At last I'm a Real Cyclist!

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Almost got knocked off today by a speeding motorist, shooting out onto
the roundabout I was riding around. He obviously didn't see me and by
the time he realised and did manage to stop, he was a full car length
onto the roundabout. Luckily it was very quiet and I could swerve out of
the way and make use of the space to avoid him (two lane wide
roundabout). I might not have been very charitable in the comments I
shouted at the driver before I got on with getting to work...

Anyhow - after three years of commuting by cycle I now feel that I at
last qualify as a true cyclist!

Steve C

On Tue, 20 May 2008 21:22:34 +0100, Steve C wrote:

> Almost got knocked off today by a speeding motorist, shooting out onto
> the roundabout I was riding around. He obviously didn't see me and by
> the time he realised and did manage to stop, he was a full car length
> onto the roundabout. Luckily it was very quiet and I could swerve out of
> the way and make use of the space to avoid him (two lane wide
> roundabout). I might not have been very charitable in the comments I
> shouted at the driver before I got on with getting to work...
>
> Anyhow - after three years of commuting by cycle I now feel that I at
> last qualify as a true cyclist!

All in a days work, welcome to the club!

This morning I encountered:

* 1 red ford focus trying to drive into the side of me on a roundabout -
he was driving the wrong way down a 1 way street (also a
pedestrianised zone).
* 1 female driver with fag in mouth driving very fast
towards me on the wrong side of the road outside a school forcing me to
swerve and stop while she drove through the road narrowing, where the
signs and markings very clearly said she had to give way to me.
* Two drivers cutting corners in front of me while I was approaching a
right turn (positioned near the centre and arm out indicating what I was
doing).

Maybe you live in an area where car drivers are slightly more tolerant
of cyclists <g>

peter

Steve C wrote:
> Almost got knocked off today by a speeding motorist, shooting out onto
> the roundabout I was riding around. He obviously didn't see me and by
> the time he realised and did manage to stop, he was a full car length
> onto the roundabout. Luckily it was very quiet and I could swerve out of
> the way and make use of the space to avoid him (two lane wide
> roundabout). I might not have been very charitable in the comments I
> shouted at the driver before I got on with getting to work...
>
> Anyhow - after three years of commuting by cycle I now feel that I at
> last qualify as a true cyclist!

Three years!
(Mind boggles) where do you live?

In the last four days of commuting I have been shouted at on three
occasions[1], had cars pull out and drive straight at me more than three
times, had to brake for cars pulling out in front of me a couple of
times, had to brake for cars overtaking and then swerving in front and
braking a few times of times.

And one guy who thought it would be fun to start honking his horn at me
as I was passing parked cars. This was the first stretch of road where I
did not have another vehicle in front, and was about to try and get some
speed up. Of course I just stopped pedalling.

There was also the occasion last week where a taxi nearly hit me as I
was crossing a pelican crossing (on foot) with the lights in my favour.

[1] The first time the passenger called me a n*gger, and I don't even
have a mild tan.

naked_draughtsman wrote:

> Maybe you live in an area where car drivers are slightly more tolerant
> of cyclists <g>
>
> peter

I live in the sticks (Telford, Shropshire) and to be fair most motorists
are really considerate, although we have our fair share of cretins as
well...

Steve C

Martin wrote:
>
> Steve C wrote:
>> Almost got knocked off today by a speeding motorist, shooting out onto
>> the roundabout I was riding around. He obviously didn't see me and by
>> the time he realised and did manage to stop, he was a full car length
>> onto the roundabout. Luckily it was very quiet and I could swerve out
>> of the way and make use of the space to avoid him (two lane wide
>> roundabout). I might not have been very charitable in the comments I
>> shouted at the driver before I got on with getting to work...
>>
>> Anyhow - after three years of commuting by cycle I now feel that I at
>> last qualify as a true cyclist!
>
> Three years!
> (Mind boggles) where do you live?
>
> In the last four days of commuting I have been shouted at on three
> occasions[1], had cars pull out and drive straight at me more than three
> times, had to brake for cars pulling out in front of me a couple of
> times, had to brake for cars overtaking and then swerving in front and
> braking a few times of times.
>
> And one guy who thought it would be fun to start honking his horn at me
> as I was passing parked cars. This was the first stretch of road where I
> did not have another vehicle in front, and was about to try and get some
> speed up. Of course I just stopped pedalling.
>
> There was also the occasion last week where a taxi nearly hit me as I
> was crossing a pelican crossing (on foot) with the lights in my favour.
>
> [1] The first time the passenger called me a n*gger, and I don't even
> have a mild tan.

okay - maybe I'm still a POB! :-)

Glad I don't live where you do.

"Martin" <martin.dann@virgin.net> wrote in message
news:cWGYj.25045$U61.17584@newsfe12.ams2...
>
> Steve C wrote:
>> Almost got knocked off today by a speeding motorist, shooting out onto
>> the roundabout I was riding around. He obviously didn't see me and by the
>> time he realised and did manage to stop, he was a full car length onto
>> the roundabout. Luckily it was very quiet and I could swerve out of the
>> way and make use of the space to avoid him (two lane wide roundabout). I
>> might not have been very charitable in the comments I shouted at the
>> driver before I got on with getting to work...
>>
>> Anyhow - after three years of commuting by cycle I now feel that I at
>> last qualify as a true cyclist!
>
> Three years!
> (Mind boggles) where do you live?
>
> In the last four days of commuting I have been shouted at on three
> occasions[1], had cars pull out and drive straight at me more than three
> times, had to brake for cars pulling out in front of me a couple of times,
> had to brake for cars overtaking and then swerving in front and braking a
> few times of times.
>
> And one guy who thought it would be fun to start honking his horn at me as
> I was passing parked cars. This was the first stretch of road where I did
> not have another vehicle in front, and was about to try and get some speed
> up. Of course I just stopped pedalling.
>
> There was also the occasion last week where a taxi nearly hit me as I was
> crossing a pelican crossing (on foot) with the lights in my favour.
>
> [1] The first time the passenger called me a n*gger, and I don't even have
> a mild tan.

Where do you live? I only rarely receive any aggression from motorists and I
live in the overcrowded SE. Even cycling around Salford and Manchester I
haven't had any problems.

Adam Lea writtificated

> Where do you live? I only rarely receive any aggression from motorists
> and I live in the overcrowded SE. Even cycling around Salford and
> Manchester I haven't had any problems.

I cycle around Manchester too, and very rarely get any aggression despite
good road positioning. I've friends (of similar age, build and appearance)
who seem to be magnets for aggressive twunts. Experience suggests that
riding style is the 'problem'. IMHO too much primary position is as bad as
too little.

Adam Lea wrote:
> "Martin" <martin.dann@virgin.net> wrote in message

>> Three years!
>> (Mind boggles) where do you live?
>>
>> In the last four days of commuting I have been shouted at on three
>> occasions[1], had cars pull out and drive straight at me more than three
>> times, had to brake for cars pulling out in front of me a couple of times,
>> had to brake for cars overtaking and then swerving in front and braking a
>> few times of times.

> Where do you live? I only rarely receive any aggression from motorists and I
> live in the overcrowded SE. Even cycling around Salford and Manchester I
> haven't had any problems.

Sunny Bristol. Actually the being shouted at was a bit unusual, but it
is rare for me to have a day without incident.

The behaviour of the average road user does seem a lot worse than in SE
England (excluding London).

Mark T wrote:
> Adam Lea writtificated
>
>> Where do you live? I only rarely receive any aggression from motorists
>> and I live in the overcrowded SE. Even cycling around Salford and
>> Manchester I haven't had any problems.
>
> I cycle around Manchester too, and very rarely get any aggression despite
> good road positioning. I've friends (of similar age, build and appearance)
> who seem to be magnets for aggressive twunts. Experience suggests that
> riding style is the 'problem'. IMHO too much primary position is as bad as
> too little.

I always pull into primary position when passing parked cars,
negotiating roundabouts and many junctions or cycling down Toronto Road,
but I remain in the secondary more than some people here recommend.

It is passing parked cars and Toronto Road when I get the most hassle.
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?num=25&ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&q=Bri&ll=51.496711,-2.579545&spn=0.000942,0.00294&t=h&z=19

Martin.

On Tue, 20 May 2008, Adam Lea <asrl07@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
> Where do you live? I only rarely receive any aggression from
> motorists and I live in the overcrowded SE.

I think it's too variable over too small an area for that sort of
comment to make much difference. I live in the SE. I used to have a
commute where I rarely had problems - practically no aggression (say,
once a year) and motorists doing something stupid that required urgent
evasive action on my part maybe once a month.

Then my place of work changed. I'm now cycling from the same place,
about the same distance, but NW from home rather than W. Now I get
aggression (hooting or revving or bullying positioning) a couple of
times a week, and need to take evasive action almost daily. In my
first year of the new commute I was deliberately run off the road
(requiring trip in ambulance and some attention in A&E but not
admitted) once, hit by a car which didn't knock me off (but didn't
stop either) once and have had serious threats (eg car pulls
alongside, driver gestures then swerves at me) a couple of times.
Once a driver, having sweared and swerved at me, pulled off the road
about a mile further on, got out of his car and lunged at me as I rode
past.

And all this occurs within three miles of my previous substantially
trouble-free commute. Sometimes, for an easy life I cycle from work
to where I used to work then on to home from there - it's 60% further,
but it's much less troublesome.

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|

In news:48333d83$0$58080$c5fe31e7@reader.usenet4all.se,
Steve C <sc99cs@googlemail.com> tweaked the Babbage-Engine to tell us:
> naked_draughtsman wrote:
>
>> Maybe you live in an area where car drivers are slightly more
>> tolerant of cyclists <g>
>>
>> peter
>
> I live in the sticks (Telford, Shropshire) and to be fair most
> motorists are really considerate, although we have our fair share of
> cretins as well...

The evidence suggest that many of your cretins are gainfully employed by the
local ecilop...

--
Dave Larrington
<http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk>
I am the Disgruntled Employee; I am the New Face of Labour
Relations.

> Anyhow - after three years of commuting by cycle I now feel that I at
> last qualify as a true cyclist!

Nah! You're not a Real Cyclist until you instinctively apply the 'brakes' to
your shopping trolley when going through Sainsburys.

--
Peter Fox

Martin said the following on 21/05/2008 00:08:

> Sunny Bristol. Actually the being shouted at was a bit unusual, but it
> is rare for me to have a day without incident.
>
> The behaviour of the average road user does seem a lot worse than in SE
> England (excluding London).

I'm glad to have escaped Bristol. The general standard of driving there
is appalling - very aggressive and no-one gives a stuff about any other
road user, no matter what type.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

On 21 May 2008 07:06:56 GMT, Ian Smith <ian@astounding.org.uk> wrote:

>On Tue, 20 May 2008, Adam Lea <asrl07@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>> Where do you live? I only rarely receive any aggression from
>> motorists and I live in the overcrowded SE.
>
>I think it's too variable over too small an area for that sort of
>comment to make much difference. I live in the SE. I used to have a
>commute where I rarely had problems - practically no aggression (say,
>once a year) and motorists doing something stupid that required urgent
>evasive action on my part maybe once a month.
>
>Then my place of work changed. I'm now cycling from the same place,
>about the same distance, but NW from home rather than W. Now I get
>aggression (hooting or revving or bullying positioning) a couple of
>times a week, and need to take evasive action almost daily. In my
>first year of the new commute I was deliberately run off the road
>(requiring trip in ambulance and some attention in A&E but not
>admitted) once, hit by a car which didn't knock me off (but didn't
>stop either) once and have had serious threats (eg car pulls
>alongside, driver gestures then swerves at me) a couple of times.
>Once a driver, having sweared and swerved at me, pulled off the road
>about a mile further on, got out of his car and lunged at me as I rode
>past.
>
>And all this occurs within three miles of my previous substantially
>trouble-free commute. Sometimes, for an easy life I cycle from work
>to where I used to work then on to home from there - it's 60% further,
>but it's much less troublesome.

My experiences are more akin to yours (but not quite as bad) than the
OP's. I have noticed a gradual decline in standards of driving and a
gradual increase in agression over the years, rather than any step
change.

Narrow roads and near schools seem to be the worst places and,
unfortunately, there are a lot of those on my way to work :-(

I've tried experimenting with primary position and secondary position
where appropriate but it doesn't seem to make any difference except
for the way drivers cut me up! For example yesterday, where I used to
ride closer to the kerb and had drivers overtake too close, I got a
driver following me with his bumper less than 6 inches from my back
wheel whilst revving his engine. I'm afraid this brought out my
stubborn streak and I kept him there rather than pull in to let him
past when safe.

--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there. If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.
See http://improve-usenet.org

"Mark T"
<pleasegivegenerously@warmail*turn_up_the_heat_to_reply*.com.invalid>
wrote in message news:Xns9AA516C84EF6wibbled@130.133.1.4...
> Adam Lea writtificated
>
>> Where do you live? I only rarely receive any aggression from
>> motorists
>> and I live in the overcrowded SE. Even cycling around Salford and
>> Manchester I haven't had any problems.
>
> I cycle around Manchester too, and very rarely get any aggression
> despite
> good road positioning. I've friends (of similar age, build and
> appearance)
> who seem to be magnets for aggressive twunts. Experience suggests
> that
> riding style is the 'problem'. IMHO too much primary position is
> as bad as
> too little.

I will second that. There's an art to staying out just enough so
that the driver thinks it's the road's fault that he can't overtake,
not your fault

Jeremy Parker

On Wed, 21 May 2008 14:00:02 +0100 someone who may be Mark
<i@getlotsofspamthankstoplus.net> wrote this:-

>For example yesterday, where I used to
>ride closer to the kerb and had drivers overtake too close, I got a
>driver following me with his bumper less than 6 inches from my back
>wheel whilst revving his engine. I'm afraid this brought out my
>stubborn streak and I kept him there rather than pull in to let him
>past when safe.

Quite right too. The secondary position should only be adopted if it
will not increase danger. That condition was not met in your case.
Had the driver dropped back and stopped revving his engine then it
would have been time to re-evaluate.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

On Wed, 21 May 2008 07:06:56 +0000, Ian Smith wrote:
> And all this occurs within three miles of my previous substantially
> trouble-free commute. Sometimes, for an easy life I cycle from work
> to where I used to work then on to home from there - it's 60% further,
> but it's much less troublesome.

I do the same since being hit by a bus in town on the 1.5 mile route to
work.

The routes I now do are much better. (un)fortunately it seems that the
longer your route the better it gets - I'm up to 20 miles now!

peter

Paul Boyd wrote:

>
> I'm glad to have escaped Bristol. The general standard of driving there
> is appalling - very aggressive and no-one gives a stuff about any other
> road user, no matter what type.
>
Hmm - whenever I go home from London to Bristol I am appalled by the
driving. They don't seem to expect to use the brake. That said my worst
experience locally is to be signalling right on the right side of the
lane and for someone to accelerate and overtake on the wrong side of the
road. Happens about once in two years. Lucky I hear them coming.

Paul

--
CTC Right to Ride Rep. for Richmond upon Thames

Mark wrote:
<snip>
>
> Narrow roads and near schools seem to be the worst places and,
> unfortunately, there are a lot of those on my way to work :-(
>
<snip>

I work in a school in the SE and have an 11 mile commute mostly along
narrow country roads and ending in a secondary school in a Surrey
village. The narrow roads are awkward because there is no room, but
somehow the traffic seems to manage. The problem areas are the
approaches to the school ("I have a Chelsea Tractor so I go first you
git-on-a-bike") and the built-up area at the beginning of the commute
where people are negotiating road junctions and roundabouts. I have now
been knocked off twice by drivers not seeing me at the same bl**dy
roundabout. The only good thing about all this is the speed with which I
have managed to upgrade from a Dawes Audax to a Pinarello Sestriere.

Terry

"Mark" <i@getlotsofspamthankstoplus.net> wrote in message
news:gr68345rd7qbmgcqom729t2ofpj7rrkr1g@4ax.com...
> I'm afraid this brought out my
> stubborn streak and I kept him there rather than pull in to let him
> past when safe.
>

Hmm not sure I would have done that myself. I would rather pull in where
safe and let the bastard pass and thus be well away from me, rather than
fuel his anger even more by deliberatly holding him up.