Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Freewheeling => Topic started by: Festerarl on 15 April, 2020, 08:20:29 pm
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I simply cannot defend the behaviour of a small minority of cyclists.
What gives them the right to pass me on the bike without giving me the absolute minimum of 2 meters social distancing?
(And the latest research I have seen suggests more like 4 meters is needed due to the speed of passing cyclists)
They give all of us cyclists a bad name.
3 times today I was overtaken by guys in their late twenties and mid thirties - looked like so-called uber cyclists given their gear and physique.
I am sick to death of this happening. The roads are empty so going over to the centre of the road or even the other side should be no issue.
Their behaviour is totally inconsiderate and puts me at risk.
I'm half wanting a total lock down so that these t***sers are kept off the road.
Very angry about this.
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Either call them out on the road or get over it - moaning on here about it is useless.
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Or just get faster, then you can make sure you give everyone you overtake enough space.
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They probably drive like that, too.
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Either call them out on the road or get over it - moaning on here about it is useless.
Lots of stuff on this forum is useless - it's conversation. Don't call people out over it, get over it! :)
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You want everyone (including you) to have their freedom to go outside taken away because of the behaviour of a small minority of cyclists? I've no doubt that the majority of everyone is doing their best to do the right thing.
If it bothers you that much, you could voluntarily remove that freedom from yourself? I'm just riding the turbo at the moment.
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They probably drive like that, too.
This...
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In my experience, basically all of them. I've discovered that if you see a busy pavement and decide to ride a bit away from it, it summons a cyclist out of the ether who rides up the gap you've left.
The good thing is that with less traffic we have much more choice of which roads to ride on, so instead of getting angry, change up your route.
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FWIW, I haven't witnessed any inconsiderate cycling during the lockdown, other than adults (who aren't accompanying younger children) riding on pavements that are also being used by pedestrians. The ones on the road all seem to have sense. I should say that I'm avoiding the places that tend to appeal to runners and muggle cyclists for ease of distancing - I expect the poor behaviour is mostly happening there.
I've only encountered a handful of speeding motorists, too. And I've had one close pass of what seemed to be the oblivious, rather than vindictive, nature.
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Nice first post.
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Nice first post.
It’s a classic. Lots of boxes ticked. Good effort.
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Have you tried passing a rider giving them 4m of room ? And why does what they’re wearing or riding matter ?
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"Uber cyclists"
Can you summon them with an app?
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Nice first post.
Curious.
Lurking since June 2018, and now joins us to complain about cyclists as a group. It's odd behaviour, but I'm open to hearing the reasons.
I've only seen one possibly bit of lack of consideration, and that was a middle aged lady on a shopper-type machine barging her way through a couple of groups of pedestrians on a narrow footpath - but that would've been unpleasant six months ago, and is almost certainly not related to the present situation.
On my rides the cyclists passing me (and they generally are faster than me) are passing wide, and cheerfully.
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Based on the research they can pass very close without any problem. The issue is if you stay in their slipstream. If they pull in in front directly after passing you, then simply move 1m to the right. This “being overtaken” has not happened to me, partly because I obviously cycle very very fast, and secondly as I have a mirror I can stop to adjust something at critical times.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
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I've only seen one possibly bit of lack of consideration, and that was a middle aged lady on a shopper-type machine barging her way through a couple of groups of pedestrians on a narrow footpath - but that would've been unpleasant six months ago, and is almost certainly not related to the present situation.
We have one of those. Older woman on a 20" wheeled bike with electric assist that she seems to struggle to control. She's not really up to weaving between pedestrians and other obstacles on busy pavements, but is evidently terrified of motor traffic.
Since the lockdown, I've only seen her riding on the road. :thumbsup:
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Can I go off topic for a moment and say that today's ride was beleaguered by some of the worst driving it has been my privilege to experience in quite a long time?
The first 300 yards ended with some twat in a van revving like mad to overtake us at a pelican-style crossing and then having to stop for the red light.
Because he had forced us to the left, that meant that a load of other vehicles overtook us at an inappropriately hight speed. Once we got to the roundabout, we took the correct lane (right lane for straight on and right, left lane for a left turn) for going straight on. Some bloody silly moron in a Merc decided to overtake us on the left on the roundabout and then go straight on. She seemed to be giving us a cheery wave as she started to come through until she hear dmy Very Loud Holler of "You bloody stupid bag! You are in the wrong lane!"
This all set the adrenaline running and I wasn't in the best of sorts for the rest of the ride.
We saw quite a few cyclists and none of them behaved badly.
I wonder if the drivers who behaved badly worried about giving drivers a bad name?
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How about the bus driver who pulled out from a side road a kilometre from my home while I was at better than evens, all while impassively looking through me? Luckily my brakes were good enough to prevent me hitting behind the driveside front wheel. Was he inconsiderate?
How about the walker facing away from me on the RH side of the road who decided to veer across the road without a glance, again as I am doing evens? My yell of fear provoked a chicken dance. Braking hard enough to get the back wheel well off the deck meant my front tyre barely rubbed her heel. Was she inconsiderate?
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I had a runner run straight across the road in front of me last night. I was joking with Junior that everyone has got so used to the roads being empty that there will likely be more accidents post lockdown.
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I too had one of those runners. 6 a.m. she was running down the right hand side of a road in a housing estate. Parked cars on the left so I could not pass and maintain social distancing, so I held back a way until she had cleared the cars. Just as I was about to make my move on the left of the road, she veered across without looking. Obviously I am one of those inconsiderate cyclists since I politely suggested she look behind.
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Erm, the "research". It has nothing to do with viruses and spreading, it was an aerodynamics? piece which was released into the public domain without proper peer review and even the author has admitted does not relate to the spread of viruses or ever intended to. In other words: #fakenews.
As for inconsiderate cyclists: just go into a supermarket. The chaverati are still behaving like er, chavs: pushing past, leaning across, coming back down the one way aisles and generally not giving a shit. And when they get outside they wander all over the pavements, meet their mates for a fag and get in their cars, speed off and continue to dangerously close pass cyclists.
A few ignorant cyclists is the least of your corona worries mate.
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Also I meant to add: if you want to find something to properly moan about, go and look at the assaults on emergency and front line workers. They are being assaulted, their property is being vandalised and their families intimidated.
Puts a road warrior with head down enjoying some open tarmac into some perspective I think.
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I was joking with Junior that everyone has got so used to the roads being empty that there will likely be more accidents post lockdown.
I've been deliberately riding a few roads I know will be busier so I don't lose my ability to deal with traffic.
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The proposed contact tracing app, according to the article I read just now, says you have to be within 2m for 15 minutes before you're considered at risk. You would not be flagged by this app in any of the situations described in this thread.
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Yes, I read that too. I would hope that this is based upon some sort of facts and not merely an assumption.
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2m for 15 minutes before you're considered at risk.
Before you're considered *worth contacting*, which is going to need a high threshold purely for practical reasons.
Ultimately, the government only needs to care about the high probably interactions because their goal isn't to prevent each individual from catching the virus, it's to keep the total number of individuals who do manageably low.
However, if you're an individual who doesn't want to catch (or spread) the virus yourself, you need to think about low probably interactions too.
(and as individuals we can only speculate about which interactions are worth worrying about)
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Yes, I read that too. I would hope that this is based upon some sort of facts and not merely an assumption.
With an estimated transmission rate of 2.5-3 people infected over roughly 5 days by a typical infected individual, people going about their daily business would have a lot more than this level of contact => the conclusion that trivial amounts of contact have low risk of transmission seems reasonable.
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On my relatively infrequent rides (about 3-4 times a week), I've been really impressed with the consideration given by walkers, runners and cyclists in my area, many of the cyclists (judging by their kit and sometimes lack of handling skills) new to riding on the road. And it's generally all been with good humour, only perhaps a few of the hardcore MAMILs seeming a bit put out by all the newbies and doubling-down on the pro scowl and not acknowledging others!
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Most of those I've seen out on my short forays have been obviously glad to get out and very cheery. Quite a few that I recognise as regulars, and a very obvious newer cohort, but all freindly enough. There does seem to be a cohort of drivers saying "wow, look at all this space, right foot heavy" and driving the narrow lanes here at speed limits plus a large margin for stupidity. I've yet to see any of the meeting a tractor on a blind corner though.
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How many cyclists are inconsiderate?
Well, i know I am!
I'm half wanting a total lock down so that these t***sers are kept off the road.
Only half wanting? Being restricted to the house isn't enough to keep an idiot like me under control. If I could, I would cough into the chimney to broadcast germs across the countryside
I need imprisoning inside an airtight box
I trace this attitude back to the minute I started wearing lycra. It crushed my nether regions in an unhelpful way and I've had psychopathic tendencies ever since
Very angry about this.
(https://icatcare.org/app/uploads/2019/09/The-Kitten-Checklist-1.png)
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You forgot to add that you think you're in the the Tour de France.
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The 2m for 15 minutes was the original rule of thumb (and what s Korea have used successfully). Longer time longer distance. I was trying to explain on my local Facebook group that standing for an hour in a queue maybe 2m was not enough. The scientific bods believed that the London marathon presented little risk for the event itself, it was more the spectators and the travel to and from. It is of course all about probabilities - the more shots and the closer the range the more likely you are to be hit. However you can still be unlucky - in the famous last words General Sedgewick. - “they couldnt hit an elephant at this distance”
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Was wondering where to post this link. I reckon this thread is as good a place as any...
https://road.cc/content/news/cyclist-deaths-during-lockdown-2x-average-time-year-272987
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Was wondering where to post this link. I reckon this thread is as good a place as any...
https://road.cc/content/news/cyclist-deaths-during-lockdown-2x-average-time-year-272987
From what I've experienced over the last few weeks I completely agree with the quote below. I'm never normally spooked or enraged by bad driving but I've never felt so deliberately threatened as I have of late.
"However, a number of road traffic policing units across the country have highlighted issues such as an increase in speeding as some motorists take the opportunity of empty roads to ignore speed limits, as well as suggestions that drivers more likely to pose a risk to others are still out there while more law-abiding motorists remain at home.
In other words, there might be fewer drivers out there, but there is now a greater proportion of the ones who cause the most harm."
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And no doubt the drivers righteously nicked for foolishness like 135 mph on the North Circular are indignant about the rozzers not observing the 2 metre separation when they are run to earth.
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Going back to the original question, it's nothing to do with lockdown - I feel that cyclists quite often tend not to give each other the highway code 'as wide as a car' clearance. Including me.
I doubt the thought even troubled their pretty little heads.
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I feel that cyclists quite often tend not to give each other the highway code 'as wide as a car' clearance. I doubt the thought even troubled their pretty little ignorant heads.
I too, have been the victim of a close pass on occasions.
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Some of the closest passes I've had by other cyclists have all been from roadies in club kit blatting round Richmond Park.
My theory is that since they don't mind being passed really closely by their club mates or other people they're on a club ride with they seem to apply that thinking to anyone else they encounter on their ride (especially as I'm generally on a reasonable bike and in lycra).
I've taken to putting in a little wobble if I notice someone coming up behind me, this tends to get me a lot more space and also works with the majority of cars on my commute.
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I'd agree with that, and I've been guilty of passing competent-looking[1] cyclists a bit close myself on occasion - at least before the lockdown. The important thing is not to startle them; I don't think passing someone cycling in left-car-wheeltrack by overtaking in right-car-wheeltrack (so as to avoid dealing with oncoming traffic) is usually a problem. It's blasting through with inches of clearance, or (pet hate) sneaking into their blind spot and then making some noise that's the problem.
Children, BMX bandits, BSOists, the poorly secured luggage brigade, anyone negotiating crap road surfaces and obvious wobblers I'll give a wide berth. They could do anything.
[1] Which isn't the same thing as fast. Plenty of slower non-lycra-wearing cyclists ride predictably, and I rarely get to overtake the fast ones.
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Was wondering where to post this link. I reckon this thread is as good a place as any...
https://road.cc/content/news/cyclist-deaths-during-lockdown-2x-average-time-year-272987
Well, to be honest, 2x the average number of cycling deaths would proportionally be a good thing, seeing as the numbers of people cycling during lockdown has more than doubled.