Club run behaviour

[Dave Davenport]

I have never been in a club and have no real desire to be, but I have seen plenty of examples of..... Riding 2 or 3 abreast down a narrow road with a car stuck behind, and nobody bothering to do anything about it, therefore winding the driver up.

Really gets on my t*ts that does and gives the rest of us a bad name!

Or from another perspective;
Riding two or three abreast to prevent an impatient driver making a dangerous pass of a long line of single file riders on a narrow road.......and winding the driver up.

 

[outlash]

That's the kind of situation that we have had complaints about. In most cases on a narrow stretch of tarmac, the group leader should (and in most cases does) call out for everyone to ride single file and when there's a straight long enough to make a pass, we'd wave the driver round. Unfortunately it doesn't always happen and that's where problems arise.


Tony.

 

[400bhp]

Depends upon (amongst other things):

- the club
- who turns up
- the terrain
- pure luck

I don't do club runs generally. They faff around far too much for my linking. Plus, the last couple I have been on felt too much like a golf club. A few tools in the particular club stuff it up. I don't want to spend my free time with a_ssholes.

 

[400bhp]

[QUOTE="Mad Doug Biker, post: 3058499, member: 10208"

Really gets on my t*ts that does and gives the rest of us a bad name! [/QUOTE]

Who is this "us" you speak of?

Don't pigeonhole me thank you.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Or from another perspective;
Riding two or three abreast to prevent an impatient driver making a dangerous pass of a long line of single file riders on a narrow road.......and winding the driver up.

Which is all very well, but when it is safe and there is more than enough space for the driver to pass, I don't see why people should continue to stubbornly try to make some sort of point* which will only pi*s the driver off and maybe next actually WILL result in the situation you have just described!! (if by the original driver, or someone else who hears their story and already has an axe to grind. We aren't exactly very popular as it is with some people, dur!!).

...... And if that happens, then, well done!!


* - A lot of the situations I've seen it has *appeared* to have been exactly this or something similar.

 

[MikeG]

............when there's a straight long enough to make a pass, we'd wave the driver round............

We have a club rule against this.

We use our road position and body language to signal to drivers, but waving them past could land a rider in hot water if something were to go wrong. Road users should take responsibility for assessing for themselves whether an overtake is safe, and any cyclist who called a car through and for there to be an accident as a result could find themselves in court.

 

[Venod]

We have a club rule against this.

We use our road position and body language to signal to drivers, but waving them past could land a rider in hot water if something were to go wrong. Road users should take responsibility for assessing for themselves whether an overtake is safe, and any cyclist who called a car through and for there to be an accident as a result could find themselves in court.

I have to agree with your club rule, but find it sad that we are scared to help through fear of repercussions..

 

[outlash]

Interesting. The flip side of that would be that it's uncommon for a driver to be sat behind a group of cyclists and as such, may be unsure of how to proceed. IMO, I'd rather help them on their way than have them sat behind getting agitated/nervous and possibly make a rash decision. Is it any worse than other drivers flashing their lights to let you through a narrow gap?


Tony.

 

[ianrauk]

have to agree with @MikeG
I never wave a car through. Let the driver make up their own mind whether to proceed or not.

I have seen a very near accident were a cyclist in a group waved a car through only for another car to turn into the road from just ahead. A very close call.

 

[Pale Rider]

Signalling to another road user is not going to land you in court, although I tend not to do it because there's too much risk of being misunderstood.

 

[sheddy]

When riding with larger groups, does your club have a protocol for splitting into smaller units to allow motorists to overtake in stages ?

 

[outlash]

We don't, what tends to happen is that we don't have groups any larger than 10 riders and that's purely for our benefit anyway as it makes it manageable for the ride leaders.


Tony.

 

[spen666]

Signalling to another road user is not going to land you in court, although I tend not to do it because there's too much risk of being misunderstood.

I don't agree with this. It may well land you in a civil claim, alleging at least contributory negligence

 

[Fab Foodie]

When riding with larger groups, does your club have a protocol for splitting into smaller units to allow motorists to overtake in stages ?

This is a very effective and simple idea that I have tried to instil in our riders .... But it's not easy.

 

[Fab Foodie]

In some ways cycling is a victim of its own success. It's become popular and more diverse thus peoples expectation or wants from a club reflect this. Also it's not about numbers either.
Clubs need to be honest about their offering OR prepare to become more diversified if they want to attract large memberships.
When we founded 'Abingdon Freewheeling' we were a bunch of similar amiable cyclist who wanted to get people into social group riding, there's no pretence about speed or sporting, just rides aimed at going for a spin and meeting other cyclist. The other important decision we made was to be as unstructured as possible, hence anyone can start and lead any kind of ride they like, anytime. If it's popular it grows and becomes regular. There are no hard or fast rules.

We did have an influx of more 'mamil' types that wanted to convert us to a more 'regular' road club with higher fees and matching kit etc. It was an unpleasant time as we tried to stay true to our original ethos. We stuck to our guns and suggested they start a club on their own image .... They did and it's working well. Some ride with both groups, we all do our own thing and I think the cyclist of Abingdon are fortunate to have many choices.
There's nothing stopping anyone forming their own club in their own style, if the offering is good, people will come.

In the future there will be clubs for all kinda of cyclist ... And it only needs to be a few people.