it actually makes it harder to pass if you are leaving the correct distance when overtaking. even if you didn't, you would still need to move into an available lane to over take in a car. Cyclists being in single file would double the distance you need to cover to make a safe overtake.
Didn't say it was. However my point was that given these strange times and the instructions that we have been given by government (whether I agree with them or not), these three sets of cyclists, which I saw in the space of two minutes, had completely ignored the advice and instruction that they'd been given and continued to ride as though they were immune to it all, and have the right of way over everything else on the roads. Completely and utterly irresponsible not only to other traffic users but also to themselves.
I'm a keen cyclist , and to jumble up a biker saying .... " I've got none of the gear and some idea " The type you describe annoy me just as much as yourself and have done for years . There's a fast stretch of single carriageway 'A' road nearby . It has no footpath but has a dedicated cycle track yet these clowns still insist on using a truck's width of the road . ( BTW .... the road surface is knackered , but the cycle track is perfect ! ) I've got this bad habit of trying to work out what goes on in some people's heads .... In this case - Is it watching the classic road races , and imagining that they are in the peleton ? Or is it a side-effect of having willfully stretched a giant condom over their entire body ? If it's any consolation to you , I rubbish them verbally and loudly when I'm out cycling , and if they care to step off and " discuss " their behaviour further , that's fine by me . So far , I've only got muttering or "hand-signals" from them .... [/RANT]
Visually 2 abreast might look bigger, but if a car was coming the other way it wouldn't be safe or legal to overtake a line of cyclists in single file in a car. Some context to the actual road is required (width and speed of road might make single file safer, line of sight etc), alas common sense isn't always applied - id like to think I'm courteous to other users when I've been on a bike and or riding in groups. I don't think I've ever had to wait long to overtake anything on a motorbike; I've only ever get 'held up' if there is an indecisive driver behind a group preventing others getting past, you can usually just work your way up to them on a bike. then you get the bonus of a clear road. cnuts will be cnuts what ever they do. let's not generalise: good and bad in all walks of life. the problem is bikers ragging the tits off their bike at the weekend or groups of cyclists out 3 abreast does the larger groups a disservice. ridiculousness explained http://ukcyclelaws.blogspot.com/p/the-laws-according-to-highway-code.html
There are cnuts on bikes and there are cnuts on motorbikes as well. Not sure what the answer is except to give them some verbal which they will never hear but it makes me feel better.
I'd agree with that, but not all road cyclists were doing this? also worth stating that riding in groups you add in an additional risk element: as you're riding in close proximity it only takes 1 person to loose concentration, hit some debris or to puncture for example and the whole group can go down.. I'm actually going to dust one of mine off and head for a blast. I hasten to add I'll be flying solo, most of which will be on decent cycle paths, and away from traffic. Motorists are all cnuts!
I used to get bent out of shape about them too... then I realised I was getting quite plump and decided to use my bike for exercise. In the same way as riding a motorcycle makes me a more conscious motorcyclist I think being a bicyclist has changed my outlook there too. I ride solo mostly, 10-20mi circular rides on the roads that offer minimal traffic and decent surfaces and I stick to the rules of the road, and take the time to thank considerate other road users when they don't try to murder me. I've been a bit shocked by just how inconsiderate some car / motorcycle drivers / riders are... and also shocked by the moral high-horse that a lot of bicyclists seem to believe they can perch atop, in their jaunty clothes. As a cyclist I feel I have a fair claim to use the road... I currently have some tax exempt vehicles on the road and pay road tax on other vehicles (these are also insured, MoT'd and maintained appropriately). This doesn't afford me special rights or privileges, but I pay my way and sufficiently feel I'm entitled to my place on the road as long as I abide by the rules. I don't think though that there is anything that discriminates against road-users that solely use a bicycle. There should still be reciprocal consideration and adherence to rules of the road for users that don't pay road tax. In the present circumstances it's inappropriate to cycle in groups or in such a way that the distancing rules are breached. If it's two cyclists abreast and these are two cyclists from the same household and they're abiding by the rules of the road then I guess there's no issue as such. Regarding "get in the way", I've held this view in the past... but in actual fact, cyclists are other road users and if they're in front of you then just give them the space and your patience, pass safely and get on with enjoying the rest of life? And yes... I have changed my tune, previous posts on similar topics may show that I haven't always been as tolerant / enlightened.
Experience now shows that cycle lanes are often horribly surfaced, full of gutter detritus too... if you're on a road bike they can be nigh-on unusable.
Two abreast is legal, mightn't be wise but is legal. TBH on a busy road I can't imagine wanting to be the outboard cyclist... but in the interests of fairness, it's not illegal for two to ride side-by-side.
Anyone not following the instructions is part of the problem, whether you're on a pushbike / motorbike or sunbathing... or going to your second home in Fife.
I get where you are coming from El Toro. What is pissing me off is folks telling me not to ride my bike because if I get hurt i will be a drain on overstretched NHS resources. Which is fair enough, However when a mate of mine go knocked off his expensive pushbike by some chav in a Corsa and spent a week in hospital followed by 6 weeks off work. So riding a pushbike, driving a car walking down the street can be just a dangerous. Funny how when the Government said we can go out to exercise once a day, it is now like the tour de Yorkshire round here and everyone is practicing for the next Olympics!
In fairness whenever there are floods, the city's awash with sewage and all the berks canoes come out... it's just how people in Hull are wired. It's an entire city full of people who will do anything other than what they're told!
Agreed.......but what really boiled my piss this morning was that I saw 3 "groups" of cyclists (two groups of four riding two abreast, and one group of three, all abreast) within the space of two minutes, chatting and laughing whilst riding as if the restrictions did not apply to them.
