Bicycles

[The Prof]

I think it's possible to hate all of them. And more.

[Darkness_Fish]

I'm with The Prof. It's people that are the problem, lets hate on them.

[The Modernist]

I have nothing against cyclists at all, but I can somewhat understand the ire of motorists.I saw a bunch of cyclists the other day and there must have been 30 or 40 of them, it was like the Tour de France had hit town. I can imagine navigating through that lot would be quite burdensome. Perhaps a compromise could be reached and they could limit their groupings to five or six?

[Toby]

That’s not the issue. It is the fact that cyclists do not have to go through the same regulatory process to be on the road. Anyone can simply pick up a bike and ride on the road without the same need for a test to ensure that they abide by the rules as motorists do.

I’m both a cyclist and a motorist, the latter most recently. And large gaggles of cyclists are a problem on the road. It’s difficult to overtake them and often they ride 5 abreast without any concern for traffic behind them. In their defence I will say that they are not overly common where I live and that they tend to be at the weekend and on certain roads only.

Ultimately cyclists on the road are here to stay and I think that is a good thing for the environment, but there is a wanky bullishness about MAMILs that is very offputting. A few of my friends are cycling enthusiasts and I guess I now know what it’s like to have friends who are into something that you have no interest in; my eyes glaze over at talk of frames, ascents etc.

[Toby]

We all know that cycling is the 21st century equivalent of golf.

[C.]

I have nothing against cyclists at all, but I can somewhat understand the ire of motorists.I saw a bunch of cyclists the other day and there must have been 30 or 40 of them, it was like the Tour de France had hit town. I can imagine navigating through that lot would be quite burdensome. Perhaps a compromise could be reached and they could limit their groupings to five or six?

yours,

irate of Harpenden

[The Modernist]

I have nothing against cyclists at all, but I can somewhat understand the ire of motorists.I saw a bunch of cyclists the other day and there must have been 30 or 40 of them, it was like the Tour de France had hit town. I can imagine navigating through that lot would be quite burdensome. Perhaps a compromise could be reached and they could limit their groupings to five or six?

I saw a traffic jam the other day. There was a bunch of cars; there must have been 50 or 60 of then. It was like the Dakar rally had hit town. I can imagine being in the middle of that lot would be quite burdensome, not to mention the damage to the environment through pollution. Perhaps a compromise could be reached and they could limit their groupings to 5 or 6? Especially in well populated areas?

But those bunch of cars hadn't deliberately congregated together. Why the need to go out in such large numbers? You're not Hells Angels.

[Darkness_Fish]

The other week I passed cyclists riding two abreast on the coastal road at Southport. Next to the cycle path. It was all I could do to stop myself from running them over and violating their corpses.

[clive gash]

Seems a bit much. Could you not have just nudged them over the cliff?

[Goat Boy]

I’ve only started driving again recently after a break of over 20 years (I only drove for a short while after passing my test) so I’d never really encountered cyclists until recently.

I can totally understand the annoyance. It’s not uncommon in my experience for cyclists to ignore red lights. It boils my piss when I see adult cyclists on pavements (I can understand kids obviously using them for safety reasons). I know it’s legal for cyclists to ride two abreast but some do break the rules by riding more than two abreast and it’s very annoying when they do this on narrow and/or busy roads where overtaking is limited. Predictably you end up with the cyclists at the front and a line of cars behind them crawling along.

I understand there are safety concerns here hence the two abreast thing but when you are on a road with the national speed limit and you are stuck behind cyclists taking up the entire left lane and travelling at, like, 10 miles an hour then it is annoying. I think in that situation they should be mindful and ride single file as much as possible but some clearly don’t as a way of winding up motorists I suspect. Rule 66 of the Highway code advises this but some clearly ignore it. In that situation drivers have a right to be annoyed.

Of course there are plenty arsehole drivers who I would never defend but, yeah, I get why some drivers hate 'em

[$P.Muff$]

How NOT to ride in the city!



This fella is obviously a very talented rider, but blowing past pedestrians, and just generally being way too aggressive is idiotic. I don't understand the fixie craze either.

[trans-chigley express]

As a driver I’ve never had any problems with cyclists on the road. It seems to an issue specific to Britain so maybe it’s not cyclists that are cunts per se but it’s British people in general.

[harvey k-tel]

I would suggest that you brits upgrade your roads so that they're not two feet wide and then you'll enjoy room enough for everybody.

[Rayge]

Seems a bit much. Could you not have just nudged them over the cliff?

Cliff? have you been to Southport?

[clive gash]

God no, is it in the Industrial North?

[Darkness_Fish]

I would suggest that you brits upgrade your roads so that they're not two feet wide and then you'll enjoy room enough for everybody.

But our cycle lanes have room for everyone:

[Darkness_Fish]

Seems a bit much. Could you not have just nudged them over the cliff?

Cliff? have you been to Southport?

I let it go. I didn't want to explain the outside world to someone in Norwich.

[clive gash]

Cliff from Norwich, my identity has been breached!

[harvey k-tel]

I would suggest that you brits upgrade your roads so that they're not two feet wide and then you'll enjoy room enough for everybody.

But our cycle lanes have room for everyone:

I suppose you'd call that a four-lane highway?

[Jimbo]

Cycling this evening to teach a class and I had to wait and wait at a crosswalk for those cunty pedestrians to make a little space for me and my bicycle. Them walkers in their clothes, men with neckties and women in their dresses, ooh, and some with baby strollers.