Women riders behave better
littledove44
Posts: 871
Rode in my first Sportive today. Stunning weather and an excellent event organised by Wiggle in the New Forest.
I was quite surprised by how close people rode to me when overtaking. Several blokes actually touched my arm when passing. Totally unnecessary considering they had the whole width of the road to use when doing so. Not a single one called out when passing. So, with the blood pumping in my ears, the sound of my bike, and the quietness of their bikes, the first thing I heard was them talking to their mates as they went by. One twitch from me and we were both toast. Just seems like dumbass loutish behaviour to me. They may think I am a semipro that can hold a perfect line, but that's a dangerous assumption.
On the other hand, virtually every female rider that passed me did so with a few feet clearance, and most called out "Passing right" of something before they got to me.
As a newbie to the sport this seemed to me to be both sensible and courteous. It was a fun ride on a Sunday FFS! Not a professional peloton.
Next weekend I shall wear a wig and enter a Cycletta. Safer, better behaved and less loutish.
I was quite surprised by how close people rode to me when overtaking. Several blokes actually touched my arm when passing. Totally unnecessary considering they had the whole width of the road to use when doing so. Not a single one called out when passing. So, with the blood pumping in my ears, the sound of my bike, and the quietness of their bikes, the first thing I heard was them talking to their mates as they went by. One twitch from me and we were both toast. Just seems like dumbass loutish behaviour to me. They may think I am a semipro that can hold a perfect line, but that's a dangerous assumption.
On the other hand, virtually every female rider that passed me did so with a few feet clearance, and most called out "Passing right" of something before they got to me.
As a newbie to the sport this seemed to me to be both sensible and courteous. It was a fun ride on a Sunday FFS! Not a professional peloton.
Next weekend I shall wear a wig and enter a Cycletta. Safer, better behaved and less loutish.
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Sadly that seems to be par for the course in all the sportives I've ridden including the one today in west cornwall. Never a word nor a sound and then they're there and at speed and in gangs and tend to cut in when passing. I find it rather terrifying considering that kind of behaviour caused me a major crash, broken bonesand three months off work. The only choice you seem to have is to ride defensively and in a dead straight line and hope for the best. I was even overtaken on sharp blind narrow downhill corners today. Don't know whether any of the more experienced riders can shed some light on this? Do I expect too much? Am I just a wuss?0
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As my wife tells me most men are a pointless waste of space
Women don't have an alpha male complex like some men do in biking. This means they are usually happy and friendly enough. Some men once in a "pack" tend to revert to be being a pain in the ass until challenged.
Seems alot more common in Road riding than mountain biking but is just one of things things.
Ride with people who take the same view to riding as you do 0 -
Unfortunately mamils do tend to play at being Froome/Wiggens so really don't give any room when passing.
On the whole women tend give more room, and often are even smiling, rather than going for the Ralpha stare! ;-)0 -
yup - it's always been thus ...
I'd say most riders give you space, but the few do cut in - especially those on the wheel of the front guy...
It's not so bad when you're going similar speeds. What they don't seem to realise is that the slow ppl are likely to be less confident in their handling and it's either going to cause a crash or make the slow ppl slower. Perhaps they do realise?0 -
Maybe you need to ride with a sign on your back stating, "STEER CLEAR. CRAP FEMALE CYCLIST" or "CAUTION. WIDE LOAD".
How about joining a club or take a cycle training course to learn proper riding etiquette and improve your skills? Much better than creating your own MyWay Code for cycling and making assumptions about other cyclists to fit your prejudices.0 -
A lot of it may be groups that have come together on the road, from my (limited) experience the first person overtakes safely but cuts in when it's safe for him to do so. However the second person doesn't want to lose the slipstream so follows him, cutting in too close. If either of them had thought instead of going on automatic then it wouldn't have happened.
Alternatively there's a lot of bad riders out there. During cycling around town men tend to be the overly aggressive ones (as you've found out) and women tend to be worse at checking if anythings coming at junctions.
EDIT: Billy did you read the OP? The behaviour described is unacceptable - highway code states to give bikes as much room as you would a car while overtaking (normally said to be 1.5 m). Highway code applies to us as well! Also I'm pretty sure from his last comment it's a guys that brought this up!0 -
@bm ... Which is why I added am I just being a wuss? The fact that everyone who is passing me is doing this suggests that the issue might be mine rather than theirs. The particular situation I had yesterday was that the 75k was set off after the 100k and they did an extra loop so they were passing the less confident and slower riders at speed in the latter stages when we were all getting tired. Perhaps an issue for the organisers...
Speaking personally I have not the slightest desire to join a club and get group riding skills. I generally start at the back and work my way through the field if I can at my own pace. My only beef is would it not be sensible to give an audible warning such as on your right or passing or summat like that ... But as I said, nobody does0 -
You're in a Sportive with hundreds of other riders, there's going to be loads of overtaking going on.You should surely be expecting it! You say you don't want to join a club and get group riding skills and yet you want to ride with hundreds of others in a sportive! I reckon you need to either ride on your own all the time or learn the proper group skills to ride with other people around you.0
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If you enter a race on the road then you ride in a bunch very closely, at times so closely you touch and expect this. If you wish to do this please see the BC, league international or LVRC websites for details of races you can enter.
A sportive is a timed event not a race. Some people will want to ride with a large group other on there own or with one or two friends. Overtaking whilst giving someone only inches of room during such an event is thoughtless and needless. Too many pretend racers0 -
Brakeless wrote:You're in a Sportive with hundreds of other riders, there's going to be loads of overtaking going on.You should surely be expecting it! You say you don't want to join a club and get group riding skills and yet you want to ride with hundreds of others in a sportive! I reckon you need to either ride on your own all the time or learn the proper group skills to ride with other people around you.
You can ride in a sportive and expect to be overtaken - no problem - but not shoulder to shoulder. During a sportive I wouldn't expect anyone to call an overtake in normal circumstances - but then I'd expect them to give some room too ..0 -
^ +1 to both the above. The OP seems fine with being overtaken but not stupidly close - especially by people they don't know, even if your bike handling skills are perfect what about theirs?
I wouldn't call an overtake during a sportive but equally I'd give at least a meter of clear room. The road quality in sportives is often not as good as in races so that room is needed in case the person you are overtaking sees a pothole (or other hazard) and needs to swerve to avoid it. Also the speed differences of the cyclists in sportives are greater than those in road races so everything is a little less predictable, it's not a comparable situation.0 -
BillyMansell wrote:Maybe you need to ride with a sign on your back stating, "STEER CLEAR. CRAP FEMALE CYCLIST" or "CAUTION. WIDE LOAD".
How about joining a club or take a cycle training course to learn proper riding etiquette and improve your skills? Much better than creating your own MyWay Code for cycling and making assumptions about other cyclists to fit your prejudices.
What an absurd reply. Other people bump into me unneccessarily and you think its my fault!!!
I guess you were one of them!
The road is 6 metres wide. I am on the left hand side taking up about one of those 6 metres. No other bikes. No traffic, yet you think its acceptable to bump someone as you pass them. What planet are you on.
It wasnt a bunch of riders. It want a tight line of rides. It was often a single bloke and a mate of his. Totally unneccesary.
And yes, I am a bloke myself, and yes I expect to be passed and to pass others. Its just the a**holes who ride to close I object to.
My point though was that the ladies just didn't do it at all and they were the ONLY ones who called out passing. With over 3000 riders out there I would have thought that safety would have been paramount in everyones mind. Silly me.0 -
I think you just got the hump because so many girls were over taking you. If people really were 'bumping' you you'd have been on the floor !0
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So am I correct in thinking that it's not convention to call when overtaking then?0
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I rode the Wiggle New Forrest ride myself too.
As others have said during a Sportive I wouldn't expect to be told everytime someone was going to pass, but the point regarding some passing too close is well made. In the main this is generally done by experienced riders in chain gangs, who quite often leave very little room, which can be dangerous if teh person they are overtaking is inexperienced.
I have also experienced people getting upset when you do call out if they haven't seen you and are about to cut across, so I suppose you're damned if you do, and damned if you dont!0 -
Brakeless wrote:I think you just got the hump because so many girls were over taking you. If people really were 'bumping' you you'd have been on the floor !
On the contrary. One of my main motivations for taking up cycling was so I could follow women in Lycra. 0 -
Brakeless wrote:I think you just got the hump because so many girls were over taking you. If people really were 'bumping' you you'd have been on the floor !
If you're not on a windup then you're being ignorant ....
I was out there on saturday and had the same issue as the OP. I may not ride in groups, but I'm confident on my bike. My wife is less confident on her bike. A few times I was seriously tempted to catch* the twats that overtook too close and give them a word of advice - but I feel it would've fallen on deaf ears - they're probably the same prats who discard their gel wrappers.
*that's not an idealistic thought - I could've done easily - I may well do so next time we're out.0 -
littledove44 wrote:Brakeless wrote:I think you just got the hump because so many girls were over taking you. If people really were 'bumping' you you'd have been on the floor !
On the contrary. One of my main motivations for taking up cycling was so I could follow women in Lycra.
Ah - you weren't out on Saturday were you? We had a tail for about a mile and a half ... which surprised me as we weren't going that fast ... he eventually came past when he managed to latch on to another group...
Not that I mind towing more than just my wife - just make sure you say hi as you go past! 0 -
I've had this too - no actual bumps yet, just tw4ts screaming past with no warning giving me a clearance of about an inch.littledove44 wrote:BillyMansell wrote:Maybe you need to ride with a sign on your back stating, "STEER CLEAR. CRAP FEMALE CYCLIST" or "CAUTION. WIDE LOAD".
How about joining a club or take a cycle training course to learn proper riding etiquette and improve your skills? Much better than creating your own MyWay Code for cycling and making assumptions about other cyclists to fit your prejudices.
What an absurd reply. Other people bump into me unneccessarily and you think its my fault!!!
Quite apart from anything else, it often makes me jump, which almost inevitably makes my line twitch a little.
Contrast with RL100, coming down quite fast (by my standards, anyway) on the Newlands Corner descent, guy calls 'on your right' to me early enough for me to lift a finger off my bars in acknowledgement. And then says 'thanks' on his way past.
An excellent example to set, I thought.Is the gorilla tired yet?0 -
Slowbike wrote:Brakeless wrote:I think you just got the hump because so many girls were over taking you. If people really were 'bumping' you you'd have been on the floor !
If you're not on a windup then you're being ignorant ....
I was out there on saturday and had the same issue as the OP. I may not ride in groups, but I'm confident on my bike. My wife is less confident on her bike. A few times I was seriously tempted to catch* the twats that overtook too close and give them a word of advice - but I feel it would've fallen on deaf ears - they're probably the same prats who discard their gel wrappers.
*that's not an idealistic thought - I could've done easily - I may well do so next time we're out.
Of course they are and I bet they jump red lights too :roll:0 -
Regarding shouting whilst passing. This was done in mountain bike racing, the reason being you might pass on either the left or right and you shout to let them know which side to expect you. On the road you should only pass on the right (in the UK) and there's no need to shout. Although if I am passing someone I would say hi, morning etc but that's just being friendly.0
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Slowbike wrote:Brakeless wrote:I think you just got the hump because so many girls were over taking you. If people really were 'bumping' you you'd have been on the floor !
If you're not on a windup then you're being ignorant ....
I was out there on saturday and had the same issue as the OP. I may not ride in groups, but I'm confident on my bike. My wife is less confident on her bike. A few times I was seriously tempted to catch* the twats that overtook too close and give them a word of advice - but I feel it would've fallen on deaf ears - they're probably the same prats who discard their gel wrappers.
*that's not an idealistic thought - I could've done easily - I may well do so next time we're out.
Probably the same bunch of twenty that cycled slowly up a hill by a lone woman clearly unable to refit her chain after it became jammed against the frame.
Well worth stopping and sorting it for her. She gave us a beaming smile and a Jaffa cake.0 -
That's at least two chains fixed on the side of the road then - I stopped for a bloke a mile before Linwood - I'd asked if he was ok and got the reply "not really .. no" ... I couldn't just ride off and leave him. Told my wife to carry on and I'd catch up ...littledove44 wrote:Probably the same bunch of twenty that cycled slowly up a hill by a lone woman clearly unable to refit her chain after it became jammed against the frame.
Well worth stopping and sorting it for her. She gave us a beaming smile and a Jaffa cake.
So why do I get the blokes with problems and you get the women!! Not fair! 0 -
I'd weave like a drunkard all over the road and shout and bawl profanities and then no fecker will pass.seanoconn - gruagach craic!0
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I wonder what these overtaking riders do when a car passes them too closely? Throw a massive tantrum, presumably.0
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Did have one moment on Sunday when group of six wellied past on steep descent to meet narrow bridge with bus on it coming the other way. Much smoking rubber and skittles moment and they were all in the wrong gear for the steep climb on the other side. Politely asked them if they were ok as I went past... It was about a mile before they caught me again. Ok I'm a sad git but it made my day...0
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Mikey23 wrote:Did have one moment on Sunday when group of six wellied past on steep descent to meet narrow bridge with bus on it coming the other way. Much smoking rubber and skittles moment and they were all in the wrong gear for the steep climb on the other side. Politely asked them if they were ok as I went past... It was about a mile before they caught me again. Ok I'm a sad git but it made my day...
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Nah, thats just what I tell the social...0
