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Road cycling, which side?


kolaval

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Posted

To the OP I hope you're just baiting abit. Riding facing on coming traffic is illegal not to mention plain dumb. Turn your butt around and go with the flow, If you ride predictably you shouldn't have much trouble at all.

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Guest DieBees
Posted

Keep left! Basta. It sometimes feels wrong when I notice boobs in the mall... But I get over it and I focus again. Let it go. Keep left.

Posted

I cycle on the left. You have no idea how pissed off I get when a cyclist is traveling in the opposite direction, on the wrong side of the road. That means they are heading directly towards me. That makes it unsafe for me because I usually have to move out into the middle of the road to let them pass and avoid a collision.

 

I always make a point of kakking the person out for riding on the wrong side of the road. It's normally the farm workers and commuters who do this. They usually don't know any better.

 

Expect the same treatment from other cyclists if you choose to ride on the wrong side of the road and make it unsafe for them too.

Posted

I have had to cycle on tar roads for the past week, being on holiday, which i have not done in years.

 

I notice everybody cycles on the left, which is awkward for me since i like to see approaching vehicles.

 

Is there a reason for it?

We all cycle on the left side of the road because the law says so. Easy at that.

Posted

I really think we have become confused with the weekdays due to the holidays. Just to remind you, this is TUESDAY not FRIDAY!

Definitely a Friday topic this one!

Posted

I was asking seriously, and where better to ask than on the hub?

 

My concern was that early morning the only traffic on the road here are taxis and busses. I do not trust them. They tend not to move over a bit when passing, they just plow straight ahead.

Posted

Try put yourself in the place of a motorist who suddenly has a cyclist heading towards them on a corner, against the traffic and having to break or take evasive action, possibly causing an accident.

 

Rather get a rearview mirror. Don't become a Darwin Award recipient.

Posted

So, I'm riding with the traffic and you against, both now on the same side of the road, which one of us has to swerve into the traffic and get mashed??

Posted

So, I'm riding with the traffic and you against, both now on the same side of the road, which one of us has to swerve into the traffic and get mashed??

I'll force the oncoming cyclist into the traffic. Even if I have to stop. After all, he is in the wrong, and has a better view.

 

I almost had a cyclist across the bonnet of my car once when turning right off a dual carraigeway. The oncoming traffic was heavy, and I was focused on finding a safe gap to cross.Big surprise when I moved off, turning right and crossing the oncoming carraigeway when this cyclist came flying down from my right, against the traffic albeit in the yellow line area. He had no intention of stopping and was just as surprised at finding me crossing his path. Was close, but we missed each other with him swerving into the oncoming traffic coming up the side street and just missing another car. Bottom line, that side of the road is not a safe place to be.

Posted

You say your new to the tar, Do you ride on the wrong side of the trail? or when its a one way trail do you ride in the wrong direction? Not sure if you read the thread a while ago about riding the trails but there are some people here on the hub that strap guns to their chests and they say they will use it on people who don't ride properly!

Posted

If you are cycling 40km/h on a 60km/h road and car passes you on the right the car only passes you at 20km/h. Given that the car is traveling the speed limit! 

 

If you and the vehicle pass each other at the same speed in opposite directions you are passing at 100km/h. Simple math!

 

A vehicle has a better chance of avoiding you at a difference of 20km/h. 

 

I guess we can all understand the point of wanting to see the traffic, but having said that, as stated by Jakkels, the maths doesn't lie.

You get hit at an aggregate of 20 or 30, you'll break a few bones probably.

Get hit when the aggregate is say 100, we're probably all attending your funeral.

Posted

I guess we can all understand the point of wanting to see the traffic, but having said that, as stated by Jakkels, the maths doesn't lie.

You get hit at an aggregate of 20 or 30, you'll break a few bones probably.

Get hit when the aggregate is say 100, we're probably all attending your funeral.

I'll be happy for the smart people to explain, but the damage / impact does not increase in a linear way, it increases exponentially with speed increase.(Einstein and all that.) Basically, a 40km/h impact is not twice as hard as a 20km/h impact, it is four times as hard. And an 80 km/h impact is 16 times as hard. Meaning,simply, that speed kills. Cyclist don't get killed from falling off their bicycles, that gives them roasties. They get killed from hitting solid objects at speed. Doing traffic head on is exactly that.

Posted

I was asking seriously, and where better to ask than on the hub?

 

My concern was that early morning the only traffic on the road here are taxis and busses. I do not trust them. They tend not to move over a bit when passing, they just plow straight ahead.

The fact that you even ask this question says to me you should rather stay off the tar completely.............I wonder if you know off-road ettiquette?.....maybe stay off the bike completely.

Posted

Simple - the law dictates you ride on the left.

 

On Kommetjie Road in Capri I always have some local cyclists who insist on riding on the right - freaks me out as in scary!

 

What also gets me is that the laws says you have to use the cycle lane if there is one - that IS scary and dangerous at times.

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