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AIBU?

To have been annoyed with the cyclists

232 replies

EverybodyLovesWine · 10/05/2013 11:44

On the way back from visiting a friend yesterday I was behind two cyclists in the proper Lycra gear riding two abreast.

The roads were single carriage way roads through villages with on comjng traffic, corners, parked cars etc. I was not confident to overtake but the cyclists didn't move over for a good ten mins ( where the road widened out a bit anyway).

There was a LONG queue of traffic behind me and I was getting a bit stressed, even though of turning into a side road so I wasn't first. I am not an aggressive driver but wondering if I should have beeped them. They turned round a few times so certainly knew I was there.

Just as the road widened the man behind shouted loudly at them and gestured as he passed.

AIBU to have been really annoyed with the riders (the words arrogant tossers were going through my mind) as they should have pulled over IMO, should I have been more forthright with my driving? Or perhaps I should not have been annoyed and was in fact an arrogant tosser of a car driver!

OP posts:
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TravelinColour · 10/05/2013 11:47

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sue52 · 10/05/2013 11:48

Due consideration for other road users applies to bikers too. Very selfish of them.

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Pootles2010 · 10/05/2013 11:48

If you werent' confident overtaking them, then there wouldn't have been room for you to go round them anyway would there?

Windy roads and waiting for tractors/horses/cyclists parr for course I'm afraid.

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DeepRedBetty · 10/05/2013 11:52

I disagree Travelin I was taught to give cyclists a car's width when overtaking, so if they're side by side then you wouldn't be able to overtake at all, even if you could see the road was clear well ahead, without passing less than a car's width from the one nearest the middle of the road, whereas if they'd been OBEYING THE RULES they could be overtaken safely.

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WilsonFrickett · 10/05/2013 11:54

Why do you think they should have pulled over? Would you have expected another car to pull over?

They were riding defensively, probably because it wouldn't have been safe to overtake one of them. (You say the split as the road widened - ie as soon as it was safe, they made it easy for you to over take).

They are entitled to take space in the road, for their own safety. That said, I know the pressure of the queue behind you can make you doubt your decisions!

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DeepRedBetty · 10/05/2013 11:55

Wonder if one of them was the same one as was doing 55 in a 30 limit the other day as he'd just kept on going after free-wheeling down a very long hill? Then started waving his arms at me for slowing him down?

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Pootles2010 · 10/05/2013 11:55

But it was a narrow road, so there wouldn't be space anyway? I imagine that's why they were two abreast, for their own safety - hence why then went single file when it widened out.

If they'd been nice they could have waved OP round when they could see the way was clear though.

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WilsonFrickett · 10/05/2013 11:56

The roads were single carriage way roads through villages with on comjng traffic, corners, parked cars

But deep it doesn't sound like you could have given them a car's width, and they were riding defensively to stop drivers trying to overtake anyway, giving them less than a width.

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PatPig · 10/05/2013 11:58

Sounds like the cyclists moved over as soon as it was safe to do so.

What is the problem here?

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EuroShaggleton · 10/05/2013 12:00

wilson it's very common for slow moving motor vehicles (tractors, etc) to pull over every so often to let cars pass.

The cyclists were inconsiderate, but you were right not to beep the horn at them. There is no point doing something that might trigger a nasty road ragey incident (although in this case you probably would have been using the horn for its intended purpose - to alert another road user to your presence).

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PatPig · 10/05/2013 12:00

DeepRedBetty, I don't believe a cyclist was doing 55mph in a 30mph limit. That's like Tour De France stuff. Did you have a radar gun?

But anyway, speed limits do not apply to cyclists, except in a few special cases (Richmond Park, Bournemouth sea front).

And it's no true that you need to give cyclists a car's width, you should give them as much space as you would when overtaking a car. Which isn't necessarily a car's width, it depends on your speed and theirs. And there is no rule saying cyclists should not cycle two abreast.

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PatPig · 10/05/2013 12:02

EuroShaggleton, given that the cyclists had turned round and looked her in the eye, that would not be appropriate use of the horn, since they were clearly aware of her.

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FannyFifer · 10/05/2013 12:07

Is it not just bad manners to be cycling side by side? I thought they had to be in single file.

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AThingInYourLife · 10/05/2013 12:13

"Is it not just bad manners to be cycling side by side? I thought they had to be in single file."

No, it is not.

And no, they do not.

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IrritatingInfinity · 10/05/2013 12:22

Yanbu. I cycle in groups a lot. We always switch to single file if a car comes if we are cycling along country lanes. It is good manners and it is not difficult to do.
It's rude to hold up traffic just so you can chat to your pals.
I often ride two abreast as it makes us more visible to cars and it is nice to chat as you cycle along and sometimes it is unavoidable that you have to hold traffic up for a short while.

I never run red lights either.

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FredFredGeorge · 10/05/2013 12:53

A lot of cyclists do unnecessarily annoy drivers, it does not sound particularly in this instance that they did. They were perhaps excessively defensive by holding their position until they were comfortable that it was safe to overtake. But it's not unreasonable and people do similar things in cars by adjusting their road positions.

10 minutes though is an extremely long time for there to be no appropriate passing places for them to pull over / slow and single up. I don't know of many roads around here where you'd actually get a number of cars behind you for that long and not have any opportunity - you'd need to be riding very slowly, which means the space required for an overtake is minimal.

So yes I'd say the cyclists were rude here - it's quite common though, like drivers, horse riders, walkers, pogo-stickers there's an unfortunate number who are just arses and don't make the small allowances required to make it work well for everyone. Most aren't like that of course.

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andubelievedthat · 10/05/2013 13:01

do not overtake a cyclist unless you can be sure ? that if they were to fall from bike to the right as you overtake ,you will avoid hitting them.thats what I was taught,and peeps do fall off their bike.

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PatPig · 10/05/2013 13:06

Car drivers tend to exaggerate the extent of their inconvenience IMO. I've had motorists go crazy over 10 seconds, never mind 10 minutes.

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redexpat · 10/05/2013 13:23

From the highway code:

You should never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends.

Although having said that I have also read that men tend to have fewer accidents because they are more assertive when on a bike. So perhaps they thought it wasnt safe for you to overtake, and that pulling over would make you think it was safe to overtake.

I'm sure you're a wonderful motorist but there are plenty who aren't, and they were playing it safe.

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BMW6 · 10/05/2013 13:34

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PatPig · 10/05/2013 13:36

Charming.

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Fakebook · 10/05/2013 13:36

Yanbu. I really really do have a bad time with cyclists, as a driver and a pedestrian. It is very arrogant and rude to do what they did. They should have been riding behind one another, and if they wanted a conversation whilst cycling, they could have bought a tandem bike. Idiots.

This morning a cyclist nearly ran over my dd when we were crossing the road. Instead of stopping to let us cross (we had already committed to crossing and the cyclist had just arrived to turn right at the junction) she missed dd by a fraction of a second. if I hadn't pulled dd back it would have been a bad accident. She left us in a vulnerable position as I pulled dd back in the middle of the road. The stupid cow didn't even stop and apologise.

I think a lot of cyclists have some kind of a death wish. Don't even get me started about the ones that cycle with headphones in their ears.

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EverybodyLovesWine · 10/05/2013 13:38

I am cautious over taking cyclists, but I could probably have safely overtaken one who was at the kerb at a few points.

To be fair it hadn't occurred to me they were "playing it safe" . I had always thought that cyclists were supposed to be single file

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Gubbins · 10/05/2013 13:39

Sounds like they were doing the most sensible thing. On a narrow road with parked cars and bends it would almost certainly not have been safe for a car to have overtaken a single cyclist. Because that's something that is ignored by a good proportion of drivers, they were protecting themselves by making it impossible for you to take a risk with their lives. As soon as it was safe, they went single file to let you pass. You did the right thing in not beeping, the guy behind you who shouted was an arse.

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PatPig · 10/05/2013 13:41

Whereas a car actually ran over someone's dd this morning, and that dd is now actually dead.

Do get some perspective, cyclists do not represent any kind to you or your children. Some cyclists ride without consideration, but whereas there are tens of thousands of serious injuries and deaths caused by motor vehicles, you are more likely to be killed by a bull than a cyclist.

I see twisted railings, dented walls, the aftermath of motorists driving like cunts every time I leave the house. My kids can't walk to school alone because selfish cunts in their cars don't stick to the speed limit, and they very many think that school children are a nuisance.

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