Cycling on motorway

J Madone

Saw a guy today cycling northbound on M50 today at bray at about 11.20. He said goodbye to his club mates as they turned off for enniskerry and he passed the bray exit and onto the motorway.
The hardshoulder is closed for a good distance on this stretch, so there he was flying along in the left hand lane. Most dangerous thing I've seen on a motorway. The strange thing was he was in his club gear. He must have had a chicken in the oven!

kenmc

Well since you know the club, why not contact them to complain?

J Madone

kenmc wrote: »

Well since you know the club, why not contact them to complain?
I'm sure lots of people in that club wear normal (non cycling)glasses and ride white bikes in club gear. They probably wouldn't be able to pinpoint him.

Diarmuid

J Madone wrote: »

Saw a guy today cycling northbound on M50 today at bray at about 11.20. He said goodbye to his club mates as they turned off for enniskerry and he passed the bray exit and onto the motorway.

At which exit did you see his club mates heading for Enniskerry? Because there is another exit off the N11 after Enniskerry before the M50

J Madone

Diarmuid wrote: »

J Madone wrote: »

Saw a guy today cycling northbound on M50 today at bray at about 11.20. He said goodbye to his club mates as they turned off for enniskerry and he passed the bray exit and onto the motorway.

At which exit did you see his club mates heading for Enniskerry? Because there is another exit off the N11 after Enniskerry before the M50

At the enniskerry turn off, r117 by that map. He passed the next one (fassaroe) and ended up heading towards Dublin,
(In the left hand lane) no hard shoulder

Zorba

J Madone wrote: »

At the enniskerry turn off, r117 by that map. He passed the next one (fassaroe) and ended up heading towards Dublin,
(In the left hand lane) no hard shoulder

He has bigger balls than i'll ever have !

delta_bravo

Zorba wrote: »

He has bigger balls than i'll ever have !

Not for long if he keeps doing it. Definitely worth calling the Gardai for that.

Zorba

delta_bravo wrote: »

Not for long if he keeps doing it. Definitely worth calling the Gardai for that.

Very true, call me old fashioned but i'll stick with the ones i have anyway

Cookie_Monster

I bet it's the same muppet I used to see cycling down the M11 from Loughlinstown roundabout frequently on Sunday mornings, on his way to meet the club spin...

That section of m-way is used a lot by cyclists, especially from the Bray North exit southbound. A squad car stopped there for an hour or two some Sat/Sun morning would quickly catch the regular offenders.

J Madone

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I bet it's the same muppet I used to see cycling down the M11 from Loughlinstown roundabout frequently on Sunday mornings, on his way to meet the club spin...

That section of m-way is used a lot by cyclists, especially from the Bray North exit southbound. A squad car stopped there for an hour or two some Sat/Sun morning would quickly catch the regular offenders.

This guy wouldn't be starting his spin south of bray,

check_six

J Madone wrote: »

The hardshoulder is closed for a good distance on this stretch, so there he was flying along in the left hand lane. Most dangerous thing I've seen on a motorway.

Pfft, that guy needs to get a little excitement into his training schedule. I saw a couple of lads on BSOs rolling down that stretch of motorway at one point over the summer. Difference was, they were coming against the flow of traffic!

If you're gonna break the rules you might as well give it the full gun (until you inevitably get squished)!

Lumen

check_six wrote: »

Difference was, they were coming against the flow of traffic! If you're gonna break the rules you might as well give it the full gun (until you inevitably get squished)!

Cycling into traffic means you can literally stare death in the face.

"Looked at death over my shoulder" doesn't have the same ring to it.

J Madone

Lumen wrote: »

check_six wrote: »

Difference was, they were coming against the flow of traffic! If you're gonna break the rules you might as well give it the full gun (until you inevitably get squished)!

Cycling into traffic means you can literally stare death in the face.

"Looked at death over my shoulder" doesn't have the same ring to it.

He was wearing specs so probably couldn't see anyway!

elduggo

J Madone wrote: »

Most dangerous thing I've seen on a motorway.

I bet it isn't the most dangerous thing you've seen on a motorway

Mr. Grieves

Apart from being illegal, is cycling in the closed hard shoulder of a motorway really that dangerous?

Many cyclists (me included) cycle on the N11 between Kilmacanogue and Enniskerry. Cars are going almost as fast and there's far more potentially dangerous entry and exit points. The difference is it's legal, due to the road classification. It sounds like this group of cyclists did the same, but the OP made no comment on this.

C3PO

delta_bravo wrote: »

Definitely worth calling the Gardai for that.

Yes this guy is clearly an extremely dangerous criminal who should be arrested before he continues on this crime spree!

Beasty

Mr. Grieves wrote: »

Apart from being illegal, is cycling in the closed hard shoulder of a motorway really that dangerous?

Plenty of discussion here

In this case the OP made it clear the hard shoulder was closed - don't think it comes much more dangerous tbh - motorists will certainly not be on the lookout for a slow moving cyclist in the inside lane

Roger Hassenforder

we'd expect motorists to respect us on the road, we should at least reciprocate....

MajorMax

Anyone who spends more than 15 minutes behind the wheel of a car in this country quickly realises that cyclists ignore any traffic laws at every opportunity.

Be warned, don't get me started

Beasty

MajorMax wrote: »

Anyone who spends more than 15 minutes behind the wheel of a car in this country quickly realises that cyclists ignore any traffic laws at every opportunity.

Be warned, don't get me started

I would suggest you be warned yourself - further generalisations like that will be considered trolling

Thanks

Beasty

DirkVoodoo

MajorMax wrote: »

Anyone who spends more than 15 minutes behind the wheel of a car in this country quickly realises that cyclists ignore any traffic laws at every opportunity.

Be warned, don't get me started

Ahh, I was wondering why I hadn't seen much law breaking recently, I'm only up to 14:30 behind the wheel. This means I should see a cyclist on the footpath right about the time I head out of the gate tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up!

Whoever this guy was, he was pretty ignorant and reckless, but no more so than a lot of people on the motorways these days. I'm not justifying it, but MajorMax, let's not make this a cyclists vs motorists argument, they just sound silly.

goldencleric

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Ahh, I was wondering why I hadn't seen much law breaking recently, I'm only up to 14:30 behind the wheel. This means I should see a cyclist on the footpath right about the time I head out of the gate tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up!

Whoever this guy was, he was pretty ignorant and reckless, but no more so than a lot of people on the motorways these days. I'm not justifying it, but MajorMax, let's not make this a cyclists vs motorists argument, they just sound silly.

In this forum we obey the laws of the footpad!!

Surveyor11

Have to say, besides the fact it is illegal, cycling on a motorway is indefinsible and the height of stupidity - how any cyclist can even begin to justify this is beyond me. Darwin Award material.

C3PO

While I don't think cycling on a motorway is at all sensible I really don't believe that the hard shoulder of that particular piece of road is any more dangerous than the perfectly legal piece of dual carriageway that leads into it!

Cookie_Monster

Surveyor11 wrote: »

Have to say, besides the fact it is illegal, cycling on a motorway is indefinsible and the height of stupidity - how any cyclist can even begin to justify this is beyond me. Darwin Award material.

legal aside what's the difference between a 120 kph HQDC and a motorway which would stop you cycling on the second but not the first?

Surveyor11

AFAIK, speeds on motorways are (max) 120kph and 100kph on HQDC, have to say I'd feel equally uncomfortable on both if I was cycling. Even when driving, I'll try and avoid stopping on a motorway / HQDC hard shoulder if my 5 year old needs a wee!:D

DirkVoodoo

Surveyor11 wrote: »

AFAIK, speeds on motorways are (max) 120kph and 100kph on HQDC, have to say I'd feel equally uncomfortable on both if I was cycling. Even when driving, I'll try and avoid stopping on a motorway / HQDC hard shoulder if my 5 year old needs a wee!:D

Speeds would not worry so much as expectation. No one expects a cyclist on the motorway.

Add to that the fact that a lot of motorway exists have multi lane mergings for slower/faster traffic and it becomes even more dangerous. Moving across one merging lane is bad enough, I shudder to think of how dangerous it might be to move across two lanes.

marketty

Just saw some lunatic cycling northbound on the M3 before the dunboyne exit, in the dark and rain, crazy stuff. I'v seen a few people do this during the day too. I regularly cycle the old N3 dunshaughlin-clonee and I wonder do these people not realise that the old road is there with a bridge over the motorway, or are they just too lazy to use it? I know the argument is that the legal-to-cycle-on dual carriageway part of the N3 leads directly onto this and is essentially 'the same road' but I don't think that's any excuse when the alternate route is right there and all it takes is to exit at clonee and HTFU over the hill and across the bridge...only bit of hill trainin til ya get to tara sure!! ;-)

Cookie_Monster

Surveyor11 wrote: »

AFAIK, speeds on motorways are (max) 120kph and 100kph on HQDC, have to say I'd feel equally uncomfortable on both if I was cycling. Even when driving, I'll try and avoid stopping on a motorway / HQDC hard shoulder if my 5 year old needs a wee!:D

Some hqdc's are 120 which is why I mentioned it. And anyway you'te likely to encounter traffic at 130+ on both.

Personally I don't see any difference and legality is the only reason I wouldn't cycle on a motorway, safety isn't an issue

Wishbone Ash

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Some hqdc's are 120 which is why I mentioned it. And anyway you'te likely to encounter traffic at 130+ on both.

Personally I don't see any difference and legality is the only reason I wouldn't cycle on a motorway, safety isn't an issue

I take the point you are making but Dual Carriageways tend to have standard light controlled junctions and roundabouts whereas Motorways have slip roads to enable one to gain speed to merge with traffic. What happens when a cyclist on the hard shoulder of a Motorway has to pass by the area where traffic coming down the slip road are attempting to merge? It doesn't bear thinking about. A cyclist is the last thing a motorist would be expecting there!

DirkVoodoo

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I take the point you are making but Dual Carriageways tend to have standard light controlled junctions and roundabouts whereas Motorways have slip roads to enable one to gain speed to merge with traffic. What happens when a cyclist on the hard shoulder of a Motorway has to pass by the area where traffic coming down the slip road are attempting to merge? It doesn't bear thinking about. A cyclist is the last thing a motorist would be expecting there!

I agree, I find the the merging lanes on the N3 tricky enough, look at this one from the M50 Southbound at Sandyford, 2 merging lanes that split into a faster merging lane and a delayed merging lane. You often get people pulling crazy undertaking-overtaking maneuvers here, the outside lane is full of fast moving traffic looking to swap across their merging lane into the outside lane of the motorway. No one, and I mean no one, is on the lookout for a 35 kph bicycle.



How the heck is a bike means to get from the hard shoulder (that ceases to exist before the exit) to the new hard shoulder at the top of the image. I can't believe anyone would consider that cycling along that would be safe if it were somehow declared legal.

Cookie_Monster

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

What happens when a cyclist on the hard shoulder of a Motorway has to pass by the area where traffic coming down the slip road are attempting to merge? !

I dunno, I presume exactly the same thing that happens along all those slipway junctions along the N11 from Bray to Ashford. Can't see why you'd do any different to what you do at those junctions, stay on the absolute right of the hardshoulder / merging lane and if there's nothing merging swing across tot he left after checking.

One_Time

I end up cycling along that stretch of the N11 myself quite a bit, and if there's a lot of traffic I'll often end up going up the slip road, round the roundabout at the top and then down the slip road back to the dual carriageway.

jprboy

Was heading northbound on the M11 circa 2.00 pm yesterday (Tue Oct 11) and saw a cyclist headed southbound on the opposite carriageway. Was a few miles north of the Junction 16 (Wicklow Town).

rp

I got shouted at by a motorist tonight for cycling on the motorway, while riding along the N4

xz

One_Time wrote: »

I end up cycling along that stretch of the N11 myself quite a bit, and if there's a lot of traffic I'll often end up going up the slip road, round the roundabout at the top and then down the slip road back to the dual carriageway.

I do that ALL the time, too much traffic coming down that filter lane all the time,and they ARE NOT watching out for cyclists coming down the main road

xz

jprboy wrote: »

Was heading northbound on the M11 circa 2.00 pm yesterday (Tue Oct 11) and saw a cyclist headed southbound on the opposite carriageway. Was a few miles north of the Junction 16 (Wicklow Town).

That used to be a nice pull up there until they designated it as Motorway, basically from Coynes Cross to the top of the hill far side of Rathnew is now a no go for cyclists

Stark

rp wrote: »

I got shouted at by a motorist tonight for cycling on the motorway, while riding along the N4

What section out of curiosity? I cycle along the N4 between Heuston and Palmerstown and occasionally you do get the odd dumb-ass beeping you out of it for "cycling on the motorway" even though the bus lane is clearly marked with "bus and bike" sign.

rp

Stark wrote: »

What section out of curiosity? I cycle along the N4 between Heuston and Palmerstown and occasionally you do get the odd dumb-ass beeping you out of it for "cycling on the motorway" even though the bus lane is clearly marked with "bus and bike" sign.

Heading out of town around the Ballyowen rd. turn-off, it's N-road for another 5km, until where I leave it at Leixlip. You'd think bus stops, traffic lights and the green road signs would be a clue to drivers, it's all nicely described in the rotr.

More positively, the day before I was coming out of Dublin, through some seriously grid-locked traffic, and a taxi driver calls out to me "we should all on bikes"

Jules1977

No offence to Cyclists but ye are all a pain in the backside. I am sorry. Maybe if I had friends that cycled, I might have a tiny understanding but I dont. There should be a Law against Cyclists because they take over the roads like they own them and it is so so dangerous when they cycle in two or threes. Whatever happeed to "Single File"??? Stuck behind a selfish cyclist on a bad stretch of raod in Enniskerry seems to be a daily occurance and ye dont care or give a damn about the drivers stuck behind ye. I know Enniskerry and around Powerscourt Waterfall is a popular area for ye all but please lads, have some consideration for others. Even pull in for half a minute (it wont delay ya!!) to let the long tailback of cars go by . Cycling is a growing interest but its the Ignorance that gets to me. Thanks. From an Enniskerry Resident.

Chips Lovell

This is the cycling forum, not the have a go at cyclists forum.

Thread locked.

Thanks