Has this been covered? Critical Mass

I'd like to know peoples feelings on this.
I ride with critical mass totally agree with its policies.
However, i can see the motorists point of view,they have very valid points to make.
Motorized transport[to call it that] seems to prefer that cyclists stick to the inside.This appears to be based on the assumption that a cyclist being narrower than a car leaves enough room for a car to pass then on that lane.

We as cyclists know that isnt really the case because to ride on the extreme left puts in line of drains[sometimes without covers] the kerb ,glass,litter,tin cans, those horrible plastic coke bottles and other road detritus which is the cause of many a puncture, momentary loss of control ,accident,death etc[etc :shock:]

Thoughts?
Can of worms i know, and a big one at that but its a good subject for a Sunday discussion.

Same policy here, cyclists either need to stay on the cycle path or on the very right edge of the road (keep in mind we ride on the right-hand side here).

I tend to just ride where I feel it's safest.
If the motorized traffic is too fast, I'll stick to the side of the road, or 2ft from it if there are parked cars. However if I can keep up, I'll position myself where a car driver normally sits to ensure maximum visibility.

this only came to my attention coz of the olympic thang, but there is a group in Birmingham which meets first Friday of the month so i know where i will be next Friday.

I couldn't give a monkeys about the drivers, as they clearly dont care about me. I really can not remember the last time i rode on the road where i didnt have to take action to stop me being seriously hurt.

Not gonna turn this into the old cyclist driver debate, but must say that I have also noticed more careful and considerate drivers on the road of late too, they hang back, give a wide berth.

My own view is that cars and bikes will never be happy bedfellows and we need to devlop entirely seperate cycling networks, but still will gonna go and see what its all about

oh since my wife opened her car door into the face of a cyclist recently, knocking out two of his front teeth, i have become more aware of the "door Zone" . It is this which is apparently responsible for killing shed loads of cyclist. Since then i have taken a more central position when passing parked cars but over to the left side really

this is what im talking about

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSiBVTtr ... re=related

the CM on friday was a bad thing for cycling . long thread on stw and clear evidence from the videos on youtube that some of the protesters assaulted that police officer .

Charlieboy28":3fwt5xu3 said:

this is what im talking about

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSiBVTtr ... re=related

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well i think we've all come across this :?
Notice that the likes/dislikes are 2000+ for the likes and 1000+ for the dislikes.
The vid shows some pretty poor driving and in many cases downright dangerous manoeuvres yet so many posted a negative.Im guessing most of them are from car drivers but even if they arent it shows what the general public believe in how a cyclist should act-meek and mild and tucked in out of the way.

oh since my wife opened her car door into the face of a cyclist recently, knocking out two of his front teeth, i have become more aware of the "door Zone" . It is this which is apparently responsible for killing shed loads of cyclist. Since then i have taken a more central position when passing parked cars but over to the left side really

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Ive been there ,been totally knocked off from the door catching my bar through to braking literally an inch off the inside of the door,and had a thing to say when the usual battle cry comes out 'oh i didnt see you' Yeah,like you looked
One of my mates sister is a surgical nurse and shes said about the number of neck injured cyclists she's seen come in from slamming into a car door is pretty damn high.

but must say that I have also noticed more careful and considerate drivers on the road of late too, they hang back, give a wide berth.

My own view is that cars and bikes will never be happy bedfellows and we need to devlop entirely seperate cycling networks, but still will gonna go and see what its all about

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Ive noticed this too.there has been a campaign of late promoting give us room and that coupled with more people buying bikes to save on fuel costs has helped press the message home.

entirely seperate cycling networks

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OMG that would be pure heaven


Come on now bump.these are the important points and its not just going over the same ground its a duty to keep this message in the public eye

I don't ride in a busy city, but I've pretty much experienced all of bad driving shown in the video and more besides.

I can get pretty agressive with car drivers that cut me up and don't hold back with hand gestures indicating my score out of ten for their driving; usuallay 1 or 2.

I never ride on the extreme left, statistically it's more dangerous to ride in the gutter. I ride over to the left when it suits me and I choose to make it easier for cars to pass me and out towards the middle when I don't want cars to pass me i.e as I approach a junction or a roundabout etc. or If I'm keeping up with traffic or doing the speed limit. I believe cyclecraft call it the primary and secondary positions.

The way I see it the car drivers that get annoyed because they think they are being held up by cyclists, well they hold up cyclists just as much at junctions and traffic lights etc. Other cars hold me up when I drive my car too. If there were no other cars on the road I'd have a free run all the way to work at 130mph We all hold each other up so just live with it and chill out!!!

xerxes":1b978s47 said:

I can get pretty agressive with car drivers that cut me up and don't hold back with hand gestures indicating my score out of ten for their driving; usuallay 1 or 2.

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I often score them a zero, and shake it up an down a bit just so they get the message