Things I Hate - A Comedic Rantesse

[Tim Digger]

Nearly all rules , fashion, law, oscillate while finding a medium point that a maximum of people can live with. This is what we are seeing at present with cyclists (greens etc) and motor powered transport fighting it out in various places. I could but wont give many current examples. It will end as with climate change with societal change one way or the other. I hope we get the chance to negotiate it out. As with all RIGHTS, there are opposite RIGHTS (of equal bollox). I personally would not go and fight for Ukraine, or give my life cycling round central London. Others feel more strongly.

[Energy58]

My neighbour has received a fixed penalty notice for passing too close to a cyclist. However, there were two cyclists coming in the other direction down a narrow country road and continued to ride two abreast meaning that it was not possible to leave the madatory 1.5m gap. When he challenged this with the Police, he was told that while the Highway Code recommends cyclists to ride in single file in such circumstances, it is not mandatory. It is though mandatory for motorists to leave a 1.5m gap so if you see two cyclists coming towards you and you cannot leave this gap, then you must come to a stop a reasonable distance from them (50m was recommended) until they have passed.

We have a lot of narrow country roads around us and a few really militant cyclists - with GoPro head cams who enjoy provoking motorists and reporting them to the Police. I was caught in a 23 vehicle convoy a couple of weeks ago, stuck behond a group of four of them for over 5 miles.

Fortunately, the lycra louts are very much in the minority and most cyclists around here - and there are loads of them, behave very reasonably.

The problem is dickheads, not cyclists. Sadly, a fair number of the latter are part of the former group. No one has an issue with considerate cyclists but today walking along a "shared space" two idiots in lycra actually brushed me, coming from behind because I hadn't jumped out of their way. Sadly I am deaf having been blown up by Al Qaeda so I had no idea they were there. I'm going to get me a "pedestrian cam"...

[Allan Carr]

The problem is dickheads, not cyclists. Sadly, a fair number of the latter are part of the former group. No one has an issue with considerate cyclists but today walking along a "shared space" two idiots in lycra actually brushed me, coming from behind because I hadn't jumped out of their way. Sadly I am deaf having been blown up by Al Qaeda so I had no idea they were there. I'm going to get me a "pedestrian cam"...

My wife needs a stick for stability when walking and was walking along a footpath when a cyclist came steaming up behind her and caught her stick with his pedal, which unfortunately for him knocked it straight into his rear wheel and tipped him off his bike. The names he called my wife don't bear repeating!

[Tim Digger]

Walking poles are better. .......... They fit between spokes more easily! And have spikey ends if cars come too close.

[Chrisch]

waiting to see if I get one. I came around a corner on a 50mph road with a solid white line and oncoming traffic to find two cyclists with gopros riding slowly side by side. No time to come to a halt, ...

Go were going too fast. First rule of motorised transport travel at a speed which you can stop in the distance you can see. If it had been a broken down tractor not a push bike and the other lane occupied you would have hit it. The speed limit on the road is irrelevent. I have no desire to see you in the back of a tractor any more than running over a push bike. Pleased it worked out okay for everyone.

[notdeadyet]

I live at the top of a steep hill on a country road. At the bottom of the hill is a mini roundabout and a blind bend to the left on the other side. Cyclists regularly come flying down the hill, go across the roundabout on the right-hand side of it and continue in the right hand lane around the blind bend. It's not just a bit of drift into the far side of the road, there are traffic islands and bollards so you have to consciously make a choice to be in the oncoming traffic lane. It's also a 20mph zone and not unusual to be overtaken by them when driving. They are utter arseholes and it's almost always club cyclists.

[Neilwood]

Go were going too fast. First rule of motorised transport travel at a speed which you can stop in the distance you can see. If it had been a broken down tractor not a push bike and the other lane occupied you would have hit it. The speed limit on the road is irrelevent. I have no desire to see you in the back of a tractor any more than running over a push bike. Pleased it worked out okay for everyone.

My reading of that situation is the same - the onus is on the driver of the motorised vehicle to ensure that they are travelling at a speed suitable for the road and conditions. If you can't come to a halt before hitting them or moving over the white line, you are not driving with "due care and attention"

[Neilwood]

I live at the top of a steep hill on a country road. At the bottom of the hill is a mini roundabout and a blind bend to the left on the other side. Cyclists regularly come flying down the hill, go across the roundabout on the right-hand side of it and continue in the right hand lane around the blind bend. It's not just a bit of drift into the far side of the road, there are traffic islands and bollards so you have to consciously make a choice to be in the oncoming traffic lane. It's also a 20mph zone and not unusual to be overtaken by them when driving. They are utter arseholes and it's almost always club cyclists.

These cyclists are also not operating with "due care and attention". If caught they risk a fine up to £1,000.

[Allan Carr]

These cyclists are also not operating with "due care and attention". If caught they risk a fine up to £1,000.

The problem is to identify them. Motor vehicles are easy to trace throught their licence plates but the Police aren't going to put the effort into trying to locate a cyclist unless they actually catch themin the act.

[Allan Carr]

They are utter arseholes and it's almost always club cyclists.

I have to say that there is one club that I see regularly around our village and they are very considerate to motorists, indicating when it is safe to overtake and pulling in to let them pass. They also split into small groups so that cars can pass easier. They have the club name on their jerseys so could be easily identified if they behaved badly. Pity they are not all the same though - there is another group, not sure which club they are as they have no identiying features, I just recognise their bikes and they are real so and so's. They were the ones who caused the 23 vehicle tailback. I had an argument with one of them when they came straight through a Give Way sign on a single track bridge insisting that since it was a designated cycle route, bikes had priority over motor vehicles at all times and were not subject to road signs which only applied to motor vehicles.