I now cycle on the road.. .. ..

[Campfire]

That's great Jane! Like AMcD, I don't always have a problem with wide busy roads, it's the narrow busy ones & country lanes where they speed past you that frightens me sometimes. Also, I think you lose a little confidence as you get older.

 

[Campfire]

Forgot to say Jane, you'll be taking the stabilisers off next!!! hehe joking......
Funnily enough, I'm less frightened on the road when I'm on my recumbent trike.

 

[rh100]

Well done Jane - take it at your own pace.

I'm sure you've seen it referenced here - but the book Cycle Craft is a must, and Commuting is a good place to make any queries on traffic situations, just wear your helmet whilst in there though

 

[ACS]

Jane

Never had any doubt about you breaking out onto the road. Stay safe and own the road space around you.

 

[HelenD123]

That's fantastic Jane! It's all about practise so just keep getting out on the bike and getting more experience.

 

[wafflycat]

That's great Jane! Like AMcD, I don't always have a problem with wide busy roads, it's the narrow busy ones & country lanes where they speed past you that frightens me sometimes. Also, I think you lose a little confidence as you get older.

Ahem... don't make assumptions about ageing cyclists ta very much! Some of the most confident cyclists I know are the ones in their 60s & 70s - who have simply carried on using their bikes as a way of getting from A to B and for leisure. Indeed I, at a mere 50 years of age, am a whippersnapper compared to them

As for country lanes - yes, the narrow lanes are often the ones where I'm more likely to be passed too closely & too fast - so are particularly important as regards assertive (not aggressive) cycling. And yes, when I'm on my recumbent trike I'm generally given far more room than when I'm cycling on my 'normal' upright two-wheeler bike. I think with recumbents it's the WTFIT?!?! factor at work.

 

[Campfire]

Well Wafflycat, I am myself in between that age group that you mention!!! But don;t tell everyone will you? I must say, I adopt a bit of a "courier" approach in towns though, just barge through and as someone on here said "own the road".
There are so very few recumbents where I live, you get that curiosity factor. However, a 2 wheeler is so much more convenient for getting out quickly!

 

[ACS]

Well Wafflycat, I am myself in between that age group that you mention!!! But don;t tell everyone will you? I must say, I adopt a bit of a "courier" approach in towns though, just barge through and as someone on here said "own the road".
There are so very few recumbents where I live, you get that curiosity factor. However, a 2 wheeler is so much more convenient for getting out quickly!

I never actually said "own the road," I said "own the road space around you". I had the pleasure of JS’s company on Saturday and happy to say I have played a very small part in JS progression from trail riding to riding with confidence on the road.

Owning the road space around you is my way of explaining to JS that looking over your shoulders to check the situation around you before providing a clear indication of your intentions to other road users and then positioning in the road correctly is one of the best ways of staying safe on the road with all its inherent dangers.

IMO there is a distinct difference between behaving like ‘you own the road’ and ‘owning the road space around you’.

Now adopting the braced position for the inevitable rebuke that is sure to ensue.

 

[Scoosh]

Well done Jane. One small step for man...bla bla bla.....

You'll be wheelsucking the CCer's in no time!

Too late, mate

CC Rendez-Vous ride last Saturday - going back to Vane Farm

 

[upsidedown]

With more experience you seem to get into a way of riding that doesnt cause conflict. I think its a fine balance between being confident and assertive on the bike and being too aggresive which only winds drivers up.

Wll put Banjo. You will not always be right, you will not always have right of way.
I think that the trick is to see yourself as a legitimate vehicle on the road, behave like one and expect pthers to treat you like one.


oh an well done Jane!!

 

[ACS]

Too late, mate

CC Rendez-Vous ride last Saturday - going back to Vane Farm

Dave you having difficulty keeping up with JS then?

 

[Campfire]

Perhaps I should have chosen my words more carefully and quoted your own words rather than trying to remember them SB. I have been cycling since I could balance a bike & that's a long time. I've also done a lot of club riding so that prepares you for road manners etc. As a female, not young, I'm not a vandal on wheels but merely as you say make your intentions known. When you learn that at a young age you don't forget it but it still doesn't make cycling on a narrow road with very fast traffic passing you any easier!
Can I relax now and go out on my bike?

 

[Crackle]

Well done Jane. What about the stabilisers?

 

[ACS]

Perhaps I should have chosen my words more carefully and quoted your own words rather than trying to remember them SB. I have been cycling since I could balance a bike & that's a long time. I've also done a lot of club riding so that prepares you for road manners etc. As a female, not young, I'm not a vandal on wheels but merely as you say make your intentions known. When you learn that at a young age you don't forget it but it still doesn't make cycling on a narrow road with very fast traffic passing you any easier!
Can I relax now and go out on my bike?

Maybe is I who need to relax a bit.

Enjoy your ride out and keep safe.

 

[Arch]

Well done Jane!

Now, you need to start planning your first cycle tour. Really, there is nothing like the acheivement of going somewhere, and spending a night away, and doing it all under your own steam. Riding out and back is fun, riding out and staying there, and then riding on somewhere else and so on, that is travelling...

You can B and B it, if you don't fancy camping, stuff for one or two overnight stays will pack easily into a pannier or two.... Even going somewhere familiar is different when you cycle there....

I'm psyching myself up, sometime next summer maybe, when the days are long, to cycling to my Mum's. It's about 100 miles, a little more maybe. A trip that normally means two trains.

Sorry, I digress. Keep up the good work!