Commuting behaviour of cyclists

ROK ON

I am getting progressively more annoyed by what I perceive as stupid and reckless behaviour by commuting cyclists early in the morning in Dublin.

I am increasingly witnessing (ie being subject to) stupidly close wheel sucking in traffic on the north quays.

Several times last week there were guys literally touching tyres with me.

This morning some nut julob proceeded to overtake me and then realising that there was nowhere for him to go hit the brakes and pull in one me.

When safe I indicated and overtook the clown.
He then not only wheelsucked but half wheeled me up two quays. As I indicated to turn right his front wheel was parallel to the right of my rear wheel.

I am also witnessing a lot of very close overtakes - practically touching shoulders.

This is acceptable in training or a race. But if it is unacceptable for a car to buzz past me then it is also unacceptable for a cyclist.

Please folks. Some common sense. The north quays are unsuitable for racing. For folks that want a bit of thrill, then join a club and pin a number on your back.

the.red.baron

ROK ON wrote: »

I am getting progressively more annoyed by what I perceive as stupid and reckless behaviour by commuting cyclists early in the morning in Dublin.

I am increasingly witnessing (ie being subject to) stupidly close wheel sucking in traffic on the north quays.

Several times last week there were guys literally touching tyres with me.

This morning some nut julob proceeded to overtake me and then realising that there was nowhere for him to go hit the brakes and pull in one me.

When safe I indicated and overtook the clown.
He then not only wheelsucked but half wheeled me up two quays. As I indicated to turn right his front wheel was parallel to the right of my rear wheel.

I am also witnessing a lot of very close overtakes - practically touching shoulders.

This is acceptable in training or a race. But if it is unacceptable for a car to buzz past me then it is also unacceptable for a cyclist.

Please folks. Some common sense. The north quays are unsuitable for racing. For folks that want a bit of thrill, then join a club and pin a number on your back.

You need to cycle faster.:D

kenmc

Brake test them. In a wheel rub, it's usually the one who's front wheel is touched will go down.
Alternatively, a couple of judiciously placed snot-rockets should do the job.

Or "drop" the box of thumb tacks you just happened to be carrying home from the shops.

ragazzo

ROK ON wrote: »

I am getting progressively more annoyed by what I perceive as stupid and reckless behaviour by commuting cyclists early in the morning in Dublin.

I am increasingly witnessing (ie being subject to) stupidly close wheel sucking in traffic on the north quays.

Several times last week there were guys literally touching tyres with me.

This morning some nut julob proceeded to overtake me and then realising that there was nowhere for him to go hit the brakes and pull in one me.

When safe I indicated and overtook the clown.
He then not only wheelsucked but half wheeled me up two quays. As I indicated to turn right his front wheel was parallel to the right of my rear wheel.

I am also witnessing a lot of very close overtakes - practically touching shoulders.

This is acceptable in training or a race. But if it is unacceptable for a car to buzz past me then it is also unacceptable for a cyclist.

Please folks. Some common sense. The north quays are unsuitable for racing. For folks that want a bit of thrill, then join a club and pin a number on your back.

Don't worry about it, you'll be grand. When they start half wheeling you properly just leave them off.

They are probably motorists, learning to cycle, unaware of this unknown cycling commuter etiquette. Do they have hi vis and helmets?

Annoying but not really worth the rant!

NeedMoreGears

I'm seeing an increasing amount of stupid undertaking and left hooks by rlj'ers when I'm waiting at lights.

I'm favouring a right side position at the moment so that the undertakers have plenty of room (I'm not a fan of touching shoulders with some muppet who is intent on rushing through a red) - not sure what to do about the left hookers other than look over the shoulder as I'm moving off.

Raam

NeedMoreGears wrote: »

I'm seeing an increasing amount of stupid undertaking and left hooks by rlj'ers when I'm waiting at lights.

I'm favouring a right side position at the moment so that the undertakers have plenty of room (I'm not a fan of touching shoulders with some muppet who is intent on rushing through a red) - not sure what to do about the left hookers other than look over the shoulder as I'm moving off.

That's all you can do really. It is our responsibility to cycle safely so as to deal with muppets like that.

2Cando

I agree that the behaviour of commuters in Dublin is appalling. Not so much the cycling etiquette of cyclist but their disobedience of the rules of the road. Breaking red light, cutting off pedestrians (when the pedestrians have the green man), not looking over the shoulder when moving out or turning right, not lights, generally being unaware of their surroundings... I can keep going on. (A personal hatred of mine is when the cyclist you just overtook overtakes you at a red light, then proceeds to get in the way again!)

Is it any wonder drivers generally tend to hate cyclist and give us a hard time?

I feel a real effort has to be made by the cycling community to obey rules and be aware cyclists. If we demand more respect on the road, then we should be responsible. Drivers may still give us a hard time, but somebody has to make the first effort, why not start with us?

Even if you safely tell a cyclist if they are in the wrong and what to do instead. I'm sure this will be responded with a "F**k off", but we have to try if we are ever to be respected and further integrated into the infrastructure.

That's how I feel about cyclist commuting anyway...

Roddy23

not looking over the shoulder when moving out or turning right, not lights, generally being unaware of their surroundings... I can keep going on. (A personal hatred of mine is when the cyclist you just overtook overtakes you at a red light, then proceeds to get in the way again!)

These two are one's that annoy me too. I cycle on the canals every day in and out of work, the amount of cyclists who just pull out in front of you without having the common courtesy to look over the shoulder frustrates me.

RLJ's are always going to be a nuisance - but I use these to my own enjoyment - I look forward to passing them out once I put the foot down and there is a stretch of road.

Tenzor07

Are they trying to get past you shouting "STRAVA! STRAVA!" ?

Chips Lovell

My tally of narrowly avoided collisions this winter is currently running at three cyclists and two motorists.

Bad cyclists have a lot in common with bad motorists. Even if they're blatantly in the wrong, they'll still get defensive and aggressive. It doesn't matter if they're on the wrong side of the road, cycling towards you with no lights, they'll still find a way for it to be your fault.

Ole Rodrigo

Theres one guy who cycles up the wrong side of the road in the cycle lane every morning on the Rathmines road - presumably to avoid the junction at Portobello. I doesn't bother him when the cycle traffic comes towards him, he just ploughs through us.

The gas thing is when I look at him in amazement, he looks at me in amazement. Also, he wears a yellow hi viz jacket. I find it hard not to think of those jackets as the uniform of a clown.

feck sake lads

ror_74 wrote: »

Theres one guy who cycles up the wrong side of the road in the cycle lane every morning on the Rathmines road - presumably to avoid the junction at Portobello. I doesn't bother him when the cycle traffic comes towards him, he just ploughs through us.

The gas thing is when I look at him in amazement, he looks at me in amazement. Also, he wears a yellow hi viz jacket. I find it hard not to think of those jackets as the uniform of a clown.

gob****e on a bike would be a better discription:(

robertxxx

ROK ON wrote: »

I am getting progressively more annoyed by what I perceive as stupid and reckless behaviour by commuting cyclists early in the morning in Dublin.

I am increasingly witnessing (ie being subject to) stupidly close wheel sucking in traffic on the north quays.

Several times last week there were guys literally touching tyres with me.

This morning some nut julob proceeded to overtake me and then realising that there was nowhere for him to go hit the brakes and pull in one me.

When safe I indicated and overtook the clown.
He then not only wheelsucked but half wheeled me up two quays. As I indicated to turn right his front wheel was parallel to the right of my rear wheel.

I am also witnessing a lot of very close overtakes - practically touching shoulders.

This is acceptable in training or a race. But if it is unacceptable for a car to buzz past me then it is also unacceptable for a cyclist.

Please folks. Some common sense. The north quays are unsuitable for racing. For folks that want a bit of thrill, then join a club and pin a number on your back.

Sorry!

stecleary

I actually got a compliment from a driver today for simple hand signals when avoiding potholes and the likes, this was just after i called an other cyclist a f'ing eeeejit for swinging across two lanes and breaking a red light to turn right on his dublin bike and headphones blaring with out even a glance over the shoulder.

I see at least five people a day i want to pull of their bike just so they can expeience how had the ground actually is and see if it dents their bullet proof armour

Ah_Yeah

ror_74 wrote: »

Also, he wears a yellow hi viz jacket. I find it hard not to think of those jackets as the uniform of a clown.

As a new entry to the cycling community myself, I might be missing something, but what is so wrong with wearing high vis gear? Surely it's important to be seen in the dark evenings?

Cookie_Monster

Ah_Yeah wrote: »

As a new entry to the cycling community myself, I might be missing something, but what is so wrong with wearing high vis gear? Surely it's important to be seen in the dark evenings?

proper lights let you be seen, not high vis. Plenty of thread on it, search the forum.

have2flushtwice

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

proper lights let you be seen, not high vis. Plenty of thread on it, search the forum.

Some of the lights i see are pure crap and dim. Id prefer the hi vis jacket if i had to look out for one or another.

Ah_Yeah

Thanks! I won't derail this thread into a debate, I've done some research on it now - cheers!

Inspector Coptoor

I cycle in to work at 6:15am.
Feck all cyclists motorists on the road.
Commuting time drops from 25 mins to 20 mins for 10km
Win win

Starting to really dislike other commuters, on 2 wheels & 4.

Kav0777

have2flushtwice wrote: »

Some of the lights i see are pure crap and dim. Id prefer the hi vis jacket if i had to look out for one or another.

That's why he posted:

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

proper lights let you be seen, not high vis. Plenty of thread on it, search the forum.

Cookie_Monster

Kav0777 wrote: »

That's why he posted:

yes but the solution is proper lights NOT high vis.

Kav0777

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

yes but the solution is proper lights NOT high vis.

I agree, that's why I highlighted proper lights.... (I didn't want to go down the whole hiviz vs lights, done to death elsewhere)

Danjamin1

Kav0777 wrote: »

I agree, that's why I highlighted proper lights.... (I didn't want to go down the whole hiviz vs lights, done to death elsewhere)

Nothing wrong with using both if it's the personal preference.

Lights are a must, high-viz is optional though.

Poor road-users, particularly on commuter routes are a pain in the arse though.

RLJ's are a nuisance (both cars and bikes), people that filter to the top of the lights after being overtaken are a pain as well. My personal gripe is with the ones you've already overtaken that cruise past you and through the red light you're patiently waiting at only for you to have to overtake them again after you go through the green light!!

CramCycle

MOD VOICE: There is a Hi vis thread and also an equally tedious informative thread about wearing dark clothing, if anyone wants to discuss hi vis or related, please search for these, this thread is about something else entirely.
Also the reason I presume he brought up the hi vis and helmet is that it is associated with new cyclists who either have no knowledge of the rules or good manners, there is nothing wrong with either and there are plenty of experienced and safe cyclists who wear the same.
Any questions PM me

tunney

How about if we throw hi-viz jackets in the spokes of Strava Commuters? That okay?

dermabrasion

It drives me mad when I see the random crap described above, but I rarely call cyclists on this. I will loose it with a motorist that endangers my safety, but that is usually the adrenaline talking. But I am not calling out on a hoodie on Gardiner street riding against the traffic.
The random BS that goes on fly's below the threshold of being bad enough for me to make a big deal out of. But, I know from experience, if this type of crap happened where I used to live in Canada, you would probably hear about it.

ht9zni1gs28crp

Could be worse....all those muppet cyclists could be behind the wheel of a car instead!

Riskymove

just noticed Mod note

Iwannahurl

Wheel-sucking. Snot-rockets.

I think we need a cycling glossary Sticky...

CramCycle

All stupidity aside, I have no problem with Darwinism anymore, it is the rudeness that gets my back up. I had a person on a high nellie skim me as I waited at a red, as they then wobbled through the light as they could not figure out if it was safe or not (hard to tell as it was hard to see if crossing traffic had seen her early enough to stop or the cyclist was just lucky). No sorry, no excuse me, not even an acknowledgement that it had happened. The only reason I did not read them the riot act as I passed was fear they would accuse me of assault or they would fall over and I would be delayed waiting for an ambulance for this rude a**. Most cyclist I encounter are well mannered, nice, I even have some who say hello when stopped for no other reason than to be friendly, those that don't, are just as entitled to mind their own business. Its the ones who pull up in front of you and stop even after you have overtaken them, the ones who skim past you when there is little enough room for yourself. In my eyes they are the same as the motorist who blocks your route just to be annoying, or overtakes you too close to catch up with traffic less than 20 metres down the road, who thinks that indicators are for the craic and serve no real purpose.

Tl;DR: a small percentage of commuters were raised in ignorance of basic manners and decency, they use any and all sorts of vehicles for commuting including no vehicle at all. I hate them and unfortunately they will have the last laugh as I will die younger from the annoyance they cause.

Danjamin1

CramCycle wrote: »

Tl;DR: a small percentage of commuters were raised in ignorance of basic manners and decency, they use any and all sorts of vehicles for commuting including no vehicle at all. I hate them and unfortunately they will have the last laugh as I will die younger from the annoyance they cause.

Sh!ts could not be given by this breed of commuter as they go around oblivious to the frustration they cause.

I forgot to mention the curbhopper cyclists that use the footpath to navigate past traffic light junctions and come back down from the path after the lights. Rarely seen on anything other than a Dublin Bike. Frustrating for all others on the road.

RainyDay

Has anyone considered just talking to the other terrible cyclists about it? Unless someone marks their cards, they're going to keep on doing it. If they find that every time they behave badly, some cranky person moans at them or questions their behaviour, they might just start behaving differently.

Danjamin1

RainyDay wrote: »

Has anyone considered just talking to the other terrible cyclists about it? Unless someone marks their cards, they're going to keep on doing it. If they find that every time they behave badly, some cranky person moans at them or questions their behaviour, they might just start behaving differently.

Isn't the general response to this moaning a request to PFO?

Bray Header

kenmc wrote: »

Brake test them. In a wheel rub, it's usually the one who's front wheel is touched will go down.
Alternatively, a couple of judiciously placed snot-rockets should do the job.

Or "drop" the box of thumb tacks you just happened to be carrying home from the shops.

So you want to counter C*ntish behaviour with C*ntish behaviour? Nice!

RainyDay

Danjamin1 wrote: »

Isn't the general response to this moaning a request to PFO?

Yeah, sometimes. But what happens if they get a moaning response EVERY time they transgress? Will the penny drop?

CramCycle

RainyDay wrote: »

Has anyone considered just talking to the other terrible cyclists about it? Unless someone marks their cards, they're going to keep on doing it. If they find that every time they behave badly, some cranky person moans at them or questions their behaviour, they might just start behaving differently.

I have done it on occasion, I try to do so civilly, along the lines of sorry to say this but back at XYZ junction, I am not sure if you noticed but you were nearly hit because of A B or C generally all you get back is a **** off. One guy the other day, said sorry, said he honestly did not see me and we ended up chatting. He ran a red (it had just turned and he must have lost focus) but I copped his shadow in the glaring sun and stopped, and the car behind me done so as well. Lucky he was wearing black or I would not have made him out against the low sun :pac:

I have also taken the really annoying but technically polite route of queue skippers by cycling up beside them and asking them "did you miss the queue back there?" or asking them "was it really worth jumping the queue for me to have to overtake you like this?" The latter always gets an angry reply but it is satisfyingly smug to do.

Personally, I think that the volume of complaints will never reach a loud enough volume to make much of a difference, assh*ts are bred that way and it is very hard to teach an old dog new tricks. If your too agressive, you are the problem with anger issues, if you are too meek they don't give a toss.

CramCycle

Bray Header wrote: »

So you want to counter C*ntish behaviour with C*ntish behaviour? Nice!

I think he was joking.

RoboRat

Isn't the general response to this moaning a request to PFO?

Depends on who makes the request and to whom.

I tend to let it lie if they haven't endangered me. You meet all kinds of annoying and ignorant people in life and I don't bother to waste my energy on them. If they do something that has put me at risk then thats another matter altogether.

2Cando

CramCycle wrote: »

Tl;DR: a small percentage of commuters were raised in ignorance of basic manners and decency.

But it's not a small percentage, I commute every morning,evening and even to get around town, and I find the overall level of cycling to be appalling and just outright dangerous. Not to sound too pretentious, but I pride myself on my cycling skill and obedience to the rules of the roads.

Am I the only one?! I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!

Stepping Stone

I encountered something similar last year in terms of bad behavior and being oblivious to the consequences. I was driving, going straight ahead, then turning left, cyclist on my left doing the same(see each other every day). The lane on the right is for right turns only. We were stopped at the lights, cyclist on my left, me and then a cyclist on my right at the top of the queue. Lights went green, we moved off, cyclist on the left is slightly ahead of me cos I want him to complete the left turn before I do. Suddenly, the fool on my right wobbles across my path quite close, I slam on the brakes, he cuts across the cyclist who is signalling the left turn, clips him and knocks him to the ground and wobbles on oblivious. :mad:

I wasn't going that slowly, perhaps about 35km/hr to encourage someone to cross my path without warning less than a metre from the front bumper. We were through the junction at that stage and when we moved off he appeared to be turning right. I don't know if he even saw the other cyclist on the left. I actually can't describe how angry I was. It was ridiculous. I have never been so tempted to speed after someone and push them off their bike.

My poor friend on the left was bruised and grazed but was back on the bike the next morning. I honestly cannot explain the logic behind it.

CramCycle

2Cando wrote: »

I find the overall level of cycling to be appalling and just outright dangerous.

2 things to be mentioned here are that, first, I meant manners. While they overlap and the crown with no manners or decency are I imagine wholly enveloped by the crowd with no cop on or road skills, there are still some in the larger group who are not bad mannered, who will apologise when they realise how stupid their maneuvre was or if they realise how close they were to injuring themselves or someone else.
Second, it is fair to point out that I tend to remember only the worse incidents or behaviour, I can remember most of the bad drivers/cyclists on a commute, might be 5, 10 or 50 but I only have fleeting memories of all those who did not gain a spot in my memory as they remained safe and generally law abiding who in number probably far outweigh those that I do remember. I noticed them at the time but once out of sight, they were merely shadows floating in the ether of my life.

f1000

Amazes me how much stupidity and inconsideration is on display on a daily basis from all sorts of commuters and it seems to be getting worse. I just have to sit back and abhor their inane ability with a sense of justification for my obedience.

ROK ON

So on my way home this evening when another cyclist breaking a red light practically t-bones me.

In a well light area of town. I have lights etc on the bike.

I verbally assaulted the wan•er which is for me progress, as the last guy to t-bone me got physically assaulted until some witnesses calmed mendown and made me see sense (thankfully).

The guy tonight I estimate was in his late 40's/early 50's.

There is no average asshat on a bike - it crosses all age/gender/social class.
Just to be inclusive, bike asshats probably come from every religious grouping and none, every race and sexual orientation.

I'm heartily sick of this crap. Any clown messing about in the morning is going for a swim.
Be warned.
A madder than usual.

Raam

Someone needs a holiday.

Ole Rodrigo

Those westerly winds are the problem with the North quays. Plus everyone wants to hammer it before a bus or taxi squeezes past. And since nobody knows how to conduct themselves its like the keystone cops in hi viz. What about cutting across to the park and along the NCR ?

Cookie_Monster

Kav0777 wrote: »

I agree, that's why I highlighted proper lights.... (I didn't want to go down the whole hiviz vs lights, done to death elsewhere)

sorry picked you up wrong. all good

Wishbone Ash

ROK ON wrote: »

So on my way home this evening when another cyclist breaking a red light practically t-bones me.

In a well light area of town. I have lights etc on the bike.

I verbally assaulted the wan•er which is for me progress, as the last guy to t-bone me got physically assaulted until some witnesses calmed mendown and made me see sense (thankfully).

The guy tonight I estimate was in his late 40's/early 50's.

There is no average asshat on a bike - it crosses all age/gender/social class.
Just to be inclusive, bike asshats probably come from every religious grouping and none, every race and sexual orientation.

I'm heartily sick of this crap. Any clown messing about in the morning is going for a swim.
Be warned.
A madder than usual.

'asshat' and 'asshats' - these must be new insults which I haven't been made aware of!

Jabel

What's a t-bone? I'm guessing it's not a steak!

Jabel

2Cando wrote: »

I agree that the behaviour of commuters in Dublin is appalling. Not so much the cycling etiquette of cyclist but their disobedience of the rules of the road. Breaking red light, cutting off pedestrians (when the pedestrians have the green man), not looking over the shoulder when moving out or turning right, not lights, generally being unaware of their surroundings... I can keep going on. (A personal hatred of mine is when the cyclist you just overtook overtakes you at a red light, then proceeds to get in the way again!)

Is it any wonder drivers generally tend to hate cyclist and give us a hard time?

I feel a real effort has to be made by the cycling community to obey rules and be aware cyclists. If we demand more respect on the road, then we should be responsible. Drivers may still give us a hard time, but somebody has to make the first effort, why not start with us?

Even if you safely tell a cyclist if they are in the wrong and what to do instead. I'm sure this will be responded with a "F**k off", but we have to try if we are ever to be respected and further integrated into the infrastructure.

That's how I feel about cyclist commuting anyway...

Agree with all your points bar one.
Your 'personal hatred' of cyclists overtaking you at red lights?
This is exactly what the advanced stop line is for, cyclists.
What are they meant to do, wait at the end of the traffic line
while the cycle lane is clear to the lights?
Have to disagree with you on that one.

2Cando

Jabel wrote: »

Agree with all your points bar one.
Your 'personal hatred' of cyclists overtaking you at red lights?
This is exactly what the advanced stop line is for, cyclists.
What are they meant to do, wait at the end of the traffic line
while the cycle lane is clear to the lights?
Have to disagree with you on that one.

I think we're talking about different things.

I mean when there isn't an advance stop line (I presume you mean the area at the top of the lane with the big cycle symbol that spreads over onto the car lane as well?). When cyclists have to queue up along the cycle lane up to the red light and someone swans up the outside instead of queuing just to be overtaken again.

Even when it's just me at a red light and I've stopped at the line where we're meant to stop, in order to leave the pedestrian crossing free, and another cyclist moves in front of me and stops, not only blocking the pedestrian crossing but then getting in my way even though they know I just overtook them and will do so again.

Jabel

2Cando wrote: »

I think we're talking about different things.

I mean when there isn't an advance stop line (I presume you mean the area at the top of the lane with the big cycle symbol that spreads over onto the car lane as well?). When cyclists have to queue up along the cycle lane up to the red light and someone swans up the outside instead of queuing just to be overtaken again.

Even when it's just me at a red light and I've stopped at the line where we're meant to stop, in order to leave the pedestrian crossing free, and another cyclist moves in front of me and stops, not only blocking the pedestrian crossing but then getting in my way even though they know I just overtook them and will do so again.

Sorry chief, I probably read your post too quickly and thought you were talking from a motorists point of view.
It bugs the hell out of me too...