As some of you know i am extremely pro cyclists on the road having a good deal of pedalling history behind me. Generally I will defend their right to use the road, recognising that at times they can seem a little selfish as a result of the need to ride in a defensive manner in view of their vulnerability to all other forms of traffic.
However, yesterday I felt like getting out of the car and giving one a slap. What happened was that I alng with 30/40 other cars were held for a long time at a raiway crossing (at Teston for those that know it). We had been passing cyclists with no problems for the previous few miles all in the same livery so presumably enjoying a club run on a lovely sunny morning in the idyllic lanes of The Garden of England.
As we sat at the level crossing the cyclists all came up the outside and formed a large group at the front of the queue. No problem, that's what I would have done. I would also have waited for all the cars to go before moving off, both out of courtesy and personal safety.
The difference was that when the gate finally opened the group all moved off as one at the head of the queue to tackle the fairly steep hill that runs for about 2 miles along a road that is barely wide enough for a car to pass either way at the best of times.
Inevitably the cars were moving at a snail pace and only able to overtake as the group began breaking up on the climb, picking the cyclists off one or two at a time when possible on the windy, hedge lined road. This was bad enough but what followed was simply ridiculous.
I had picked off a couple and managed to go about 50 yards up the road to the next group who were really struggling. I was down to about 5 miles an hour waiting for a safe place to pass. The two that I had already passed made up the gap to be behind me and I was astonished to hear one of them yell 'Get a move on for F***s sake you w****r' at me. At this point my window went down and I suggested 'shut your mouth' might be an appropriate action at this point.
I then got a further torrent of abuse which I was really struggling with - I couldn't go any faster as I couldn't overtake. At this point potty mouth decided to overtake me which was a bit of an effort and thought it would be sensible to throw some more abuse and spit at the car on the way past. As you can imagine I wasn't having that. When I caught up with him I overtook (safely), pulled in further up the road to wait for him to have words.
This is where the unbelievable bit happened - he saw me, stopped, thought about it for a few seconds then heroically turned round and rode off back down the hill!
What was good was that a few of the cyclists who witnessed his behavior made comments about him being a knob, etc.
The thing that struck me after is that I am a pretty docile personality who doen't get annoyed easily (but it isn't pretty when I do) - there are tons of people out there on short fuses who might easily have got involved in something really messy in this situation.
So, the moral of the story is...??
However, yesterday I felt like getting out of the car and giving one a slap. What happened was that I alng with 30/40 other cars were held for a long time at a raiway crossing (at Teston for those that know it). We had been passing cyclists with no problems for the previous few miles all in the same livery so presumably enjoying a club run on a lovely sunny morning in the idyllic lanes of The Garden of England.
As we sat at the level crossing the cyclists all came up the outside and formed a large group at the front of the queue. No problem, that's what I would have done. I would also have waited for all the cars to go before moving off, both out of courtesy and personal safety.
The difference was that when the gate finally opened the group all moved off as one at the head of the queue to tackle the fairly steep hill that runs for about 2 miles along a road that is barely wide enough for a car to pass either way at the best of times.
Inevitably the cars were moving at a snail pace and only able to overtake as the group began breaking up on the climb, picking the cyclists off one or two at a time when possible on the windy, hedge lined road. This was bad enough but what followed was simply ridiculous.
I had picked off a couple and managed to go about 50 yards up the road to the next group who were really struggling. I was down to about 5 miles an hour waiting for a safe place to pass. The two that I had already passed made up the gap to be behind me and I was astonished to hear one of them yell 'Get a move on for F***s sake you w****r' at me. At this point my window went down and I suggested 'shut your mouth' might be an appropriate action at this point.
I then got a further torrent of abuse which I was really struggling with - I couldn't go any faster as I couldn't overtake. At this point potty mouth decided to overtake me which was a bit of an effort and thought it would be sensible to throw some more abuse and spit at the car on the way past. As you can imagine I wasn't having that. When I caught up with him I overtook (safely), pulled in further up the road to wait for him to have words.
This is where the unbelievable bit happened - he saw me, stopped, thought about it for a few seconds then heroically turned round and rode off back down the hill!
What was good was that a few of the cyclists who witnessed his behavior made comments about him being a knob, etc.
The thing that struck me after is that I am a pretty docile personality who doen't get annoyed easily (but it isn't pretty when I do) - there are tons of people out there on short fuses who might easily have got involved in something really messy in this situation.
So, the moral of the story is...??
