Annoyed by cyclists from local club

[frank9755]

Too slow!

+1
The club might suggest that it would have been polite to have contacted them first and given them the opportunity to have a word with the miscreants!

 

[frank9755]

Sorry Frank, I disagree, as per highway code the overtaking vehicle has priority.section 162.
The car should have left plenty of room ,agreed, but five feet, do you give other cars on the road 5 feet when overtaking? see section 163 below.
There is a reason why you must look over your shoulder when getting ready to overtake,its not called a life saver for nothing. see 212 below.
Its about being a responsible road user and trying to preserve your life, if you ride like an idiot its only a matter of time.


The Highway Code - Overtaking (162-169)

162 - Before overtaking you should make sure

• the road is sufficiently clear ahead
• road users are not beginning to overtake you
• there is a suitable gap in front of the road user you plan to overtake

163
give motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders at least as much room as you would when overtaking a car (see Rules 211-215)


212
When passing motorcyclists and cyclists, give them plenty of room (see Rules 162-167). If they look over their shoulder it could mean that they intend to pull out, turn right or change direction. Give them time and space to do so.

sorry Frank 9755 totally disagree with you if you ride in a group and choose to overtake cyclists in front who are riding 3 abreast you should do a lifesaver as well as check your mirror if fitted ! As a car driver is commited to the overtake allready , surely a quick glance over the shoulder is more appropriate than getting ahead of the bunch , forgot to ad said cyclist was wearing earphones in IE i pod etc think he was mad to be honest! enough accident to cyclists have happened this year allready.

Yes, agree 100% about the lifesaver. It is always best to do everything you can to reduce risk.


There wasn't enough information in the original post to conclude on exactly what happened, but who started to overtake first? The way I read it was that, given cars are generally faster than bikes, it was likely that the car driver started his overtaking manoeuvre later than the bike rider started his. Therefore, had the cyclist looked over his shoulder and seen that there was a car behind, not overtaking but waiting (as the road wasn't clear but blocked by bikes!), he could have pulled out into what he thought was a clear road and suddenly found a car a few inches from his right leg.

In my scenario the driver would have broken rule 162 by overtaking when the road was not clear. The cyclist would not have broken it as there was no other overtaking vehicle when he started his overtake.

It sounds like you are both interpreting it is as the bike pulling out without looking when the car was already overtaking. I agree that would be madness! I also agree that some cyclists do do daft things on the road, so it may not have been how I envisaged it from the description.

 

[Dan B]

As Frank said, too little information in the OP and you could have read it either way. I'm inclined to say "six of one and half a dozen of the other" - the cyclist shouldn't have pulled out if the car behind was already changing line, but if the car then carried on instead of aborting the overtake (and assuming no other constraint such as another vehicle too close behind him) , well, that's not exactly an adult response either.

 

[dellzeqq]

As you say, a Grey Haired club but the sportive group are younger.

ha! Clarencourtistes are mere striplings compared to the Midweek Wayfarers!

 

[dellzeqq]

Cycling clubs for adults in Kingston-upon-Thames:


http://www.kingstonwheelers.co.uk/

and Kingston Phoenix : http://www.aqvm78.dsl.pipex.com/KPRC/

Which one is innocent of the offence?

there are more cycling clubs in Kingston, and if I had to bet on which one it was it certainly wouldn't be either of these. Neither the Wheelers and the Phoenix have the kind of people that behave in the manner the OP describes.

 

[asterix]

http://www.cyclechat.net/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&section=findpost&pid=1637257

http://www.cyclechat.net/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&section=findpost&pid=1637257jay clock, on 18 April 2011 - 18:02:33, said:

I have emailed to

info@kingstonwheelers.com

lisa@kprc.org.uk


Complaint about rude and poor cycling from Kingston cyclists
See here. http://www.cyclechat...rom-local-club/

One of the local clubs is alleged to have some rude cyclists who don’t observe the traffic lights. If so not, a good advertisement for us as a whole.

http://www.cyclechat.net/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&section=findpost&pid=1637257http://www.cyclechat.net/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&section=findpost&pid=1637257

I was going to email the club myself but I see you have done it already.

The OP seems to be making a hash of the whole thing. Since he says he knows the club and now says he was going to email 'em but JC has done so already, the inference is that it was one of those two.

He could presumably protect the innocent but he is apparently disinclined to do so.

And now you are saying it couldn't have been either of the suspects because they are such nice chaps and chapesses. This suggests you do not believe the OP.

All very unsatisfactory.

 

[KingstonBiker]

<br />As Frank said, too little information in the OP and you could have read it either way.  I'm inclined to say &quot;six of one and half a dozen of the other&quot; - the cyclist shouldn't have pulled out if the car behind was already changing line, but if the car then carried on instead of aborting the overtake (and assuming no other constraint such as another vehicle too close behind <i>him</i>) , well, that's not exactly an adult response either.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

There were no cars involved (other than being stopped at the red light). The issue was two cyclists from the Kingston Wheelers weren't happy with me stopping at the traffic light on red as they wanted to get though to keep up with their peleton. Without me moving to my left they were unable to pass through between my bike and the stationary car (at the stop line).

 

[Dan B]

<br /><br /><br />

There were no cars involved (other than being stopped at the red light). The issue was two cyclists from the Kingston Wheelers weren't happy with me stopping at the traffic light on red as they wanted to get though to keep up with their peleton. Without me moving to my left they were unable to pass through between my bike and the stationary car (at the stop line).

Yes, I wasn't talking about your post but about the unrelated near miss with a car reported by someone else later in the thread. Apols for thread hijacking, then

 

[ChrisW]

<br /><br /><br />

There were no cars involved (other than being stopped at the red light). The issue was two cyclists from the Kingston Wheelers weren't happy with me stopping at the traffic light on red as they wanted to get though to keep up with their peleton. Without me moving to my left they were unable to pass through between my bike and the stationary car (at the stop line).

As a member of Kington Wheelers, i can only apologise for that kind of behaviour, it is unacceptable. We are a very large Club and we do our best to try and ensure that everybody respects other road users and cycles in a responsible manner.

When members join or renew they sign a document that states: "I shall endeavour to cycle in a responsible and safe manner at all times respect road traffic regulations, laws and byelaws." It seems that in this instance this has not been adhered to.

The incident has been noted and reported on our Forum and i sincely hope that it doesn't happen again. You are also very welcome to come along on any Sunday and join us to get a feel of who we are, and how we work.

Chris

 

[alecstilleyedye]

there are some members of my club that do tend to rlj (when 'safe') while others stop and tut at them. there's no great disadvantage to stopping at red on our club runs (except possibly in the last 5k before the café stop ), as the pace is eased until all are back together again.

ime there isn't such a thing as a 'club cyclist' that can be boxed off as this or that.

a good club will have a broad spectrum of members, arses not withstanding.

 

[mschole]

There were no cars involved (other than being stopped at the red light). The issue was two cyclists from the Kingston Wheelers weren't happy with me stopping at the traffic light on red as they wanted to get though to keep up with their peleton. Without me moving to my left they were unable to pass through between my bike and the stationary car (at the stop line).

We have multiple groups going out on Sundays (with many members, both male and female) so it would help to know which junction this occurred at, what time of day, were they in KW kit or just in a group of cyclists that had KW kit, etc. in an attempt to narrow down who it could have been.

It's all fine and well to post complaints on forums but if the aim is for these two cyclists to be found and asked their side and reminded not to run red lights and to represent the club more appropriately (which we are happy to do) then some details are necessary.

If the aim is to have a moan about club cyclists in general and Kingston Wheelers who are idiots, then we can't really help other than to post a general reminder on the forum and hope the guilty parties read it.

 

[jay clock]

I got a reply from Kingston Wheelers: I'm afraid I didn't get your previous email, I don't know why but the club has a strict spam filter and it's common for emails to fall foul of this.

As for my club, we're 300+ members and can't control everyone. But that said, I'm very surprised if this happened with club members and if so, it would be good to have a description, eg the bike they ride as it would be very unusual and it would be good to have a word with them.

There is an overwhelming easygoing nature with the club and shouting at fellow cyclists, well that just sounds very unusual and atypical. Within reason the club makes a big effort to keep things relaxed, even when a motorist pulls a strange and dangerous move.

Anyway, I will look into this and thanks for letting me know, it's always worth reminding people how to ride safely.

Best regards,

James Beaumont

Webmaster - KingstonWheelers.com

 

[KingstonBiker]

OK, it is quite clear I didn't handle the issue very well and I'd like to draw a line under it now. It was not my intention to name and shame any particular club (especially one I'm considering joining). I've had interaction with other cyclists from the club before (and even later the same day) and it has all been perfectly pleasant.

I should have quietly contacted the club in question. I guess I was a little surprised to see RLJs from a well respected club (unlike my daily commute in which a significant minority of fellow commuters seem to totally ignore red lights).

Thanks and sorry for my handling of the issue (not helped by the fact I was away for two days after posting the topic).

 

[Rebel Ian]

I don't think you've done anything wrong at all. Irrespective of how you've chosen to communicate this, it wasn't you that told guys to cycle in the fasion they did through a red light.

 

[BentMikey]

As an aside, I know the Dynamo membership secretary, and he takes complaints about RLJing and other misbehaviour quite seriously. He'll certainly make an effort to sort out any complaints, just as the two Kingston clubs mentioned on here have. Good on them all for being responsible.