Can someone explain what the craic is with cyclists.

[KevTM]

Well i was on a nice country road, about 500 yards ahead it was going in to a 30 zone so i overtook the car in front of me that was doing 40mph (i was doing about 65mph at the time of overtaking) and long before i got to the 300 yard marker i was slowing down to 30mph and a cyclist going in the opposite direction pointed at me, shook his head and made some sort of gesture... i don't know what gesture he was making with his hand though.. i thought he was warning me of police ahead as i seen a cyclist wearing high-viz gear but it was just your average joe..

so what was his craic and is it a fairly common event regarding safety concious, fitness freaked cyclists?

as far as i'm concerned the overtake was safe, i wasn't over the limit that significantly and i was already slowing down to a more than respectable speed for entering the 30 limit.. was i tresspassing or polluting the environment too much for his likeing. i was in two minds to turn around and ask him what his problem is!

[JonB]

Remember, Cyclists can be even more vulnerable than us motorcyclists, often wearing much less protection, they must feel quite intimidated at times.

Put it this way, if the car was overtaking the cyclist at 65MPH and come close to you, would you like it? No.

As far as I am am concerned, cyclists seem to get too much stick, yeah they don't pay road tax, but still, they are just as vulnerable as us and we should respect them IMO, afterall they are the healthy ones aren't they?
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[Davo]

Yet their the ones who quite routinely ignore red lights and attempt to cross busy junctions/crossroads.

[KevTM]

that's fair enough but he was just leaving the 30 zone after i had overtaken the car... it's not as if i was close to him or even causing him any danger at all, the road going into the 30 is wide enough to overtake without even going over the line.

i'm not giving him stick just don't appreciate someone "telling me off" when i've been of no danger whatsoever..

i'm also vulnerable out on the road but unless someone actually caused me to slow/swerve or overtook me dangerously i wouldn't even have entertained them..

if they're that vulnerable why do they distract drivers/riders for no reason and why do they insist on going on country roads (60mph limit) on a push bike..

[impaler]

This might sound daft, but you didn't have a duff bulb or an indicator still on, did you?

I cycle a bit myself and it is worrying when things pass you closely (the wind blast can cause problems, as can the thought of what could have happened if a bump in the road has caused you to involuntarily swerve a bit at that moment...) Doesn't sound like that was the case here though.
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[KevTM]

nah it was daylight, i leave my headlight on mind you?.. don't use indicators unless i need to (didn't in this case as there was no one else behind me or anyone in front of the car i overtook) and never forget to turn them off (after 10 mins on a country road i would have noticed)..

it's just a weird one and that's why i was curious as to why he made the gestures he did..

i'm a curteous rider, i give everyone plenty of room, and give way to pedestrians, keep the flow of traffic moving and let people out to ease congestion.. i don't do risky overtakes or silly manouvres so that's why i was a bit peeved.

[impaler]

Sounds like a nutter I guess. Doing some unusual mid-ride stretching
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[colin1]

im amazed that disapproval from a cyclist bothered you this much

maybe i should express my disapproval more if other road users do stuff i dont like. I didnt realise it would bug them. I thought they'd just ignore it or shrug it off.

If you have a race can maybe he thought you were too loud or maybe he just saw you accelerating past the car and didnt realise you would then slow down for the 30 sign.

To me it seems a bit pointless to accelerate up to 65 to pass someone doing 40 only to then brake to go down to 30.
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[Liono]

[Liverpoolrobb...]

cyclist's keep appearing on country roads where its fun for twistys and not really safe at all for them to be there in the first place they wreck my head when they come along the dual carridge ways causing ppl to constantly change lane to over take them! they are sure to cause an accident some how

[Steve H]

[KevTM]

[mchaggis]

So accidentally missing 2nd and redlining it next to a tandem bicycle with a mother and small child on was a bit naughty? They almost fell off. I did exactly the same thing to a pair of cyclists in the university too, they almost crashed into each other trying to get out of the way.
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[colin1]

i can see your point about wanting to overtake in a 60 rather than in a 30
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[stinkwheel]

You do get some pretty militant cyclists though. Edinburgh is full of them. They have this self-riteous attitude that they are the only people who should be on the road and that you should give way to them in all circumstances. I have had to physically remove one cyclists arm from in front of my face when he decided he wanted to pull across into the right hand lane I was riding down.

He fully expected me to brake and let him pull across in front of me and signaled this by moving across next to me and sticking his arm out in a 'right turn' signal across my chest. A good shove saw him back across in his own lane, and in fact up on the pavement with his front wheel through the railings. I don't feel at-all guilty about doing this, the guy was a menace to traffic and we weren't going fast enough to do any damage. If he had waited another two seconds, there was no traffic behind me and he could have pulled across no bother.

I suspect the case-in-point here though is that people don't realise how quickly a motorcycle can accelerate and stop. There have been numerous occasions where oncoming traffic has flashed me when I am overtaking, they just don't understand that I will have made the pass and be back in lane well before they are anywhere near.

From their point of view they think I am going to crash into them head-on and probably feel like a bit of a prat when I coast past them in the correct lane, holding my hands out and mouthing "What?" at them
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[colin1]

stink its great you overtake so safely
i wish i could say the same for all the bikers i have ridden behind

Im sure some get off on having near death experiences.

I can understand motorists being scared of the hooligan element on motorbikes but obviously we dont like it if we are all tarred with the same brush.

See thread on the wheel pub.
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[impaler]