Cyclecraft

[jimboalee]

Hey, why not just get off and walk, if that works for you...

Your attitude seems to be that cyclist don't belong on the road and should keep out of the way of people in motor vehicle who are far more important, cyclist should know their place, in the gutter...

As a matter of fact HJ, I was returning to Solihull from Birmingham along the Stratford Road ( A34 ) approaching the junction of Highgate Road and Walford Road. Traffic lights.
It is a two lane road with a bus lane. Like the ignorant gits they are, some cars had occupied the bus lane and I was quickly approaching. I looked over my shoulder and there was a van approaching ME, in the bus lane. The second lane was jammed.

In a quick moment of thinking, I stopped and pulled my bike onto the pavement and walked it up to the traffic lights whare I found a curbside space at the head of the queue.
I got eye contact with the driver of the car who was at the head with me. I allowed him across before I proceeded in full view of the second car.

The van looked reckless, overtaking on the curbside in a bus lane. I wasn't going to hang around and wait for it to stop. I was going to get out of its way pronto.

Call me a chicken, but I'm not a dead chicken.

 

[jimboalee]

But if, in her surprise, she grasped the wheel hard and it veered left (a not entirely unrealistic situation) then you'd still be brown bread?

Is a 'but if' as good as a 'what if'?

 

[Chutzpah]

Is a 'but if' as good as a 'what if'?

But your anecdote is still a what if. "What if I was in there instead of that car?"

 

[jimboalee]

But your anecdote is still a what if. "What if I was in there instead of that car?"

Well if I was there instead of the car, I'd have had a pair of broken legs at least.... or worse.

All you cyclists riding into work in the morning who come to a halt in Primary behind a stationary car, keep your fingers crossed the driver of the car behind you doesn't do the same as the tearful young lady.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Jimboalee - sounds to me like cycling is just a bit too scary and other people just too frustrating for you. Cyclecraft or no Cyclecraft - and I have never read the book - the behaviour you advocate is the kind of behaviour that does not result in fewer cyclists getting injured and killed, it is the kind of behaviour that, if carried out more widely, adds up to cyclists getting forced off the roads and drivers increasingly asserting their 'rights' over us and the roads in general becoming a more hostile place for cyclists. Cycling that is safe for the individual and for other cyclists and more vulnerable road users collectively, is cycling that is legal, clear and done with confidence (and good humour if necessary).

 

[brokenbetty]

Well if I was there instead of the car, I'd have had a pair of broken legs at least.... or worse.

All you cyclists riding into work in the morning who come to a halt in Primary behind a stationary car, keep your fingers crossed the driver of the car behind you doesn't do the same as the tearful young lady.

You've seen it what - once in 30 years? I'll take my chances

 

[jimboalee]

Somewhere,,,,,

 

[brokenbetty]

Somewhere,,,,,

That's pretty much the only thing we can all count on...

 

[fozy tornip]

That's pretty much the only thing we can all count on...

That somewhere there's a dildo with our name on?
I'm strangely reassured by that.

 

[campbellab]

Has anyone read the IAM How to be a better cyclist? How does it compare to Cyclecraft?

 

[brokenbetty]

That somewhere there's a dildo with our name on?
I'm strangely reassured by that.

 

[jimboalee]

I don't understand why you had so much trouble overtaking someone doing 12mph, and why you seem to think it was their fault that you couldn't deal with it very well.

Try to spot slow moving cyclists in the distance instead of waiting until you are right behind them.
Check the flow of traffic on your right, try and spot a gap coming up and adjust your speed to time the arrival of this gap with the time you will reach the slow moving cyclist.
Signal and move out into the main flow of traffic, putting on a good burst of speed to get past the slow cyclist quickly.
You have the whole lane so you can leave the slow cyclist plenty of room in case they need to avoid potholes etc.
Move back to your usual road position once you are safely past the slow cyclist.
No-one is held up much, no-one feels threatened, no-one gets angry and there is no shouting involved.
It is so much easier that way.

Top tip for overtaking slower cyclist.

Do not get right up behind, hang back about 3 metres.
Change up gear so you are doing 55 - 60 rpm.
Repeatedly look behind to spot a gap in the traffic.
When you see a gap,....
Stand up on the pedals, waggle the handlebars from side to side and put all of your weight on the downward moving pedal many times until you have passed the slower cyclist, saying a cheerie 'Mornin' as you pass.

Its so much easier that way.

 

[gaz]

Being a good cyclist isn't about position, it's about mentality. Jim, your mentality is strange, your scared of anything with an accelerator and will do anything to get out of their way. To most cyclists that is highly impractical!

 

[PhunkPilot]

Hi all, New here and returning to cycling after quite sometime!

CYCLECRAFT is not concerned with setting examples to others. Although a skilled rider will often do this as a matter of course, a cyclist is too vunerable to follow rigid rules irrespective of the risk. CYCLECRAFT shows how to respond to actual conditions,not to a rule book........

Page 2 last chapter in 'CYCLECRAFT'

Seems to make it clear early on.

 

[jimboalee]

What you don’t know is, when he was a schoolboy, Jimbo rode ‘Devil take the hindmost’ on the track.

When you play that game, you have to be totally aware of what’s happening around you. You have to see where gaps are opening and where gaps are closing, and not do anything stupid to dump your opponents and yourself on the woodwork, or tarmac, as the Birmingham track was.

Another skill that must be learned is to make the rider ahead unaware of your intentions, while passing him. Seems a strange thing to say because he should be aware of your position.

To avoid elimination, you MUST be able to overtake. Not only simple overtaking, but taking the rider ahead by surprise. You don’t want him to sprint away and leave you to be eliminated.



This game, strangely, is similar to riding a bike on a busy Birmingham Inner ringroad, or Coventry Inner ringroad. Anticipating when gaps open and foreseeing when gaps close. The difference is the size of my opponents. They won’t ‘dump’ on the woodwork, they will carry on moving while I tumble.

The other difference is when riding with other traffic on the road, you MUST make them aware of your intentions. Sign, shout, waggle ass around, anything.



When I worked in central Brum, I would take a lap or two of Queensway, just for fun to mix-it with those internal combustion engined carriages.



I have no fear of large vehicles, it is that I know what damage they can cause. When one is approaching from behind me, I don’t wish to end up mincemeat.



I rode a 100km DIY today to take my mind off this, but I was thanked by so many truckers on the road to Shipston on Stour, I couldn’t forget the silly ‘take primary through pinch points’.