highway Code [Rule 163] says, "give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car." That's a bit more than wobble room. The smallest cars are at least 1.5m wide(Range Rover over 2m] I thought you must leave greater than that. Was the cyclist indicating that s/he thought it was safe for vehicles to overtake? Quite often cyclists will wave their right arm to do so to minimise traffic delays. I take you point, Stuart, that cyclists' behaviour sometimes leaves much to be desired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 I saw a video recording of a parked taxi driver open his door into the path of a passing cyclist. The taxi driver got out and instead of going to the aid of the cyclist sprawled in the road started examining his door for damage. >:-) So with people like that Taxi driver about, cyclists are advised and entitled to keep one metre out from parked cars - plus wobble room. Many pass nearer to parked cars, putting themselves at serious risk, for the benefit of following traffic. But we can't demand or expect them to risk their lives to allow us to pass . :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted July 2, 2017 Author Share Posted July 2, 2017 The scenario I described was on a countryside road with no parked vehicles, although it wasn't a very wide one. The cyclist was clearly riding well out in the carriageway, sometimes verring right out to the white line, and was clearly deliberately trying to dictate the way all other road users were using the road, for his own purposes. It was far, far more than avoiding riding in the getter or wanting a bit of wobble room; hence my suggestion that he was committing an offence. (I hold no truck with car drivers who don't check their mirror before opening a door.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 StuartO - 2017-07-02 8:19 AMThe scenario I described was on a countryside road with no parked vehicles, although it wasn't a very wide one. The cyclist was clearly riding well out in the carriageway, sometimes verring right out to the white line, and was clearly deliberately trying to dictate the way all other road users were using the road, for his own purposes. It was far, far more than avoiding riding in the getter or wanting a bit of wobble room; hence my suggestion that he was committing an offence. (I hold no truck with car drivers who don't check their mirror before opening a door.) Sadly you get the odd nutter in all classes of road users :-( But fortunately cyclists like that are so rare I have never seen one :-D The worst I have seen have been young boys - who are probably full of over confidence/bravado/stupidity in everything else they do, not just cycling :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted July 2, 2017 Author Share Posted July 2, 2017 John52 - 2017-07-02 10:22 Sadly you get the odd nutter in all classes of road users ... And i'd never seen a cyclist behaving quite as badly as this before, which is why I took the trouble to post about it. But you do regularly get cyclists bunching up, seemingly as a "peleton", so that they cause the same size of obstacle as a large slow moving vehicle would cause, which I regard as an unnecessary imposition on others. And as I think you are suggesting, you see young lads charging out across roads and through junctions, alternating between using pavements and using the road carriageway in a "daring" way, as if for kicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 StuartO - 2017-07-02 10:35 AMJohn52 - 2017-07-02 10:22 Sadly you get the odd nutter in all classes of road users ... And i'd never seen a cyclist behaving quite as badly as this before, which is why I took the trouble to post about it. But you do regularly get cyclists bunching up, seemingly as a "peleton", so that they cause the same size of obstacle as a large slow moving vehicle would cause, which I regard as an unnecessary imposition on others. And as I think you are suggesting, you see young lads charging out across roads and through junctions, alternating between using pavements and using the road carriageway in a "daring" way, as if for kicks.To be frank Stuart there is a lot of aggression now among cyclists with little respect for vehicles. What you describe above reminds me of my teenage cycling days when i was pretty fit, non-smoker/drinker, and regularly took part in road time trial events. Yes we'd cycle two abreast but whoever was at the rear,it was their job to shout up the line when traffic was approaching from behind. Now they don't bother and often cycle out in the middle.Lighting is another "bug" with me.......cyclists often ride at night without lighting and the Police do nothing. When i was cycling that was considered a cardinal sin and if you got hit, you deserved it. You would certainly get no sympathy from fellow cyclists.YouTube is full of clips from lycra clad cam wearing "warriors" out to capture the best clip. Many are blatantly antagonistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 The official distance explained here. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/11/drivers-overtake-cyclists-close-comfort-could-lectured-police/ That pretty much puts the car on the other side of road. Police in Leeds are pulling over offenders. Is £1000 pound fine reasonable? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40571699 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 I find it interesting how different people cope with cyclists. We are off to France this week to take part in their touring , national cycle week , (Semaine Federal) ,our 22nd year. of doing it, their 79th year. Upto 15 thousand cyclists take over a different town each year, and then spend a week of cycling pre planned rides in all directions of up to 120 miles a day. Just imagine what the road are like for motorists. The French seem to cope with cyclists much more amicably than the Brits. Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don636 Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 We were in Ireland recently and there were signs posted advising drivers to pass cyclists with 1.5m gap. Fair enough and I try to do this anyway but sometimes the cyclists are clearly being too assertive and looking for trouble. We had to pass numerous cyclists riding two abreast on narrow roads where it would be impossible to pass them with a 1.5 m gap, even if you went right over to the edge of the other carriageway. I passed them anyway with as much of a gap as I could but their riding was selfish if not downright dangerous. Probably the same cyclists who whizz past on the inside when it suits them, jump red lights, ride on the pavement etc. Does not help their cause! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 A PS to my previous post, perhaps I should have mentioned that the Semaine Federal is in Normandy this year, at Mortagne au Perche. Perhaps a good idea that any cyclist hating Brits avoid that area the first week in August. (lol) Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 So, this 1.5m passing clearance distance that is being mentioned (which I suppose is pretty much what you'd ideally aim for, although not always realistic on many roads..?), presumably this would also apply to cyclists in these "cycle lanes" that get shoehorned onto existing roads, by way of a painted-on white line?.. *I've noticed that drivers tend to pass closer to the cyclists that are using these, than they perhaps would if the "cycle lane" wasn't there and the cyclist was on the "open" carriageway..? :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 Makes you wonder how close assertive cyclists get, when driving their cars. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 Wearing my cycliist's helmet, I stay well away from high kerbs, road gullies and patches in the road left by utilities. Unfortunately this tends to take up more road than I would like. Also it seems that the older generation of drivers fail to realise that their current car is about a foot -eighteen inches wider than their previous Anglia or BMC mini. There lies a problem of road width not keeping up with the size of modern cars, so the soft option is to force the cyclist into the hedge. The number of cycle lanes I have seen are pointless because they were safe before someone decided to paint the road as a lane, only to find there is no cycle lane where the road narrows and maybe a cyclist could have priority rather than be pushed of the road. rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowtelse2do Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 How do you judge what is 1.5mtr without having a 1.5mtr pole sticking out from the nearside front wing....oop's sorry, must have cut it to 1.40mtr. Joking apart, the first 2mtr's from the kerb is the part that gets the most hammer due to the camber and drains plus the utility cables etc. The most work that the garage I use now is suspension problems, he recons that it's 30% of his work. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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