Cycling Techniques

The other week I had a bus try to undertake me/push me into the oncoming traffic, as he pulled out from a stop, strongly took the primary position so he then tried to overtake me. He ended up on the wrong side of a pedestrian island (ie on the others side of the road) as the lights turned red.

He actually had to reverse to get out of the way of the oncoming traffic and get back onto his side of the road.

Whilst the lights were red I opened the doors and got half into the bus to scream at him how much of a fucking retarded cunt he was for trying to kill me.

Whilst the lights were red I opened the doors and got half into the bus to scream at him how much of a fucking retarded cunt he was for trying to kill me.

those emergency open levers are complete win

i did contemplate going round the back and cutting off his fuel supply

Ooo you're nasty. I like.

he would have had a fun time explaining being on the road on the wrong side

Ride defensively and with confidence, motorists and pedestrians can spot a nervous rider a mile off.

ironically these are the ones that get the most space. Like getting a rush hour tube smeared in Tynan's paste: You'll always get a space.

I find bus drivers tend to go mental when we cycle in primary position in bus lanes. The other week Mccarthy and I were coming back from the pub and one started to continually beep at us. I proceeded to do the go slow and the twat drove about 2 inches from my wheel.

This one is tricky. In a gesture towards better manners and road peace, if the conditions are safe, I'll go out of my way to give a bus way by moving and making that eye contact. The same drivers some of you mention being absolute psychos have 100% (so far) been very grateful by always gesticulating thanks giving me eye contact plus they seem to take more care when over taking. That same driver yards down the road will go out of his/her way to give me way, if/when I need it.
It's the same if I'm riding and further down the road and see a vehicle either wanting to turn across my lane into a side road or pull out from a side road. If there is no one behind me (within reason) I'll give way. The stunned look on their faces: o_O Again, firther down the road they'll have my better interest at heart.

What pisses some drivers off (esp bus drivers) is when they are traveling faster than someone on a bike in a bus lane, the cyclist looks back and almost looks to belligerently hold everything up, without assessing how far the next bus stop is and possibly allowing the faster vehicle to pass. Making a little eye contact as they pass you is a great way to sub conscientiously put the onus on them to take care as they pass (obviously not at the expense of putting yourself in a bad or dangerous road position). Worse still are the riders that look to ride side by side in unsuitable road conditions.

Okay may need to revised on my technique, everyday I get at least 3 or so motorcyclists a day who's not only honking but exceeded the speed limit to the point that one of them clipped my back wheel while trying to slow down dramatically, most of them weren't expecting me to be on the red instead of the blue.

30mph+ vehicles and bicycle in the same lane is insanity.

I find bus drivers tend to go mental when we cycle in primary position in bus lanes. The other week Mccarthy and I were coming back from the pub and one started to continually beep at us. I proceeded to do the go slow and the twat drove about 2 inches from my wheel.

Questions about bus lanes do come up fairly often. Mainly along the lines of "Am I allowed to use them?". I've never had a problem with a bus driver getting agitated if I take primary position in the lane. Slowing down in front of a driver seems to me only likely to annoy him more and put yourself at more risk; as well as delaying his (blameless) passengers. Trainers, I think, have to be honest with trainees and tell them they may get beeped at more often if they ride assertively; but that being beeped at does not hurt while being car doored hurts a great deal. I always add the caveat that if they encounter a truly aggressive driver, one who seems beyond angry, then they might as well pull over, when it is safe to do so, and let the miserable idiot go on his way. Otherwise they should not let themselves be bullied in to pulling over. Perhaps James you should have let the bus pass and settled for making a formal complaint?
I also really don't have problems with motor bikes in bus lanes. Is it a particular lane Ed? I know you are already hyper vigilant when it comes to looking behind and communicating so I wonder what is going on?

EDIT: me and Multi were obviously typing at the same time and he has explained it better than me.

some fine awareness of other roads users shown by the above two posts.
and isnt that what its ultimately about, using the same space.
if Im travelling along an urban road or bus lane, especially at rush hours, its very likely that Ill come across the same vehicle more than once,
seems to make sense to yield to its greater speed on open stretches, rather than having a coronary trying to be the big man, if I visibly with awareness pull in behind a bus indicating to pull away, often get a thanks wave, then later when I overtake the same driver, they will give you space when youre assertively riding through junctions.
Skydancers ying and yang aint it?

My first impression when I saw Eds pic is that it looked unnecessarily disruptive. I dont think riding in an assertive position necessarily equates to not allowing people past.

to me assertive cycling is riding in the traffic stream either when you can match the speed of the traffic flow (most of the time in london) or if you need to to minimise risk such as when passing parked cars, a side road or riding in a bus lane.

Doing this doesn't prevent overtaking when the next or oncoming lane is free. It does prevent risky overtaking in the same lane.

When doing this, as has been suggested, the look back and even aknowledgement of the driver behind goes a long way to minimise conflict

shell-- nut. ^

whenever I pull in or out in traffic I try to raise my hand, in thanks, recognition and to just flag up that I am there. I started doing this about 3 months ago when I was getting truly sick of my commutes to work. My assertive riding and lack of communication/acknowledgement came off as arrogance I think. Now, my riding assertively and communicating/acknowledging drivers, imo, comes off as respectable. I have honestly seen an improvement in my commutes. I am happier on the bike, and I think other road users are happier to give me space.

just my 2p

some fine awareness of other roads users shown by the above two posts.
and isnt that what its ultimately about, using the same space.
if Im travelling along an urban road or bus lane, especially at rush hours, its very likely that Ill come across the same vehicle more than once,
seems to make sense to yield to its greater speed on open stretches, rather than having a coronary trying to be the big man, if I visibly with awareness pull in behind a bus indicating to pull away, often get a thanks wave, then later when I overtake the same driver, they will give you space when youre assertively riding through junctions.
Skydancers ying and yang aint it?

You've just summed up how I think about cycling in town and communicating with other road users perfectly.

My first impression when I saw Eds pic is that it looked unnecessarily disruptive. I dont think riding in an assertive position necessarily equates to not allowing people past.

Absolutely true (the second bit); I was just on the phone to Festus talking about this thread and trainees who find primary position such a liberating revelation that you have to remind them that riding in the middle of a narrow side street with parked cars on both sides does not mean they have to ride in the middle of every road from now on. As SkyDancer says, you adapt to the circumstances. I think Ed's pic is of the bus lane near Clapham Common - anyway it's the same - and it's an odd one because the Super Highway bit makes the bus lane far too narrow for a bus and any rider sticking to the cycle lane is going to be dangerously squeezed out if they do not discourage busses from overtaking too close. But as MF and Multi have said, there is nothing wrong in letting a bus pass if you can do that safely.

My first impression when I saw Eds pic is that it looked unnecessarily disruptive. I dont think riding in an assertive position necessarily equates to not allowing people past.

it look unnecessarily disruptive because there's no buses behind me at the time I took the photo, thereforth I'm able to take the full width of the lane itself, it's the motorcyclists that I find more of a problem than the buses.

Motorcyclists are able to filter through traffic almost as well as cyclists, so to slow them down and prevent them passing me at close proxy shouldn't be too much of a problem for them as they can easily join the traffic steam and back again in order to overtake me properly, giving me a car width as the Highway Code 167 stated.

buses are the least of my concern, as CTUK stated that we should work with the traffic to make everything go smoothly, my road position depend entirely on the stretch of the road, the timing (i.e. rush hour) and the location of each bus stop.

the route in picture Will correctly assumed is the Clapham one northbound from Clapham North tube station have huge amount of room for the bus to overtake me effortlessly, if there's a bus behind me, I often move back to the centre of the lane near the edge of the Smurfway to allow the bus a bit more room to overtake me while maintaining enough space between me and the kerbs should any incident occured.

Festus

The bus driver had about 50 yards to go to his next stop when he started beeping furiously. He pulled in realised he had no fares to pick up or drop off and then started the shit all over again. Mick and myself were doing about 20mph at the time.

We had been aware of him, he was not using the horn to make us aware of his presence, just to try and intimidated. Behave like a cunt to me and I shall reciprocate.

You could always use the intermittent wobble technique. Have we discussed that on here yet? Do the trainers consider it a valid 'trick', or is it inherently wrong to temporarily give the impression that you're an unstable* cyclist?

Just saw this, too much risk to take in order to prevent other road user from trying to overtake you at close proxy, plus they'll find this behaviour pretty unpredictable and annoying, the last thing you want is to piss off other road user, also you'll be putting yourself at more risk being unpredictable, (for instance, a peds might step out the moment where you weave closer to the kerbs) this is a method that we strongly discourage other from doing.

Let me clarify. I'm talking about a little shimmy and nothing more. I also do it at night if I get that creeping feeling that a vehicle's not noticed me approaching (shimmy = light beam moves slightly in horizontal plane).

Level 4: doing the shimmy on a bike

YouTube - Belly Dancing Moves For Beginners : How to Shimmy in Belly Dancing

some fine awareness of other roads users shown by the above two posts.
and isnt that what its ultimately about, using the same space.
if Im travelling along an urban road or bus lane, especially at rush hours, its very likely that Ill come across the same vehicle more than once,
seems to make sense to yield to its greater speed on open stretches, rather than having a coronary trying to be the big man, if I visibly with awareness pull in behind a bus indicating to pull away, often get a thanks wave, then later when I overtake the same driver, they will give you space when youre assertively riding through junctions.
Skydancers ying and yang aint it?

Managed to get to 44mph (guy told me what speed I was doing when we stopped) on Dorchester Road while racing a white van man .. Me and him had a good giggle about it at the Traffic Light in Oakdale when we were at the bottom of the hill. (This was pre getting knocked off when I used to not consider my mortality).

Some guys/girls respect you for giving it some, depends who it is ultimately.

Sometimes it is more fun to be yang most of the time.

Festus

The bus driver had about 50 yards to go to his next stop when he started beeping furiously. He pulled in realised he had no fares to pick up or drop off and then started the shit all over again. Mick and myself were doing about 20mph at the time.

We had been aware of him, he was not using the horn to make us aware of his presence, just to try and intimidated. Behave like a cunt to me and I shall reciprocate.

Sorry to hear that. Of course there some folk that need to pass a pyschological test before being allowed behind the wheel of a motorised vehicle.

Sorry to hear that. Of course there some folk that need to pass a pyschological test before being allowed behind the wheel of a motorised vehicle.
or behind the handlebars of a bike...

^ or to put on shoes and step onto the pavement...

@wiganwill - I'm going to get some of those bells. In hi-viz.