Why I hate lycra louts

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by timwilky

But, I would never consider overtaking or filtering on the outside to enable me to take a left turn. It puts you directly into the path of traffic and just asking for trouble. If it had been a truck rather than my car there was a good chance that he would not have been seen.

A little wave to say sorry mate I fecked up there, thanks for letting me through and I promise not to try and follow my reckless mate again. Would have made one heck of a difference to my thoughts about these clowns.

Agree with both your points, I don't tend to filter for those reasons, and a quick thanks does help

Originally Posted by ophic

I don't see the problem. You were aware of him. He was aware of you. And in fact he seemed aware of you being aware of him and therefore moved across.

In terms of unspoken communication between 2 road users, it seems to be a brilliant example. Unless I missed something because I don't have sound here.

A little wave would be nice but it can be difficult to shift your weight off your shoulders to lift your hand whilst pedaling and mid-turn.

And there's a 2 4 1 offer on steak!

Agreed

Originally Posted by Adam Ef

Wow. A couple of moments of needing to travel slightly slower on the road after already having had to wait ages at a red light. I agree a thumbs up or thanks from the rider wouldn't have gone amiss, but if that's all it takes to make you HATE a whole group of people who wear certain clothes to cycle that's a bit sad.

Hate a very emotive word to use in this situation, he could have given you a thumbs up to say thanks, but I guess he was concerned about getting knocked off.

Lout? Didn't see any loutish behavior, no two fingers, shouting at you, so using the generic term for cyclists as Lycra Louts isn't good use of the term in this situation.

I've read about your issues with mountain bikers using the trails where you walked you dog and can understand why you dislike cyclists, but in this instance, you were held up for a couple of seconds.

There needs to be much more tolerance of other road users by car drivers. I've just returned from a week in France where car drivers treat cyclists in a much better way. Look they even have statues depicting cyclists

P_20160922_115126 by maviczap, on Flickr

The trouble is, we're getting to saturation point with the number of cars/lorries/vans etc exceeds the capacity of the road network, so drivers get frustrated that a Lycra Lout can make better progress than they can, whilst stuck in their tin prison, which is where all this HATE of cyclists comes from I suspect

[Sir Trev]

Originally Posted by maviczap

The trouble is, we're getting to saturation point with the number of cars/lorries/vans etc exceeds the capacity of the road network, so drivers get frustrated that a Lycra Lout can make better progress than they can, whilst stuck in their tin prison, which is where all this HATE of cyclists comes from I suspect

I suspect you're spot on with this. As I trundle into my town centre filtering down the traffic queue I so often get a "revenge overtake" when things start moving again and a disgruntled cager will deliberately just miss me and move over to block me. Getting off and walking around them before setting off again is very satisfying. What makes me laugh out loud is being called a LL* despite my usual cycling outfit of tshirt and jeans - it's just become a generic term for all cyclists.



*I do not own a single piece of Lycra clothing and I don't judge people who do.

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by maviczap

...
The trouble is, we're getting to saturation point with the number of cars/lorries/vans etc exceeds the capacity of the road network, so drivers get frustrated that a Lycra Lout can make better progress than they can, whilst stuck in their tin prison, which is where all this HATE of cyclists comes from I suspect

If that is the case why don't we see the same attitude extended towards motorcyclists? There are still a fair percentage of motorcyclists that filter pretty inconsiderately however in my experience car drivers are becoming more and more co-operative towards them rather than the opposite.

To answer my own question I suspect that motorcyclists, despite the way some of them ride, are still seen as fellow motorists and they generally follow the same rules of the road, both written and unwritten. Cyclists on the other hand often don't and yet still expect to be afforded the same consideration.

As an example I approached a roundabout on the North Circular a couple of weeks ago whilst driving an articulated HGV intending to turn left. Due to the size of the vehicle it's necessary to approach with the cab several feet away from the nearside kerb in order to allow the turn without dragging the trailer across the pavement (apparently that's frowned upon...!). As I'm creeping forward looking for my opportunity to merge with the traffic on the roundabout with my left indicators flashing away merrily I see this cyclist ride straight up my inside and sit quite literally next to my front nearside wheel. I've then got an opportunity to pull out but can't take it because of this stupid cyclist effectively blocking my turn so have to bring all 40+ tons to a stop and let him go, and then whilst I'm busy lining up the next chance guess what rides up my inside again.....? I don't do "Road Rage" but I've got this huge set of air horns on top of the cab and I'm sure their use was entirely justified despite what the cyclist thought......

[carelesschucca]

I'm with you on that horns were deserved. I also understand the cyclists position. Basically everyone on the road is desperate to make progress, cyclists will see it that they have to make a physical effort to make that progress and stopping is a complete pita.

Hey more importantly we've got King of the Mountain medals to achieve on Strava and that's more important than you delivering some poxy products to some where

Maybe I'm lucky 90% of both my cycling and motorbiking I'm in the countryside on quiet roads and I try to be as helpful to drivers as I can when cycling, I now wave cars past if I can see the road is clear before they can.

Maybe I just find being on the road in general a good experience, I may hurl abuse and swear a lot but its not stressful.

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by Red Herring

If that is the case why don't we see the same attitude extended towards motorcyclists? There are still a fair percentage of motorcyclists that filter pretty inconsiderately however in my experience car drivers are becoming more and more co-operative towards them rather than the opposite.....

Because as you know all motorcyclists are Hells Angels or Sons of Anarchists and generally have big boots & studded gloves on, that a poor defenseless car driver wouldn't normally pick a fight with.

Cyclists on the other hand are Lycra clad wimps and I'll use my vehicle to run them off the road, because I know my tin box is going to hurt them bad.

There's always good cyclists and bad cyclists, there are also people who are not cyclists, but using a push bike to get somewhere. Neither category require any training to use their push bike, some maybe car drivers and know something about the rules of the road, others may not. Gone are the days of doing your cycling proficiency test at school.

All I know is that people are in too much of a damn hurry to get where their going, without any consideration for their fellow road users, both sides are at fault, neither is ever at fault.

Its about time people just take a moment to slow down & realise that either as a cyclist or motorist, being delayed for a few seconds isn't going to hurt them one little bit.

[ophic]

Originally Posted by Red Herring

If that is the case why don't we see the same attitude extended towards motorcyclists?

Motorcyclists don't get in the way. I think drivers perceive cyclists as not being able to achieve the speed limit and will therefore obstruct their progress at some point further down the road. Often true. So the slowest vehicle gets to the front and holds everyone up. Not great for traffic flow.

Imagine that was a motorcyclist on your inside. He'd most likely have given it some welly and zipped off out of your way.

But having said that, there probably is also the perception that drivers and motorcyclists have passed a test and therefore are qualified to be on the road and understand things like indicators. Cyclists don't require any such training and are therefore quite unpredictable.

Then there's the "road tax".

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by ophic

Motorcyclists don't get in the way. I think drivers perceive cyclists as not being able to achieve the speed limit and will therefore obstruct their progress at some point further down the road. Often true. So the slowest vehicle gets to the front and holds everyone up. Not great for traffic flow.

Imagine that was a motorcyclist on your inside. He'd most likely have given it some welly and zipped off out of your way.

But having said that, there probably is also the perception that drivers and motorcyclists have passed a test and therefore are qualified to be on the road and understand things like indicators. Cyclists don't require any such training and are therefore quite unpredictable.

Then there's the "road tax".

Ah yes that old chestnut

The road tax argument never gets old lol.

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by Starlet_gt

The road tax argument never gets old lol.

If I had a £1 for every time it was used, I'd be retired by now

[Bibio]

could be worse, you could live here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q5qxe3DqlI