The simple fact is, cars and cyclists just don't mix well, it's annoying on both sides, and I say that as someone that cycles to work as often as I can, but it's probably 50% commuting in both types of transport..
I try my hardest to be as responsible as possible and minimise my risk on a cycle, but it's very very clear that you have to occasionally break the 'law' in order to do what is most sensible..
- Filtering to the front of traffic under a red light at complex junctions and moving beyond the white line to position yourself safely
- Occasionally using very underused pavements when needs be, slowing to safely for pedestrians, etc..
I've seen many cyclists ride crazily, and I've seen (and experienced first hand) many car drivers that drive crazily, both seem as bad as each other..
I generally try to be as sympathetic to cars as possible, but despite that, I still have to change tactics often because of some impatient idiots..
e.g.
One junction I use, I've tried every manner of road usage and have yet to find a method that doesn't have cars either beeping their horns, wheel spinning around you or shouting abuse.. It's a cross roads, and it's quite busy with cars parked meaning not quite enough room for traffic in each direction + bike..
- I initially tried the filter to the front, sit just passed the white line and then set off. Not only did I get the odd driver try and drive around me wheelspinning in disgust from behind, but I also had a van that was turning into the road cut the corner so badly he had two wheels on the kerb and I was right in his path, so he shouted abuse, he only would have missed the car at the front of the queue by inches had I not been there..
- I then filtered close to the front and stopped between two cars, but they are so impatient they just drive around and block you and being in such close proximity, they often whack you with their wing mirrors
- So I tried sitting in the traffic in the middle of the road, but that annoys people so they beep, wheel spin, etc
- That only leaves the pavement (lots of pedestrians) or jumping the lights..
In the end, I just filter to the front and block the front car for about 4 seconds until I'm on the exit road and I go way into the double yellows to let them by, I get the least grief..
I was cycling in the road, it's got 3 lanes with a cycle path to the right, the inside lane is unused since it's explicitly for a direction no one ever seems to go, so I was flying in that lane keeping out the way, but eventually I have to filter accross, which is easy because of some lights that are always backed up, so I move accross, and filter down the inside.. On this day, the traffic had just started moving as I filtered, but there was enough room for 1.5 cars, so traffic wouldn't have to stop for me, but the knob in his Van screamed some 'advice' about using the cycle path whilst brushing by as close as he could in his Van.. I told him to do one.. he didn't like it and because traffic was slow, I'd already passed him, he wheel spun and dived across oncoming traffic with no regard for them to try and knock me off.. I had to stop as I didn't want it to carry on, he ranted for 5 minutes, to which to this day I am ashamed to have stood there are just taken, but having cycled 10 miles, being rathered knackered, I was waiting for mouth all mighty to start something which he never did (all mouth, no trousers it seems).. I kicked myself for not recording him on my phone and taking it to the Police, his views on cyclists and cycle paths and how he was going to enforce those next time would have been interesting for them)..
And the sad thing about this is that there is a reason I don't use the cyclepath in that direction.. In the mornings, it's uphill, so my speed is 10-12MPH and I do use the cyclepath, but coming home, it's 20-25MPH downhill, and that speed on a cyclepath is wreckless since it's a shared path and lots of pedestrians.. So why should I endanger many pedestrians, or have to crawl home just because of someone who hasn't got the mental capacity to accept cyclists are legally allowed on the road.
These days I've becoming more hardened and because of peoples intolerance, I occasionally have to defend myself by blocking cars when the risk is too great, all because I can't trust some aggressive idiot in his metal shell from not using it as a weapon to enforce his 5 seconds of frustration at having to share the road with other vehicles..
I try my hardest to be as responsible as possible and minimise my risk on a cycle, but it's very very clear that you have to occasionally break the 'law' in order to do what is most sensible..
- Filtering to the front of traffic under a red light at complex junctions and moving beyond the white line to position yourself safely
- Occasionally using very underused pavements when needs be, slowing to safely for pedestrians, etc..
I've seen many cyclists ride crazily, and I've seen (and experienced first hand) many car drivers that drive crazily, both seem as bad as each other..
I generally try to be as sympathetic to cars as possible, but despite that, I still have to change tactics often because of some impatient idiots..
e.g.
One junction I use, I've tried every manner of road usage and have yet to find a method that doesn't have cars either beeping their horns, wheel spinning around you or shouting abuse.. It's a cross roads, and it's quite busy with cars parked meaning not quite enough room for traffic in each direction + bike..
- I initially tried the filter to the front, sit just passed the white line and then set off. Not only did I get the odd driver try and drive around me wheelspinning in disgust from behind, but I also had a van that was turning into the road cut the corner so badly he had two wheels on the kerb and I was right in his path, so he shouted abuse, he only would have missed the car at the front of the queue by inches had I not been there..
- I then filtered close to the front and stopped between two cars, but they are so impatient they just drive around and block you and being in such close proximity, they often whack you with their wing mirrors
- So I tried sitting in the traffic in the middle of the road, but that annoys people so they beep, wheel spin, etc
- That only leaves the pavement (lots of pedestrians) or jumping the lights..
In the end, I just filter to the front and block the front car for about 4 seconds until I'm on the exit road and I go way into the double yellows to let them by, I get the least grief..
Yeah, I had a knob in a Van with this attitude (I assume you wouldn't go to his depths of knobishness)..my recent annoyance is cyclist that use the road right next to a cycle track that is empty
I was cycling in the road, it's got 3 lanes with a cycle path to the right, the inside lane is unused since it's explicitly for a direction no one ever seems to go, so I was flying in that lane keeping out the way, but eventually I have to filter accross, which is easy because of some lights that are always backed up, so I move accross, and filter down the inside.. On this day, the traffic had just started moving as I filtered, but there was enough room for 1.5 cars, so traffic wouldn't have to stop for me, but the knob in his Van screamed some 'advice' about using the cycle path whilst brushing by as close as he could in his Van.. I told him to do one.. he didn't like it and because traffic was slow, I'd already passed him, he wheel spun and dived across oncoming traffic with no regard for them to try and knock me off.. I had to stop as I didn't want it to carry on, he ranted for 5 minutes, to which to this day I am ashamed to have stood there are just taken, but having cycled 10 miles, being rathered knackered, I was waiting for mouth all mighty to start something which he never did (all mouth, no trousers it seems).. I kicked myself for not recording him on my phone and taking it to the Police, his views on cyclists and cycle paths and how he was going to enforce those next time would have been interesting for them)..
And the sad thing about this is that there is a reason I don't use the cyclepath in that direction.. In the mornings, it's uphill, so my speed is 10-12MPH and I do use the cyclepath, but coming home, it's 20-25MPH downhill, and that speed on a cyclepath is wreckless since it's a shared path and lots of pedestrians.. So why should I endanger many pedestrians, or have to crawl home just because of someone who hasn't got the mental capacity to accept cyclists are legally allowed on the road.
These days I've becoming more hardened and because of peoples intolerance, I occasionally have to defend myself by blocking cars when the risk is too great, all because I can't trust some aggressive idiot in his metal shell from not using it as a weapon to enforce his 5 seconds of frustration at having to share the road with other vehicles..
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