If I overtake you, it means I'm faster than you

Massimo

So when i'm waiting at the lights why must you squeeze past and wait in front of me so I have to do it all over again????

You know who you are...

Agent57

If I don't, I'll have to wait behind you while you faff around clipping in. Possibly.

mroli

Its the people that obviously are going to move away slower than you from the lights who pull round you and then dawdle that get me. But then - deep breath, it only adds a couple of second on which is nothing, it is good overtaking practice and good for the soul... probably.

Bassjunkieuk

mroli wrote:

Its the people that obviously are going to move away slower than you from the lights who pull round you and then dawdle that get me. But then - deep breath, it only adds a couple of second on which is nothing, it is good overtaking practice and good for the soul... probably.

I'd hardly say it's useful, if anything it's rather selfish and in-considerate of the rider who pushes to the front. I appreciate it may only hold me up a little bit whilst I overtake them again but in town (especially in London) you invariably have a rather impatient car right up your ar$e so having to try and overtake the same high-vis wearing nodder that I overtook at the last few sets of lights, without getting run into by the vehicle behind gets a bit tiresome!

nobunaga

I get really :x with those muppets too and also the other buffoons who overtake me by RLJing.
I do not enjoy overtaking on my commute so I would only like to do it once and not twice and definitely not three times.

I do a quick glance at the cyclists waiting at red lights and I stop behind those who have already taken over me. I have my parents to thank for my good manners

bigmat

MTFU you lot - I overtake everyone on my commute so I can pull in front of whoever I like! 8)

boneyjoe

This really irks me too. If you're obviously slower than all other traffic on the road, why push to the front! My favourites are the ones who plonk themselves right in the middle of the street, and then make a slow, wobbly left back to the curb when the lights change, right across all the other faster cyclists, motorbikes etc trying to get away. :?

If anyone does this to me at two consecutive junctions, I usually say something (which varies, depending on how large and hairy the person is, and how many tatoos they have).

Clever Pun

this morning as I set off from the lights I was penned in by wriggling nodders giving it their all, I was going to let one go past so I shoulder checked and there was a queue... I gave an audible 'Jesus wept' and bolted forward undertaking about 3 people which I don't like doing but it was that or walking

oscarbudgie

Funny how a lot of the people complaining about slower cyclists sound just like motorists complaining about cyclists moving to the front at lights / asl's. ....and before you say it, I am very fast but don't get hung up about slowbies. Its commuting ffs - get some perspective.

iPete

As above! Just position yourself to get around them quickly. When I come up behind mini-peletons I just sit myself as far right as I can and off I go. They seldom catch, to busy tripping over each other :twisted:

Aidy

It really really annoys me when someone squeezes around me and forces me out of a trackstand just after I've overtaken them.

It annoys me a lot.

MonkeyMonster

bah, its a rant thread - why bother with trying to inject any level of "oh but...".

There will always be cases where you have to MTFU and just haul ass past them but then as cp says - you sometimes can get boxed in and for your own safety (mentally and physically) the bunch of wobbling and slower commuters will cause you to do something more rash than would normal.

We all know there are some shit cyclists out there - just revel in having a rant and then move on, It's what this forum is for innit

and yeah I appreciate the irony of telling people to be serious but then not... (even more so when I have a reputation for merely lowering the tone) just dislike how some of the blatant "I know its silly and a single case I had this morning but I want to rant at this" comments just get taken far too far into the realm of "no lets discuss as this a more general concept: even though it can't be" when it was never intended to.

any way - sun is shining, I didn't unfortunately ride in today because I will be in a pub later and I missed it. A lot. But RP beckons tomorrow so there is light at the end of the tunnel and its not just the sun shining out of my ass.

Morning all.

Gussio

Chill - the sun is shining and nobody should be in a rush to get to work 8)

White Horse

oscarbudgie wrote:

Funny how a lot of the people complaining about slower cyclists sound just like motorists complaining about cyclists moving to the front at lights / asl's. ....and before you say it, I am very fast but don't get hung up about slowbies. Its commuting ffs - get some perspective.

I was trying to find a way to say exactly that.

I was overjoyed at the number of cyclists on my way home in Swindon last night - plenty of potential scalps. Until in the space of a few hundred yards I passed a guy in civvies wobbling a bit and was catching another. As I got to the lights I was going left and there were 2 cars in front of me indicating their intention to do the same. The guy I hadn't quite caught went up the RHS of the 2 cars and picked his way across the junction through the red lights narrowly avoiding a collision with a BMW coming from his right and turning right. Just after that - the guy I had overtaken appeared on the pavement to avoid the lights and turn left, dropping back on to the road after the junction. I gave a clearly audible (and visible for the benefit of the motorists behind me) indication of my disapproval of both of these maneuvres to demonstrate to anyone watching that these were idiots and the fact that they were also on a bike did not make me an idiot as well. The lights went green and I caught him up again pretty quickly. If I hadn't been turning off as I caught him, he would have held me up again by virtue of his illegal maneuvre.

Not that there will be many of these temporary cyclists reading this but if there are, please try to either BE traffic and obey the rules of the road or use the numerous cycle paths around Swindon

teticio

they are being considerate: they realize you have made a big effort to overtake them and so pull in front at the lights so you can draft off them. actually, that doesn't sound right. perhaps something to do with a defective ego.

andrewc3142

Personally, I just enjoy a couple of hours ride into work in the morning.

I must admit I'd not really thought about the "overtaking so I must be faster" line. I don't see many cyclists until after Richmond and then it's only about 9 miles into the centre so time to wind down and take it easy for the last bit. If I get overtaken it couldn't bother me less.

Stay cool 8)

artaxerxes

I don't particularly mind wobbly slow cyclists moving to the front in the centre. It's a safer place for them, and better than being hemmed in on the left and being at risk from left turning vehicles.

el_presidente

Gussio wrote:

Chill - the sun is shining and nobody should be in a rush to get to work 8)

Hey G, I want some of what you're smoking, man

Gussio

el_presidente wrote:

Gussio wrote:

Chill - the sun is shining and nobody should be in a rush to get to work 8)

Hey G, I want some of what you're smoking, man

Am high on life. Peace out dude

sufferingpete

Each one counts as another scalp.
A good way to collect non existent and imaginary points.

meanredspider

Everyone is SOOOOO much more polite up here. The night before last at a crossing the other cyclist said to me "You look faster than me - you go first"

Get a grip you southerners* - the world's so much more pleasant when people are good to each other.

* I'm from Cambridge BTW but people talk to each other up here.

Clever Pun

sufferingpete wrote:

Each one counts as another scalp.
A good way to collect non existent and imaginary points.

only if you're riding a shopper or unicycle though

Pross

Gussio wrote:

Chill - the sun is shining and nobody should be in a rush to get to work 8)

Lucky you - I got soaked on my way in this morning!

Thought this was just another of my grumpy old man symptoms. Slightly different but the ones that annoy me are the ones who I overtake between every set of lights only for them to RLJ / filter up the left / hop onto the footway and get back in front of me. Wouldn't mind too much but if someone is slow enough for me to overtake then they may as well walk

lost_in_thought

oscarbudgie wrote:

Funny how a lot of the people complaining about slower cyclists sound just like motorists complaining about cyclists moving to the front at lights / asl's. ....<snip>

The man speaks the truth.

You're not allowed to complain about it until you wait behind cars that have overtaken you and are likely to do so again. Those are the rules that I just made up.

You can't do that LiT? Welll I just did. Ha.

always_tyred

lost_in_thought wrote:

oscarbudgie wrote:

Funny how a lot of the people complaining about slower cyclists sound just like motorists complaining about cyclists moving to the front at lights / asl's. ....<snip>

The man speaks the truth.

You're not allowed to complain about it until you wait behind cars that have overtaken you and are likely to do so again. Those are the rules that I just made up.

You can't do that LiT? Welll I just did. Ha.

Poppycock.

Cyclists pushing to the front are the same as motorists doing the same thing to other motorists, not the same as cyclists doing it to motorists.

The idea of getting to the front of a queue of cars, if you are a cyclist, is for safety. (And because you can, your vehicle being 2 foot wide... a mere ancilliary benefit, as a trade off for not having a roof, and engine and a stereo).

Bassjunkieuk

Always Tyred wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

oscarbudgie wrote:

Funny how a lot of the people complaining about slower cyclists sound just like motorists complaining about cyclists moving to the front at lights / asl's. ....<snip>

The man speaks the truth.

You're not allowed to complain about it until you wait behind cars that have overtaken you and are likely to do so again. Those are the rules that I just made up.

You can't do that LiT? Welll I just did. Ha.

Poppycock.

Cyclists pushing to the front are the same as motorists doing the same thing to other motorists, not the same as cyclists doing it to motorists.

The idea of getting to the front of a queue of cars, if you are a cyclist, is for safety. (And because you can, your vehicle being 2 foot wide... a mere ancilliary benefit, as a trade off for not having a roof, and engine and a stereo).

That's the way I see it. I fully understand that moaning about slow cyclist holding me up is pretty much the same as a car driver moaning that a cyclist is holding them up - the perceived "hold up" time is relatively little and nothing that a little patience wouldn't alleviate. But for me the whole point of using the bike, asides from a big love of cycling, is that I don't have to wait in the massive queues of traffic and can filter - when safe - which reduces my overall journey time considerably.

Motorists who try to push to the front of queues, normally from filter lanes, are just ar$eholes and then cause more traffic jams as no-one will let them in so their selfish act is holding up 2 lanes of traffic!

I'm not a slouch off the lights and usually ride off in a fairly high gear, 1 or 2 crank turns for me is usually enough to be past the hordes of nodders spinning away in (bottom-1) gear so having to constantly ride round them is annoying!

I did see an amusing one the other day tho, 2 cyclist who semi-RLJ'd (went well over the white line and waited at the corner of the junction) collided with each other! The first one that got there drifted towards the kerb and the late arriver, clearly not paying attention, rode into his left side as he hugged the kerb :-) Felt a little smug thinking "Now if you'd stopped where you where supposed to......"

oscarbudgie

Its not really about safety its about attitude. Its about wanting to replace the tyranny of cars with the tyranny of bicycles. 'Get out of my way I've got bigger thighs / carbon fibre / a Rapha hat' instead of 'Get out of my way I've got a BMW / White van / very small penis' . What makes riding on the road dangerous and/or unpleasant (at times) for all of us is other road users who think that them getting up the road .5 seconds faster than everyone else is their need or God given right. Please just chill. Instead of getting wound up about the pob or nodder just ride round when its safe. Cool.

il_principe

oscarbudgie wrote:

Its not really about safety its about attitude. Its about wanting to replace the tyranny of cars with the tyranny of bicycles. 'Get out of my way I've got bigger thighs / carbon fibre / a Rapha hat' instead of 'Get out of my way I've got a BMW / White van / very small penis' . What makes riding on the road dangerous and/or unpleasant (at times) for all of us is other road users who think that them getting up the road .5 seconds faster than everyone else is their need or God given right. Please just chill. Instead of getting wound up about the pob or nodder just ride round when its safe. Cool.

heh heh Rapha Hat = Small Penis

I prefer Swrve...

MonkeyMonster

oscarbudgie wrote:

Its not really about safety its about attitude. Its about wanting to replace the tyranny of cars with the tyranny of bicycles. 'Get out of my way I've got bigger thighs / carbon fibre / a Rapha hat' instead of 'Get out of my way I've got a BMW / White van / very small penis' .

But its not get out of my way... its a please don't over take and THEN get in my way...

If I'm 5th in a queue of bikes I'm 5th in the queue. What I, and seemingly others don't appreciate is that when you are 1st to stop at a red light, then a few minutes later become 5th in the queue as others have gone around you and stopped. "Why couldn't they stay behind me?" I think is more the question.
I do appreciate there will be a level of double standards as there will be people here who want that as well knowing they (i don't always do it, depends on the person+bike+space+can I be arsed) might want to overtake to take 1st spot from what looks like a slower person to go at the front...

Jay dubbleU

oscarbudgie wrote:

Its not really about safety its about attitude. Its about wanting to replace the tyranny of cars with the tyranny of bicycles. 'Get out of my way I've got bigger thighs / carbon fibre / a Rapha hat' instead of 'Get out of my way I've got a BMW / White van / very small penis' . What makes riding on the road dangerous and/or unpleasant (at times) for all of us is other road users who think that them getting up the road .5 seconds faster than everyone else is their need or God given right. Please just chill. Instead of getting wound up about the pob or nodder just ride round when its safe. Cool.

+1 - its only commutung - not the TDF

Bassjunkieuk

Jay dubbleU wrote:

oscarbudgie wrote:

Its not really about safety its about attitude. Its about wanting to replace the tyranny of cars with the tyranny of bicycles. 'Get out of my way I've got bigger thighs / carbon fibre / a Rapha hat' instead of 'Get out of my way I've got a BMW / White van / very small penis' . What makes riding on the road dangerous and/or unpleasant (at times) for all of us is other road users who think that them getting up the road .5 seconds faster than everyone else is their need or God given right. Please just chill. Instead of getting wound up about the pob or nodder just ride round when its safe. Cool.

+1 - its only commutung - not the TDF

Come out with a comment like that over on the SCR thread and we'll have you burned at the stake!