I rode & raced mountainbikes for 12 years many years back, commuted to work on a pushbike (thankfully a 20minute ratrun out of town, it took longer to unlock/uncover & faff with motorbike riding gear than it did to jump on the pushbike). I jumped on said pushbike 2 years back and decided to go out for a ride around? Ten minutes in I was nothing short of terrified. Unable to keep up with traffic, no easy way to indicate or get out to the right side of the road for junctions, continuously getting cut up... The difference was I now had a car & could see myself as being the pain-in-the-ass that I was? The bike remains unridden. I keep thinking to split it & put the thing on eBay? Motorcycling allows you all the same freedom of movement on the road & no traffic worries, but at least you can keep up with traffic...
As someone who doesn't live in the south of England or a big city, thank goodness, I would ask just what is the problem and who is causing it. Average journey speeds in London are no faster than in the days of the horse, a speed easily achievable on a peddal cycle, so why do car drivers need to be so aggressive ? Slowing down and leaving space could result in faster average speeds and less stress. I am an ethusiastic cyclist on the country lanes where I live but would hate to cycle in a city. Cyclists in the city may wind up motorists but it is the motorists who are the problem IMHO.
Any* road that allows cyclists on it should be limited to 20mph speed limit. The danger inherent in the speed differential between motorised and non-motorised vehicles shouldn't be ignored. Now, get writing to your MPs, folks *Yes, any road.
So what about these races they set up on dual carriage ways! I thought no racing on the UK roads no matter what it is? Its always going on round me and its F***ING dangerous with traffic swerving round them at 70-90+!!! I saw some major near miss last year with them on the A3 ffs!! In rush hour! Who ever organizes it should be shot! I can kind of deal with them side by side on the B roads....KIND OF!
I can do a 20 mile circuit on back roads, where the speed limit is 60 mph but you would be an idiot to drive that fast in any vehicle, and I probably see fewer than 20 cars in those 20 miles. Grass grows down the middle of some of them :smile: Should I be banned from those roads? I agree with your point about the speed differential but the biggest danger comes from the attitudes of those involved.
You're right Arthur - it's madness. Maybe 20 years ago, I was doing time trials on the A3 and thought it crazy. I disagree Loz. Richmond Park introduced a 20mph zone with the idea that it would be better for cyclists. What's happened is that the cars can't get away from the cyclists (who are doing approx. 20mph) and so both motorists and cyclists are thrown together. In my experience, the safest place for a cyclist (or motorcyclist) is to be away from cars asap. That's why motorbikes move to the front of traffic queues. Mixing cars and bikes on narrow roads is dangerous.
It was crazy cars in the slow lane were swerving to miss them as they swing from side to side giving it large up hill that had cars in the fast lane also swerving to miss the cars in the slow lane at 80+MPH.. Shocking as the road was packed with fast moving traffic heading to London and Portsmouth they use both sides of the C-Way on the A3/A3M! Someone will get killed before long! 20years ago roads were not so bad but as time goes by......well we all know the score.
Yes, you should be banned from those roads. I am not even going to try to justify it though, as I am thinking purely of my own selfish motives :smile: On a serious note, it is precisely on those back roads that I believe cyclists should be banned. You don't have to be hooning like a hooligan to get into trouble whilst rounding a blind bend, only to find a car plonked right in your way, crawling behind a cyclist. You will say, "Slow down then!" and I shall reply, "I already did!". To be safe in that situation, you are going to have to be travelling terribly slowly - and everyone else behind will, too. The other issue is of course overtaking cyclist on narrow country lanes and b-roads - you need to get past them quick-snap, but it isn't safe to go that fast because Mr Lycra might be just out of sight, coming the other way. You disagreed with what I typed Jerry, but my tongue was firmly in my cheek when I typed it. I agree with you, cars and cycles don't mix comfortably. With current and projected traffic levels, there is no place for cyclists on Britains roads. Cyclists need their own routes - hell, the pedestrian paths would be preferable to the roads, in my view - and if Government was even slightly serious about green issues and getting cars off the roads, they'd push for an infrastructure strategy that supports it (and was safe). Even so, having cars and cycles lumped in together, the speed limit should be the same for both. Differentials are the killer (along with not paying attention).
If you are travelling at a speed where you can stop in the distance you can see then I don't see what the problem is. Similarly when overtaking you require a clear view of the road ahead and know it is safe before taking the overtake. Why do car drivers think they have more of a right to be on the roads than cyclists ? Note from a legal pespective cars have no absolute right to be on the road, which is why they are licenced, cyclists have an absolute right to be on the road. If you are delayed by a few minutes is it really the end of the world ?
yep that gareth was a knob, so where a few of the others, every sympathy for cyclists, but those knobs give proper cyclists a bad name, also if someone was banging on my car, yep id be getting out
Did you read the rest of my post ? Car drivers pay for a license (it isn't car tax) because they have no absolute right to be on the roads, cyclists do have an absolute right.
PS I also think thats a very nice pussy - looks nice and fluffy and contented - where in reality its probably not :smile:
I live near box Hill and i can't stand the way all the city boys have to treat the roads around here like a race track!!!! They have no regard for any other traffic being horses or walkers and such like, they refuse to indicate where they are going, most are doing 30 mph plus and some even crack 45mph in 30mph zones!!! AND THEY DON'T STOP AT RED LIGHTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are these people selfish? I do not care but i do respect the law and judgement of the road and other road users.
If indeed you are travelling everywhere at a speed where you can stop in the distance you can see ... you're in a class of your own. I don't see much evidence of this being put into practice (and I am no better and no worse, in this respect). I cannot speak for anyone else here but for me the issue is nothing to do with rights and everything to do with road safety. Plus maybe a little selfishness on my part (OK, a lot of selfishness). As for "being delayed for a few minutes" and "the end of the world" ... have you ever driven a car in the South of England? Recently? :wink:
