Fellow cyclist, where's the love?

[hydridmatt]

I had a strange one this morning – I commute on a country road (B5358 near Macc) and was passed too close just after a corner. I gave a shout (no swearing for a change) and signalled for more space. The driver promptly pulled in and started berating me – I mean, really berating me. Not swearing or really aggressive, just insistent to the point of fury. Turns out he is a time trialler, cycling for25 years, and was convinced he gave me enough room and that I should have been further in. After a fraught conversation, I pointed out the pothole at the corner that meant I had to ride out a little and he apologised, said he hadn’t seen the pothole, we shook hands and he left. But thinking back, he had overtaken me when I was in a strong secondary on a fairly narrow single lane road with traffic in the other direction, meaning he must have been way too close. Moreover, wherever I was, it is on the overtaker to ensure it's safe, right?

So the question is, how can someone with such experience and love of track cycling have such little affinity with those of us who bumble along on our humble hybrids? Is there something about the very act of being in a car that means we ignore the needs of cyclists?

 

[gaz]

Answer on a stamp? peanut

 

[Stephenite]

You should have took his car keys!

And prayed he didnt have his track bike in the back!

 

[sadjack]

If he is a track cyclist he maybe had little experience of riding in traffic? Dunno, but it only took a close pass for me to realise how frightening it can be. Lets give him the benefit of the doubt, at least you shook hands and he has some food for thought.

 

[snorri]

So the question is, how can someone with such experience and love of track cycling have such little affinity with those of us who bumble along on our humble hybrids?

Track cycling and utility cycling. The machines are different, the attitudes, aims and objectives of the riders are different, rider clothing is different, the cycling environment is different. There are few common factors.
I used to feel as you do when I had a close overtake by a motor vehicle with bicycles on the roof rack, then I realised the driver had possibly never done any utility cycling.

 

[BentMikey]

I don't think it's much to do with the type of cycling, instead everything to do with him acting like an arse.

 

[hackbike 666]

He's probably a pavement cyclist.

 

[magnatom]

If every driver who said to me that they are a cyclist, actually was a cyclist, then the roads of Glasgow would be Nirvana.

I know of quite a few people who are drivers, who are bad drivers. I also know quite a few people who are cyclists, who are bad cyclists.

Have car, does not mean, can drive. Likewise, have cycle.....

 

[hydridmatt]

As I said to him this morning - you may be a quick cyclist, but you are not a good driver...

FWIW I believe he probably was a cyclist - I think it was exactly that that annoyed him most. Who was I to criticise how he behaved around cyclists when he was King Cyclist?

 

[fimm]

Time trialling implies on the road to me, not track cycling? If he'd only ever ridden his bike on a velodrome, then he wouldn't know much about cycling in traffic...

 

[Jezston]

Plenty people where I work are avid mountain bikers, and plenty of them have SHOCKING attitudes to cyclists on the road.

Well, 'shocking' considering they are keen cyclists, pretty normal for motorists.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Only have to ride out to Derwent Valley on a sunny Sunday or Bank Holiday to encounter billions* of car-rack-mounted mountain bikes whizzing past inches away. In many bicycle-owner's minds bikes = toys for playing with on Sundays, not for riding on roads "getting in the way"

*slight overestimate

 

[mr Mag00]

Have car, does not mean, can drive. Likewise, have cycle.....

likewise have car doesnt instantly make you a bad driver either

 

[fossyant]

Bonishall Lane - bit of a mare that at rush hour - not very wide and a rat run into Cheshire.

 

[MartinC]

Hydridmatt, I refer you to your own thread title. He made a mistake, he got upset and angry, then acknowledged it and apologised. Sure, he shouldn't have made it in the first place but you could be generous if you wanted.