Fellow cyclist, where's the love?

[Matty]

was convinced he gave me enough room and that I should have been further in.

Eh? He placed his car based on where you should have been rather than where you were? Slightly worrying behaviour!

 

[Tynan]

whole point of the three feet of clearance is so the bike can move around potholes and the like

anytime a motorist complains about the bike moving outwards they're too close

 

[Hacienda71]

I used to go along Lees Lane Bonnis Hall Lane to get from Wilmslow to Macc I have been close passed many times on it, but now go up the back roads through Mottram near the primary school and riding school, a bit hillier and a bit longer, but far less busy. The B5358 is too narrow and too many blind bends for my liking.

 

[Maz]

Turns out he is a time trialler, cycling for25 years,

Over what distance?!

 

[eddiemee]

I had something similar last weekend when some guy in a van passed me then cut me up badly approaching a junction. I just about avoided going into his side/rear by braking hard. Two seconds later he was stopped at the red light so I pulled up alongside. The conversation was polite and without raised voices, but he refused to apologise and offered the claim that he had won three gold medals cycling for Britain to try to convince me that his overtake was perfect (no, didn't make sense to me either).

As others have said, maybe the bloke was just an arse, or made a mistake but was too proud to admit it (at first).

 

[hydridmatt]

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.

Here is the thing though - he didn't apologise for the close overtake, only that he hadn't seen the pothole. What he was saying was, if it hadn't been there, the overtake would be fine. But the reason you're supposed to leave space is not because you know what is there - it's because roads are unpredictable. I suppose my frustration (and my post) stems from that disconnect - the nagging feeling you used to get when someone apologises by saying "well, I'm sorry you feel that way..."

 

[zoxed]

...
Turns out he is a time trialler, cycling for25 years,

IIRC time trialling typically involves driving out into the countryside at 6 or 7am on a Sunday morning with your bike on the car roof, hammering down a dual carriageway and back and then driving home. Not really conducive to the understanding of the needs of tourists or commuters !!

...
Moreover, wherever I was, it is on the overtaker to ensure it's safe, right?

Exactly: these are 2 separate issues, sadly not often separated in a car drivers mind:
1) Was it safe to overtake ?
2) Was the cyclist in the correct road position ?
It seems that many drivers use poor overtaking to "punish" cyclists that they perceive to be in the wrong place (judge and jury).

(Having said that at least your driver backed down when you pointed out the pothole: many would have just shouted louder !)

 

[smavter]

You should have took his car keys!

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

You should have taken his car!

And prayed he had his track bike in the back!

 

[marzjennings]

I gotta admit as a cyclist I'm crap at over taking other cyclists when I'm driving. I grew up and learned how to cycle on small country roads where drivers would pass within a foot or so and I figured that was normal and as I cyclist I got used to it. And because I was and am ok with traffic passing close by and because when I learnt to drive nobody told me any different I do find myself passing less than 3 feet from cyclists. I know it's wrong and I'm trying to address it, but I can see where the timetrialing driver is coming from, he may be thinking, 'I can handle cars passing closely and I don't need more than a couple feet of space, what's wrong with you?'