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“The constant low-level bullying is starting to take its toll” – road.cc readers open up on the stress of riding on Britain’s roads, with one giving it up for good

Forum topic prompts readers to share their stories – including one who has just sold a bike he built himself as he switches to off-road riding

A forum topic posted on road.cc last week that posed the question, “Know of someone who’s packed in UK road cycling due to safety concerns?” has prompted readers to share their own stories, including one who this weekend just gone sold his final road bike – one he had built himself, to boot – and who says he will ride exclusively off-road from now on, and another who described the stress brought on by “constant low-level bullying.”

The topic was begun by road.cc reader Shades, who said he had heard about a member of his cycling circle who had taken early retirement but “was really frustrated with the Covid restrictions as he has a small holiday flat in Germany and can't pursue his various plans.

“My comment was why hadn't he gone out on some long rides etc; then I was told he'd stopped, because he was sick of UK roads (safety), and was just going to cycle when he's out in Germany (which he always raves about),” Shades continued.

He said he was “initially bemused,” but after reflecting on some near misses he had experienced, “I kind of sympathised.”

“The roads are like the Wild West post-lockdown”

Shades added that before starting to work from home, “a lot of my miles were commuting on the Bristol/Bath bike path and quiet urban roads, so I was probably slightly cossetted. I generally steer clear of A roads but, mid-week especially, the roads are like the Wild West post-lockdown. Apart from group rides I've now got front/back cameras so I could hardly criticise my mate for just being aware of his own mortality.”

His post has drawn dozens of comments from other road.cc readers sharing their own views and experiences, with some common themes emerging – as well as some differences of opinion, naturally.

Road becoming busier as lockdown eases was highlighted by several readers, although views diverged over whether that had been accompanied by driving standards generally being worse, or drivers more impatient, than before the pandemic.

Awavey was one reader who spoke about how working from home over the past year or so had given them a different experience compared to when they rode to work.

“I always found the commute hardest to cope with”

“Personally I always found the commute the hardest to cope with in the respect of safety as I was forced to use quite nasty busy urban roads, which with peak stress rush hour drivers always led to some conflict,” he said.

“So WFH allows me to explore the countryside on longer rides at nicer times, where you still get the occasional issue, but it's not that thing where you just start stressing and dreading the ride because you know some hare-brained motorist is going to try to put you in danger.”

“Let it wash. You can't always be on the front line all the time”

Some readers revealed their own coping mechanisms, such as TheBillder, who wrote: “I think that one way to cope is just to assume sometimes that this stuff will happen and let it wash. You can't always be on the front line all the time.

“Some days I get furious and shout and wave,” he added. “Other days I just count the incidents or give myself a pat on the back if I spot one before it happens.”

“The constant low-level bullying is starting to take its toll”

Captain Badger revealed that he had reported a case of intimidation to the police just the previous evening, and had been discussing it with his wife, whom he said “is concerned that my usual policy of giving these idiots a mouthful is going to end with me in hospital or worse.

“She no longer rides on the road, in spite of using a bike to get around from the age of 12 till well after uni,” he continued. “She wants to ride but is literally too scared –btw, she's hardly a shrinking violet.

“Last night's incident was hardly the worst I've ever received, usual shit about get on the ‘cycle lane’, and ‘I pay tax’, with a close pass, pushed towards the gutter, and brake check,” he said, adding that “I was much more shaken up than usual, angry but also frustrated and sad.

But I'm tired,” he added. “I just want to get where I want to go without using a car, but the constant low-level bullying (and sometimes straight out intimidation, threats and attempted assault) is starting to take its toll.

“What should have been a 10-minute journey has now been an incident and an upload, and has been on my mind now for 12 hours. I don't want to have to don a GoPro every facking ride – it's literally less than 3 miles, under 15mins. The only reason to do so is that the level of bullying,  intimidation and risk to health is significant.”

Replying to Captain Badger, HoarseMann said he’d had “a couple like this over the years … one saw me hang the bike up for six months and the other nine months. Back on it now though and cameras every ride.”

“I handed over my last road bike today – a bike I thought I'd never sell”

Another reader, kil0ran, has gone further and said he had given up riding on the road altogether because stress over what might happen meant he no longer enjoyed it.

“I realise that I'm still dealing with the trauma of the road rage attack which could easily have killed me on my 50th birthday,” he said. “Logic doesn't come into it when you're traumatised, and I did try the ‘just get back on the horse’ approach but it didn't work for me.”

He said he had “handed over my last road bike today – a bike I specced, assembled, and upgraded myself, paying attention to every little thing. A bike I thought I'd never sell.

“And as the new owner wheeled it away I didn't feel any doubt or regret. Possibly a soupçon of relief but to be honest I didn't feel anything at all, other than the possibilities offered by the grand in my pocket – a shiny new Scottish hardtail frame arrives on Monday for me to build.”

Have you, or anyone you know, stopped riding on the road or thought about doing so? Do you plan your routes to follow quiet or traffic-free routes, or to avoid places where you are likely to experience conflict? After last year’s traffic-free roads during the first lockdown, are you finding drivers are now more aggressive than pre-pandemic? Let us know in the comments below.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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61 comments

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Ladders | 2 years ago
2 likes

Don't know why I'm bothering reply on this topic, as nothing will ever change!??...

a British rider one day winning the TDF and bringing the profile of cycling into households - NO

Olympic success will highlight cyclists to the general public, leading to more respect for cyclists - NO

cycling becoming the most popular it's been in over 50 years, with more and more people participating and so more car driver become cyclists - NO

 

Nothings ever going to change. I see how the 'other side' think with being a petrolhead as well as a gear head. You just need to browse a few car forums to see the hate and contempt the 'average' driver has for cyclists every time Cyclists are mentioned.

The only way things will change IMO is if pretty much all cyclists were to carry cameras and every dangerous manoeuvre, or hostile pass, or Hate speech was know to be punished for the driver, and it made all these acts to risky to do.

or we wait for driverless cars.

 

 

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Richard D | 2 years ago
2 likes

One only has to read the hateful (and ignorant) comments left by many motorists on any Facebook post that mentions cycling.  It might be a minority of drivers, but there are clearly a LOT of them - ignorant, rude and aggressive, and that behaviour all too often spills out onto the roads (presumably because they think the "likes" and  supportive replies they get on FB means their views are somehow correct).

I blame the fact that (1) so few people ride bicycles (allowing them to treat cyclists as outliers, and therefore okay to be picked on/bullied), and (2) the ignorant and inflammatory tosh spouted by some celebrities (such as twats like Clarkson and "Mr Loophole"), as again the aggressive drivers think that their attitudes are correct.

The only solution I can come up with is to make EVERY learner driver spend some time out on the roads on a bicycle before they are given a licence to drive a one-tonne potentially lethal piece of machinery.

Because drivers in the Netherlands (where pretty much everyone rides a bike before they learn to drive) don't show anything like this level of ignorance, prejudice or aggression.

(Can you tell who was treated to a "punishment pass" at speed this morning, for having the temerity to ride two-abreast on a main road at 8am when the opposite side of the carriageway was both completely clear and straight for almost a mile?)

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Dick Wall | 2 years ago
5 likes

I use a light on an ourigger to keep vehicles away. It works very well. Low level bullying is exactly why it works. I don't  get any.

 

As you ride you worry about every vehicle coming up behind. 95% are fine but worry about every one. That creates this constant low level worry.

The outrigger just keeps then all away. No one comes too close and I get to enjoy the ride. Over the last  two years I have had 2 people who stopped to suggest I am a w*****r who doesn't pay road tax. But in a Mastermind winning style no close passes. 

 

 

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Hirsute replied to Dick Wall | 2 years ago
1 like

Is this UK? Are you able to upload a photo of your setup ?

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Richard D replied to Dick Wall | 2 years ago
4 likes

Dick Wall wrote:

As you ride you worry about every vehicle coming up behind. 95% are fine but worry about every one. That creates this constant low level worry.

This.  So many pedestrians report being scared by cyclists on the pavement (who kill on average one pedestrian a year - you're more likely to be struck by lightning than killed by a cyclist; yet they don't flinch when a car goes past, despite cars killing 90 times as many people ON THE PAVEMENT).  Yet they don't get it when we are scared by cars, despite the fact that car drivers kill or seriously injure hundreds - thousands - of people every year.

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HoarseMann | 2 years ago
1 like

The 'incident' from today's ride (there is usually at least one) is as low-level as it gets. I can't really complain to be honest, it was a pretty good pass on a straight country road, but they wound the window down to shout something incomprehesible as they went by. Caught them up at the junction where they performed a bit of an odd right turn and shouted something else incomprehesible. I have no idea why, other than the fact I was not riding in the gutter?! To be fair, had no other issues over an hour and a halfs pootle, with plenty of careful and considerate drivers.

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oizukilemon | 2 years ago
1 like

It's terrible that we feel so under threat, but I am forced to agree.

I've been riding almost exclusively off road, with only one "roadie" adventure over the last few weeks.

Having been a keen cyclist for years, I just cant take the aggression any more. I've been considering selling my pride and joy and that last road ride has swung it .. it's just too dangerous, it isn't fun anymore, there are just too many nutters out there armed with a BMW 4x4 and not afraid to use it in some pathetic display of dominance.

I will be sticking to bridle paths and other opportunities to cycle and staying away from roads as far as possible ...

It shouldn't be like this...

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WolfieSmith | 2 years ago
5 likes

"The constant low-level bullying is starting to take its toll". It's always been dreadful: The negativity. The point scoring. The lone psychopaths.. I had to give up the up the Road.CC replies section for a couple of years... yes

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Shades | 2 years ago
5 likes

Didn't think my post would generate such a debate; it just hit home that when my mate said he'd got fed up with British roads I thought, me too as well, although I'm still out there.  Always think back to 20-30 years ago when I was never bothered by traffic and only wore a helmet for commuting; have the roads/drivers got worse or have I been normalised by NMOTD videos?  I run cameras, only for commuting or riding solo, so the bastard who knocks me off gets caught.  When I first saw e-Scooters I thought, WTF, now I love the little bastards; perfect disruptive technology and you can see the motorists are rattled as Gen Z (and below) embrace them and use them to get around.  Same with LTNs.  No government or official will ever say that they are anti-motorist but I wonder whether the secret agenda is that they really want to get in motorists faces using things like e-Scooters and LTNs under the banner of improving air quality for example.  Here's hoping for better equity on the roads, but it'll take time.

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kil0ran replied to Shades | 2 years ago
1 like

There's an eScooter trial going on in my former home town of Southampton at the moment. I'm still a member of the various local FB/news groups and they're not popular with certain people. Strangely enough, mostly the same people ranting about cyclists, LTNs, and road space being taken away from drivers. Without fail its "they're illegal to ride on the road or pavement" - which points to Southampton CC probably doing a rubbish job of advertising the exception they've got for the scheme.

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Gary's bike channel | 2 years ago
5 likes

thats the whole reason i wrote to my local paper with go pro footage, showing how awful and stupid the ''cycle lanes'' in bournemouth are. Usual idiotic responses to it.  The worst one was cycling beside a shared path, at 30 mph, a angry man close passes me, blocked me in at a red traffic light, then got out and got into a fight with me because i wasnt using the ''cycle lane''. At 30 mph. Let that sink in. Shared with pedestrians walking. But I wasnt using it. Also had a cop car come alongside me, with the policeman pointing left and telling me to use it. Morons, morons everywhere. Utterly stupid, but thats why every rider needs a good camera. Bloody shame, but it wont get any better in the UK. Unless they do the cycle routes properly, we will continue to get this conflict from the arrogant ones. To get away from it? I left the shit hole of bournemouth and escaped to the countryside. No cycle lanes out here to get shouted at about. Lovely people who give you space. I just went for a 12 mile hoon in the forest and had two people i waved past me, plus some donkeys and deer  i shared the road with. Best way to avoid it- leave the city. 

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matthewn5 | 2 years ago
3 likes

Since I haven't been quoted, I'll repeat my comment on that forum again here:

I think this is all too pessimistic. The statistics are very clear: cycling is less hazardous per hour than walking (marginally), and we'd all walk without a second thought. More importantly, the dangers of NOT cycling - inactivity, obesity, heart disease, cancer, dementia - are much higher than the 'danger' of cycling. David Rojas-Rueda's study* estimated benefits as 77 times higher than the risks; others have since found similar results. We have an syndemic of inactivity in Britain!

I cycle on roads and have done since the 1960s. I see a few close passes, but what really strikes me is how careful and courteous most drivers are, holding back until a suitable place to overtake, often quietly without me even noticing they're behind. In return I let drivers turn in front, sometimes pull over and let them past if there's a safe place to do so, and always give them a wave when they pass wide. Yes there are idiots, but they're a minority.

My hunch is the relentless pressure of YouTube 'close pass' videos with their aggro and hype is building up a false picture of the reality of cycling on the road. Having a camera I expect makes some of the authors feel the need to post footage just to keep their viewing numbers up, when many of the passes are normal and unremarkable.

I'm probably doomed now I've said this, but really, in the UK the benefits outweigh the risks by a huge factor, and we have so many quiet lanes all over the country, it's not hard to find a nice route leading to where you want to go, and the gradual increase of segregated lanes and quiet back routes in cities helps keep cycling hugely pleasurable.

*https://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d4521.short

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OllieB replied to matthewn5 | 2 years ago
0 likes

Yes!

All I would disagree with is your last sentence: I live in south west london and the fact I can't get to the museums in Kensington without navigating some pretty shocking roads e.g. hammersmith gyratory, most roads in RBKC is shocking....and then of course the museums back on to the shocker that is cromwell road! it would be a great ride to take my kid with me, along the river for a bit, pop into a park,... but the infrastructure is seriously lacking

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Richard D replied to matthewn5 | 2 years ago
1 like

The benefits may outweigh the risks, but there is no doubt that there is an increasing level of hostility and aggression shown to cyclists which makes many of us perceive the risks to be too high.  In the last twelve months I've lost count of the number of close passes I have experienced, and I have been directly threatened by two drivers (and in neither case was it anything I had done!)

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OllieB | 2 years ago
3 likes

Mixed feelings about this ... it's an article that makes me fearful about cycling on roads. I know it can be (and often is) dangerous but I still do it; for me the health benefits outweigh these risks at the moment. 99% of other road users are fine and it feels like (in London) things are better than they were a few years ago - maybe despite all the vocal campaigners people have actually begun to get used to bike lanes and people on bikes. 

The us vs them feeling is difficult to shake off especially when an absent-minded driver can potentially cause so much damage. And I agree with other comments that something like this and the NMOTD column can be counter-productive. Maybe we, as people on bikes, should take the lead and ride with a smile, be kind, take an extra ten seconds to prevent confrontations, instead. I know that when I smilingly tell a driver they should stop looking at their phone it's usually more successful than berating them. Life's about compromise after all isn't it. 

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PRSboy | 2 years ago
5 likes

I often drive my daughter's Mini with L plates on (I know I should not...) and I often suffer the same MGIF and general idiocy as I do when on the bike.  The difference in attitude of others when I am in our German SUV (I know I should not, but my wife likes it!) is startling. 

Drivers seem hard-wired to 'dominate' those they see as weaker/smaller, and 'respect' those they see as larger/stronger, and strangely relate this to the means of transport, rather than the user (ie generally all human!)

I fear that unless we can somehow unpick this behavioural trait, there is little prospect for change.

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kil0ran replied to PRSboy | 2 years ago
6 likes

We have a Volvo 940 estate (slow, ponderous, huge) and a Ford Ka (nippy, tiny), used interchangeably on the school run which is 8 miles on 40/50/NSL roads. Regardless of who is driving we undoubtedly get more tailgating in the Ka, and also more people chancing it and pulling out of side roads. Likewise less likely to be allowed to filter onto the bypass in the Ka. It's not surprising there's such an arms race regarding vehicle size.

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Captain Badger replied to kil0ran | 2 years ago
5 likes

kil0ran wrote:

We have a Volvo 940 estate (slow, ponderous, huge) and a Ford Ka (nippy, tiny), used interchangeably on the school run which is 8 miles on 40/50/NSL roads. Regardless of who is driving we undoubtedly get more tailgating in the Ka, and also more people chancing it and pulling out of side roads. Likewise less likely to be allowed to filter onto the bypass in the Ka. It's not surprising there's such an arms race regarding vehicle size.

Get that too. We have a 7 seat scenic, and an I10. Guess which one gets bullied more.....

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Mungecrundle replied to Captain Badger | 2 years ago
8 likes

7 seater Scenic and a MX-5. It is surprising, given the obvious smallness of the boot on an MX-5, how many tailgating SUV owners appear to think they can park in it, whilst the enormous boot space in the Scenic doesn't attract them in the same way. Maybe they like a challenge?

Luckily, as far as the Mazda is concerned,the SUVs seem to go away once corners or roundabouts are involved.

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djfleming22 | 2 years ago
4 likes

I have done the same as many of your readers I too have sold both bikes like many of your readers have said they sold it because they were sick and tired of getting pushed off the road by other drivers, I also sold mine because of a sick of the state of the roads every time I went out big potholes every 10 yards the excuse from all the councils they don't need to fix them because they're only 40 mm in depth which is no good, chat to either cyclists on motorcycles they are all tired of bumpy roads with potholes and if you do get damaged the absolute palaver to claim it is set up just to put you off claiming, the government's excuse is to just make sure the MOT is much harder the biggest risk to all is the state of the roads,  I just got fed up and just sold up, cycling was supposed to be about looking around the great countryside instead you're looking for the next pothole.

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srchar | 2 years ago
7 likes

I think I'll probably still commute by bike  when work re-opens, but I don't bother with outdoor fun riding anymore. Mainly because it's not actually fun anymore. Just needlessly dangerous and saddening. I'll stick with Zwift for training instead.

The situation on the roads isn't going to get any better. The news media and high profile social media agitators exist to wind people up and create divisions. For some reason, "cyclists vs drivers" is a favourite, despite 98% of cyclists also driving.

It's like setting people who breathe against people who drink water.

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PRSboy replied to srchar | 2 years ago
1 like

Agreed... I was listening to a phone-in on BBC Wales the other day... the topic was "Cyclists - tell me your experiences of cycling in Wales"... I though this well-chosen as it encouraged cyclists to call in with broadly positive experiences and views, and avoided the usual ranting from drivers about red lights, road tax, two abreast etc.

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kil0ran | 2 years ago
3 likes

One further point on my offroad riding choice. Obviously trails are hooked up with roads around here so I do the occasional tarmac transition. Either it's the 80cm bars or baggy clothes, or the mud or something else but I've never had anything approaching a close pass. I've even had drivers pull in to passing places on single track roads to let me through.

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Mungecrundle | 2 years ago
8 likes

I drive and motorcycle as well as cycle. I have a dash cam in the car and in many years I have yet to record a single close incident or situation where I was put in any danger by another road user. Even on the motorcycle not so much as a moment of concern, though that is not used for commuting.

However, on the bicycle it can feel like a duck shoot with basic ineptitude at overtaking and occasional aggression seemingly coming out of nowhere. I carry cameras but don't go looking for trouble or creating situations. I have learned to not interact at all with drivers, let alone get involved in shouting or gesticulation. It seems that so much as looking at someone a bit funny is reasonable grounds to get yourself run over and we have seen previously how some Police forces appear to consider a bit of swearing after a life threatening moment to be of higher public concern than road safety.

I'm posting this link again - my crime? Slapping the side of a van that was about to run me into the gutter. This shouldn't have gone anywhere in a sane world yet you can see from some of the comments that some people feel the van driver was completely justified in his response.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLF93a5w7ko

Likewise this. My crime here? Apparently just cycling on the road is enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS1Rnwjzdl4

 

 

 

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kil0ran replied to Mungecrundle | 2 years ago
4 likes

Your empathy is admirable but borderline Stockholm Syndrome - unsurprising given the micro (and macro) aggressions we experience.

I've banged a fair few car and van doors in my time, suffice to say some drivers see it as if you've just banged their missus.

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chrisos | 2 years ago
4 likes

My last major discussion with a motorist was after a bus ran me off the road then tried telling me I shouldn't be on the pavement... I learned the lesson that day that you can't teach an idiot, least of all an angry/defensive idiot. That was probably about 3 years ago now and I haven't engaged in discussion since, I still let people know when they've done something wrong but I don't bother hanging around once I've said my bit and the level of zen this gives is so much better than having a shouting match then spending the rest of my morning winding myself up about it

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kil0ran replied to chrisos | 2 years ago
4 likes

Part of why I've stopped is that I find it difficult not to react. When you're dealing with trauma it's easy to get triggered, and each time you're triggered it gets easier still. Eventually you end up on a knife edge where the slightest indiscretion provokes an disproportionate response, because your adrenaline is up. Of course, when cycling, you've already got a heady mix of adrenaline and endorphins kicking around your system.

I've tried counting to ten, tried shrugging it off, tried telling myself it will do no good to engage but it hasn't worked. The road rage attack followed me yelling at a driver who'd buzzed me at what felt like 70mph on a narrow road. I'm a big lad, probably look quite intimidating, even in lycra, and think I can handle myself but that counts for nothing when you're assaulted with a motor vehicle. It left me feeling so vulnerable and wondering what might have been, and what might have been the impact on my partner and son if it had ended differently.

And that's why I've stopped, as much as I loved road cycling it's not worth dying for. Yes, MTB is more likely to result in injury, but it's more likely to be down to your incompetence or a squirrel than someone else attacking you just because you're a "lycra-wearing nonce"

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chrisos replied to kil0ran | 2 years ago
2 likes

Understandable, I mostly only cycle on the road in London nowadays but with 20mph speed limits everywhere and all that traffic caused by cyclists it feels like there may be an increased risk of an incident but way lower risk of it being fatal.

Plus mtb is kinda more fun!  

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the little onion | 2 years ago
6 likes

Ride a bike on the roads? My kids and their friends are scared of WALKING to school because drivers pull onto the pavement outside their primary school without looking. The entitlement and selfishness are off the scale

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MattKelland | 2 years ago
9 likes

Between this, NMOTD and the constant barrage of cyclist deaths, it's almost like road.cc wants to put people off cycling forever.
I've done about 4000km so far this year and I can count on one hand the number of bad encounters I've had with drivers. In fact, I think driving standards have improved a great deal with more people taking up cycling. I've even had encouragement from drivers when I've been panting up a big hill or zooming along as part of a group!
A lot of it depends on perception and the way you react to poor drivers. Cycling is a stoic activity; it constantly challenges and tests you with vertiginous climbs, ear-popping descents and, yes, some awful driving. But passing these tests without losing your cool is part and parcel of the experience, and ultimately what makes you feel magnificent after a ride. Maybe road.cc should take some time, like a week, to focus on the unmitigated joy of cycling rather than highlighting all the negative aspects.

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