Thread: Cyclists

I enjoy cycling - in fact I'm still nursing a broken rib from a cycle fall a few weeks ago.

There's idiot cyclists and there's idiot motorists and there's idiot 4WDers.

Fortunately I believe in Darwinism.

I see a lot of people complain about cyclists holding them up, making trips longer etc.

I would just like to ask, how many people have seen some idiot weaving through traffic, speeding and cutting people off on there way to work to get there faster, and then 20min later when you get into town after driving normally and relaxed you pass them anyway?

Just relax, that cyclist in front of you may only slow you up by a few seconds over your whole journey anyway. A lot less than the multi car accident that is probably waiting for you a few kilometres down the road anyway.

I used to ride 25km to and from work at my last job, with 15km of that being down the Bruce Highway and my trip would only take me an extra 10min by bike.

I personally believe that cycling should be promoted more within Australia and cycling safety should me mandatory for cyclists on arterial roads as well as for motorists when obtaining a licence.

To say that cyclists should not be on the road, then where do you draw the line?

How many people rode their bike to school as a youngster?

How many people rode their bike evrywhere as a teenager before you had a car?

We already have traffic issues in every major city, wouldn't more cyclists result in less traffic?

Some of my thoughts anyway.

Originally Posted by maca

I HATE the ones who decide its fine to ride 5 wide in the middle of a rural highway, scaring the crap out of you when you come over the top of a hill only to find a bunch of ******* riding at 60km/hr and almost running up the arse of them.
Then you get stuck behind them at 60km/hr for the next 5 mins until you get to overtake them.

Hi Macca,
Its no different than getting stuck behind some local plodding along at there own pace, or semitrailer or caravan etc etc.....

Are you really in that much of a hurry to get to where you are going?

As has been stated there are good cyclists and bad cyclists just like Truck Drivers, Caravan Towers etc.

cheers

Originally Posted by waynep

I enjoy cycling - in fact I'm still nursing a broken rib from a cycle fall a few weeks ago.

There's idiot cyclists and there's idiot motorists and there's idiot 4WDers.

Fortunately I believe in Darwinism.

Fact is though if someone hits you with a car then you're going to come off second best. You could argue riding a bike on a public road is Darwinism, much like a motorbike you're going to get hit, it's only a matter of time. No matter how much you're in the right it's still going to hurt you more than the person in the vehicle.

Warning - soapbox!

I can't believe these sort of stupid discussions still go on - what's the suggestion, bikes use footpaths? how dangerous is that for the poor pedestrians? a bike doing 30-40kmh is far better off on the road and yes I do ride a bike and have done on and off for over 30 years both here and in the UK (including London!). The key is how you ride the bike and as has already been said there are good and bad examples. Interestingly it seems to me that there is a more aggressive "this is my right" culture in Oz than the UK. I was always taught to ride as far left as possible, never two abreast unless it was a quiet road and to obey the road rules. I get just as frustrated as everyone else when I see cyclists ignoring lights, alternating between the road and the footpath etc. etc. and that needs to be addressed. I have a 25km ride to work and use a non-highway route but there are sections where I know I'm potentially holding up the traffic but apart from keeping left there's nothing I can do and even if I wanted to use it there's no footpath BUT never once have I been abused by motorists

The most ludicrous thing in this day and age is we get multi-million dollar road redevelopments and they still fail to make provision for cyclists - we're about to get another one on my route which will now cause me to have to cross a 4 lane roundabout and guess what, there will be designated green lanes where cyclists have right of way - yeah right!

Cycling is a legitimate activity, as is four wheel driving, horse riding, flying a kite and anything else you care to mention, what needs to happen is such pursuits need to be accommodated in our planning schemes and people in general need to stop being so intolerant of other people because they might be delayed by 30 seconds.

We all drive Land Rovers, I would have thought we all know what it's like to be a ridiculed minority

here endeth my rant

Andy

Anyone here ever been overseas?
Italy. France etc. There are more bikes and more respect for people riding than here because its an elite sport and people either trying to get fit, fitter, commute or get in shape.

Most agro drivers are those with a pack of twities or similar and a can of coke in their cup holder complaining.
Roads are generally wide here in OZ and as said before, there are good and bad and sadly the bad do stand out just like the bad drivers.

My last run in with a driver whilst clad in Lycra was 3 weeks ago and yes he was Obese and driving a Nissan Patrol, it was 6.45 am on a Sunday morning with hardly any traffic and he shouted abuse at a bunch of riders and came right along side us. He was huge and carried on like no tomorrow at how we took up too much of the lane, we rode 2 abreast yes but we were the only people out there and it was 2 lanes.

Fellow cyclist just got off the bike, open the door and sat on his twistie packet.
Pulled out his phone and called it in. He was a detective and fat bloke suddenly felt pretty silly as he now had severel charges to answer to as the group was witness and several charges were laid including dangerous & reckless driving with intent to harm or something along those lines.

He also came close to loosing his job as a rep for our local Pastry company as he now only has 1 demerit point as it turns out.

Point is, just enjoy what you are doing, its not like we gave him a mouthful for eating too much and putting strain on our health system which is costing all of us.

Let us ride, lets face it there are more bikes being sold than ever before and there will be more on the road everyday, so get used to it and move over before you pick on the wrong group and the table gets turned.

Try riding one day to all those that knock it, its truly a great feeling and good for the environment to boot.
Have a great night and stay of the twisties.

Well, I drive, and I ride a bicycle. I will say this, I hate the packs who get out in the mornings and seem to think they have a right to build up a long stream of traffic behind them. Cyclists should keep to the extreme left and should only ride in single file. Doing this may attract a lot less flak from frustrated motorists who may then be able to overtake safely. In Queensland, unsure of the regs. in other states, cyclists may ride on footpaths and may ride two abreast. Brisbane City Council does not help by reducing road widths by a lane when they "install" a (Clayton's) bike path by painting lines on the road. Motorists see this as pandering to "bloody useless cyclists".

I gave up road riding for two reasons..firstly, the roadies were generally feral, with no doubt of a 'road is mine attitude', secondly, the car / truck / bus drivers were generally feral, with no doubt of a 'road is mine attitude'...so i gave up, now mountain bike ride, way more fun and a lot less things that come out and try and hit you, and a lot more interesting than just looking at tarmac.

Ray,