cyclists blocking the road

[asterix]

Phew made it! My 1200 km trip passed uneventfully, more or less, never exceeded 75 mph (my van doesn't like it) and had a few idiot tailgaters. One very aggressive blue van with Polish plates. Half an hour near Rouen, there he was just before a roundabout stopped behind an HGV and discussing his future with a bunch of Gendarmes (don't know what happened there - someone reported him?). Nearing the channel ports plenty of upmarket Britmobiles exceeding the 130 km/h limit by loads, although the worst was a Belgian in, yes, an Audi. Then at the chunnel there some of them are catching my train!

 

[Zandranna]

If the road was truly wide enough to ride 6 abreast, then it would have been wide enough for the cyclists to drop back to 2 abreast and the woman still have room to have passed them safely. If the story is true in every sense then I do feel that the cyclists were deliberately being difficult.

I get really angry with cyclists that give all of us a bad name, and each cyclist that does something stupid or inconsiderate are making more and more motorists loath us. The more motorists that loath us the less safe our roads are because those motorist then don't give us an inch.

As for being stuck behind cyclists. My Daughter was late getting to me the other day because she got stuck behind an old boy driving his car at 18 miles an hour for about 3 miles. There was nowhere for her to overtake and she just had to wait for the silly so and so to turn off. She didn't hoot or attempt to over take dangerously, she just plodded along behind him along with the rest of the cars that had joined the queue.

Both parties in this story's description I feel were in the wrong.

I was riding up a hill the other day very slowly in 1st gear and behind me was a massive articulated lorry. With me riding a trike I take up quite a bit of room and for a good 3 minutes he was stuck behind me, yet he kept his distance and his patience until we came to a bus pull in where I pulled into allowing him to pass. We gave a pleasant wave to each other, him thanking me for pulling in and me thanking him for being patience. A little tolerance from all parties goes a long way to make being on the roads more pleasant.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I suggest the lady report her experience to Operation Crackdown

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Nah. These guys have got nothing on drivers of Mini Coopers and VW Beetles. ****wits.

come off it claud, they ain't that bright! well not around here anyway where the plastic flower on the beetle dash seems to indicate a certain rainbows and unicorns tra la la la la style of care and attention to driving.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I've decided that because I wasn't there and didn't see the incident, I really don't know enough to comment on it. Judging from the nine pages of replies, an awful lot of you must have been watching from the roadside.

That's 80% of the posts in the entire forum made invalid!

 

[theclaud]

I've decided that because I wasn't there and didn't see the incident, I really don't know enough to comment on it. Judging from the nine pages of replies, an awful lot of you must have been watching from the roadside.

I think we have enough information to see that the driver's report of what happened has all the classic symptoms of being a load of old cobblers. What else do you feel you need to know?

 

[Norm]

I think we have enough information to see that many people wear cyclist blinkers and can't see any possibility that someone on two wheels does anything wrong. What else do you feel you need to know?

I think there were a few typos in your post, TC.

 

[theclaud]

I think there were a few typos in your post, TC.

There certainly weren't. One cannot tell, of course, whether the cyclists behaved with exemplary courtesy or were being a bit bloody-minded. Luckily it's irrelevant - being bloody-minded is a useful part of any cyclist's repertoire, and allowing the vehicle to pass is their call.

 

[philipbh]

There certainly weren't. One cannot tell, of course, whether the cyclists behaved with exemplary courtesy or were being a bit bloody-minded. Luckily it's irrelevant - being bloody-minded is a useful part of any cyclist's repertoire, and allowing the vehicle to pass is their call.

What is true (by FM's original post) that after just 1/2 a mile of being "blocked" , the driver (who we are told was not in a hurry) "got so cross"

The driver lost any argument against the cyclists behaviour at that point (for me at least)

 

[threebikesmcginty]

What is true (by FM's original post) that after just 1/2 a mile of being "blocked" , the driver (who we are told was not in a hurry) "got so cross"

The driver lost any argument against the cyclists behaviour at that point (for me at least)

It's really embarrasing when you've slowed down for a group of cyclists and are happy to wait but the idiots in vehicles behind you start blasting on the horn.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I think we have enough information to see that the driver's report of what happened has all the classic symptoms of being a load of old cobblers. What else do you feel you need to know?

I'd simply be interested to know (as opposed to "invent") how much of the OP is true and how much is embellished. And how much is down to a driver misinterpreting the actions of the cyclists and how much to the cyclists behaving like supercillious arses. As I said, not having seen the incident in question I don't know any of these things, so comment seems a bit pointless.

 

[on the road]

I'd simply be interested to know (as opposed to "invent") how much of the OP is true and how much is embellished. And how much is down to a driver misinterpreting the actions of the cyclists and how much to the cyclists behaving like supercillious arses. As I said, not having seen the incident in question I don't know any of these things, so comment seems a bit pointless.

It is possible to comment on it without having actually been there. For example, how wide would the road have to be to be able to string 6 cyclists across it? IMO and from experience of riding in a group it's not possible on a narrow road.

 

[philipbh]

It's really embarrasing when you've slowed down for a group of cyclists and are happy to wait but the idiots in vehicles behind you start blasting on the horn.

Almost as if the deployment of such a device will help to resolve the "incident" ahead

If David Harmon has the copyright on the "magic spanner" - I wonder who will be first to nominate the "Magic Horn"

 

[theclaud]

I'd simply be interested to know (as opposed to "invent") how much of the OP is true and how much is embellished. And how much is down to a driver misinterpreting the actions of the cyclists and how much to the cyclists behaving like supercillious arses. As I said, not having seen the incident in question I don't know any of these things, so comment seems a bit pointless.

It's not a truth commission. What interests me is not the incident itself but the meanings of its representation - here, now, on the forum. The driver, if we are to take it all at face value, chose to relate the incident to the OP, and the OP chose to post it here, framing it in a certain way (as an example of the bad behaviour of cyclists "giving us all a bad name"). The cyclists may or may not have been supercilious, the driver may or may not be pretending to be patient and reasonable while exhibiting signs of suppressed anger and hostility towards cyclists. It doesn't really matter - what matters is contesting the function of the story as posted.

 

[kedab]

ooh this has been a good read