Self preservation, are car drivers putting you off?

[presta]

The week before last it was a bit chilly so I decided to walk along the disused rail track into town. I came out of the Post Office and walked along the pavement...... next thing a car came along with its tyres scraping the kerb. I thought 'crikey, that's a bit odd'. I then found out I'd nearly been run over! A guy on a scaffold on the building opposite shouted to his colleague "ere, did you see that car was on the pavement and just turned and missed the guy walking along!"

A transit van once swerved onto the pavement just to drive at me deliberately. He swerved back onto the road at the last instant, with the pair of them howling with laughter.

 

[Big John]

Are car drivers putting me off? Not really. I think the standard of driving is as it's been for years but the volume has increased dramatically making it genuinely off putting to ride a bike. I avoid a trip into town now on the bike and take the bus instead. I still go out for a 40 mile ride three times a week on my road bike but ride away from town and into the lanes but even there the volume has increased. Delivery vans and lorries as well as vehicles trying to avoid the more popular routes and using the lanes as rat runs. It's not the carefree, relaxing hobby it once was. Even Sundays seem busier these days. There is no answer. You just grin and bear it.

 

[Marchrider]

I was hit by a tractor driver in June '24. I'm back on the bike and enjoying every mile. I've no concerns about road riding though I must admit tractors bother me a bit!!!

With my buddies I have ridden more gravel in the last two years. We do find this more enjoyable as it opens up new route possibilities, tracks and trails we've never seen before. The lack of traffic definitely adds to the fun. This is because it's quiet and peaceful and not because we're worried by traffic.

As for smart trainers? These definitely have their place in a training regime. Sadly I see a lot of people moving into the garage when the weather deteriorates instead of going out. I don't get it. A TV screen and a fan are no substitute for a bike ride......no matter how "near to real life" cycling it is.

Agricultural tractors are dreadful, a law to themselves, I mostly get off the road when I see one coming from behind. Utterly ridiculous that modern day tractors that are as big as the biggest HGVs, and often driven as fast do not need any special licence requirement other than a licence to drive a car. - farming seems to exist in some parallel universe

But getting back on topic, my cycling is far more about being outdoors exploring the countryside (and sometime exploring cities) than riding a bike. Some sort of trainer in the garage (or worse a gym) would be entirely alien for me.

I don't get many unpleasant incidents, two so far this year (1 every 500 mile ?)
someone who couldn't dip their lights and then told me at 16:45 that cyclists shouldn't be out this late at night

and a more disturbing one - this sort of tactic seems to be in the DNA of the tipper driver

 

[Marchrider]

The sheer joy of a sunny day in the hills on a bike is incomparable to a trainer.

Like comparing sex to masturbation (let's see how long that lasts!)

And I don't think there's any evidence cycling is declining btw, the Cheshire lanes were swarming with us on a cold camp February day on Sunday.

aye, far simpler getting out by yourself, nothing quite like the real thing

 

[PaulSB]

It probably depends where you cycle but I would say the vast majority of them have got better but that the minority is getting worse. But I don't really cycle in heavily congested areas of the drivers I've encountered, area wise I think Hertfordshire is the best and the once I cycled to your area on open roads (London) I got knocked off.

I would fully agree with this. The minority have got worse since covid and lock down. I find the vast majority of drivers are respectful of cyclists.

 

[Drago]

I would fully agree with this. The minority have got worse since covid and lock down. I find the vast majority of drivers are respectful of cyclists.

Indeed. I think drivers have become more polarised - the better ones seem to be more considerate and courteous, while the worse ones have become real arrissholes.

 

[Bonzothechippy]

Out in the countryside I don’t really get any issues, when heading back home through Cobham and Weybridge, is when it gets dangerous. Roads are narrowing with to much traffic. Because of the A3/M25 junction widening, a lot of cars are using the country lanes at silly speeds to save a few minutes. Last year I had an artic lorry overtake on a slight right bend, half way through his manoeuvre, he ended up within three inches off me because a car came around the corner in the opposite direction. I was stuck between the high kerb and his wheels. I thought it was game over for me. A week or so later, a tractor overtook me just as I was approaching a small roundabout. A lady came alongside me as I was turning right at a small roundabout using hand signals and she was turning left, and she did! Often had cars pass me very close at stupid speeds on country roads. Another cyclist in front of me was getting real bad verbal abuse because he was riding around three feet off the road edge in a country lane. The guy (chav) wanted to break his jaw.
Most car drivers are fine but the minority are putting me right off.
It’s all around the Cobham/ Weybridge area. I can’t avoid it to get home.
The mountain bike riding is awesome, no Agro at all.

 

[Punkawallah]

Logically, as the population (and so road users) increases, so will the number of idiots on the road. Fortunately, there has also been an increase in the road miles built, which should help to keep a steady ratio of ‘idiots per mile’.
While concentrations will inevitably occur, the tendency of idiots to remove themselves from the breeding stock when in concentrations likely makes such concentrations temporary.
For myself, I will not be eschewing the roads, the ‘hack’ will get me in and out of town, and the ‘tourer’ will see me out and about. I have cycled in London, the South, North, East and West, and despite some interesting interpretations of the Highway Code, have only been hit by a vehicle twice in over 50 years of cycling (both times by female drivers). I have had more occasions to raise a hand in thanks than a finger in reprobation.
YMMV, Terms and Conditions apply, don’t try this at home.

 

[ianrauk]

It probably depends where you cycle but I would say the vast majority of them have got better but that the minority is getting worse. But I don't really cycle in heavily congested areas of the drivers I've encountered, area wise I think Hertfordshire is the best and the once I cycled to your area on open roads (London) I got knocked off.

Indeed. Don't get me wrong. The vast majority of drivers in London are very good. But the minority that aren't are growing in number.
Why? I have no idea. Perhaps due to the sheer amount of traffic on the roads along with the growth of cycling in London over the years has given some car drivers cause to be more crap at driving, both with intent and unintentionally. Not helped by the massive amount of phone use going on by car drivers causing distractions.

But don't get me wrong again, my fast miles on the A21 dicing with the traffic is a highlight of my day.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Partly. But it's the weather that drives me onto my smart trainer. Time was when I would laugh at sleet and sneer at rain and head out in all conditions. Having the turbo to fall back on (not literally) has made me a lot more wimpy about winter riding. It's only the threat of missing a month in the metric century a month challenge that really forces me out.

I also make more use of trains than I used to, so if I have a ride that starts on the other side of London I get the train across town to the start where in the past I might have slogged through the urban grot. I really dislike riding inside zone 1 in London.

I should point out that all my riding is recreational. I don't cycle for transport, I walk or get public transport.

 

[sevenfourate]

Car drivers don't put me off. They do somewhat determine where / how i ride though.

To be fair: I ride very early in the day and on quiet, smaller back-roads as i can find to avoid humans in general. On foot, on bikes or in cars. They just bring potential conflict when i'm trying to whack out some miles and relax.

If i wanted stress, hassle and conflict; i'd have stayed at work........

 

[Brandane]

Indeed. I think drivers have become more polarised - the better ones seem to be more considerate and courteous, while the worse ones have become real arrissholes.

I don't take the anti-cyclist thing personally. Those nobbers who hate cyclists, hate everybody else too. It's just in their new found entitlement and the realisation that the system panders to them. One day karma will get them, they will meet someone bigger and badder who hates even more than they do!

 

[teeonethousand]

I too have had a couple of daft drivers , motorcyclists (I am also one) and walkers...but not put off. Same would happen on any transport and I love being out in the countryside.

The cold however....increasingly I cannot bear it so wimp out and exercise indoors...today for instance 😂

 

[sevenfourate]

The cold however....increasingly I cannot bear it so wimp out and exercise indoors...today for instance 😂

Right ! No cycling for me recently. And my Morning dog-walks have been the bare minimum. The relentless dark (I'm sure my variant of SAD get's worse the older i get) and cold means i literally get zero enjoyment from it / either. So i abstain as far as 2-wheeled motion goes.

I do have a Holiday in Tenerife coming up. Supposed to be around 23 degrees C. Hopefully thats sparks the exercise module in my brain....

 

[Drago]

Agricultural tractors are dreadful, a law to themselves

Absolutely. When I was in the dibble, up until about 2005 we had quotas. They were abolished by the government about then as it was determined they were not compatible with an officers discretion.

Anyway, if ones quotas were a bit low I'd simply head out of town and prowl robustly patrol and id tug the first agricultural vehicle I saw for a document check - not once did I stop an agricultural vehicle and not identify some kind of offence, often quite serious ones. Not once, ever.

The impression I got was that they didn't think the law applied to them and they'd be most affronted when it was suggested that actually it did.