Cyclists

LordSplodge said:
Going home yesterday I'm cycling between two rows of parks cars well clear of the door zone on both sides (so in the middle of the road). I saw a Mini heading towards the row of parked cars from the far end, seeing as I had already entered the row of parked cars and thus had right of way. As I was doing a good lick (about 20mph) I thought I'd be out of the cars way soonish and all he would need to do was slow down a little.

What did he do? Move to the middle of the road, speed up and aim at me. I held my ground and he is giving me gestures and abuse. I calmly pointed out my right of way and carried on.

I get this kind of behaviour all the time. Far more than the bad cycling examples I see.
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Yeah, I had a guy do that, people do not care for cyclists, they think they have no right of way, its pretty scary when you are cycling and following the rules of the road when a 1 ton piece of metal is coming at you.

I just tell them to get out their tin box and cycle, its good for you and free.

No wonder people are scared to cycle on the road, government has let down cyclist with the roads, as petrol prices rise, I see more people getting on a bike because of the cheapness of it.
 
cheets64 said:
As petrol prices rise, I see more people getting on a bike because of the cheapness of it.
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I think that is the worst part of it all really. I haven't really noticed any more cyclists on the road in the last few years even with the petrol prices. People are so lazy and unwilling to leave their cars at home that they would rather pay the stupid cost of running a car than get on a bike or walk. I would love to see some statistics about every car journey and see how many of them are completely unnecessary.

One of the best parts of cycling is watching all the miserable people in their cars on a beautiful day sitting in traffic. I can't help but feel that traffic and the amount of time you spend cooped up in your cars is one of the reasons for all the anger towards cyclists.
 
Chronictank said:
A fact you and various other people in this thread seem to be overlooking; a car can do 30 mph consistently for as long as it has fuel, the average person on a bike cannot
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And what about cyclists that can? I have regular 28-32mph stretches on my journey home, and yet I still get cars overtaking me, on a 30mph road. This notion of "must get past this damned cyclist at any cost" is partly what causes so many accidents.
 
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fez said:
I think that is the worst part of it all really. I haven't really noticed any more cyclists on the road in the last few years even with the petrol prices. People are so lazy and unwilling to leave their cars at home that they would rather pay the stupid cost of running a car than get on a bike or walk. I would love to see some statistics about every car journey and see how many of them are completely unnecessary.

One of the best parts of cycling is watching all the miserable people in their cars on a beautiful day sitting in traffic. I can't help but feel that traffic and the amount of time you spend cooped up in your cars is one of the reasons for all the anger towards cyclists.
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Laziness isn't always the reason, though. That's a pretty holier-than-thou stance to take.

I'd rather not turn up to work/home/the shops/a restaurant/whatever all sweaty and uncomfortable after cycling for 35 minutes, thanks! :)
 
Pestilence said:
Laziness isn't always the reason, though. That's a pretty holier-than-thou stance to take.

I'd rather not turn up to work/home/the shops/a restaurant/whatever all sweaty and uncomfortable after cycling for 35 minutes, thanks! :)
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It's a fair point; I'm lucky enough to have shower facilities at work, many are not.
 
Pestilence said:
Laziness isn't always the reason, though. That's a pretty holier-than-thou stance to take.

I'd rather not turn up to work/home/the shops/a restaurant/whatever all sweaty and uncomfortable after cycling for 35 minutes, thanks! :)
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If we could use bikes for everything then we wouldn't use cars. I would wager that most people would save money each year by using public transport or taxis where they couldn't cycle instead of running a car.

A lot of people would still run cars as they need to but most people could do perhaps 50% of their travel on a bike. Every motorist that I have met that rages against bikes, doesn't ride one.

I am not trying to be holier than thou, I am merely saying that some people are so used to using their cars that they believe that a car is as much a human right as food and shelter. Motorists would be more considerate and safer if they cycled as well.

Edit: I cycled 15 miles to work one summer and didn't need a shower at the end of it. There are plenty of situations where a bike is impractical, but I have heard the shower excuse used for people who live anything from 1 mile away to 20 from work. Most people I know who cycle to work don't shower at the end of it, they just change their clothes.
 
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I don't have shower facilities at work, but I bring all my work gear in on Monday on the panniers, travel in tracksuit trousers and a t-shirt, then flannel myself down (nice image) in the gent's wash rooms and apply deodrant. I remove the panniers Tue - Thurs for a quicker ride, then lug it all back again for a wash on Friday. That's 4 miles each way, its an absolute pleasure and while it's not always true that people won't leave their cars because they're too lazy, it often is imo.
 
platypus said:
Not sure I'd want to bother with panniers doing 30 miles a day :p.
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For 30 miles a day I need skinny tyres and minimal extras! There is something fantastic about cycling to work on a beautiful day in the sun though.
 
How do you ferry all your stuff to work? Drive every so often? I want to swap my Halfords Carrera Subway for a proper road bike, to which I will not want to attach a pannier rack if possible!
 
platypus said:
And what about cyclists that can? I have regular 28-32mph stretches on my journey home, and yet I still get cars overtaking me, on a 30mph road. This notion of "must get past this damned cyclist at any cost" is partly what causes so many accidents.
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Because the average person can't is why the driver generally assumes you can't.
 
platypus said:
It's a fair point; I'm lucky enough to have shower facilities at work, many are not.
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Yeah, I'm lucky enough that my commute is only 4 miles and all downhill at that. Means I'm a little sweaty when I get in (courteously trying to reach the speed limit :p) but not enough to make me smell/warrant a shower. Going home at the end of the day is a different story!

I don't see motorists as lazy, just missing out! Though I envy them in the winter!
 
Chronictank said:
Because the average person can't is why the driver generally assumes you can't.
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Im sorry, but if that is the level of thinking that you apply to driving then you shouldn't be on the roads. You have a speedo on the car which tells you exactly how fast you are going so that you can avoid having to "guess" your speed based on cyclists or other unreliable measures.
 
fez said:
Im sorry, but if that is the level of thinking that you apply to driving then you shouldn't be on the roads. You have a speedo on the car which tells you exactly how fast you are going so that you can avoid having to "guess" your speed based on cyclists or other unreliable measures.
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What has maintaining a speed of 30mph which the average person cannot do, have anything to do with what you have typed above?

Some of you have the weirdest selective memory/reading ability i have ever seen
 
Chronictank said:
What has maintaining a speed of 30mph which the average person cannot do, have anything to do with what you have typed above?
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Hes saying that you shouldn't assume that a cyclist is travelling far below the speed limit, a quick look at your own speedo whilst driving by them will tell you their speed.
 
Chronictank said:
What has maintaining a speed of 30mph which the average person cannot do, have anything to do with what you have typed above?

Some of you have the weirdest selective memory/reading ability i have ever seen
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As you say, it has nothing to do with maintaining a speed of 30mph in a car which is why I have no idea what your point is there. Saying that its acceptable for someone in a car to overtake a cyclist going at 30mph in a 30mph zone because most cyclists can't go that fast is plain retarded. You have a speedo, look at it and use it. If a bike is going at 30mph in a 30mph zone then you shouldn't overtake them.

You don't drive based on assumptions and if you are caught speeding, saying that you assumed you were going the speed limit would only label you an idiot.
 
I work in London. I put up with cyclists careering down the inside lane every.......single.......day. Whilst I personally check my mirror every single time (primarily becasue I know the roads and know that there are way too many cyclisits that do this) I cannot count the amount of times these morons just hurl it up the inside of a car just as they are about to turn left without even checking to see if the car is indicating. Given the enormous depth of view that cyclists have to their advantage in this sitation and the fact that cars can only rely on their often inadequate mirrors, it outstands me that there are quite so many people riding these things with a desire to get flattened.

Helemts should be compulsary also and those not wearing them but whom see it fit to wear the tightest spandex they can possibly get around their backsides should be fined in the same way as someone not wearing a seatbelt.

Like with all these things - drivers are hardly saints but if you decide to pit yourselves against one by doing something stupid, please dont expect it to be the drivers fault. People often learn from their mistakes but they cant with a saddle up their arse and in a a coma.
 
fastwunz said:
... and the fact that cars can only rely on their often inadequate mirrors, it outstands me that there are quite so many people riding these things with a desire to get flattened.

Helemts should be compulsary also and those not wearing them but whom see it fit to wear the tightest spandex they can possibly get around their backsides should be fined in the same way as someone not wearing a seatbelt.
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If your mirrors are inadequate then you should get better ones, on my bike I can see everything around me. Don't start an entirely different debate on helmets which you probably wont understand as it sounds like you have not been on a bike in a while.
 
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