Manners please

Ride Wide

(that was what I used to say.. too many fat arse jokes put an end to it though :P)

True true, and i ride down the middle myself . . just i find that motorists look more in the inside mirror to look for a cyclist than they do in the outside mirror . . most of the near misses i have had are when i ride down the middle and someone pulls out to overtake another bike, etc etc, which leave you no place to swerve except into the path of oncoming traffic . . at least on my motorbike i am kitted up with full face helmet back protector etc . . on a bicycle i would rather have the option of the curb to hit. I don't think the majority of road users expect a cyclist to be in that position, and on a motorbike you have the ability to nail the accelerator and get ahead if needs be, not an option if you have legs like mine!
All i'm saying is it isnt any safer than riding on the inside

It's the same situation for cycles.. it's just the distances are different.
You are travelling faster but cycles will stop quicker.

The less people riding in the gutter and taking proper road position the more 'aware' of us motos and cars will be. If some cunt gets angry because I'm in front of him he can kill himself for all I care. I'm traffic too.
Anyway, I get blocked by more scooters and motos than I block myself because unlike them I can switch lanes through tight gaps.

with regards to 'riding wide' - what do people do when a car (usually minicab) gets pissed off with you and comes really close up behind, half overtakes and pushes you into the gutter?

any techniques for avoiding this?

with regards to 'riding wide' - what do people do when a car (usually minicab) gets pissed off with you and comes really close up behind, half overtakes and pushes you into the gutter?

any techniques for avoiding this?

I find slamming one hand on the bonnet/side of car whilst shouting works.

NB not to stop them that time, but hopefully the next time.

i think we should all start carrying guns. powdercoated ones, natch.

Tomy My First Shooter.

HHSGun.

i mean ..... come on ..... its 2008.

That may be news to some...

That may be news to some...

Only if your running the Gregorian calendar system.

I live in Norway where people think cyclists should use the footpaths. Admittedly this is often quite safe as there are'nt that many people on the footpaths, but I still think its reckless.
Anyway, fully aware that I am annoying the f**k out of the Norwegians (I'm English BTW), I used to ride as far to the right as possible.
One monday morning a bus overtook me despite oncomming traffic on the other side of the road. He missed me by centimeters.
On tuesday morning he gave me only millimeters.
On wednesday my handlebars actually rubbed along the side of the bus for a couple of meters. There is no path to escape to on this streatch, just a soft verge (love that expression) with a steep stoney drop to the freezing fjord below. I froze for a second, looked down to see that my front tyre was right on the edge of the tarmac, and froze some more. Absolutly nothing bad happened and I calmly finished my commute to work, were I went into a mild state of shock.

I now ride further into the road and pull over if possible to allow lorrys and buses to pass. If it is not safe for me pull over they can bloody wait!

Anyone know how much compo you can get from being hit by a bus?

Anyone know how much compo you can get from being hit by a bus?
...assuming you're alive to claim it?

About this much.

I never thought I'd say this but I totally agree with Chris Crash. Get out of the way if you are at the end of a gap in traffic that others might be willing to ride down but you are not. Don't sit on the corner of the big red bus and not let those behind you through. I absolutely have no problem with people feeling uncomfortable with going down tiny gashes between traffic, fair enough, and way to go on knowing your limits!! But my limits surpass that so please let me through.
The second part to this should also be addressed. For those of you that do ride down said gash in traffic only to stop directly at the front of it, forcing those riding down behind you to either get stuck smushed between cars or bunny hop a 90 degree angle behind you to squeak out between you and the annoyed traffic they just passed. Once you go down one of these paths, keep going, either through the intersection or to the right or left of traffic. That said, often this person is a motorcyclist and I'm only talking about other bikers.

Also, to the men, always men, who insist on passing me and then getting right in front of me and slowing down. You are dumb.

Oh and you may be faster than me, but chances are 8 times out of 10, that I get through traffic faster than you and have more experience doing so. So don't get all upset when I keep passing you and you have to huff and puff to pass me. On urban roads, it's not all down to how fast of a rider you are on the open road, but down to using your brain to get through traffic.

with regards to 'riding wide' - what do people do when a car (usually minicab) gets pissed off with you and comes really close up behind, half overtakes and pushes you into the gutter?

any techniques for avoiding this?

They wouldn't be able to overtake you if you were riding wide enough. That's the point. They'd have to run into your back wheel to do anything to you and basically.. that's pretty fuckin' unlikely unless they are completely psycho in which case I'd feel justified in killing them and their children and their parents and their dog.

I always overtake on the right, motorbike style, but the lanes in Bournemouth are far wider.

I ride a really beaten up steel framed orbit pretty much everywhere. When I overtake anyone which is on a better bike, they instantly speed up, stay on my wheel for ages. Really annoying behaviour.

So don't pass them.

Well if they were going at the same speed or faster than I, naturally I couldn't and wouldn't try overtaking them, would I? :D

You should be able to tell if they have a nicer bike from 10m away. If they do, stay in your rightful place behind them. If their bike is inferior to yours, then you may pass without fear of reprisal..

I wasn't aware there was a bike class system.

That's because you've so far failed to reach the upper echelons of bike classism and are thus blissfully unaware of its existence..

I thought it was more of a spiritual hierarchy.

There's one of them too.. but only for the believers amongst us.