Passed cyclist who had been knocked off bike today, A78 Largs/Ardrossan road

[Pedal Bob]

Out on a ride today, dry roads and good visibility, I noticed the blue flashing lights ahead. I then got that feeling of dread when you see a bike lying by the side of the road (I assume cyclist had been going in opposite direction from me). The traffic on both sides of the road had been stopped by the traffic police, so I slowly filtered forward towards the front, past a large mobile crane which was at the front of the queue. The cyclist, a gent around mid 50's/early 60's was still sitting on the road being tended to by the police- he was conscious, although dazed. Just in front of the crane was a blue car, with not obvious signs of impact on it.
I continued on my ride to the 1/2 way point and about turned and came back the same way. When I passed the incident location approx. 30 minutes later, the blue car and a police van were still siting by the side of the road. As I passed the officer who was directing traffic how the cyclist was, he replied "O.k I think".
I assume that the blue car had got impatient following the large crane and pulled out to overtake to be faced with the cyclist coming the other way. The road is a single carriageway, 60mph limit and at the point of the incident, is on a slight bend.
The thing is, within 5 minutes of passing the incident, cars going the same way as me who had obviously saw what had happened, were still skimming passed me at 60 odd mph....
Best wishes to the cyclist involved and hope he is back in the saddle soon.

 

[Biker Joe]

Not the best thing to see a fellow cyclist lying on the road like that.
I hope he's not badly injured.
One becomes very aware of the traffic around you after such an incident.

 

[boydj]

The coast road is for wimps - you should have been up by Loch Thom and Brisbane Glen to get to Largs

Seriously - the A78 is not too bad except for the stretch between Skelmorlie and Largs - I was through that stretch twice on club runs in the last couple of weeks. It's ok if you're in a bunch, paired up - the cars have to wait for safe gap to overtake. But if your on your own then you'll get close passes all the time.

Hope the cyclist is ok.

 

[Brandane]

Sorry to hear about this, especially as it is local to me (Largs). I do not like cycling on the A78, it is an accident waiting to happen. Even when out on the road bike I will use the alternative back roads, or the cycle path if it's the coast road between Seamill and Ardrossan. The A78 through Fairlie is the only unavoidable stretch, and I spend half my time looking over my shoulder looking for idiots who might not see me.
Hope he makes a quick and full recovery.

 

[Brandane]

The coast road is for wimps - you should have been up by Loch Thom and Brisbane Glen to get to Largs

Seriously - the A78 is not too bad except for the stretch between Skelmorlie and Largs - I was through that stretch twice on club runs in the last couple of weeks. It's ok if you're in a bunch, paired up - the cars have to wait for safe gap to overtake. But if your on your own then you'll get close passes all the time.

Hope the cyclist is ok.

The A78 between Skelmorlie and Largs is for wimps . You can turn second left after leaving Skelmorlie (NOT the one signposted for the caravan park) heading south, then you have a short but very sweet climb and a deserted road past Knock castle. Locally it is known as the Meigle road, or the "red" road. The road comes out at Routenburn golf club on the north side of Largs. My techie skills do not stretch to cutting and pasting a map .

 

[Pedal Bob]

The coast road is for wimps - you should have been up by Loch Thom and Brisbane Glen to get to Largs

Seriously - the A78 is not too bad except for the stretch between Skelmorlie and Largs - I was through that stretch twice on club runs in the last couple of weeks. It's ok if you're in a bunch, paired up - the cars have to wait for safe gap to overtake. But if your on your own then you'll get close passes all the time.

Hope the cyclist is ok.

Funnily enough, I was invited for an 'easy 50' to Loch Thom today by someone I know. I got a text later saying he had a 3 mile hike through ice and snow..... I had an hour and a half to kill, so kept to the wimpy coast road which I knew was dry and ice free.

 

[Pedal Bob]

Sorry to hear about this, especially as it is local to me (Largs). I do not like cycling on the A78, it is an accident waiting to happen. Even when out on the road bike I will use the alternative back roads, or the cycle path if it's the coast road between Seamill and Ardrossan. The A78 through Fairlie is the only unavoidable stretch, and I spend half my time looking over my shoulder looking for idiots who might not see me.
Hope he makes a quick and full recovery.

One day when I was out last summer, I met a couple of chaps who were surveying that stretch looking at the possibility of adding a cyclepath. Will it come to anything? Probably not.

 

[Cycleops]

Shame, perils of cycling I guess.