Bit of a moment this morning....

nation

Still getting used to how little braking force you can generate with rim brakes and road tyres. Especially on today's greasy-wet roads.

There's a section on my commute where I make a left turn into a side road. A little bit up the road is an industrial site entrance, and there are always parked cars on both sides of the road.

Anyway, this morning there was a van waiting to turn right into said entrance, with a car travelling away from me squeezing between the end of the row of parked cars and the van. I was still travelling at a fair old lick, but slowed, and made to follow the car up the road.

Except, as soon as the car was out of the way, the van turned right across my lane. Hauled on the anchors, rear wheel slewed out to the left and then to the right as I tried to dive down the van's left hand side. Couple of dabs with my left foot to stay upright and came to rest against the van's passenger door. So, no harm done but a bit of a scare. First one I've had in a while, actually.

Koncordski

Get an apology from the van driver? Well done for staying vertical though.

EKE_38BPM

Definitely the van driver's fault. Glad you are OK.

nation

Nope. No acknowledgement. Didn't hang around, though. Once it sunk in I was still whole and upright just set off again.

antikythera

Good to hear your alright, but...

This ain't news: snafu... you'll always be in the wrong, your responsibility to anticipate.

That might sound heartless, but staying alive on a bike in London isn't about being "in the right"!

Bassjunkieuk

antikythera wrote:

Good to hear your alright, but...

This ain't news: snafu... you'll always be in the wrong, your responsibility to anticipate.

That might sound heartless, but staying alive on a bike in London isn't about being "in the right"!

I do agree to some degree there, whilst I don't generally go around believing everyone has seen me I can on the whole work out when someone has or hasn't seen me by small actions. It can be as small as noticing them checking mirrors, looking over their shoulder or braking - it's amazing how much detail you can pick up sometimes! I don't believe in just throwing myself down the side of a left turning vehicle like some riders do (and those that do will normally find themselves on Youtube, with a nice "Silly Cyclist" tag...) on the assumption "it's my priority" and almost yelled at one lemming who went up the inside of a RM van that was indicating to pull over on Whitehall last night!

I have also had a similar experience to the OP where a driver has "missed" me and I've ended up missing a rather messy end rather narrowly. It's never fun and rarely does the driver acknowledge it was their fault - they are the ones turning across another lane of traffic so it is their responsibility to ensure it's clear.

Glad to hear you got away with it relatively unscathed and v.good bike handling!

nation

antikythera wrote:

That might sound heartless, but staying alive on a bike in London isn't about being "in the right"!

I don't ride in London...

And I totally agree, which is why I made the point about still being caught out by the road bike's brakes. In the dry, with the distances involved this would have been a total non-event.

Gazzaputt

nation wrote:

Nope. No acknowledgement. Didn't hang around, though. Once it sunk in I was still whole and upright just set off again.

Fair play to you.

I'm trying my hardest not to remonstrate with drivers at the mo.

Tricycleboy

had a similar event this morning.

Woman pulled from the right on to the main road i was on and went to cut right across me without looking. I was doing 27mph (not even internet exagarating) and greasy roads meant i had no chance of stopping in time. que massive shout from me and the chap following right after me, and she stopped about 6 inches from taking me out.

I'm trying my hardest not to remonstrate with drivers at the mo.

she twirled her finger around her temple like i was crazy and drove off. this irked me and, shamefully, i decided to chase her. Luckily i didn't catch her as i had no idea what i was planning gain from it.

I really want to chill out more too but some people really make it hard for you[/quote]

jonny_trousers

I'd have bunny-hopped the van.

rolf_f

Tricycleboy wrote:

she twirled her finger around her temple like i was crazy and drove off. this irked me and, shamefully, i decided to chase her. Luckily i didn't catch her as i had no idea what i was planning gain from it.

Having been called 'young man' by a remonstrating off duty policewoman who was probably a bit more than half my age, I have come to the conclusion that most drivers think most cyclists are about 14 and therefore bound to be in the wrong no matter how stupid they themselves may have been. It's the only logical conclusion from the amount of hooting I generate from car users whilst I'm doing exactly the same sort of thing I do when driving and for which no bats an eyelid for then.

This theory does help me to keep calm! I try to limit myself to rude gestures!

Bassjunkieuk

Rolf F wrote:

This theory does help me to keep calm! I try to limit myself to rude gestures!

Like mine here?

I have also given drivers the finger before but that relies on them using their mirrors, which by the time I've needed to give them this hand signal they have usually clearly demonstrated their lack of observation skills :-)