They're everywhere

[lulubel]

Since I've been in Spain (and a bit of time in France), I'd come to conclude that the morons were mostly located in the UK, and there wasn't much to worry about here.

How wrong I was!

I got out early today to avoid the worst of the heat, and my ride coincided with the morning rush hour. I probably experienced more close overtakes today than in my last month of cycling, and it's a good thing I'm a pretty calm cyclist, or I might have gone off the road when a car driver decided to overtake me by driving straight into the path of an oncoming coach. I'm still not sure how the coach driver missed him .....

It felt just like being home ....

 

[blockend]

The jerks are different on the continent. In France they'll be driving a lot quicker and possibly pissed but unlike the UK motorists don't generally behave as though cyclists have no right be be on the road. Spain has a pretty macho approach to road space (as do Latin countries generally IME) but if you're going to get cut up in an I-never-saw-him way in Europe he'll likely carrying GB plates or in a hire car.
Never take primary in Turkey. Might is right and the loudest horn comes second.

 

[HLaB]

I've only cycled in Spain once (600miles iirc), so my conclusions aren't 100% valid ;-) but the only time I had a problem with close OTs was on the road to Pego I actually got off and took the parallel cycle path then, but the rain and wind then probably didn't help the way I was feeling but apart from that short 5 miles I can's say I had a problem on any other roads.

 

[NormanD]

Invite me over with a free return flight for a couple of weeks and I'll find out what the Spanish drivers are like for myself

The Uk drivers in the North East must be in a very good mood today as I even blocked WVM for a mile and he didn't complain once, not even a toot on his horn or any verbal abuse

 

[lulubel]

Spain has a pretty macho approach to road space (as do Latin countries generally IME) but if you're going to get cut up in an I-never-saw-him way in Europe he'll likely carrying GB plates or in a hire car.

Agreed on the UK plates, or RHD with Spanish plates. Those are the ones who seem to like getting alongside you, then just moving in, even if there's a totally clear road for miles ahead.

There seems to be a general attitude of getting close to other vehicles and fixed obstacles here that you don't see in the UK (you also notice how many cars are covered in scrapes and dents). Actually, this morning, most of them weren't getting THAT close to me, but they were passing in stupid places and forcing cars coming the other way to cross the edge of road line. It felt a bit scary because it could so easily go wrong, and I was the vulnerable one if cars hit each other and started flying in random directions. I ended up riding about 3 miles in primary until I got out of the commuter route.

The coach situation was just crazy, but I remember car drivers doing that when I drove buses - a kind of "if I pretend it isn't there, it will disappear" attitude.

 

[Globalti]

I believe British drivers have different tolerances to others. Our roads are amongst the most congested and constricted in the world and we learn to drive very close to other road users. My brother brought his American wife and her brother over for a week and both of them went into a state of near-catatonic culture shock at the driving, flinching every time a car passed and going to bed as soon as they reached their evening hotels, refusing to get up, having room service only and asking constantly if it would be possible to head straight back to Michigan. My brother was devastated as he wanted them to enjoy his native country.

They experienced the same shock as we do when we first arrive in a country like India or Pakistan or many African cities.

 

[HLaB]

Hows the hip "HLab" ?

Not too bad it wasn't as bad as I feared, thanks, it recovered to a sharp bruise on Sunday for the club run, only really hurting when it was pressed or walking up stairs. It was a bit of an eventful run though! Going through Cowie, the bloke at the front (immediately in front of me) decided to accelerate to draft a truck, it went straight over a speed cushion without breaking (no fault there) but he didn't see the cushion and went head over heels right in front of me. I tried my best to avoid him but his legs took me down on to the same hip, ouch luckily my skinny saddle somehow took the brunt of the impact and although the bruise was a bit bigger I was able to move it almost immediately and walk without a limp. The other bloke ended up in Stirling Infirmary but a few hours later he was posting on FB that it looked worse than it was, which was a relief, he took a dull one