Pgd
Veteran
- Location
- East Grinstead
Morning all!
Coming northbound up Brixton Road after the Vassall Road lights, keeping a decent speed up (in the bus lane) when I see a vehicle ahead signalling left. So I slow down for it; it ends up turning quite slowly, so I'm practically at a standstill and have to get up to speed again.
At this point I'm in the middle of the bus lane, and since I know there were cyclists I left behind at the last lights, I prepare to move more to the left.... HOLY shoot there's a ninja under-taker almost alongside me. Instinctively swerve to the right... TING-A-LING!! Blow me if there isn't also someone simultaneously trying to overtake me. (All this is within the bus lane, remember.) "Can't go left, can't go right, where d'you expect me to go??" I shouted. "Stop hogging the middle, then!" came the reply.
In hindsight I have some sympathy for the over-taker, he was probably as unaware of the ninja as I was; as far as he was concerned I was simply swerving into his path. But at the time I was livid.
Besides which, "hogging the middle" is something I am aware of with London bus lanes. You do get slower cyclists effectively taking primary in the bus lane. Fair play, they probably feel more comfortable there. It sometimes prevents an immediate overtake, so you (well, I at least) just hang back until there's space. I can't help feeling that my over-taker was barging past too quickly, whatever the rights or wrongs of my movements.
Anyway. Grrr, don't barge past even if you feel someone's "hogging the middle", but most importantly DON'T UNDER-TAKE!
Coming northbound up Brixton Road after the Vassall Road lights, keeping a decent speed up (in the bus lane) when I see a vehicle ahead signalling left. So I slow down for it; it ends up turning quite slowly, so I'm practically at a standstill and have to get up to speed again.
At this point I'm in the middle of the bus lane, and since I know there were cyclists I left behind at the last lights, I prepare to move more to the left.... HOLY shoot there's a ninja under-taker almost alongside me. Instinctively swerve to the right... TING-A-LING!! Blow me if there isn't also someone simultaneously trying to overtake me. (All this is within the bus lane, remember.) "Can't go left, can't go right, where d'you expect me to go??" I shouted. "Stop hogging the middle, then!" came the reply.
In hindsight I have some sympathy for the over-taker, he was probably as unaware of the ninja as I was; as far as he was concerned I was simply swerving into his path. But at the time I was livid.
Besides which, "hogging the middle" is something I am aware of with London bus lanes. You do get slower cyclists effectively taking primary in the bus lane. Fair play, they probably feel more comfortable there. It sometimes prevents an immediate overtake, so you (well, I at least) just hang back until there's space. I can't help feeling that my over-taker was barging past too quickly, whatever the rights or wrongs of my movements.
Anyway. Grrr, don't barge past even if you feel someone's "hogging the middle", but most importantly DON'T UNDER-TAKE!