Hazards of gaggle of cyclists

[McJim]

All you other lycra clad fags should come down here to watch the Tour of Southland. It's on just now. Got some good teams this year too - should be exciting.

Hope you don't all use that Shitmano crap though Campagnolo FTW!

[jrandom]

you wanan try changing down 8-10 gears in 40ton because some nonce's in spandex jockeys are doing 10mph down the middle of the road

lots of cyclists round havelock/hasting, all h'ignorant

I'm sorry you've had cause to find cyclists irritating.

I'd just like to take this moment to say a big 'thank you' to all the big rig drivers who treat cyclists so courteously on the road, even when it inconveniences them.

Based on my own experience, I'd rather share highway space with a 40 ton truck than any other vehicle around.

[jrandom]

Hope you don't all use that Shitmano crap though Campagnolo FTW!

What's Hayden Roulston riding?

[Maffoo]

I'm sorry you've had cause to find cyclists irritating.

I'd just like to take this moment to say a big 'thank you' to all the big rig drivers who treat cyclists so courteously on the road, even when it inconveniences them.

Based on my own experience, I'd rather share highway space with a 40 ton truck than any other vehicle around.

well i always do give them their space, mainly because ive seen what 40ton does to cyclists

personally, i would like to see more cyclists use rear-view mirrors of some sort

[jrandom]

personally, i would like to see more cyclists use rear-view mirrors of some sort

Head-checking to the rear is an important skill for cyclists. Unfortunately, lots of them never really learn to do it properly.

Track riding should be compulsory for cyclists and motorcyclists before they're allowed out on the road, IMHO...

[jrandom]

What's Hayden Roulston riding?

Actually, you'd think it'd be a Cervelo, wouldn't you...

Oh my, that'd be a Shimano/SRAM outfit!

I don't know how he handles the shame, I really don't.

[scracha]

"Lycra clad fags" Sounds like a quote from some fat old motorocyclists in their power ranger romper once piece or black YMCA leather gear.. I've got total respect for anyone fit enough to ride a pushbike around the coro and these guys/gals are entitled to use the road as much as anyone else. Anyone who can't manage to wait a few seconds to pass a small group of bicycles is an arsehole.

I really don't see much that can be done. You're never going to manage to close the Coro Loop for several hours on an October weekend. .

How about we support the cyclists to enable closing the road for a day or two once a year.
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that way no fucker will be able argue when we get it closed for a couple of days for the Isle of Coro grand prix

[Maffoo]

"Lycra clad fags" Sounds like a quote from some fat old motorocyclists in their power ranger romper once piece or black YMCA leather gear.. I've got total respect for anyone fit enough to ride a pushbike around the coro and these guys/gals are entitled to use the road as much as anyone else. Anyone who can't manage to wait a few seconds to pass a small group of bicycles is an arsehole.

cyclists don't pay a fee to use the road....so do they really have as much right to use it as anyone else?

[Forest]

cyclists don't pay a fee to use the road....so do they really have as much right to use it as anyone else?

If they pay taxes, then yes they bloody well do have a right to use it.

[Maffoo]

If they pay taxes, then yes they bloody well do have a right to use it.

but i pay taxes.... so i should be able to use the road without paying extra taxes in rego, road user charges, & petrol tax..... is that what your saying?

[reofix]

I remember getting mixed up in a "bike race" to raglan .... huge ignorant groups of sweating people ... loads of support vehicles supporting sweatin people at 15km /hr ... blocking road... after 20 kms of this ... my progress having been fucked up to the tune of 30 mins or so ... i was ready to murder every last one of those bastards and set fire to the bodies... i dont mind bicycles ... just hate stoopid...

[bell]

I would never ride one out on the open road like that, so dangerous.
Have to trust that everyone is going to go around you.

You plan for the worst of them (by riding defensively) and hope that you have very few of the sort I've quoted below trying to "share" the road with you. An up-to-date will is recommended too.

I get pissed off everytime I see cyclists riding two abreast on narrow roads with tight/blind corners. I know exactly what is likely to happen if a car comes up behind them - he'll go straight into my lane and then I die.

And how many times has this happened to you recently?

Regarding the 1.5 m rule - if the road isn't wide enough for a car to pass a cyclist in this manner without crossing the center line, the bicycles should be banned from said road.

The logic in that is stupefying.

well i always do give them their space, mainly because ive seen what 40ton does to cyclists
personally, i would like to see more cyclists use rear-view mirrors of some sort

These are good.

cyclists don't pay a fee to use the road....so do they really have as much right to use it as anyone else?

Is that a serious suggestion? Which bits of the road do my income taxes, ACC levies and car and bike rego fees contribute to then?

How about a law that says a cyclist has to look behind him when he changes his position on the carriageway?

I narrowly avoided taking one dumb fucker out on Manukau Road the other week when he decided to overtake a parked car, and hadn't bothered his arse looking behind to see if it was clear. It wasn't..

Ohh, Dave. You don't get it do you? It's your responsibility to look at what's going on ahead of your vehicle and plan whether you're going to squeeze past the bike leaving 44cms between your vehicle and their handlebars OR reduce speed and move over in your lane to give the cyclist a decent amount of space.

There are courteous drivers that choose to move over in their lane to pass a cyclist, and they'll do it when there is nothing approaching from the other direction AND when there is oncoming traffic too (could be something to do with a good driver having an improved spatial awareness of their own vehicles' dimensions perhaps?). And there are poor drivers that choose not to move over in their lane to give the cyclist more than 40cms of passing space when there is NOTHING coming the other way toward their vehicle.

...wearing an ipod then it just reaffirms why I won't ever use one on a bike. The ability to hear what is going on around you is as important as site I reckon

That'd be sight. You might also do well to treat all cyclists as if they are deaf and haven't heard your cart/bike/truck/magic carpet approaching from behind - that way you'll be giving them a bit more room than you're probably accustomed to. I think allowing 1.5 m when passing is impractical a great deal of the time, BUT anything less than 1 meter is not on.

What annoys me is two cyclists thinking they own the road and riding abreast... Then getting upset when traffic gets close...

But really, this is the same debate every time one of them gets hit... I don't think it's fair to hold the driver/rider of the vehicle responsible, unless it was a blatant attempt to take them out... Accidents happen and I'd say often, the cyclists are equally to blame...

Ooooh, you give away a fair bit in there with comments like that.

How close is too close? If you don't ride a bicycle on the road regularly then I think your comments are somewhat misguided.

I wonder how you'd look back on your comments if tomorrow you were called to the hospital to identify the corpse of one of your family members and you discovered that the driver of the car that hit them (while they were cycling along the road in a safe manner and obeying all applicable road rules) was of the opinion that because they weren't "attempting to take them out" they weren't to blame.

Accidents happen in a lot of cases because people fucked up. They were too close to the cyclist who had to swerve to avoid someone pulling out of a driveway and the passing car clipped them....the cyclist is forced to leave the road to avoid a head-on because the impatient driver of a truck decides to overtake another truck without regard for the fact that the cyclist now has a large approaching vehicle in the left hand lane closing fast...the cyclist has a door opened on them on a busy road - they have nowhere to swerve except into a line of following traffic....3 of many more incidents that happened to me in Nelson last year.

Put yourself in the shoes of a cyclist (who's doing the right thing) and you would hopefully conjure up more scenarios to increase your awareness.

Much the same as I'm obliged to give way to a pedestrian crossing the road without looking?

Good to see you're catching on.

[MisterD]

Actually, you'd think it'd be a Cervelo, wouldn't you...

Oh my, that'd be a Shimano/SRAM outfit!

I don't know how he handles the shame, I really don't.

He's riding for Southland Times / Trek - probably on ShimaNO

[portokiwi]

Going to work this morning on Riddell Road as usal groups of wanabee road race cyclest racing.... Sh#t they never look behind them.
Saw twice bikes cutting the corner and when a vech tried to pass they pushed out to the center of the road. They didnt see me I used my tinny horn to get their attention. I was soo close to giving the 1 foot kick.
I do believe they should be on the road just like the rest of us. But they should show more respect for other road users.

[scracha]

cyclists don't pay a fee to use the road....so do they really have as much right to use it as anyone else?

Cycles do no damage to the road.
Cycles spill nothing on the road.
Cycles don't cause pollution.
Cycles don't run over and kill people.
Cycles don't require HP cars to issue speeding and careless driving tickets.
That's why cycles don't pay road tax.

By your logic we should pay tax walk across the road.