Traffic experiences out of London

rhext

Another one from Derby way.....

.....generally commuting here is a pleasant experience. Within the outer ring road, the council have gone to a fair amout of trouble to keep cars and bikes apart, and with a degree of success. You can get to most places either on fast low-traffic or traffic-free routes should you so desire. Getting to the ring road can involve quiet country roads (nice, but time consuming) or a quick hack up the A6. Occasionally you get people passing a bit close on the A6 which can be disconcerting, but there are bad drivers everywhere I suppose.

I don't get much problem with aggression. I've been commuting on my bike for about 3 years now, and I reckon I've had maybe 4 'encounters', only one serious. Someone almost took me out on a roundabout, decided it was my fault and had a bit of a yell. And then 2 or 3 occasions where a yoof decided it would be good fun to shout abuse out of his car window. I don't count the wolf-whistles - at my age I'm just pleased I still get them!

Dudu

Gussio wrote:

Seem to get hooted at more on the weekends when riding outside of London, 2-abreast, than when commuting through town. Gets my goat first thing on a Sunday morning. Guess people are in a hurry to get to church.

A lot of this is due to misreading of the Highway Code, which advises "Do not ride MORE THAN two abreast".

Dudu

flateric wrote:

CiB wrote:

had a run in with someone walking there dog who refused to move out of the way the shouts "you should'nt be riding on the F'ing footpath" and then gets even more irate when told its a cyclepath!!!

Well he would, wouldn't he. People HATE it being pointed out they're in the wrong, especially if they're thick with it.

HebdenBiker

My commute from Hebden Bridge through Halifax to Bradford is not too bad at all. Drivers are mostly patient and courteous, even at the busy, complex junctions in Halifax. A lot of HGV traffic coming off the M62. I usually find they are the most "switched-on" and skillful drivers of all.

The only times I have to be especially cautious are when riding past schools at home time. It's not the kids you have to watch out for - it's their ignorant parents in 4x4s. But I guess this is universal, not just a northern thing.

For what it's worth, Todmorden, Lancashire is the worst place in the world for driving standards. It's proper fecking Heart of Darkness territory, and I nearly always have some sort of neqar miss when riding through, usually because of drivers pulling out in front of me or turning across me.


MASSIVE GENERALIZATION WARNING: London might have its share of impatient, competitive alpha-male drivers and bewildered foreigners who aren't used to UK roads, but the Lancs/Yorkshire borders has old mill towns (such as Todmorden) full of undereducated, inbred pig-ignorant peasants who are too thick and lacking in empathy to negotiate cyclists safely.

Fireblade96

SimonAH wrote:

.....
They are used to motorcycles though - so i ride like I'm on one. Started out being timid cyclist and got left hooked once and pavement crowded several times.

Dominate the road and the problem has gone away (plus I'm usually going at traffic speed or thereabouts anyway).

+1
My motorbike was my main form of transport for 20 years, including a couple of years commuting round Paris (peripherique at rush hour, anyone?). Now most of my commuting is by bicycle, I ride motorbike-style assertively (not aggressively) and rarely have any problems.

Making motorbike noises to alert dozy peds to my presence may be taking this too far, though. :oops:

Headhuunter

flateric wrote:

CiB wrote:

You forgot to add the other exciting redway obstacles:

* Abandoned domestic white goods
* Settees & other home furniture
* A lamp standard. Really.
* Kids who walk to school in pairs but manage to occupy the whole width of the redway by walking in a slalom.
* Push-chairs with dogs attached on extending leads. Which side to pass? Your guess is as wild as anyone's.
* The need to give way every couple of hundred yards where the redway meets a road, and the need to have the neck muscles of an owl to be able to look all the way round to check that nothing's coming round the corner from over both shoulders.
* Kids walking to school. Did I already mention them? Grrr.

.

As yes, forgot those. I stay clear of the grid roads, seen the results when it goes wrong, would rather true my wheels every 8 weeks that be taken out on an RB by a fool.

Speaking of twats, had a run in with someone walking there dog who refused to move out of the way the shouts "you should'nt be riding on the F'ing footpath" and then gets even more irate when told its a cyclepath!!!

Sounds like a nightmare, this is why I never, ever use cycle paths as they're an utter waste of time usually. They're never cleared so as you say, littered with rubbish, broken glass, fly tipped appliances, they're never maintained so the tarmac is usually uneven, cracked and potholed and there are always, always pedestrians with pets and children who assume they have absolute right of way. I'll stick to the roads thanks.

electric_blue

Cycling in Devon recently made me think that it was maybe time to move back to the land of my birth - Devon.

I had only one bad experience from a driver who shouted abuse at me and Ir eckon it was a tourist, probably down from Kent. Apart from that driver behaviour was exemplary and clearly showed that 99% of problems I have on the road are down to driver attitiude and nothing to do with me.

No kids threw anything at me, nor did I get a car load of 17 year olds all shouting waankaahhh at me. Nor did the bus drivers try to trap me at bus stops. There were no black cab drivers trying to drive as fast and as close to me as possible. everyone stopped behind the give way lines; and everyone said thankyou when I gave way.

It's how life is supposed to be lived. People in Kent are tossers!

-spider-

I got passed by a car today!

rodgers73

It would be ironic if he had shouted "wannkkaaahh" at you and made you fall off!

Headhuunter

-spider- wrote:

I got passed by a car today!

I passed a lot of cars today

-spider-

That's what I shouted at him.