Cyclecraft

Bought me a copy of "Cyclecraft". Great book - just what I needed after
so many dormant years out of the saddle.

This "primary riding position" takes some getting used to around town.
After all those years keeping as far as possible from anything big with
wheels, it's strange to be planting myself in amongst em now - but I see
the reasoning... i think :-o
My experience so far is that motorists hate it. So far been bibbed
twice, and yelled at once - and I only started on this during this week.

Tch... middle aged and still so much to learn...

--
Succorso

Bought me a copy of "Cyclecraft". Great book - just what I needed after
so many dormant years out of the saddle.

This "primary riding position" takes some getting used to ....

Yes, it's a good book, and John Franklin has some interesting stuff on
his web site, too. www.lesberries.co.uk, I think.

There's another book, "Effective Cycling", by John Foreter, MIT Press.

Forester expresses the concept differently. He talks about "wide lanes"
and "narrow lanes". If it's a narrow lane, you have to "take the lane"
for your own protection.

There's an art to taking the lane, so that you don't look as if you are
willfully blocking the guy behind you. Really, you are perfectly
entitled to plonk yourself right in the middle of the lane, but that
irritates people, so it's better to be more subtle, and come out just
far enough to be effective. The nearside tyre track of the cars is
about right.

Effective Cycling is a very good book. It's a general purpose Cycling
Book, not just about about riding in traffic, and contains a bunch of
very useful stuff that no other bike book does. Forester can be
irritating, because he famously says what he thinks, very bluntly, using
words like "superstition" for ideas he disagrees with. However, he gives
his reasons.

Forester is a Californian, but actually he was born in London's Dulwich,
emigrating with his family when he was a teenager. He's the son of the
Forester who wrote the Hornblower books.

Jeremy Parker

"Tony Raven" wrote in message
...
Peter Owens wrote:

Your speed is irrelevant - what matters is the lane width.

If there is not sufficient space within the lane to permit the
car following to overtake safely then it is important not to invite
the driver to risk your life by doing so (if you ride too far to
the left you are simply giving the false impression to the driver
that there is a gap big enough to squeeze through - while
simultaneously removing any escape room for yourself should they
try). This is just
as important if you are riding at 5mph as it is at 20.

True but also remember Para 145 of the Highway Code if you are cycling
slowly and holding up traffic:

It is extremely rare to hold up traffic even when riding slowly in the
primary position.
It is pretty easy to overtake cycles - and the slower the cycle the easier
it is to overtake.
In many years of driving I have never been held up by more than a couple of
bends
by a cyclist - and I always drive as if a cyclist was driving in primary
position
even if they are hugging the gutter. On the other hand I have often had to
follow
a car for 30 miles or so.

The only way a cyclist riding in the primary position is holding up
traffic is by forcing drivers to wait until it is safe to overtake -
which they should be doing in any case.

"Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a
large or slow moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if
necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass"

Absolutely, but note the "where it is safe".

Just as it is critical to take the lane when it is not safe to overtake it
is
important to move over to the secondary position where safe overtaking
is possible.

I have seen plenty of long queues of traffic in my time - but never one
caused
by a cyclist riding in the primary position.

Succorso wrote:

This "primary riding position" takes some getting used to around town.
After all those years keeping as far as possible from anything big with
wheels, it's strange to be planting myself in amongst em now - but I see
the reasoning... i think :-o

Da fing is ... around here, I keep up with the town traffic, so by
riding in the middle of the lane, I'm not holding any drivers up, so
they have a hard time getting angry about it.

My experience so far is that motorists hate it. So far been bibbed
twice, and yelled at once - and I only started on this during this week.

I get the impression that I'm not popular, although I don't think I've
been hooted at around town, but that's as much because I'm sailing
past the entire queue of traffic while Mr & Mrs Motorist are sat in it
and fuming.

--
Stevie D
\\\\\ ///// Bringing dating agencies to the
\\\\\\\__X__/////// common hedgehog since 2001 - "HedgeHugs"
___\\\\\\\'/ \'///////_____________________________________________