Leaving space for people to overtake - views?

dynohub

Last week I was driving (I not a 100 mile cyclist, sorry!) along a winding rural A road in wales when I caught up a slow moving queue of traffic. After some minutes, when the the road straightened up for a bit, I realised that the front of the queue was a group of some 15 or so cyclists (I assume some sort of club outing, as they all had very nice bikes and their "gear" on) who were riding more or less in single file.

The thing was, that although they were riding in file, they were also riding wheel to wheel, which meant that they presented several trucks-worth of overtaking distance. Because the road was fairly narrow and bendy, only one vehicle could overtake at a time and that at infrequent intervals. I followed this group for some 10-15 mins at a sub 20mph speed.

Now, it was a nice day (amazingly in Wales at the moment!) , I had the roof down and I wasn't in a hurry so it didn't blight my life. But, it did strike me that if, instead of riding nearly wheel to wheel, they had left a gap every few bikes, vehicles could have passed more easily, and they would have been under less risk from the odd impatient driver (I saw one nearly have a accident trying to overtake the whole group in an unwise place).

What do the more "enthusiastic" members think?

formerlyknownasbonj

When I'm driving and i'm following a slower vehicle i leave room for vehicles that might have more inclination to overtake to slot between me and the slower vehicle. Most motorists don't, though. There's nothing more frustrating than a slow motorhome or something trundling along and about 5 cars tailgating it / each other that can't / won't overtake it and assume that because they aren't going to overtake it that no-one else is going to either, or that if they tailgate it that will somehow make it go faster or move out of the way. Unfortunately it's not just a minority that fail / refuse to consider others, it's a large proportion of the population, and a lot of cyclists are no exception.

Yorkshireman

Trying to get a bit of 'action' going Dyno? I know it's a bit quiet here now, and as a lot of the old crowd are mostly occupied elsewhere perhaps a few newer posters might 'bite', but I for one can still remember the last time this subject appeared :P


PS

It's hardly "Campaign" material anyway - More "Soapbox" I would have thought :roll:

Tourist Tony

I suppose I might as well.....
Leaving gaps encourages people to force their way in, and would have resulted in a longer queue. The correct way to minimise delay to other traffic would have been to double up, thus shortening the length of the "obstruction". 15 or so cyclists doubled up would have presented no greater length than, say, a farm tractor towing something. They would also have been a lot easier to see past in order to judge a safe place to overtake.
Unfortunately, a lot of drivers get rather antagonistic when riders double up.

Yorkshireman

At a bit of a loose this morning Tony? :twisted:

ScumOfTheRoad

Tourist Tony wrote:

I suppose I might as well.....

Unfortunately, a lot of drivers get rather antagonistic when riders double up.

Indeed Tony.
"Its a 60mph limit. Must... do.... 60mph.... "
Compounded by bullying drivers on the road who tailgate you if you have the affrontery to be driving at or below the posted limit.

Anonymous

What annoys me on the roads in Wales is when we get swamped by tourists, who are obviously not used to driving on such narrow, twisty roads.
Journeys that normally take around 30 minutes (legally, and without danger) suddenly take an hour and a half.

Or, even worse, roads like the Llanberis pass become, for all intents and purpose, static.

The problem is compounded by people who believe their vehichle is much wider than it is, who need to stop everytime there's anything oncoming, or by others who refuse to believe that their car will go around bends in anything except 2nd gear, or by those who like to keep their brakes overheated constantly.

Cyclists are the least of my problems, they're easy enough to pass safely, or on some roads they may actually be going so fast that it would be dangerous to pass them anyway.

Eurostar

Deleted

Anonymous

Who's trolling?

Eurostar

Deleted

Yorkshireman

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Who's trolling?

Hang around mate, and you'll see

MattBlackBigBoysBMX

Nope, I've eaten my breakfast and have some leftovers.

Highway Code Says wrote:

Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow moving vehicle.

Yorkshireman

MattBlackBigBoysBMX wrote:

Nope, I've eaten my breakfast and have some leftovers.

Highway Code Says wrote:

Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow moving vehicle.

Yebut cold egg & bacon, stale bred and soggy cereal is an 'aquired taste' and this topic was done to death last year (nearly word for word in the OP ) on C+. On the other hand ... If you missed it then ... Have fun :P

dynohub

I'm very disappointed anyone should think I was trolling - have I ever given any indication of such behaviour?

Please note that my question was NOT about "cyclists should get out the way" AND I did say it didn't bother me personally. My question was about what is safest for a group of cyclists to do under such circumstances, given that there are indeed plenty of people who drive like twunts? I was trying to ask a serious question...

(As for it having been posted before - D'Uh I'm sure it not the first time someone has repeated something - sorry - shall I cover myself in sackcloth and ashes?)

Eurostar

Deleted

dynohub

Tourist Tony wrote:

I suppose I might as well.....
Leaving gaps encourages people to force their way in, and would have resulted in a longer queue. The correct way to minimise delay to other traffic would have been to double up, thus shortening the length of the "obstruction". 15 or so cyclists doubled up would have presented no greater length than, say, a farm tractor towing something. They would also have been a lot easier to see past in order to judge a safe place to overtake.
Unfortunately, a lot of drivers get rather antagonistic when riders double up.

Thanks for dignifying me with a sensible reply TT - your solution is exactly what struck me as best course of action - the road was sufficiently narrow that overtaking a single cyclist involving being on the wrong side of the road every bit as much as overtaking doubled (or even trebled) up ones.

dynohub

Yorkshireman wrote:

PS

It's hardly "Campaign" material anyway - More "Soapbox" I would have thought :roll:

There are so many bl00dy forums on here now it's hard to know where to put anything...