Oh the irony

Grrr.

My commute to work is all rural roads. The traffic isn't bad, and in the
vast majority of cases, motorists are thoughtful enough to leave me
plenty of space when passing.

But today I was passed by a car which was so close the mirror lightly
brushed my jacket. The irony? The car had a bicycle carrier on the back.
Someone who obviously either knows people who ride bikes or rides bikes
themselves almost knocked me off to save all of two seconds. There was
exactly one car coming the other way, and all they had to do would be
slow down literally for two seconds!

The car that passed me a few minutes later by contrast - a boy racer
XR3i, gave me the entire lane.

--
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de

I don't condone the actions but the carrier might simply be there to
take the kiddies bikes 500 yards down the road to the local park.

TR


But today I was passed by a car which was so close the mirror lightly
brushed my jacket. The irony? The car had a bicycle carrier on the back.
Someone who obviously either knows people who ride bikes or rides bikes
themselves almost knocked me off to save all of two seconds.

On Jun 18, 10:29 am, Dylan Smith wrote:
But today I was passed by a car which was so close the mirror lightly
brushed my jacket. The irony? The car had a bicycle carrier on the back.
Someone who obviously either knows people who ride bikes or rides bikes
themselves almost knocked me off to save all of two seconds.

In my experience there's no correlation between bike carriers on cars
and courtesy to cyclists. My assumption is that they are off-road
cyclists who rarely cycle on roads. I can't believe anyone who
regularly cycles on roads would overtake you in the way you described.

Rob

wrote:
On Jun 18, 10:29 am, Dylan Smith wrote:
But today I was passed by a car which was so close the mirror lightly
brushed my jacket. The irony? The car had a bicycle carrier on the
back. Someone who obviously either knows people who ride bikes or
rides bikes themselves almost knocked me off to save all of two
seconds.

In my experience there's no correlation between bike carriers on cars
and courtesy to cyclists. My assumption is that they are off-road
cyclists who rarely cycle on roads. I can't believe anyone who
regularly cycles on roads would overtake you in the way you described.


Well, on the L2B yesterday, it was not the "wobblers" that were a hazard but
the lycra clad speed merchants on expensive road bikes who came closest to
knocking me off several times, by overtaking too close and brushing past, or
diving through non existent spaces forcing others to brake to avoid them and
when I mentioned this a the post ride bbq I was met by a chorus of "Me too!"

So, I would not be quite so sure that "I can't believe anyone who
regularly cycles on roads would overtake you in the way you described" -
some cyclists, believe it or not are selfish inconsiderate pillocks.

pk

TrailRat writes:

I don't condone the actions but the carrier might simply be there to
take the kiddies bikes 500 yards down the road to the local park.

Oh well it's completely fine for them to be inconsiderate *******s in
that case ...

Chris
--
Chris Eilbeck

Dylan Smith writes:

Grrr.

My commute to work is all rural roads. The traffic isn't bad, and in the
vast majority of cases, motorists are thoughtful enough to leave me
plenty of space when passing.

But today I was passed by a car which was so close the mirror lightly
brushed my jacket. The irony? The car had a bicycle carrier on the back.

Good job they didn't have a bike on it!

Chris
--
Chris Eilbeck

p.k. wrote:
Well, on the L2B yesterday, it was not the "wobblers" that were a hazard but
the lycra clad speed merchants on expensive road bikes [...]

So, I would not be quite so sure that "I can't believe anyone who
regularly cycles on roads would overtake you in the way you described" -
some cyclists, believe it or not are selfish inconsiderate pillocks.

That's one possibility: another is that they're used to riding in packs,
and forget that other cyclists aren't necessarily also. Not that that's
really any better, but it's easier to keep smiling when you can explain
the behaviour in terms of unawareness than of malice.

Has to be said that L2B would not be my first choice of event if I were
looking to ride 60 miles on a fast road bike. It'd be like trying to do
a time trial on a shared-use path.


-dan

Oh well it's completely fine for them to be inconsiderate *******s in
that case ...


Oh please, don't read my post as a means of giving them good cause.
If I had my way I'd slash the tyres* of every numpty that deigned to
close the gap between us to the thickness of a fag paper.
My post was there to rebuttal the assumption that the driver might not
be such a cyclist as the OP hypothesised.


*I'm still working on the handlebar mounted EMP grenade launcher.

In article , p.k.
says...

Well, on the L2B yesterday, it was not the "wobblers" that were a hazard but
the lycra clad speed merchants on expensive road bikes who came closest to
knocking me off several times, by overtaking too close and brushing past, or
diving through non existent spaces forcing others to brake to avoid them

Club riders are used to riding close at speed, they will lean against
each other, occasionally wheels will touch - it's fine if you're used to
it, but I can see that it might come as a bit of a shock to people who
aren't used to riding in tight groups.

Daniel Barlow wrote:
Not
that that's really any better, but it's easier to keep smiling when
you can explain the behaviour in terms of unawareness than of malice.


Ummmm, the same could be said about some motorists' behaviour?

pk