Opinions, car vs bike..

[keithmac]

Edited previous post to prevent confusion.

I'm not trolling, I picked the caravan up yesterday and this happened on my second time out with it.

I was openly looking for opinions on this particular situation.

 

[jonny jeez]

Actually, instead of just throwing smilies into the thread I will try and add some reason....
Delayed for approximately 1 mile at 10 mph as opposed to doing maybe 30mph for that same mile (surely you wouldn't be travelling any faster than this when towing a caravan on narrow country lanes?). The former will take you around 6 minutes, the latter maybe 2 minutes, so that is a 4 minute test of patience and you have failed. hardly the delay of a lifetime is it, you must have really been running late that day?

I'm with Globalti here, I try to show courtesy and consideration to all road users regardless of my mode of transport or theirs. Each interaction has to undergo a rigorous analysis though, before any action is taken, and in the case described above I think you would lose out anyway and for the following reasons....
If I was riding alone and a vehicle came up behind me as described I would continue cycling for a short while in case a safe opportunity arose for the following vehicle to pass. If none occurred then I would begin looking for a safe place to pull over and allow the vehicle (or maybe vehicles by this time) to pass before resuming my enjoyment.
If a larger group of cyclists were riding in a similar scenario then, rightly, I would expect them to use the available road to prevent a dangerous pass and continue riding, with the driver having to wait until it was safe to pass. The riders may consider pulling over if a suitable space presented itself but my reckoning is that they should not be expected to do so as the balance of fairness is weighted heavily in their favour. I would not see the logic in 8, 10, a dozen or maybe more individuals having to inconvenience themselves so that 1 individual (you in a car) is not, it just doesn't add up.

This/\/\/\

 

[Drago]

Man Hooks Caravan To Car, Complains Of Difficulty With Overtaking.

Shocking, where can I subscribe for more information and regular updates?

In a similar vein, the Caravan Club Taliban have the cheek to complain when this Jeremy Clarkson fellow makes a funny at their expense. Hell, you know us cyclists are scum when even caravanners look down upon us. Even Rolf Harris drops his monocle in his Martini if the word 'cyclist' is mentioned in his wing.

 

[User16625]

Hello all, to start off I'm a keen cyclists and have 30 years or more of cycling under my belt.

When riding I always try to be considerate to other road users, and when driving I always give cyclists plenty of space especially when overtaking!.

I was in the car with the family yesterday to drop my caravan off at storage site, part of my journey was down some ××× Edit SINGLE CARRIAGEWAY ××× roads.

I came across a group of cyclists out for a leasurely ride, they were 3-4 abreast and took the entire lane right up to the center road markings. Being a cyclist myself I held back and waited for the possibility they would maybe pull in one or two abreast so I could *safely* overtake.

Well a mile later at 10mph there was no sign of them giving any road at all for me to take, with the van on the back I wasn't happy with just the oncoming lane as it still woukd have been tight to get past them.

I just can't really understand why they blocked the lane completey, surely it's in their best interests to let the car though as well as mine?.

I would like to hear other people's genuine opinions on this, for me it was a poor show for cyclists on this occasion?.

They sound like A.Hs. Why impede other peoples progress when its not unreasonable to pull over and allow them to pass? Tractors and caravans tend to allow long lines of traffic to build up behind them aswell. For me this would be embarrassing and would pull over at the next layby or other opportunity. Unfortunately many people are simply inconsiderate. I personally find little else more irritating than being forced to move slower than my natural pace, even on foot. If I am on my motorcycle or bicycle, I would feel extremely unsafe knowing someone behind me was in such an unpleasant mood and in control of more than a ton of machinery.

 

[keithmac]

Having just read the "two abreast" thread, I'm verging on the opinion I could have passed fully in the opposing carriageway as long as I was fully over the centre line of the road.

To me this seems to give the cyclists too little room, but I suppose it woud be exactly the same as me driving past in the other direction?.

 

[coffeejo]

Having just read the "two abreast" thread, I'm verging on the opinion I could have passed fully in the opposing carriageway as long as I was fully over the centre line of the road.

To me this seems to give the cyclists too little room, but I suppose it woud be exactly the same as me driving past in the other direction?.

Exactly the same. You don't have to drive past at full throttle but so long as there's nothing coming and it's not on the approach to a blind bend, you're pretty much good to go, road conditions etc allowing.

 

[Tin Pot]

Having just read the "two abreast" thread, I'm verging on the opinion I could have passed fully in the opposing carriageway as long as I was fully over the centre line of the road.

To me this seems to give the cyclists too little room, but I suppose it woud be exactly the same as me driving past in the other direction?.

 

[nickyboy]

Unless it's an Airstream, now they are cool and no one has tried to kill me with one yet unlike the farking white ones.

Unlike quoting yourself which most definitely is not cool

 

[Crackle]

Unlike quoting yourself which most definitely is not cool

I was writing in a stream of consciousness way. I don't actually need anyone else in the convo.

 

[Apollonius]

Having just read the "two abreast" thread, I'm verging on the opinion I could have passed fully in the opposing carriageway as long as I was fully over the centre line of the road.

To me this seems to give the cyclists too little room, but I suppose it woud be exactly the same as me driving past in the other direction?.

I am happy to accept that @keithmac is not trolling and has genuinely come on here for information and opinion.
My two-pennyworth here is that he has rarely, if ever, ridden in a group and does not appreciate what is involved - hence his probable misconception that the riders were four abreast.
Cycling in a group or alone, it is necessary to defend space by "reserving" it. (By riding wide.) If you pass the group, it has "flinch room", and will compact a little, if necessary. Pass wide, if you can see that there is nothing coming. No problem for anyone.

 

[johnnyb47]

There's good and bad in all walks of life and that includes cyclists and motorists. I drive around 25k a year and see some atrocious drivers/cyclist's on the road. Playing Russian Roulette on the roads just to save a few minutes off there journey is crazy. There's also a fair few bad cyclists out there to , riding three abreast and completely ignoring the motorists behind.. Its particularly bad here in Wales. The roads tend to be very twisty and the beautiful countryside brings cyclist's out in there droves. Most cyclists though, usually single out into single file when there aware there's a car behind and usually put there hand up as I overtake when safe.When out on the bike I always try my best to be helpful towards passing motorists but as said before you will always get the odd cyclists or motorist who enjoy causing grief. ( I'm not for a minute though insinuating the original poster was trying to cause any grief ). The only outcome though of aggressive cycling or bad driving when the two come together is usually the cyclist being injured. I used to be quite fearful of incountering a large group of cyclist whilst driving my truck. Blind spots, not having the power to quickly over take when fully loaded around twisty roads , or worrying if a cyclist wobbles into me while I was going past. As cycling becomes more and more popular these incidents will only increase unfortunately ,as we all compete for the same stretch of tarmac.
It's a difficult problem to solve really. A bad cyclist will always play the blame game and make out it was the motorists fault.
Swings and roundabouts.
That's all you can say really.
We all have to just respect each other to be sure we all get home safe and well. That's all that really matters at the end of the day )

 

[slowmotion]

I was riding round Richmond Park recently. There's a flat section between Robin Hood Gate and Roehampton Gate that is narrow, but two cars can pass. A couple of cyclists ahead of me were riding two abreast with a car waiting behind them. The road ahead was clear for at least four hundred yards, but they rode so far out in the road that the car was blocked. The guys on bikes just didn't even move closer to each other. They didn't even need to drop into single file. Why do twats do that?

BTW, can't the Mods create a Two Abreast ghetto like that toxic Helmet one?

 

[Tim Hall]

I was riding round Richmond Park recently. There's a flat section between Robin Hood Gate and Roehampton Gate that is narrow, but two cars can pass. A couple of cyclists ahead of me were riding two abreast with a car waiting behind them. The road ahead was clear for at least four hundred yards, but they rode so far out in the road that the car was blocked. The guys on bikes just didn't even move closer to each other. They didn't even need to drop into single file. Why do twats do that?

BTW, can't the Mods create a Two Abreast ghetto like that toxic Helmet one?

Might I suggest that if you're in that much of a hurry (remember it's a 20mph limit in the park ) then Richmond Park isn't the place to be.

 

[slowmotion]

Might I suggest that if you're in that much of a hurry (remember it's a 20mph limit in the park ) then Richmond Park isn't the place to be.

They were riding at no more than 15mph. I was on a bike 50 yards behind the riders and the car. I had no interest in overtaking the bikes. I just thought that they might have shown better manners towards the motorist.

 

[goody]

Did you make it to your destination or are you still stuck behind the cyclists?