Paul Ruinaard Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 Rant within a rant. About follow vehicles, a topic which has bene irritating me for some weeks. and then about the Momentum twitter ride 9or the follow caravan). So related. Is it just me or is every person out there now so worried about their safety they have all got a follow driver cruising along behind them with hazards on? The clubs do it behind their bunches (just in the cradle we have Club 100, Cyclelab and Trisports (or Troisports) that i see regularly. I get the clubs do it, but there are a lot of clubs out there. Then there are the amateurs with their mate in the bakkie or wife etc in there with the hazards on in the yellow lane. This makes it all very dangerous for a number of reasons: 1.) You are obstructing motorists and angering them. Not a good idea. They tend to get frustrated and then overtake especially when you are going extra slow (like on a climb). Generally on climbs as you are a lot slower they try and overtake you and that is normally when the road is blind. It can lead to a disaster. Like this morning for example - coming out of the cradle at about 8 am we got stuck behind the Momentum twitter rides follow caravan. A lot of motorbikes, JMPD vehicles, police vehicles and other folks like sweep vehicles (Two of them all empty). About 10 vehicles on "official" escort duty and some more volunteer motorbikes. All following 4 cyclists who were hopelessly slow and out of their depth on a 40 km ride. This was at Lanseria so they still had the return leg to go. So this entourage of plus 20 vehicles is sitting behind four very tired and forlorn looking cyclists. Holding up a queue of about 20 cars (and growing). Turning up to the ride back to the dome they at least had some double road but there was plenty of single they had covered. At the section i was behind were there was about 20 cars, Some of which were cyclists so they held back. Others weren't. Like the sand truck that decided to overtake the whole lot up a blind rise just past Ngwenya near the polo club. The truck was busy swinging in as there were oncoming cars. If that was a bunch rather than a few, it would have bene a disaster. The situation was very dangerous, mostly caused by an intolerant truck but in this country we need to deal with reality rather than what the law says. But also caused by a convoy of cars and bikes trying to herd cars and getting the motorists increasingly frustrated (the pace was about 9 kmh). Simply put it doesn't help if you are in the right when you are hit by a truck. It will leave a widow and a court case, but not much else. Reality is we live in a third world country where we are a somewhat elitist sport that is at risk from careless drivers who would not have too many qualms if some more cyclists were killed and the roads became cyclist free. And they drive taxis/buses etc where the masses are transported and we are an inconvenience. FWIW: whoever was in charge should have IMHO have pulled the four back markers in to a follow sweep vehicle and cleared the rolling roadblock they were creating. Because it was more dangerous to leave them out there and have people trying to pass dangerously, than keeping them protected. I get you have rights and its a ride blah blah, but it was pretty dangerous, stupid and also pretty much clear that these four guys had no clue as to what they were doing on a short 40km jaunt, so they were totally out of their depth. I reckon they would have been pretty relieved if someone had told them to stop Rant off. Brain fart Momentum. What is it about organising a pre ride to a ride - just leave the rolling road closures etc to the ride day - no need for pre rides etc. 2.) You are obstructing other cyclists who may be faster than your bunch, who are forced wider than you around your follow vehicle and in to the path of passing cars Generally you are also breaking the laws by doing this. Someone should get some common sense and put a stop to this sort of cycling madness. None of us are TdF competitors - we dont need follow cars.
PeterF Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 I follow behind my son on some training rides. I'd rather piss a few motorists off and keep my son safe, too many close calls. I myself have been knocked over twice, would like to spare him that. Unfortunately it is not safe out there.
Pure Savage Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 It's the Wild West, do what you can to stay alive. A quick poll of how many cyclists have died while being followed by a vehicle will reveal 0, therefore it works and will continue.
Paul Ruinaard Posted November 15, 2015 Author Posted November 15, 2015 I follow behind my son on some training rides. I'd rather piss a few motorists off and keep my son safe, too many close calls. I myself have been knocked over twice, would like to spare him that. Unfortunately it is not safe out there.So its cool to disdavantage others and break the law when it suits you. Isn't that a bit hypocritical? Wouldn't you do better to teach your son skills or cycle in safer places? When the car overtakes you in frustration on a blind rise and wipes your son out what sort of safety is that ? It happens. and you are in the car at back all belted in. So he is exposed. Or a taxi with 16 people on their way to work on a Sunday cause theres no other transport is wanting to get past you ? But your son is more important? Saw that in the cradle on Saturday
PeterF Posted November 15, 2015 Posted November 15, 2015 So its cool to disdavantage others and break the law when it suits you. Isn't that a bit hypocritical? Wouldn't you do better to teach your son skills or cycle in safer places? When the car overtakes you in frustration on a blind rise and wipes your son out what sort of safety is that ? It happens. and you are in the car at back all belted in. So he is exposed. Or a taxi with 16 people on their way to work on a Sunday cause theres no other transport is wanting to get past you ? But your son is more important? Saw that in the cradle on Saturday You are really talking a lot of crap. Exactly what law am I breaking by driving my motor vehicle at between 30 - 40km/h behind a cyclist? The traffic officer who passed me when it was safe to do so the other afternoon did not seem to mind. Come talk to me when you or your kid has been run over by some idiot in a car.
Patchelicious Posted November 15, 2015 Posted November 15, 2015 Mutual consideration is the order of the day. However being impatient is NEVER a valid excuse to drive like a box.
Skinnyone Posted November 16, 2015 Posted November 16, 2015 You say cycle in safer places....PLEASE enlighten us as to where this safe place may be? I have ridden pretty much everywhere (North,south, east west) and let me say that I have had close calls everywhere - there IS NO safe place. I also commute from time to time and on one day I was bumped 3 times within 2km... If you are out on your bike then you have to be aware and of the opinion that every motorist - including impatient fellow cyclists in their car, are trying to kill you...
Paul Ruinaard Posted November 16, 2015 Author Posted November 16, 2015 You are really talking a lot of crap. Exactly what law am I breaking by driving my motor vehicle at between 30 - 40km/h behind a cyclist? The traffic officer who passed me when it was safe to do so the other afternoon did not seem to mind. Come talk to me when you or your kid has been run over by some idiot in a car.Hmm - so your son can do 30 to 40 kmh average on a ride , uphill and down? Maybe he is an elite rider then if can average that. More like 7 to 15 kmh mate uphills etc. Which is where the bottlenecks form. I dont think you are quite seeing the point here that you seem to think its your right to act as you choose in your interests and screw the others that may use the road (public convenience) because your interests and your sons safety and your trumps all theirs. SO you will do whatever you choose and screw the rest.Exactly the point I am making. The road is not yours to choose how you use and others doing exactly this does not legitimize your right to do the same.
Patchelicious Posted November 16, 2015 Posted November 16, 2015 Hmm - so your son can do 30 to 40 kmh average on a ride , uphill and down? Maybe he is an elite rider then if can average that. More like 7 to 15 kmh mate uphills etc. Which is where the bottlenecks form. I dont think you are quite seeing the point here that you seem to think its your right to act as you choose in your interests and screw the others that may use the road (public convenience) because your interests and your sons safety and your trumps all theirs. SO you will do whatever you choose and screw the rest.Exactly the point I am making. The road is not yours to choose how you use and others doing exactly this does not legitimize your right to do the same.You still haven't said which laws he broke? On the other hand, passing people on solid lines, blind rises etc is breaking the law, and being impatient does not justify this action.
Pure Savage Posted November 16, 2015 Posted November 16, 2015 Hmm - so your son can do 30 to 40 kmh average on a ride , uphill and down? Maybe he is an elite rider then if can average that. More like 7 to 15 kmh mate uphills etc. Which is where the bottlenecks form. I dont think you are quite seeing the point here that you seem to think its your right to act as you choose in your interests and screw the others that may use the road (public convenience) because your interests and your sons safety and your trumps all theirs. SO you will do whatever you choose and screw the rest.Exactly the point I am making. The road is not yours to choose how you use and others doing exactly this does not legitimize your right to do the same. Please see the following threads: https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/155567-searching-for-motorist-who-killed-cyclist-in-jhb-east-rand-this-morning/?hl=rip&do=findComment&comment=2754127 https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/154560-hit-and-run-5-oct-welteredenpark/?hl=hit+and+run https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/151697-cyclist-killed-on-r44/page-2?hl=hit+and+run&do=findComment&comment=2653169 https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/148320-cyclist-down-on-lady-loch-road-paarl/page-2?hl=hit+and+run&do=findComment&comment=2563080 https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/146718-another-hit-and-runr557/?hl=hit+and+run https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/144164-cyclist-knocked-over-in-durbanville-14102014/page-2?hl=hit+and+run&do=findComment&comment=2451854 There we go, until people can learn to drive the back up cars are here to stay. Zero accidents with a car following behind the riders. We use a team car on our long rides through the Brede river valley, stops trucks and drunks getting near the team, also give the team warning of car coming.
jcza Posted November 16, 2015 Posted November 16, 2015 So you're complaining about an officially sanctioned event? Contact the authorities. Else rather log off and go and ride your bike. Thanks for your contribution.
T-Bob Posted November 16, 2015 Posted November 16, 2015 It's a product of the environment at the moment. If everything was safe and sound then you wouldn't find them in existence but truth is it's getting crazy out there people are losing lives hand over fist. The DC is is coming so there are a lot of crew out there chain ganging long rides and there are more and more vans following in CT and outlying areas. Sure it causes delays and there are a lot of drivers who can't wait and drive like psychos, hell there are a ton of those on the road every day, that's not new. Usually there is a delay because it IS unsafe to pass and people are waiting. I'd put money on most riders preferring to train with a support vehicle behind them than not, I would! It's just up to those who are driving the vans / bikes and bakkies to do the right thing. Make it easy for the others to pass, signboard what you're doing and signal when it's safe for cars behind to overtake. Also structure your training on roads that can take an escort vehicle and bunch, one with a decent wide shoulder and not as busy as a freeway!
dillon Posted November 16, 2015 Posted November 16, 2015 in Pretoria we use the support vehicle as a slipstream machine, getting those strava koms past Groenkloef...
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