I saw a classic example of cycling stupidity this morning when a lycra-clad idiot went through a red light (south to north) and managed to get themselves stranded in the middle of a yellow box junction once the east-west/west-east traffic flow commenced. Not only was he stuck there but he was sideways on to the traffic as he'd intended to turn right. He was doing a funny kind of shuffle backwards and forwards as he attempted to manouvre his wheels out of the way of traffic passing him in both directions. Needless to say it wasn't his fault judging by his numerous gesticulations at the drivers who had the audacity to drive across the junction when the lights were green for them, clearly they should all have stopped and waved him through....

I've recently started cycling again after about 20 years, got a hand-me-down bike and some cheap as chips gear - just for getting to rugby training and the gym, not really as a pastime.

Been fine so far, my only run-ins were some daft bint beeping furiously at me for having the audacity to cycle in a clearly marked cycle lane, and another daft bint who decided to turn across my path into a road, misjudged it and spun the car towards me, leading to some urgent evasive action. Both got a piece of my mind.

I do my best to abide by the rules and be a good boy - frankly I'm glad to have a rest at red lights sometimes. However there's one right turn on my route to training that's just too busy and narrow and I prefer to cross a little earlier and use the pavement - about 40 metres in total. I've not met any pedestrians there yet and go with extreme care. Cycle lanes are a huge help.

As a driver I've never found cyclists annoying but they do present an obstacle that can be difficult to pass safely at times. I've seen cyclists riding two abreast several times and others happily going along down the middle of the road. Had a big run-in with two young lads who shot across a roundabout from the left, one on the pavement and the other on the wrong side of the road. One of them would have been dead if I'd not braked hard. They came back looking for a fight after I beeped them and it ended with one being dragged home by his mum for a bollocking.

As we seem to be allowing selected links, have a look here http://youtu.be/3V37xHRA4C0

As we seem to be allowing selected links, have a look here http://youtu.be/3V37xHRA4C0

--dp--

People always like to mention a 'stupid cyclist incident' but if i mentioned every stupid motorist incident, i'd have to dedicate a whole new topic and probably get to the 100 page rule within a fortnight.

I'm neither a motorist nor a cyclist, and I've seen stupidity from both. But I've never been assaulted by a motorist or spat on by a motorist or threatened by a motorist.

Big Graeme wrote:As we seem to be allowing selected links, have a look here http://youtu.be/3V37xHRA4C0 In their rush to reinforce the idea that the safety of cyclists on the road is the sole preserve of the cyclist and not that of the operator of half a ton of metal they neglected to put any lights on the rear of their example well behaved bike. £500k well spent.

Big Graeme wrote:As we seem to be allowing selected links, have a look here http://youtu.be/3V37xHRA4C0 In their rush to reinforce the idea that the safety of cyclists on the road is the sole preserve of the cyclist and not that of the operator of half a ton of metal they neglected to put any lights on the rear of their example well behaved bike. £500k well spent.

I've had the latter two. I suspect I'd have had all three if I hadn't got off, walked up to him and looked down on to the top of his head. In the five years I've been commuting on a bike it remains my only cross word with any motorist.

Everyone's problem here is thinking of these people as cyclists, motorists and pedestrians. Those things are just their chosen mode of transport in that given moment, and they're no indication at all of how much of a d1ckhead they are likely to be.

Incidentally, with regard to cyclists and pedestrians, in the Netherlands the assumption of guilt flows towards the stronger party. Unless it can be proven otherwise then in any incident involving a bike and a car the blame lies with the driver. This is also true of any incident involving a bike and a pedestrian and the blame then falls on the bike rider. Denmark and Germany also do something similar.

I suspect this has a far greater influence on the differences in the behaviour of people riding bikes and driving cars here when compared with the continent than the typical choice of bike does. As much as the infrastructure it is these attitudes, which had to be fought for, that have enabled cycling as a practical activity in those countries. There is of course also a much more general acceptance that people on bikes are actually things like brothers and sisters and wives and husbands and sons and daughters, and not just this weird hi-viz clad sub-species of a thing that doesn't pay a non-existent tax.

As a Motorist I probably get wound up by other incosiderate stupid Car drivers who don't know what they are doing and don't understand how to get in the right lane for instance more than cyclists. The new saddle junction near me is a classic example, the left lane is clearly marked for a49 and a571, so it goes into 2 lanes, the right lane quite clearly for the a577 and another road, yet everytime I'm in the correct lane I can guarantee that as i go into the lane for the a571 the driver in the right hand lane who should go up the a577 will always cut across and then throw a lot of of abuse completely oblivious. /rant over

anyway back on topic. I've seen near me a few things lately that have left me a bit perplexed. A cyclist going down the road at night wearing all black clothes with no lights on his back and a broken reflector on the back of his bike, I was surprised at how much I struggled to see him but thankfully I did as I got closer. I've seen them go through red lights and go 2 abreast on numerous occasions too. Seeing a cyclist go up the inside of a car or large vehicle is something that always makes me wince a bit too as I did see a cyclist get knocked off going up the inside of a van that was turning left a few years ago. Maybe a lot of it is down to Education, or a lack of it.

I remember at my old School they used to do safety courses for cyclists but for some reason by the time I was at the age to do it the school stopped giving the training. I remember being quite dissapointed because it was something I'd always wanted to do. And I'm not sure if it's something that happens in Schools anymore.

It is quite scary knowing that someone can just get on a bike, whack on a high vis and a helmet and go straight onto a main road without ever even looking at a highway code.

Equally though for every story I can think of involving a cyclist, I can think of dozens more involving people behind the wheel of a car.

I think it's a very British thing to just be very selfish road user's which at times makes it an every man for himself sort of scenario. Some motorists and some cyclists equally have stinking attitudes towards the roads in this country imo and it is one of the reasons I hate driving at the moment.

I have also occasionally started going on my bike too work occasionally, although it is only a short 2 mile journey, I'll probably get some abuse for this but a small part of the journey I go on the pavement and the rest is down the canal. Of course I don't go fast and make sure I give priority to any pedestrians, not that it makes it ok to be using the pavement. I just feel far to vulnerable on the road.


Maybe the reason for things being so much better in Holland for cyclists is the attitude of both cyclists and motorists. From my visits to Amsterdam I get the impression that attitudes are very different than over here.