Wind

BigRab said:

I took up a LOT of the road on the rest of the way home and the drivers
were magnificent (there, I've said it!) oh, except for the driving
instructor who blasted his horn at me for being well out in the lane
(on a DC).

I seem to get more abuse for taking the lane where there's an additional
lane for following vehicles to overtake than on single carriageway roads,
though one would expect the opposite. No idea why, though I guess it must
make sense to the irate cagers responsible.

Regards,

-david

On 12 Jan 2005 03:23:00 -0800 someone who may be "BigRab"
<[email hidden]> wrote this:-

Quoted message said:

I took up a LOT of the road on the rest of the way home and the drivers
were magnificent (there, I've said it!) oh, except for the driving
instructor who blasted his horn at me for being well out in the lane
(on a DC).

There do seem to be rather a high proportion of driving instructors
who should not even be driving a car, let alone teaching others how
to do so.

--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E
I will always explain revoked keys, unless the UK government
prevents me by using the RIP Act 2000.

Quoted message said:

I seem to get more abuse for taking the lane where there's an additional
lane for following vehicles to overtake than on single carriageway roads

Abuse? You might be able to modify your road placement to stop this. I
generally ride in the left hand "tyre track". I get plenty of space when
cagers are overtaking and it doesn't seem to confuse the poor things as
much as riding over on the right side of my lane (I think they think you're
about to do a right turn when over on the right of a lane). Never had any
abuse.

On 12 Jan 2005 03:23:00 -0800, "BigRab" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

except for the driving instructor who blasted his horn at me for being well out in the lane
(on a DC).

I'm sure he was merely "warning you of his presence".

A polite "thank you" wave is the standard reply.

--
Amazon: "If you are interested in 'Asimov's I-Robot',
you may also be interested in 'Garfield - The Movie'.
... erm, how do they figure that one out?

Richard Bates said:

On 12 Jan 2005 03:23:00 -0800, "BigRab" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

except for the driving instructor who blasted his horn at me for
being well out in the lane (on a DC).

I'm sure he was merely "warning you of his presence".

A polite "thank you" wave is the standard reply.

I usually take it as an observation that I am not riding in the primary
riding position so I move out to the primary position and wave my thanks
for their observation ;-)

Tony

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I seem to get more abuse for taking the lane where there's an additional
lane for following vehicles to overtake than on single carriageway roads

It's because the poor dears find it harder to overtake you, you're
forcing them to take extra exercise. If it's single lane, they only
have to keep looking ahead to spot a gap in oncoming traffic to overtake
in. If there's two lanes, they have to go to all the effort of
swivelling their eyeballs a few degrees to check the mirror to make sure
someone's not coming up in the right hand lane as well.

/sarcasm

David Nutter said:

I seem to get more abuse for taking the lane where there's an additional
lane for following vehicles to overtake than on single carriageway roads,
though one would expect the opposite. No idea why, though I guess it must
make sense to the irate cagers responsible.

It's because the poor dears (like novice cyclists) are far more afraid
of what's behind than what's in front. Moving into a lane full of
traffic going the other way is easy, as you can watch them all the
time. Moving into a lane of traffic approaching from behind is far
more complicated, and you might have to make someone slow down, or
even get hooted.

This fear of the unseen behind seems to be an ingrained human
instinct. Is it realistic to expect people to learn to deal with it?

Colin McKenzie

David Nutter said:

I seem to get more abuse for taking the lane where there's an additional
lane for following vehicles to overtake than on single carriageway roads,
though one would expect the opposite. No idea why, though I guess it must
make sense to the irate cagers responsible.

It's because the poor dears (like novice cyclists) are far more afraid
of what's behind than what's in front. Moving into a lane full of
traffic going the other way is easy, as you can watch them all the
time. Moving into a lane of traffic approaching from behind is far
more complicated, and you might have to make someone slow down, or
even get hooted.

This fear of the unseen behind seems to be an ingrained human
instinct. Is it realistic to expect people to learn to deal with it?

Colin McKenzie

Quoted message said:

I usually take it as an observation that I am not riding in the

primary

Quoted message said:

riding position so I move out to the primary position and wave my

thanks

Quoted message said:

for their observation ;-)

LOL Had it not been for the hundred mile an hour wind I would surely
have waved
my 'thanks'.

Robert

Colin McKenzie said:

This fear of the unseen behind seems to be an ingrained human instinct.
Is it realistic to expect people to learn to deal with it?

Colin McKenzie

Yes, it's really not that hard - if it was, cyclists'd have to stop
cycling, and anything not single-carriageway'd have been long since
abandoned...

Fear of the unseen behind is completely different to the ability to mesh
into a lane of overtaking traffic, IMO. I think the inability to mesh
is a lot more about not being so aware of speed and distance and spatial
awareness stuff.

Plus, there's a lot fewer courteous drivers these days. Many *many*
will pass you and not let you pull into *their* lane. Sometimes I've
done it anyway when it's clear they're just being bloody-minded
(deliberately closing a potential gap, for example) - much to their disgust.

Oh how I wish one could press a button and give the offending tosspot
(yes, I realise this might occasionally be me!) a quick blat of static
electricity from his/her seat :-)

--

Velvet

"BigRab" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I usually take it as an observation that I am not riding in the

primary

Quoted message said:

riding position so I move out to the primary position and wave my

thanks

Quoted message said:

for their observation ;-)

LOL Had it not been for the hundred mile an hour wind I would surely
have waved
my 'thanks'.

100mph wind and your out on a pushie???!!! It was bad enough in a car.
[censored].

Mark Thompson said:

Quoted message said:

I seem to get more abuse for taking the lane where there's an additional
lane for following vehicles to overtake than on single carriageway roads

Abuse?

Muffled yelling from rolled down windows, horns and the like. By the time
they've done all that, they would've been able to overtake in the next lane
over, hence my puzzlement.

Quoted message said:

You might be able to modify your road placement to stop this. I
generally ride in the left hand "tyre track".

That is where generally I ride when I wish to take the lane, or slightly
further right in certain situations (e.g. heavy traffic, or I want to turn).
That way I just suffer occasional abuse rather than repeated murder
attempts. 🙂

Quoted message said:

I get plenty of space when
cagers are overtaking and it doesn't seem to confuse the poor things as
much as riding over on the right side of my lane (I think they think you're
about to do a right turn when over on the right of a lane). Never had any
abuse.

It may be a behaviour peculiar to Lincoln[shire], vile place that it is. I
don't recall it happening more than once in Durham. That said, it's hardly
common even here.

Regards,

-david

David Nutter said:

It may be a behaviour peculiar to Lincoln[shire], vile place that it is. I
don't recall it happening more than once in Durham. That said, it's hardly
common even here.

I've had a handful or two of incidents in Durham. Almost all were on the
A690 in the Crook direction with a couple in the town centre.

Colin

Colin McKenzie said:

It's because the poor dears (like novice cyclists) are far more afraid
of what's behind than what's in front. Moving into a lane full of
traffic going the other way is easy, as you can watch them all the
time. Moving into a lane of traffic approaching from behind is far
more complicated, and you might have to make someone slow down, or
even get hooted.

Ah, that makes sense. Weird, twisted sense, mind... 🙂

Regards,

-david

Richard Bates said:

I'm sure he was merely "warning you of his presence".

A polite "thank you" wave is the standard reply.

I find that thumbing the nose demonstrates the appropriate level of
contempt.

gazzafield said:

100mph wind and your out on a pushie???!!! It was bad enough in a car.
[censored].

I think you forgot a smiley there!

Jon

Jon Senior said:

gazzafield said:

100mph wind and your out on a pushie???!!! It was bad enough in
a car.
[censored].

I think you forgot a smiley there!

I don't think he intended one.

--
Dave...

"dkahn400" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Jon Senior said:

gazzafield said:

100mph wind and your out on a pushie???!!! It was bad enough in
a car.
[censored].

I think you forgot a smiley there!

I don't think he intended one.

--
Dave...

*Ding!*

gazzafield said:

*Ding!*

Dong merrily on high?

Depending on many things, a 100mph wind does not preclude cycling.

Pushies include trikes and a recumbent trike would (I imagine) be more
shielded from crosswinds and less susceptible to unintentional movement.

Since the wind keeps many cars off the roads, there is a lot less grief
to be had from other cars, and those that are left seem more inclined to
leave room.

Calling someone a "[censored]" for choosing (Or having little choice) to
ride a bike in strong winds, without any knowledge of their skill or the
circumstances marks you as an example of name calling between various
kitchen heating receptacles. Try writing more than two sentences and an
insult in a post. The resulting time delay may make you reconsider your
words.

Jon