A lovely bit of cycling

[rowan 46]

A cyclist was cycling down the A 41 in brum today the secondary position was spot on moved into primary for the upcoming junction smoothly and assertively stayed in primary for the upcoming lane filter and then dropped back into secondary at exactly the right time. It would have been perfect except for one thing not once did they check over their shoulder to see what was behind them. two cars put the brakes on. no harm done as there was plenty of room but a couple of mph faster or a couple of drivers who were not paying attention and that could have been 1 more tragic statistic. As it happened there was was plenty of room for the cyclist to make the manoeuvre but a quick check and a hand signal would have let the drivers know what was happening.

 

[BSRU]

A cyclist was cycling down the A 41 in brum today the secondary position was spot on moved into primary for the upcoming junction smoothly and assertively stayed in primary for the upcoming lane filter and then dropped back into secondary at exactly the right time. It would have been perfect except for one thing not once did they check over their shoulder to see what was behind them. two cars put the brakes on. no harm done as there was plenty of room but a couple of mph faster or a couple of drivers who were not paying attention and that could have been 1 more tragic statistic. As it happened there was was plenty of room for the cyclist to make the manoeuvre but a quick check and a hand signal would have let the drivers know what was happening.

Unfortunately it's all to common to see some cyclists ride along without paying a blind bit of attention to what's going on behind them.

 

[BentMikey]

Nah, he was perfectly safe. Whatever are you complaining about? He was using his hearing instead.

 

[BSRU]

Nah, he was perfectly safe. Whatever are you complaining about? He was using his hearing instead.

Maybe his mum is a bat and he has in built sonar .

 

[Tynan]

hearing does work in the right circumstances and you can see a lot from the corner of your eye

I find it hard to believe someone would move from secondary to primary on a main road without knowing it was safe to do so, a signal would be nice mind

 

[4F]

Nah, he was perfectly safe. Whatever are you complaining about? He was using his hearing instead.

He must have been listening to his I pod and so caught up with the music was unaware of what he was doing

 

[Angelfishsolo]

The car behind is always at fault anyway. Not so great a consolation if you are under the wheels of it but you still have the moral high ground

 

[fossyant]

What an exciting thread zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I'm off to watch some paint dry - or is that Cricket ?

 

[Mad at urage]

I find it hard to believe the OP could actually tell whether the observed cyclist checked behind. Hearing does play a strong and important part for those practiced in its use (I suspect many who don't understand this have poor hearing or are just not well practiced at distinguishing road sounds and their source); in addition to which (as has been said) you can gather a lot of information our of the corner of your eye with minimal head movement, to which I'd add: Use of a mirror and looking under the arm are both usually undetected.

Signal? To move some 18 or so inches across whilst remaining within your lane? I wouldn't even consider it in a car and very rarely see a need to use it on a bike. In fact I'll often deliberately wobble to discourage close passes.

Edit: Just reread the OP: "not once did they check over their shoulder to see what was behind them" - well precisely, checking over your shoulder is not the only way of checking behind!

 

[chillyuk]

Perhaps he had a mirror.

 

[BentMikey]

With your keen hearing, I think you missed in the OP that two cars behind him had to put the brakes on as a result of his unexpected manoeuvre. I'm quite sceptical of the sort of cycling that doesn't involve lifesavers and indicating to change lane position when there's traffic close behind.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

With your keen hearing, I think you missed in the OP that two cars behind him had to put the brakes on as a result of his unexpected manoeuvre. I'm quite sceptical of the sort of cycling that doesn't involve lifesavers and indicating to change lane position when there's traffic close behind.

That said I see so many car drivers who use their brakes far to often, on downhill especially. On one occasion I was engine braking for around 2 minutes whilst the car in front had its brake lights on the entire time. They must have been at the point of complete failure due to friction build up.

 

[fossyant]

This thread is full of the cycling equivalent of 'train spotters'

 

[Angelfishsolo]

This thread is full of the cycling equivalent of 'train spotters'

What Heroine addicts

 

[fossyant]

What Heroine addicts

Well, it's probably more exciting !