Keith Challen should buy a bike

[l'ordinary bonville]

Having read his arrival in this weeks yellow peril I find myself at odds (unusually) with his sentiment.

I suppose the lanes of belvoir belong to him and cyclists should all find a busy trunk road to ride on.

Is it that time of year again when all the different road users lack understanding of each other's needs?

Obviously horses excluded. Nobody wants them on the road...

 

[Yale]

As a cyclist I try to avoid busy roads and stick to country roads/off road MTB'ing but it does make you think a different way about cyclists.

Big problem around here is the verges aren't cut so nowhere to go.

 

[nick...]

Id like to know what machinery he is having problems with,name and shame keith
Nick...

 

[MrNoo]

Nothing but a pain in the arse round here, Darwinian Selection at it's best, even had one hold onto the rear tailgate of the grain trailer, hitching a free lift.

 

[Exfarmer]

I like to ride the back roads, and always try to pull over for tractors and lorries when I can. As others say the lack of verge maintenance and the poor condition of the edges does help anyone.
I was pleased to beat a fastrac up a long hill today apologies to you if you are on here, we're you loaded?

 

[Jetemp]

@l'ordinary bonville reckon you should try dealing with bikes on the a19 when they have a race/time trial on, it is only a matter of time before there is another fatality on there with them. Riding 2 and 3 abreast on a hi speed dual carriage way, it dangerous enough without a tractor in there without idiots on bikes thrown in.

James

 

[Chae1]

I'm lucky the cyclists on our local side road are a decent bunch. I always approach them as if a member of family. I normally find if I show them respect it's returned.

 

[kesteven dan]

To be fair to Keith,the vale is crawling with cyclists,especially at the weekend and the roads are just too small to get around them.I'm sure we pee motorists off more than cyclists annoy us though.

 

[l'ordinary bonville]

@l'ordinary bonville reckon you should try dealing with bikes on the a19 when they have a race/time trial on, it is only a matter of time before there is another fatality on there with them. Riding 2 and 3 abreast on a hi speed dual carriage way, it dangerous enough without a tractor in there without idiots on bikes thrown in.

James

I am aware of the previous fatality and know the driver in that accident.

Fact is they are perfectly legal on the road and have right of way. At least on the A19 you can overtake on the outside lane unlike my nearest road.

I am perfectly used to cars passing within a few inches at 70mph.

It's not the road that's dangerous; it's the drivers

 

[Ben M]

Think its the fact he had 3 cyclists in middle of the road nearly colliding with his sprayer that upset him?

And to add to the time trial thingy, they do them quite often on the a14 newmarket / Cambridge way...utterly crazy, imo. Witnessed one race in very heavy rain, spray from lorries ment you couldn't see the cyclists until very last moment.

 

[Jetemp]

Theres a few things I do t get about the time trials, wether it's legal or not I can't and don't want to discuss as I don't know the ins and outs of it. However in my mind a simple risk assessment tells you it's crazy, why as a cyclist would you want to put your self in a situation where you are the weakest link by a country mile? You only have to look at the health and safety measures put in by road construction companies to protect there staff, I don't see a cyclist on a dual carriage way as an more protected than a pedestrian, so for me in the situation I talked about earlier on the a19 is absolutely ridiculous and to a degree I think that the cyclist should be held responsible for any issues that occur.

Surely in this day and age with velodromes etc there are safer places for cyclist than the 2nd busiest dual carriage way heading into the north east. Add to this tractors during harvest on there aswell I would call it a recipe for disaster.

James

 

[Exfarmer]

Firstly, is it legal, yes providing there are les than 60 competitors.
Second would I do it on the A14 , I may look stupid but NO

 

[Hampton]

I don't mind cyclists.
I just hate 60 year old tw@s who seem to think they are in the peloton of the Tour de France!

 

[Princess Pooper]

I like to get out on a bike occasionally but when you get more than about 3 together, they never seem to expect something to be round the corner on a single track country lane. Had a 'pack' come sailing round our blind bend the other day, luckily had just shut the gate on the last cows to go into the field.

 

[l'ordinary bonville]

Theres a few things I do t get about the time trials, wether it's legal or not I can't and don't want to discuss as I don't know the ins and outs of it. However in my mind a simple risk assessment tells you it's crazy, why as a cyclist would you want to put your self in a situation where you are the weakest link by a country mile? You only have to look at the health and safety measures put in by road construction companies to protect there staff, I don't see a cyclist on a dual carriage way as an more protected than a pedestrian, so for me in the situation I talked about earlier on the a19 is absolutely ridiculous and to a degree I think that the cyclist should be held responsible for any issues that occur.

Surely in this day and age with velodromes etc there are safer places for cyclist than the 2nd busiest dual carriage way heading into the north east. Add to this tractors during harvest on there aswell I would call it a recipe for disaster.

James

The rest of the population may use the same argument about tractors.
They have enough fields to work in. Why not stay there? Or surely they could stay off the road during rush hour??

Fact is the roads are there for a whole array of users whether for business or pleasure. No one party is more entitled to it than any other.

"Safe" driving, cycling, riding, running is possible by all users and yes there are idiots from all groups

 

[l'ordinary bonville]

Witnessed one race in very heavy rain, spray from lorries ment you couldn't see the cyclists until very last moment.

You are now implying that you were driving at an unsafe speed if you almost ran into the back of them.

You would be completely at fault if you did. And I know a guy who bears the responsibility of a death in just this example, apart from it was a low sun rather than spray that caused him not to notice.

 

[Jim75]

Cyclists seem to leave their common sense at home when they go out. Everyone's to blame apart from them. Think I could count on one hand how many times they pull over to let sp sprayer by on narrow roads. Sprayer engine running flat out seems to get a better reaction as they can't have a blether. I'll avoid one road out of inverness to the battlefield as every 100 yards there's another gang

 

[franklin]

I don't mind cyclists.
I just hate 60 year old tw@s who seem to think they are in the peloton of the Tour de France!

^^^^ this ^^^^

Seems to be the new thing for folk when they hit their 50s to either take up cycling or jogging. Cyclists of this ilk down our back road are clearly trying to break their own personal bests and hence reluctant to pull over to let us pass. aka they are dicks.

 

[Hampton]

^^^^ this ^^^^

Seems to be the new thing for folk when they hit their 50s to either take up cycling or jogging. Cyclists of this ilk down our back road are clearly trying to break their own personal bests and hence reluctant to pull over to let us pass. aka they are dicks.

Three/four abreast down country lanes in groups of 20/30. Far more dangerous than anything else on the road

 

[solo]

^^^^ this ^^^^

Seems to be the new thing for folk when they hit their 50s to either take up cycling or jogging. Cyclists of this ilk down our back road are clearly trying to break their own personal bests and hence reluctant to pull over to let us pass. aka they are dicks.

My wife and son both cycle and it is common for a lot of cyclist to use "strava" which is an app where you can share your route and times for hills etc as well as timed sections. It's pretty much a competition to be the best. Funny thing is the cyclists all acknowledge each other when out riding but on the farm road which is a bridle way you are lucky if you even get a grunt after wishing them a good morning. One lassie told my daughter off for not getting of the drive with the tractor and trailer so she could pass without unclipping her pedals. Daughter didn't rise to the occasion but her gobby mate aptly told her to F off and go do one. Don't you just love the banter from one townie to another