Is it just me or do other people find it annoying when cars take forever to pass? I’m asking because I apparently pissed off some roadies the other day. I was passing on a two lane road and was behind three other cars who also passed. The cyclists wer moving at about 22mph. The cars ahead of me passed them doing about 23mph. (I personally wish cars would maintain their speed and get around me quickly rather than pace me for a 100 yards.) I observed the riders and judged them to be experienced and able to hold a line. I then accelerated to 35mph and passed them leaving about 6 ft of road for them to ride in as I would have people do. When I looked in my rear view mirror I saw the lead rider shaking his fist at me in an irrate manner. Did I screw up? Or am I just desensitized to traffic after 25 p;us years of riding on the road? Or is it maybe that motorists are supposed to share the road but not cyclists?
6 feet of road is plenty… What was the posted speed limit? Were these guys riding single or double file?
I can only go 35mph if it is a BIG freakin hill.
I’m sorry, I was in my truck. The speed limit was 35. They were single file. I think with three riders you can take the whole road in a 35 or less zone.
I see no issues with what you did… I’ve had some semi’s on country roads give me about 2 feet of room going 55mph… 6 feet in a 35 is plenty safe…
You were in a truck? No matter how far trucks move over, those massive engines always sound like they’re about to hit me.
Move over as far as possible (6 feet is ‘enough’, but it’s not really that far when you think about it), and I usually slow down - better safe than sorry. The key is do what you’re expected to do. Pass when you’re supposed to pass, stop when you’re supposed to stop, and always wait until AFTER you pass the cyclists to honk your horn at them if you think you know them!!
It’s a Nissan compact pickup. The most intimidating thing on the road! I was on the same road with a buddy after we went surfing and asked him to tell me how much space there was for cyclists because I wanted to make sure I hadn’t screwed up. He said it was about six feet. I like the thing about honking after you pass. There’s nothing like a car horn to make you jump!
I’m sorry, I was in my truck. The speed limit was 35. They were single file. I think with three riders you can take the whole road in a 35 or less zone.
no wonder motorist hate us so much… I would NEVER take the whole road in any mph…
passing at a speed of about 10mph higher than the cyclist is doing is quite courteous in my opinion. six feet is plenty.
it’s annoying when people slow down and then accelerate hard once they are even with you, belching out a ton of exhaust. it’s rude for a vehicle to not give cyclists/pedestrians a wide berth when there is no traffic in the oncoming lane. it’s also annoying when people won’t pass when it’s obvious there is plenty of room to do so.
Acouple months ago I was on Ben Sawyer Blvd. It has a draw bridge which I was heading away from. I assumed it was up because no one had passed me for quite a while. When I got to my turn I realized traffic was backed up for at least a mile behind the lady who refused to pass me. Shae was back about 75 feet so I had no idea she was there. Had I known I would have pulled over and stopped to let everyone go. I was so embarrassed but it wasn’t tlike she had no chance as ther was very little oncoming traffic.
I usually will draft the car for a few seconds, then get ticked off that they’re ruining my tempo ride workout, then if they don’t speed up I’ll kick it up a gear and go around on their left as fast as possible.
Oh, wait a minute, you’re asking about when cars pass you, huh?
No one is going to agree on this but if the other lane is open I move all the way over. If there was oncoming traffic I would consider you a nice person to give me 6 feet. If the other lane was open I would think you were not a nice person. As a fellow cyclist, why wouldn’t you give the maximum amount of room available to other cyclists?
In a 35mph zone I would expect to be passed at the normal speed on the road 43-45mph. 6 feet is a luxury as I am happy with 3.
When people slow down or hesitate they seem to wait until there is a car coming the other direction and end up cutting back into the lane too quickly.
When running through an intersection where I have the right-of-way I feel like Lancelot in the holy grail as he approaches Swamp Castle. They are sitting at the cross street with a stop and I am 200 feet away approaching at 8mph. They lurch like they are going to go, then stop, then look like they are going to go again, until finally I enter the intersection and then before I have fully cleared the intersection they are leaving rubber on the pavement and giving me dirty looks for not letting them out. My philosophy – go or stop don’t try to do both. When I am more than 20 feet from an intersection the car should be able to go without me having to break my stride.
Biking is sometimes worse. I either get people turning out right in front of me and then taking for-fricking-ever to get up to 35mph or people who have plenty of room, wait for me to pass, pull out, and then immediately pass me.
My guess is that they perceived your acceleration as an attempt to intimidate them rather than help them or as an indication of your disgust with their being the road. When I lived in Georgia several years ago, the pull up behind and blast pass with a big acceleration was a standard redneck move against cyclists. Your kindly move could have been misinterpreted as such.
I find that many motorists are often seemingly reluctant to cross the center line and will pass close (and slow) rather than wide. Actually if the the motorist is going as wide as you did, then it doesn’t really matter if it is fast or slow as there would be plenty of room for the cyclist to feel safe.
more than likely the rider was upset at one of the cars in front & you just saw his gestures…
I think as long as you give me enough space, it don’t matter the speed you’re doing. Actually, just yesterday a truck came close and grazed my forearm, I tried to move more aside(even though I was way beyond the white line) and the truck actually clinked my handlebars sending me to the sidelines. In all the chaos of the crash, I wasn’t able to pick up their license or I would have gotten the cops to visit their house.
Indigodog,
I’m a cyclist and it always amazes me that when there is no oncoming traffic, a passing car will often refuse to cross the centerline. Whats up with that! They have the whole damn road. Why not use it and be courteous? Just imagine that the bike was a farmer’s combine and took up the whole lane and a foot over the centerline. You mean the overtaking motorist would not pass using all of the remaining road to the left of the centerline? Get real.
You should have used all the road and given those cyclists as much room as the road would allow. At the very least, the whole lane and not just 5 or 6 feet. What would it have “cost” you? Imagine the example you could have set for any cars following behind you.
Just a quick question since I didn’t find it clear what you meant by “6 ft of road for them to ride in”.
Does this mean you gave 6ft space between you and the cyclist or 6ft space between you and the side of the road ?
If its the former then great - I have no idea why the cyclist flipped you off.
If its the later then you really didn’t leave enough room - I cycle 3ft out from the side of the road (as is recommended here in the UK), I’m about 2ft wide - so that would leave about 1ft between a truck and the cyclist - not really enough room. I get upset if someone passes that close to me at speed.
Please always leave at least 3ft between your vehicle and the cyclist when overtaking.