Calling cyclists

There are exceptions to every rule Jingle!

Most of the ones I catch up with when driving are either too fat and flabby with horrible wobbly thighs and fat hairy legs or really skinny and bones with shaved skinny legs with horrible writhing sinues. They all seem to wear helmets and big goggles as a disguise and I think it's just some sort of exhibitionist perversion.

If you hadn't gathered I don't like them!

DH is a member of a cycling club and is out with them whenever the weather allows, and often, when in my view it doesn't. They all wear lycra and fluorescent jackets, helmets etc. and are a grand and very fit bunch of older men and some women.

Why is there all this antipathy to a section of society who like to keep fit and active, as recommended by all the health advice, in the fresh air? Of course there are some thoughtless and selfish cyclists just as there are car drivers but this is no reason for the criticism of cyclists as a whole. Live and let live and stop being Victor Meldrews!

I often ask myself why there is such aggression between motorists/cyclists/pedestrians and partly I think it's overcrowding, especially in the south east and that causes conflict over space, and then we all seem to rush around (how often in the car these days is someone tailgating you because you are driving at the speed limit on the road?) and is there some English thing about obeying the rules. Just as we don't like queue jumpers, there is a principle about cycling on the pavement?

I don't mind people cycling on the pavement if they ride slowly and courteously and if they are older or younger and look nervous. I hate those cyclists, usually male, all togged up who whizz along expecting you to get out of the way.

I cycle because my mother wouldn't let me! She said it was dangerous. So I learnt as an adult and I now do go out with a cycle club some weekends. Some of them dress up, but not all and the speed is of the slowest and we have coffee and cake stops and lunch stops and it's all very sociable. It's not about racing.

There are so many more cyclists now which makes them more visible. One thing though, responding to someone earlier, it is actually perfectly legal for a cyclist to ride in the centre of the road if the speed of the traffic is slow and the cyclist is merely behaving as a vehicle, which it is. The Dept for Transport actually says it's fine as long as the cyclist is travelling at the same speed and not holding the traffic up.

mrsmopp I remember when they brought in the on the spot fine for cycling on the pavement. John Prescott, on the radio, said, "of course we're not going to bother about little old ladies wobbling along with their bags of shopping....."

I like to cycle but I also like to drive.

When I'm a driver I can't stand cyclists who don't have lights, weave all over the road, don't give hand signals, jump red lights, undertake when the vehicle is about to turn left, have their headphones in, cycle without holding the handle bars, ignore cycle paths that run next to the road and generally put me and others risk.

When I'm a cyclist I can't stand drivers who cut too close to me, pull out in front of me, swear at me, pull onto the green cycle section at traffic lights and generally put me and others at risk.

Agreed VQ - the arrogant way in which they assume that none of the rules apply to them, straight through red lights - I once followed a cyclist who ignored the cycle track, which ran alongside the road until it came to an end, and then hopped up onto the pavement to carry on. I had to follow because the road had chicanes at intervals and there was no way I could overtake.

Riding on the pavement, and riding without lights were, at one time, extremely common offences in reports from the Magistrate's Courts. What happened?

Another personal annoyance: calling overtaking on the near side 'undertaking'... although of course it can end with a funeral.

If I hadn't seen them in other areas I would be wondering what a cycle track is. I am so envious of those who have them. I am 4 miles from the town I cycle to and have no alternative but to go down the 'A' road. There is a smaller country road but cars speed along it and as it is narrow there is no where for me to go except the ditch if I need to get out of the way.

Have you got a local Cycling Campaign in your area tp? Or get on to your local council. Is there a path they could make shared?

I think cyclists are very badly catered for in this country. tiggypiro's experience demonstrates that.

I'm in east London and we have a few cycle lanes but they seem pointless to me because they are very narrow and quite often only stretch a little way before they abruptly stop. What's the point of that?

The air quality in London in particular is terrible, and fewer cars and more bicycles would go some way towards addressing this. But until proper safe cycling lanes and other measures are introduced, I can't see that many people will take up cycling, especially if there is as likelihood of them being fined for cycling on pavements.

Jingl - I am now asking 'What is a path?'

As for asking the council for a cycle path I may as well save my breath as it is difficult to get potholes fixed and they would have to do quite major work to find room for a cycle path.

Some councils, if a pavement (path) is wide enough, dedicate part of it to cycles. They paint a white line and paint outline pictures of cycles along it to show it is for the use of cyclists only.

It's not expensive for a council to provide a cycle way along a main road. They just paint a white line about 3 feet out from the curb, and dedicate that to cycles in the same way as above.

your council seems to be into cycling tiggypiro. Especially since the Tour de France started from up there.

We were on holiday in Malmo, Sweden. There are cycle tracks everywhere but they are alongside pedestrian paths not roads, even when crossing roads they have their own track at zebra crossings. All pedestrians know to avoid cycle tracks but bells are used regularly for warnings....sorted! Also, Lycra is rare, it is so much more relaxed.

oldgirl2 I saw the same situation in Copenhagen and also in The Netherlands where we had a cycling holiday with our twins some years ago. I think the clearly separate tracks, most of them separated by kerbs, and the separate sets of traffic lights for cyclists really helps. The narrow, busy roads of the UK just wind everyone up.

What was also different though, especially in the Netherlands, was a notable courtesy extended to everyone so motorists would not only slow down on roundabouts where cyclists have right of way over cars, but they would do it in a way that was calm and polite, they were looking out for us. Occasionally, motorists stopped when they didn't need to and waved us across. The pace of cycling was also slower in general and no one wore helmets or hi-viz or lycra. It felt very human sized.

Why do we get so annoyed with other road users? Cyclists do the same as some have posted. Me too, all those texting and phoning drivers, the ones who pull out without looking, squash us into the kerb, fling open car doors in our face and then say it's our fault, get annoyed if we 'hold them up'. It's depressing as well as stressful and dangerous.

Motorists in mainland europe just seem to be much more people friendly - towards cyclists and pedestrians too.

Why is that I wonder (Jingle's post 26.11.14 21.13)

Could it be linked to the fact roads in the UK are generally so crowded. We have people cycling and driving to work because the trams, trains and busses are expensive, infrequent and often unreliable.

We visited Poland this year, did a lot of city walking but also drove the hire car around the countryside. Other car drivers were considerate, polite and courteous in country areas but also in the busy city. Not many cyclists though!