Yep, you’re fit, you’re fast, and I’m sure you all handle your bikes brilliantly. But passing me at speed on the curb side isn’t very bright. First, the line of parked cars I’m giving a 3-foot berth to are full of distracted parents and bonkers children who can’t wait to get into the park, and will pop their door open straight into your line without a second’s thought. Second, joggers are appearing willy-nilly from between said cars and I want to know I have some manoeuvre room if one jumps in front of my wheel. Third, if you’re out there to train, do it properly. Pull around and work your legs.
no saying it s your case but i have to do this sometimes. Rider riding a little too far from the crub and forcing me to go into traffic to pass them. i pass on the inside and hope they learn to ride a little more on side of the curb.
of course…there is tons of factor entering in this equation but i been on both side of this dilema.
It could be viewed the opposite by the guy passing. “SOB… another slower rider NOT staying to the right… just like my last tri!.. grrrr.”
I’m glad I don;t have ot ride lots of streets with parked cars, oblivious joggers with their iphods/pods blasting away. I just have older people in big cars without depth perception trying to hit me.
no saying it s your case but i have to do this sometimes. Rider riding a little too far from the crub and forcing me to go into traffic to pass them. i pass on the inside and hope they learn to ride a little more on side of the curb.
of course…there is tons of factor entering in this equation but i been on both side of this dilema.
A wee confession: I’ve passed on the inside during a race or two - my very bad, but damn ladies, get over! The original rant stemmed from been doored to bad effect last year - I’m hyper about giving cars clearance. The obvious solution is just need to get up an hour earlier on Sunday before the parking melee starts.
I am not especially polite nor particularly fast, but I have never been passed on the inside. I would consider it as an accusation. " You are taking up to too much of the road, are pissing off motorists and endangering fellow cyclists. "
3 riders in a group have the moral responsiblity of 1/2 an individual, so your interpretation is probably correct. Still this is a pretty unusual story don’t you think?
unfortunately not in this situation, which is not a ‘normal’ road. It’s kind of a free-for-all. A 5k ring, with the inside being a shoulder, comfortably wide, alternating with parking spots with high turnover on weekend mornings. Wide lanes for the cars. Riders routinely clump two and three abreast and there’s still plenty of room for cars to pass safely.
As a rider you can relax and dip close to the curb for about half the go-round; for the rest you’ve got a range of potential hazards on your inside. The passing happened in the latter section, when there were riders to my outside. What I saw as a margin of safety the passers saw as a gap to exploit. Their assessment of the risk of doing so was different from mine.
In my opinion, out on the public roads, one of the most foolish and reckless acts that a cyclist can inflict on another cyclist is passing on the “inside.” Just last month as I was pedaling away from an intersection, a stupid mother fucker on a road bike zipped by my inside at a very high rate of speed. I sometimes lean over to the right while stopped at an intersection and if I would have done that while some jack ass sped by my right, I would have been hit.
Bottom line is that cyclists must know that you never pass on the right. Always pass on the left.
… First, the line of parked cars I’m giving a 3-foot berth to are full of distracted parents and bonkers children who can’t wait to get into the park, and will pop their door open straight into your line without a second’s thought…
Or fat lady taking her trash out. That’s exactly what happened to me yesterday. Coming down a steep hill - keeping my speed moderated, as I’m approaching an intersection at the bottom of the hill - riding in the center of the lane (both for the cars parked on the shoulder and to force the cars behind me to get onto their brakes sooner). Suddenly a door flies open, lady gets out, and just swings her fat ass and a bag of trash into the street (INTO THE STREET) without ever so much as a glance over her shoulder to check for oncoming traffic. I’m going something like 25mph, and there’s cars behind me closing fast at 45mph-ish (speed limit 30, of course). Had I been on the right side of the lane I absolutely would have taken her out. But I could’ve been a cement truck for all it mattered. She NEVER looked. Who does that??
unfortunately not in this situation, which is not a ‘normal’ road. It’s kind of a free-for-all. A 5k ring, with the inside being a shoulder, comfortably wide, alternating with parking spots with high turnover on weekend mornings. Wide lanes for the cars. Riders routinely clump two and three abreast and there’s still plenty of room for cars to pass safely.
As a rider you can relax and dip close to the curb for about half the go-round; for the rest you’ve got a range of potential hazards on your inside.** The passing happened in the latter section, when there were riders to my outside.** What I saw as a margin of safety the passers saw as a gap to exploit. Their assessment of the risk of doing so was different from mine.This might partly explain their choice to go inside.
Except in countries where they drive on the other side of the road.
Over here, we drive on the left, which for us is the right side of the road to drive on, right? So passing on the left would not be right, so we have to pass on the right. Driving on the right side of the road is definitely not right over here, but passing on the right is the right thing to do.
They always ride close to the traffic lane (hugging the fog line) and to make sure cars have to go into the opposite lane and passing cyclists have to enter the car lane to pass them.
Problem is that they do that regardless of the condition of the bike lane, and preferably with 4-6 feet of bike lane/shoulder to their right, that they chose not to use.
No, they never do that to endanger others, they only do that to be visible (on an unobstructed road?) and make sure they do not get any dirt or flats on their latex-tubed race wheels (can’t they afford training wheels or are they to slow to man up to them?).
I think they do it because they think they are the fastest, most bad ass cyclist, who never should get passed, and need that psychological crutch.
