Am I correct to ride central in this case?

[jonny jeez]

No.

I cant see any reason *to* take primary. no pinch point, no obstacle. Forget the speed limit, its not a riders job to police the speed of vehicles, besides which you were travelling under the limit).

why wouldn't you want to move over, just creating a potential delay/conflict in my opinion. enough at least for someone (even if its a colleague) to film you and moan.

 

[Monkreadusuk]

No.

I cant see any reason *to* take primary. no pinch point, no obstacle. Forget the speed limit, its not a riders job to police the speed of vehicles, besides which you were travelling under the limit).

why wouldn't you want to move over, just creating a potential delay/conflict in my opinion. enough at least for someone (even if its a colleague) to film you and moan.

Because of oncoming traffic, if I were to have rode towards the gutter it would encourage close passes where it is not safe to pass. It may not be my job to police the speed limit, but it is my job to keep myself as safe as possible.

Further to that, the road is littered with sunken drains and potholes, not to mention the busy junction at the bottom where sticking out further not only makes you more visible to drivers at the junction, but also makes them think about your speed.

 

[jonny jeez]

Because of oncoming traffic, if I were to have rode towards the gutter it would encourage close passes where it is not safe to pass. It may not be my job to police the speed limit, but it is my job to keep myself as safe as possible.

Further to that, the road is littered with sunken drains and potholes, not to mention the busy junction at the bottom where sticking out further not only makes you more visible to drivers at the junction, but also makes them think about your speed.

Ok, so if you know its the right position...why ask for opinion?

 

[Monkreadusuk]

Ok, so if you know its the right position...why ask for opinion?

To find out if anyone here disagrees with my opinion and to have a discussion about it.

 

[jonny jeez]

To find out if anyone here disagrees with my opinion and to have a discussion about it.

I tried that...but you don't seem to want to listen to anyone who doesn't just nod and say there, there.

apologies, that last bit sounds really patronising but it strikes me that you are not sure, and even suspect that your work colleagues have a point, so have asked a few people whose opinion you value. Only to close down those who suggest your work colleague might have a point.

From what I saw, there was plenty of space for a car to pass safely if you moved over a bit. as for pot holes, if its not safe to ride at a speed where you can throw a lifesaver and move, then slow down....or maybe learn to bunny hop.

 

[boydj]

From what I saw, there was plenty of space for a car to pass safely if you moved over a bit. as for pot holes, if its not safe to ride at a speed where you can throw a lifesaver and move, then slow down....or maybe learn to bunny hop.

I disagree. The lanes are not wide enough for a car to overtake a bike without going into the oncoming lane, so riding tighter to the left would only encourage an unsafe pass.

 

[Drago]

Primary is eminently appropriate on that road. It should be the default position unless geography or traffic flow dictates to the contrary.

 

[Markymark]

I woukd ride primary. I generally do anyway.

 

[donnydave]

Was your colleague filming while driving? I can't quite tell whether the camera position is from the driver or passenger seat. There's a reflection in the window as they pass you but again its not clear. I was breathing in sharply just watching the video at how close they were to your back wheel.

I agree with what's been posted above - the lanes aren't wide enough for someone to pass with adequate space without crossing the white line, even if you were bumping over the drains in the gutter. I've tried explaining this to my work colleagues - in this situation it makes no difference if you are at the side of the road or in the middle of the lane, they still have to cross the white line so in both cases they still have to wait for a gap in oncoming traffic. Unfortunately you rely on the other road users judgement as to what adequate space is but if you ride out from the kerb at least you've got some space to your left to move into for when the inevitable numpty tries to force through.My commute has a decent stretch of road where over the years I've tried riding in various positions and riding tight to the kerb, without fail, encourages all manner of dodgy passes. Riding confidently out from the kerb and giving a little nod of the head or quick wave of thanks (hands still on bars) if someone has had to wait for a gap is my preferred way and in my experience (on my particular journey) is the safest all round.

 

[Dommo]

I suppose this depends on what you're really asking - "was I right to ride there" or "did I have the right to ride there."

Two pretty different things. As I guess you know, you certainly have the right to ride there. I think if I'd been riding that I wouldn't have been in primary the whole way along. I'd have moved into primary for pinch points making it obvious I was doing so, but on the straight sections where safe passing would be possible I'd pull in to a metre off the kerb to allow cars to get past. I don't see the point people are making about cars crossing the centre line? It's not a solid line, if there's no oncoming traffic I want overtakers as far over to the right as possible!

 

[donnydave]

I think the general gist of things is that if you ride in the gutter you invite people to try to squeeze through without crossing the line so they don't have to bother to wait for a gap in oncoming traffic and the gap between cyclist and car is unacceptably small. If you adopt a strong road position it forces them to use the other lane so they have to look ahead and plan the overtake properly. Well, mostly.....

Additionally, a depressingly high proportion of drivers seem allergic to crossing the line, even if there's no one coming the other way but that's another subject.

 

[HLaB]

I don't see much wrong with that, you rode centrally passed driveways etc at a good speed where it was narrow and moved to the side when the road widened. You'd only been in the wrong if you d stayed central then, even thats not wrong but it avoids a fustrated queue building up.

 

[jonny jeez]

I think the general gist of things is that if you ride in the gutter you invite people to try to squeeze through without crossing the line so they don't have to bother to wait for a gap in oncoming traffic and the gap between cyclist and car is unacceptably small. If you adopt a strong road position it forces them to use the other lane so they have to look ahead and plan the overtake properly. Well, mostly.....

Additionally, a depressingly high proportion of drivers seem allergic to crossing the line, even if there's no one coming the other way but that's another subject.

Very well put.

 

[Tynan]

What's wrong with it? Looks like a road designed for at least 30mph if not 40.

I didn't watch it, I was only talking generally, I should have been clearer

 

[growingvegetables]

Your cycling's fine.

Kinda tickled that your colleague shows you a film that ....... "raises questions" about his driving style? Bit of tailgating? Bit of a close pass? (Hard to be sure without knowing the camera lens.)