FlyingCyclist
Guest
I'm off to my usual retreat in Argyll on Saturday. Just wondering if anyone has any advice cycling on single-track roads?
+1In some ways I think single track roads are safer for cyclists
I had it drummed into me by my dad years ago - it's good manners for the guy descending to stop and give way to the vehicle coming up. Try not to make the guy climbing stop.On descents just remember that if theres a car coming up around a blind bend there may not be room for you to get past it so be able to stop in the distance you can see.
If you get to a passing place and it's not on your side of the road, stop opposite it don't pull into it.
It would be quite rare that the passing place wouldn't accommodate them and that approach might come unstuck if you had cars behind you because then you couldn't get out until the lorry had cleared and they couldn't clear until the cars behind you had cleared, I've seen that happen. Of course being on a bike makes all that irrelevant but in general, most drivers won't expect you to take a passing place not on your side but I agree with your general principle, that singletrack roads might present you with situations outside of normal rules.Unless it's a long vehicle like an HGV or a bus.
It would be quite rare that the passing place wouldn't accommodate them and that approach might come unstuck if you had cars behind you because then you couldn't get out until the lorry had cleared and they couldn't clear until the cars behind you had cleared, I've seen that happen. Of course being on a bike makes all that irrelevant but in general, most drivers won't expect you to take a passing place not on your side but I agree with your general principle, that singletrack roads might present you with situations outside of normal rules.
That's a slightly different situation and I've had people just ignore my presence on a singletrack and barge past me, in which case all bets are off if I think someone is not going to follow the signed guidance. Funnily enough that's never been a timber lorry but I always considered it good etiquette to get out their way anyhow due to the challenges they face driving those roads and on a bike you can generally hear them or see them coming long before you meet.I am not going to stop opposite a passing place wondering if the fully / over loaded timber lorry coming hurtling towards me can fit into the passing place, or whether he'll bother to do so even if he can.