To all of the drivers on the A6 today

drays

To all of the drivers driving between Derby and Bakewell on the A6 today...

An apology.

For being so inconsiderate as to go out on my bike when you so badly needed to be driving.

1. To the chap in the silver Nissan Terrano coming through Milford. I'm sorry. For needing to overtake a parked car then go round two blind bends with oncoming traffic and so taking up a primary position. For making you wind down the passenger window and shout "you're in the middle of the f***ing road you c***." For making you so upset you pulled over on the pavement and shouted "get over here you c***." For causing you to call me a c*** one last time when i was alongside your car.*

2. To the bus driver who needed to overtake and then immediately stop at the bus stop.

3. To the bin lorry in Darley Dale that had to overtake then immediately turn left into a side road causing my group of 3 cyclists to stop along with the 3 other cars that were overtaking us.

4. To the car driver coming the other way that had to overtake a car that was itself overtaking a group of cyclists while we were approaching in the opposite direction.

5. To the van driver in Belper that gave me no space when I was passing parked cars.

6. To the chap driving an estate with a large trailer (not on the A6 this time) who overtook me then cut across me and turned into a side road on the right which had cars exiting.

7. To the countless drivers that had to pass far too close.

On behalf of cyclists everywhere, I am sorry for not pulling over to the side of the road when a motor vehicle is approaching.

Regards,

Drays




* I am sorry most of all your young son in the passenger seat caught in the middle averting his eyes had to witness that from his father.

sloppyschleckonds

csb

Bozman

......and that's why you don't ride on the A6.

NewTTer

The one common denominator was you, mm wonder where the real problem lies

drays

NewTTer - You're absolutely right, I had a s****y ride today and p***ed off a lot of people.

john1967

NewTTer wrote:

The one common denominator was you, mm wonder where the real problem lies

no.The one common denominator was motorised vehicle users showing utter contempt for a cyclist again.

DiscoBoy

Number 4 :shock:

gethinceri

I was on your side until point 6. Then you ruined it because it went against the title of the thread.
You cunt.

supermurph09

impressive memory

peat

Was there really no alternatives to riding on an A road?

markhewitt1978

Standard A road stuff I'm afraid which is why I avoid them like the plague. Unfortunately the way the UK road network is organised it's often difficult or impossible to get anywhere without hitting busy A roads at some point.

bernithebiker

Move to France.

team47b

Move to Portugal, car drivers love cyclists, some even wave and say hello clearly unaware of the rules

darkhairedlord

If it begins with A & has less than three numerals best avoided.

jgsi

Has it only just sunk in? you cant have been riding for very long... in Britain all roads are car lanes.

themogulman

The A6 from Bakewell to Derby is a busy road. The thing is there are so many ways to get from Bakewell to Derby on some of the best cycling roads around. I only use the A6 if I am spent as its flat.

Bozman

themogulman wrote:

The A6 from Bakewell to Derby is a busy road. The thing is there are so many ways to get from Bakewell to Derby on some of the best cycling roads around. I only use the A6 if I am spent as its flat.

+1

de_sisti

drays wrote:

To all of the drivers driving between Derby and Bakewell on the A6 today...

Mate, just get over it. I'd love to tell you about the two morons in an orange V reg Fiesta, who yesterday, overtook
our group, passenger shouting all sorts of obscenities to us, only to park in a lay-by near the traffic lights we stopped at, shouting/screaming at the top of his voice that we held up traffic because we weren't in single file.

When advised that we can ride two abreast we were subjected to more foul mouth language stating that the highway code says single file only.

But I'll keep it to myself.

Initialised

Take down the VRMs and report them or just suck it up.

markhewitt1978

You do wonder if some have read the Highway Code as "never ride two abreast" rather than never ride more than two abreast.

chris_bass

I think some people genuinely don't know bikes are allowed on the bigger a roads. If it's an a road with single or double digits I generally try to avoid, there are usually much nicer, safer and more scenic routes running along side

de_sisti

markhewitt1978 wrote:

You do wonder if some have read the Highway Code as "never ride two abreast" rather than never ride more than two abreast.

I won't make the mistake again of trying to reason with someone who's shouting and swearing at the top of their voice.
They can't be persuaded to reason. :roll:

rodgers73

Sounds like this guy had a rough day on his bike when the weather suggested it should have been lovely.

Can't fault the bloke for feeling p*ssed off.

Baby Trek

Oh dear! We were on the A6 today from Bakewell to Matlock...we never really have any problems. But we always try to take the roads around Beeley to avoid it where possible as they are much nicer. But we do use the A6 to get places fast as it is good for that.
Sorry you had so many problems...I guess people get frustrated at the sheer numbers of us cyclists now out on the roads...hey ho! I always maintain that we are totally intolerant to each others hobbies, sports and passions.

vs

I'd find another hobby rather than ride on those sort of roads. Unclassified and maybe the odd BXXXX for me, even then I hate seeing more than a couple of cars an hour.

mfin

'A' roads are things to avoid if you can, unless you like increased risk and inconveniencing others of course. I don't personally understand cyclists who don't try as much as possible to avoid riding where traffic is likely.

drays

Thanks for the responses everyone. I take full responsibility for no. 1 as I was actively preventing him overtaking and would have been better off if he'd just got past and not been held up. The others are pretty standard A road fare, but I had little tolerance for it after no. 1.

I would have preferred to stay off the A6 as it's a hideous road at the best of times, but I was in a group and didn't plan the route. It wasn't all A6 but we used it in parts in between the nicer quieter stretches.

I'm going to chalk it up as experience, avoiding spending too much time on busy A roads in future, and will resolve to keep out of drivers' way for my own safety when possible.

drays

Nice sig mfin.

adr82

mfin wrote:

'A' roads are things to avoid if you can, unless you like increased risk and inconveniencing others of course. I don't personally understand cyclists who don't try as much as possible to avoid riding where traffic is likely.

The thing is that the "increased risk" is a direct result of this so-called "inconveniencing" of others, aka "using roads you have a perfect right to use". Instead of accepting it, we should be naming and shaming and (in an ideal world) prosecuting anyone who pulls sh*t like the OP described. Nothing is going to change if we just "suck it up" as others have suggested.

The real problem is how ridiculously impatient drivers are when it comes to sitting behind a cyclist for literally a few seconds. It's their problem they are willing to risk head-on collisions and potential death (for themselves and others!) by overtaking on blind corners or right on the crest of a blind summit, purely because they'd otherwise have to wait a few seconds and overtake safely. It's their problem the red mist descends instantly when they think they're getting held up, however briefly, on what is very likely a journey that is not time-critical in any way whatsoever.

I don't understand why so many cyclists seem to think the aggressive verbal and physical abuse you often get from these people is just something you have to try and shrug off as a natural result of daring to cycle on the roads. F*ck them. Get a helmet cam, record as much as you can and report them to the police. Even if nothing comes of it I imagine it'll look rather bad for someone if they get into a more serious incident in the future and have had several complaints recorded against them already.

damocles10

I use the A4 ( London to Reading ) and I very very rarely get grief from drivers.....it's not the A6 though and some A roads are much worse than other, A303 for example.

mallorcajeff

Dont come to mallorca as the serious ammount of bad cyclists here at the moment is worse than the a6 by the sound of it.