Road cycling, which side?

[GrantRH]

Good question to ask why? Bad judgement to get all the answers and then still want to ride in the wrong direction.

[GaryvdM]

Nope, I'm too snide, arrogant and lazy apparently....

 

I'm complaining about you making personal attacks, but I did the same to you. I sorry.

[RocknRolla]

Gary, I did not make a personal attack. I even made it clear that my implied facepalm meme was directed at the original posters response about everyone on the forum being children.

 

Your infuriated state seems to be clouding your vision.

[Wyatt Earp]

I'll let someone else answer that.

 

Yes.

 

See, that's how you answer a question. It's quite easy, even is the person asking is a troll.

 

 

I think your thinking of Peter Sagan.

Gary, you are my hero, thanks for being so awesome ????????

[Wyatt Earp]

Gary, I did not make a personal attack. I even made it clear that my implied facepalm meme was directed at the original posters response about everyone on the forum being children.

 

Your infuriated state seems to be clouding your vision.

Don't waste your time, self righteous people are exactly what it implies .

[Wyatt Earp]

Sure. I just get infuriated when I get indirectly called a retard by Wyatt Erap and RockNRoll calls the op stupid. The forum rules somehow don't apply to them and the get to make hash personal attacks on others with impunity, making thehub an unfriendly place, especially for new comers.

Did I indirectly call you a retard ?

Where ?

Get over yourself unless of course you have three hub profiles , one being Gary the angel and the other being the OP of this thread or Rotiringer whom I quoted where I made my original comment .

[Brother Brett]

If you intending on riding against oncoming traffic make sure she's comfortable with it first.

[marko35s]

Sure. I just get infuriated when I get indirectly called a retard by Wyatt Erap and RockNRoll calls the op stupid. The forum rules somehow don't apply to them and the get to make hash personal attacks on others with impunity, making thehub an unfriendly place, especially for new comers.

Did you see the op's later replies before going off on one?

A lot of the scorn directed at him is surely because he showed himself to be a poorly skilled troll.

[kolaval]

Yes, I'm a poorly skilled troll; not much interest in it if not face to face.

 

My initial post was not for trolling though.

I have no close family or friends that cycle, so i thought I'll ask on thehub.

However the amount of responses along the line of "you're an idiot for not knowing and a troll for asking" is quite off putting.

[Wyatt Earp]

OP

 

Your opening post says " I have had to cycle on tar roads ........... Which I have not done in YEARS"

That goes a long way in implying that you have been cycling for many years .

That in itself should come with the knowledge that all rules of the road are the same for any road user using any form of vehicle .

 

Now assuming that you have been a cyclists for many years and are knowledgable enough to actually know how to create a thread, it leaves no choice to the rest of us that your thread comes across as a poor attempt at trolling ,unless of course you are one of those who hogs the fast lane on the freeway at 120 km/ph . Regardless of the fact that the law stipulates that you should keep left and pass right .

[ConradS]

How the hell do some cyclists travel on the right? How can half the traffic use one side and the other half use the other side? That is not how traffic flows. Law says left so we use left...you know what pisses me off the most? When guys use the right side because they can "see oncoming traffic that way" but they still expect you to get out of their way when you approach, even though you follow the law and they don't. So they break the law so they can see better, which means they know what is coming, therefore they can get out of the way much easier, whereas the guy on the left who is acting within the law cannot see approaching cars. The law says that when you are using tar roads in South Africa, use the left lane, regardless if you are running, cycling or using a motor vehicle. The worst part for me is, knowing that we are never going to have this issue sorted out, there will always be some moron obstructing traffic because "it is safer that way"

 

[Capricorn]

Yes, I'm a poorly skilled troll; not much interest in it if not face to face.

 

 

 

 

ooo there it is marko: seems you violated his manhood, and now he wants to reassert it, probably upon your forehead.  Troll Droll.

[JXV]

How do you recon its more dangerous?

 

I'm still on the road, with a vehicle passing me. The only difference is I can see the vehicle.

1) Cyclists coming the other way who are riding on the left as per normal (and legal) will be directly in your path. You are not the only cyclist on the road....

 

2) The closing speed between you and vehicles approaching on the same side is faster...giving them less time to see you and react if required. When the road is not straight this visibility/time issue gets even worse for you.

 

3) Motorists entering from side roads are less likely to see you approaching from an unexpected side of the road...even if they do see you their brains will take some time to react to the unexpected.....

 

4) The rules of the road rely on everyone behaving consistently. You expose yourself to prosecution / lawsuit if you are involved in an incident.

 

Need I go on ?

[Sniffie]

I will try to make a positive contibution in a thread, which has obviously deteriorated in a mudslinging contest.

 

I would agree that in most occasions especially in builtup and urban areas with lots of intersections, robots, circles and pedestrians it would be foolish to cycle against traffic, however exceptions to this rule does exist.

 

In my vicinity is a tarred road the R30 between Bothaville and Welkom. It travels through a rural agricultural part of the Freestate. This is a single carriage road, but with a broad yellow (emergency) lane. Intersections are mostly gravel roads and are few and far between. The road carries quite a lot of traffic and lots of slow moving lorries and farm equipment. I used to do a lot of road cycling on this road, either early morning or late afternoon. At the moment I still mountain bike on it, for a few kilometres at a time, while travelling from one gravel road to the next.

 

I would allways, when riding alone, cycle in the yellow lane on the wrong (right hand side) of this road. My one and only reason for this is my own safety. On this particular road 2 cyclists, that I know of, have been killed while cycling in the left (law abiding) yellow lane. What's more I know of another fatal incident on a similar road in the Kroonstad area where the cyclist had also been taken out from behind while cycling in the left yellow lane. On the one occasion it was a taxi overtaking a lorry on the left of the lorry, and thus in the yellow lane. The other was due to a driver falling asleep, and in the last instance it was a car that swerved to avoid something falling of a lorry.

 

I believe that all 3 off them would have at least had a chance of taking evasive action if something like this would have happened whith them facing the oncoming traffic.

 

The argument about the combined speed of the vehicle and the bike does not hold water. Whether you are run over by an 18 wheeler at a speed of 105 (80+25) or 55, you will be dead.

 

While cycling against traffic, even in the yellow lane, do not expect oncoming traffic to avoid or yield to you. The driver of the slower vehicle in the yellow lane might, at that moment, have nowhere else to go. Even though you are doing this for your own safety, you are in the "wrong". Be prepared to hop off on the gravel shoulder or to even dump yourself in the grass. Broken collarbones can heal, but if you are taken out from the back you have little chance of survival.

 

Try to make eye contact with each driver as he passes you. Even if it is impossible at speed, at least you will be able to pick up whether he is awake, dozing off, fiddling whith his cellphone or reprimanding the kids in the backseat. All of this would be impossible while cycling on the "legal" side of the road.

 

A final thought when deciding on which side of the road to cycle; Take the rising or setting sun into consideration. This might blind oncoming, or traffic from behind, and make it impossible for them to spot a cyclist.

[kolaval]

OP

 

Your opening post says " I have had to cycle on tar roads ........... Which I have not done in YEARS"

That goes a long way in implying that you have been cycling for many years.

Nope, i last cycled on tar roads in school days, about 15 years ago.

Strange thing is we were always told to face oncoming traffic.

 

The tar road that i have to cycle now is a quiet road in the eastern cape. And early mornings most traffic is a few taxis and busses.

 

 

Because it is so narrow, it felt very awkward cycling with traffic.

 

I rode it the proper way the other day, and I'm still here(trolling apparently)! So i guess it's something to get used to. Though i do miss being able to ride with music.

[Rotiringer]

How the hell do some cyclists travel on the right? How can half the traffic use one side and the other half use the other side? That is not how traffic flows. Law says left so we use left...you know what pisses me off the most? When guys use the right side because they can "see oncoming traffic that way" but they still expect you to get out of their way when you approach, even though you follow the law and they don't. So they break the law so they can see better, which means they know what is coming, therefore they can get out of the way much easier, whereas the guy on the left who is acting within the law cannot see approaching cars. The law says that when you are using tar roads in South Africa, use the left lane, regardless if you are running, cycling or using a motor vehicle. The worst part for me is, knowing that we are never going to have this issue sorted out, there will always be some moron obstructing traffic because "it is safer that way"[/size]

Naught china, run on the other side please.