Gripe of the day - What is yours?

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by DJ123

Car drivers who cannot overtake cyclists in a safe manner.

Unfortunately near where i live are a lot of roads that get congested by cyclists in this weather. Most ride sensibly, wear appropriate levels of safety gear and have an awareness of what's going around them. I don't know why they ride there as the roads are neither spectacular to ride, and the scenery is not jaw dropping either. Anywho, the car drivers. Most are plebs who are unable to look further than 3 feet in front of their vehicle and plan for coming up on a cyclist. The number of people who try and squeeze past a cyclist and a car on the other side of the road is vast, and people who do overtake on a clear gap don't understand they need to accelerate back up to speed and not crawl past them. Or they simply pull out on to the other side of the road in front of another vehicle and swerve to avoid a crash they very nearly created.

Yeah it's been getting at me lately, there are so many cyclists out and about and car drivers are driving ridiculously. The two favourite manouvres seem to be overtaking them wide on a blind bend on solid whites so the oncoming cornering bike/car needs to move quicksmart or die... or just slamming on the brakes because they're scared to use the other lane when it's bafflingly clear and safe to do so.

[Bibio]

or how about cyclists who take up the whole road with their mates. the highway code applies to you to you furkin morons.
or how about the ones who cant get their foot out the clips quick enough and fall over at the lights... oohhh wait thats funny so not a gripe.
i'm all for people using pushbikes but stop being brainless morons.

[DJ123]

Originally Posted by Dave20046

Yeah it's been getting at me lately, there are so many cyclists out and about and car drivers are driving ridiculously. The two favourite manouvres seem to be overtaking them wide on a blind bend on solid whites so the oncoming cornering bike/car needs to move quicksmart or die... or just slamming on the brakes because they're scared to use the other lane when it's bafflingly clear and safe to do so.

I saw one like this yesterday whilst out on the Motorbike. 3 cars were behind 2 cyclists on a fairly easy road to overtake them no bother, but the car at the front was just sitting behind them and missing every opportunity to pass. I got bored after a mile and went past them all, when it was safe to do so.

[Adam Ef]

Originally Posted by DJ123

should be able to do it with the green slip . . . . if it's MOT'd & Insured it makes no difference what's on the V5

Because the previous owner mixed up and threw away some wrong bits I had to send off the green slip that I had to the DVLA. So I'm entirely at their mercy when they want to release a new V5 for it. Hopefully I don't have to pay for it.

[garynortheast]

Originally Posted by Sean_Morgan

I'm not going to call what I do running, it's more of a gentle jog
I'd started walking to work 3 days a week.
Before everything shut I'd started to swim before work, I'd got myself to a point where I was doing 60 lengths. I was visiting the gym most nights too.
When everything closed I soon became quite lazy and the weight id worked to lose started creeping back up, so decided a walk to and from work was called for, on Friday I manage to jog the whole 2.2 miles into work. I was knackered, but very pleased with myself. I'm going to try and jog in 3 days but I can only muster the energy for a walk home at the end of the day !!

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

Hoho, you're on the slippery slope now Sean. By the end of the year you'll be looking at events you could enter, and you'll be discussing running kit on the Running Thread with the rest of us!

Originally Posted by maviczap

Sorry to hear about your latest injury Gary, you've certainly had a crap year of it.

But at least we're in the same weird year club, and we're wading through the crap before things improve.

Yup, you're right there Mav. We never know what little surprises life has in store for us.
I'll zip across your way when the lockdown is over and we can compare notes and have a mutual grumble over a coffee somewhere.

[Chris_SVS]

Originally Posted by Bibio

or how about cyclists who take up the whole road with their mates. the highway code applies to you to you furkin morons.
or how about the ones who cant get their foot out the clips quick enough and fall over at the lights... oohhh wait thats funny so not a gripe.
i'm all for people using pushbikes but stop being brainless morons.

Dry your wee eyes

Not in the mood for whataboutery, **** on an R1 nearly wiped himself out into the front of me earlier - overtaking cars on a totally blind bend.. 1yr old nephew in the car..

[chris8886]

Originally Posted by DJ123

Car drivers who cannot overtake cyclists in a safe manner.

Unfortunately near where i live are a lot of roads that get congested by cyclists in this weather. Most ride sensibly, wear appropriate levels of safety gear and have an awareness of what's going around them. I don't know why they ride there as the roads are neither spectacular to ride, and the scenery is not jaw dropping either. Anywho, the car drivers. Most are plebs who are unable to look further than 3 feet in front of their vehicle and plan for coming up on a cyclist. The number of people who try and squeeze past a cyclist and a car on the other side of the road is vast, and people who do overtake on a clear gap don't understand they need to accelerate back up to speed and not crawl past them. Or they simply pull out on to the other side of the road in front of another vehicle and swerve to avoid a crash they very nearly created.

The driving test needs to be made more difficult/there needs to be a limit on the number of tests you can take (so many people end up passing because they've done it so many times that they end up knowing how to pass it), which in my opinion does not make them compitent. We have too many people who drive on our roads who are simply not up to driving safely and properly.

[Seeker]

I think that cyclists should police themselves but I don't see that happening. Since the lockdown has eased the number of cyclists has increased substantially in Lincs. but, as yet, the marauding packs haven't appeared. These packs will not yield for anyone - 2 abreast and the length of 2 buses this is a rolling roadblock.
I was riding down a narrow lane (at about 45 mph - it was uneven) and came across 3 riders abreast, they didn't hear me and being fairly patient I held back until they'd finished their conversation (!) but it was only after I blipped the throttle and dropped it into first did they move.
I've seen (recently) cyclists roll through stop signs, red lights and cycle on the road when there is a separate lane provided presumably because they'd have to dismount for a junction. In Lincolnshire, roads are occasionally closed to motorised traffic to allow cycle races to take part - that doesn't go down well.

I don't want to see anyone hurt but some cyclists are as irresponsible as some bikers performing wheelies on busy roads and road user's patience is on the wane generally.
Maybe it's the cyclists that should take a test?

[Adam Ef]

Some of the bicycles we get in where I work make me feel that they should need MOT tests. There's some seriously dodgy stuff being ridden out there. Loads of new internet purchases being ridden without a clue that something is wrong until they bring it in for a small problem and we point out all the other dangerous things on it. In the last few weeks countless bikes with brakes not bolted on securely, stems not done up tight and handlebars moving independant of the forks, a front disc wheel in the wrong way around (ie. disc on the left and caliper on the right) and he didn't even notice he had no front brake, brake pads running on tyre sidewalls and ripping the tyre, countless pedals installed with left and right swapped (one is reverse thread) so crank threads ruined.... the list could go on and on...


As for people riding, most clubs riding in packs usually have rules of road etiquette and various shouts and signals to thin out ( go single file) when they have following traffic, but they will also stay two abreast when it is safe to do to create a shorter overtaking distance for cars etc, making passing safer for all involved.


I tend to ride alone, am a trained up cycle instructor and have also found that my motorcycle training has greatly informed my cycling, but there are times when you have to aggressively claim your space when cycling to avoid stupid passes on narrow sections and blind corners and this can sometimes look like you're riding selfishly. But you're not, you're just trying to stay alive to get home from work and see your family.


I have loads of footage of bad passes and stupid choices by drivers near me from my commutes into the city (which is mostly separate cycle path and byways thankfully, but the one road mile out of my ten mile commute still causes a crazy amount of scary moments.)


I often think an IQ element to the driving test might help a bit.

[Chris_SVS]

Originally Posted by Seeker

Maybe it's the cyclists that should take a test?

Why? Driving and riding standards are far poorer so testing hasn't really been effective for the heavier categories of vehicle. At no point during any of my tests was there any real emphasis on the highway code nor specifically the vulnerable road using groups inc cyclists and horse rider.

Tests are literally the minimum standard you can meet in order to be trusted on the roads.