must overtake cyclist... FAIL

[Joseph]

Ah, enough to make me smile.

Tonight on way home (coming up Church St onto Byers Road, about halfway up); WVM behind me. Can tell he wants to overtake; I'm not exactly going slow, and the lights we'll be at in 30 seconds or so are red.

End result: he spends half the length of the street on the wrong side of the road, never manages to even get his bumper level with my back tyre.

(Then I get stuck behind fellow cyclist at the lights, who to put it politely did very definitely not have a rocket up his a**e, though he was on a hybrid with thinner tyres than mine by the looks. Took a while to find somewhere safe to pass him...)

 

[HJ]

Ah, enough to make me smile.

Tonight on way home (coming up Church St onto Byers Road, about halfway up); WVM behind me. Can tell he wants to overtake; I'm not exactly going slow, and the lights we'll be at in 30 seconds or so are red.

End result: he spends half the length of the street on the wrong side of the road, never manages to even get his bumper level with my back tyre.

(Then I get stuck behind fellow cyclist at the lights, who to put it politely did very definitely not have a rocket up his a**e, though he was on a hybrid with thinner tyres than mine by the looks. Took a while to find somewhere safe to pass him...)

Damn cyclist always in the way...

 

[magnatom]

(Then I get stuck behind fellow cyclist at the lights, who to put it politely did very definitely not have a rocket up his a**e, though he was on a hybrid with thinner tyres than mine by the looks. Took a while to find somewhere safe to pass him...)

Why didn't you say hello to me then?.....

 

[Twenty Inch]

I love it when they speed past, and then have to ram on the brakes because they're about to rear-end the last car in the traffic light queue....

 

[Eat MY Dust]

I prefer the "overtake into oncoming traffic islands". On a few occassion I've seen people nearly crash into traffic islands once they realise they're not going fast enough to pass!

 

[HLaB]

I prefer the "overtake into oncoming traffic islands". On a few occassion I've seen people nearly crash into traffic islands once they realise they're not going fast enough to pass!

Yip and if there's any damage done its their own stupidity rather than the innocent driver in front.

 

[J4CKO]

I have a favourite section on the way home, probably less than a mile, a bit of road that would be a racetrack (funnily enough called Racecourse road) which goes round a lake and local beauty spot than oto a sideroad, it has speed humps and those traffic calming measures like an island on one side of the road, I love to get an impatient driver behind me at this point, I make a point of doing 20 to 25 mph, or slow enough to get in the way of a car but fast enough to make overtaking difficult.

I am usually considerate to motorists and let them pass but on this road, sorry but they shouldnt be going any faster than me so bollocks to them, have done it 4 or 5 times now, one tried (in a Discovery) to overtake in the dark and didnt notice the island, swevered when they saw it and went past me dangerously further up with the horn on !!

The other ones havent been so dramatic

Last nights had me grinning as I was flying (27 mph at one point), felt really good, lovely day and matey boy in an Audi wanted past, now I am on a fairly stiff bike but I can avoid most of the pillow type measures but not the full ones, but a quick lift off the seat and I can hit it at ful pelt and not really feel it, Apparently Audi A4 S-Lines dont like speed humps at 25 mph, they make a loud graunching noise and bounce alarmingly upwards judging by the look in my mirror, he did it four times, probably damaging his car, probably going way faster to get past me than if I hadnt been there such is the urge in some to get past.

 

[palinurus]

Last weekend I was going downhill at 30+, car overtakes, sees speed camera, brake lights go on immediately after he's pulled in front of me, drives next few hundred yards at 20.

 

[Molecule Man]

Last nights had me grinning as I was flying (27 mph at one point), felt really good, lovely day and matey boy in an Audi wanted past, now I am on a fairly stiff bike but I can avoid most of the pillow type measures but not the full ones, but a quick lift off the seat and I can hit it at ful pelt and not really feel it, Apparently Audi A4 S-Lines dont like speed humps at 25 mph, they make a loud graunching noise and bounce alarmingly upwards judging by the look in my mirror, he did it four times, probably damaging his car, probably going way faster to get past me than if I hadnt been there such is the urge in some to get past.

I am sure you are correct that some drivers drive faster than they would otherwise if there's a bike in front of them.

I've had one wonderful instance similar to what you describe, though I needed some gravity assistance on a downhill section. There were shallow speed humps, the sort you can take at full speed on a bike, a car came up behind and started trying to overtake. Between the speed bumps, it managed to get slightly faster than me, but not enough to pass before it slowed down again at each bump. So we ended up going at the same average speed (~20 mph), all the way down the road, side by side with the car on the wrong side of the road the whole way.

 

[Eat MY Dust]

I ofrten sit behind line/s of slow moving traffic thinking to myself "if I were at the front of the line, the cars behind would all be beeping and trying to overtake" It seams that if your in a car and holding people up, they don't mind so much!

 

[Lazy-Commuter]

I am sure you are correct that some drivers drive faster than they would otherwise if there's a bike in front of them.

I've had one wonderful instance similar to what you describe, though I needed some gravity assistance on a downhill section. There were shallow speed humps, the sort you can take at full speed on a bike, a car came up behind and started trying to overtake. Between the speed bumps, it managed to get slightly faster than me, but not enough to pass before it slowed down again at each bump. So we ended up going at the same average speed (~20 mph), all the way down the road, side by side with the car on the wrong side of the road the whole way.

Absolutely, they do .. you're right. I get it quite a lot in a similar way to the situation you describe. Just to add to J4CKO's notes about Audis .. the new BMW mini thing doesn't like going over bumps as fast as my tatty old mountain bike. Still, she got past me and it was well worth it 'cos she turned off 50 yards up the road.