Riding in primary or not?

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Matthames

Über Member
Location
East Sussex
Following on from my truck thread there seems to be a few on there who think I was out of position, but leaving that situation aside here is another situation to think about.


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HgO1sG4eK4


Nothing much happens in this clip, except that I am doing 20 along a 30 mph road in primary position where a few people would say I should be in secondary. All will be revealed in part 2, but for now I pose the question am I right to remain in primary or should I be in secondary?
 

dondare

Über Member
Location
London
Are you on a space hopper or pogo stick?
 

AnotherEye

Well-Known Member
Location
North London
It's not a wide lane and if there are any potholes you need to avoid them. I would ride in primary but be courteous to any driver behind me by moving into secondary to let them pass when there is a clear road ahead and nothing coming the other way.
 
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Deleted member 1258

Guest
I would ride that section of road in secondary, there's no need for primary.
 
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Matthames

Matthames

Über Member
Location
East Sussex
dondare said:
Are you on a space hopper or pogo stick?

A lot of that probably has to do with the format I encoded the video on, I couldn't use the format I wanted as one of the codecs for it is throwing a wobbly.

Also a lot of the problem has to do with the road surface being a bit bumpy.
 

Moodyman

Legendary Member
Going into the roundabout and up to the pedestrian island you should do primary.

After the island, you should move to secondary to allow other traffic to pass.

It also depends on the circumstances in part 2 of your video.
 

rh100

Well-Known Member
I would ride secondary on that one, although the fact that I will not ride in the gutter means I would still be a fair bit out anyway. Primary towards and through the RAB though.

The long stretch has no call for primary IMO (but bear in mind I'm still learning it all myself - so it is just my opinion :tongue: ), the secondary position and oncoming traffic on a narrow road like that would surely prevent dangerous overtakes except from a complete moron, and there isn't much you can do about morons.
 
The RAB, islands and oncoming traffic - Primary.

The long straight there isn't any reason you couldn't stick in Primary as cars have a clear enough view ahead, but you will probably get resentment from this... I would stick in a Primary if there was nothing around and move to Secondary when a car approaches if I feel it's okay. Hopefully seeing you in Primary will make them think more about the room they will give, and then you extend that the opposite way when moving into Secondary. etc.
 

DaleB

Active Member
Location
Manchester
Moodyman said:
Going into the roundabout and up to the pedestrian island you should do primary.

After the island, you should move to secondary to allow other traffic to pass.

It also depends on the circumstances in part 2 of your video.


+1, it looks a very narrow road though :tongue:
 

4F

Active member of Helmets Are Sh*t Lobby
Location
Suffolk.
Given the scenario in the video in question and not being aware of what may be behind you, in that instance I would be in secondary.
 
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Matthames

Matthames

Über Member
Location
East Sussex
Part 2 is up:


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPJ26tTt9ZA


As you can see from part 2 there is a pothole near a drain which could probably throw somebody off their bike. The only way to avoid it is to ride out into a primary position and pass it, also it is a good idea to ride a primary position early to discourage anybody overtaking you as you pass it or if they overtake, they overtake in the other lane, which is what quite often happens.

For that section, if the conditions are favourable I tend to stick to primary for the length of the road as I do reach speeds of around 30mph, like in the video.
 
I wouldn't bother dropping from Primary if I was keeping up with the car in front. 0:56

The only thing wrong about Primary on a straight road is the anger from people in cars... and that's their own ignorant faults.



I still don't really see the overall point of these videos though...
 
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Matthames

Matthames

Über Member
Location
East Sussex
User3143 said:
You are making a mountain out of a molehill. All those risks would have been absorbed riding in secondary. As for part ii why are you holding a primary positon on a straight road??? Secondary is all that is needed.

And for the love of God do something with that camera, strap it to your handlebars or stop moving your head so much.

That pothole can swallow a bike tyre, I have had a few brown trouser moments with it before I considered it prudent to just stick in primary and go around it.

I am holding position as I am doing traffic speed for that particular road. At those sorts of speeds you really need to be in a more central position to avoid any hazards on your nearside. There is not much scope for any cars behind to do anything legally anyway.

That road is rather bumpy which is why the camera is wobbling. Had that been on my handlebars I doubt you would of seen anything at all. The reason my head moves around a lot is because I am constantly updating my observations with as much new information as I can. I don't do my videos for the benefit of other people, I mainly use my videos to analyse my own riding and to maybe use as evidence for any incidents I may come across.
 

Moodyman

Legendary Member
I can understand why you held primary position after the pedestrian island, but I agree with Lee that you could avoid the pothole from secondary too.

However, I note that you stayed in primary after the pothole. Yes, you were doing 30mph and that may be the speed limit, but some drivers like to travel a little faster, so why not move over to your natural position and let them pass?

They might be wrong in getting p1ssed off, but it's not your job to enforce the speed limit.
 
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