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@Tea_Bee
We all see a bit of bad cycling here and there, poor roadcraft, etc. but this morning takes the biscuit. I am heading along Clapham Common Noth Side. There are a couple of cyclists ahead, somehow they pull alongside and get chatting. Now, I really hope one or both of them uses this forum, because I didn't talk to them at the time, but I'm still completely dumbfounded by what they did next.
One was a bloke, mid twenties, stocky, light brown hair, riding a narsty looking (not in a good way) black Surly with what looked like 3-speed Sturmey rear hub and a bit of a slack chain. She was similar age, Scottish I think from what I heard of her voice, veryveryvery tight curly hair, riding a plain black fixie with a brand new black saddle. They seemed to be discussing the saddle at one point.
It all takes place here:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=blackheath&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Lewisham,+Greater+London,+United+Kingdom&ll=51.46128,-0.15029&spn=0.009144,0.01929&z=16&layer=c&cbll=51.461266,-0.150925&panoid=BycLBzTP3qA9vrLTxKvZQg&cbp=12,265.68,,0,5
But what happened was that they're riding two-abreast chatting, a car came up past me and slowed behind the pair of them, so seeing it behind them, they then split to opposite sides of the road. He hugged the kerb, she rode along the white line and they were basically expecting this big Merc to sail between them somehow. The driver offered up the nose of the car to the gap a couple of times and realised there was maybe a foot clearance each side, if that, and decided it wasn't safe. So, getting annoyed at what they'd done, the driver beeped, they moved ever-so slightly wider apart, still riding completely alongside each other, covering the entire road - even wider now, still with not enough gap between for a car to fit safely through.
Eventually, the car rounded them both, beeped annoyance, at which point she let go of the handlebars and made a "what's your problem" shrug gesture and he treated the driver to "the Nescafe shuffle". WTF?!??
Is ushering a car to pass between two cyclists with a fag paper to spare considered safe practice in places that I don't go to? And if you were either of the cyclists involved, I'd be really interested to know what the fuck you thought you were doing. Perhaps I just misread your actions, but it looked from behind like the dumbest cycling manoevre I've seen in a long time - AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'D DONE WRONG. What was wrong with one of you putting your foot down and getting back into single-file for a moment then moving back to two-abreast? Or even staying two-abreast and only covering half of the carriageway, thus giving the driver at least half of it to work with.