Both sides of the coin...

Cycling has undeniably witnessed a massive growth in this part of the world in recent years with the obvious successes of Team Sky, the London Olympic squad and for Ireland the continuing performances of the likes of Nicholas Roche and Dan Martin etc.  Sportives are appearing, clubs are flourishing and mass participation is becoming increasingly noticeable with all sizes and shapes squeezing into lycra and hitting the roads.  Never has this been more noticeable to me than during the recent dry spell when the Mournes were crawling with cyclists enjoying some dry roads and pretending Spelga was the Alpe D'Huez.

Brilliant I say!  What could be better than a fitter, happier, healthier, more focused and motivated society?  Cycling is truly an incredible sport allowing the rider to become connected to the countryside whilst exploring areas they may have never before appreciated from behind their dashboard.  More cyclists can only be a good thing with demonstrable social and economic benefits from improved mental and physical health.  So why do some people hate cyclists so much?

I'm a sucker for the comments sections on websites and amongst the obvious trolls there is always the opportunity to laugh at the way that people seem to fight over anything, often subjects which have nothing to do with the original article.  I've definitely noticed that whenever there is a cycling article on the BBC website there is genuine vitriol amongst the comments which usually boils down to the 'shouldn't be on the road' argument.  I've generally dismissed these comments with the withering disdain they deserve, after all, yes I do pay road tax on my car, I just prefer to use my bike!  However, recently I've had a couple of experiences which have forced me to think about why there is so much animosity between the two user groups on the asphalt.

The first was as I was riding to work one morning down a classic single lane country road with big hedges on either side and little in the way of passing space.  I was occupying my usual position, just off the roadside enough to be noticeable but not so much to be obstructive.  Generally people slow behind me, I pull in another foot and they go past.  This time though a car flew past, close enough for me to feel the heat from their vehicle but luckily not close enough to clip my bars.  As I unleashed a torrent of abuse towards the idiot driver they then noticed the sheep enjoying a munch of the hedge whilst stood on the other side of the road.  Instantly they hit the anchors and with a big wobble just managed to avoid the animal before speeding off again.  My first thought was what a complete dickhead!  My second was why did they deem it necessary to brake for a sheep but not a human?  The answer is fairly obvious, they couldn't be sure that the sheep wouldn't step out and damage their car.  They clearly didn't consider my life to be important enough to slow down by just a few mph rather than speeding past.  It's safe to conclude that this person was an idiot, they hit the next blind corner at the same speed which would have almost certainly resulted in a fatal crash if there was anyone coming the other way.  At this point it was easy for me to see why cyclists may hate some motorists, they present a genuine danger to our health.

Surely it's as unacceptable to overtake a cyclist here at 60mph

As it is to hold up the traffic here doing 12mph...

The second was as I was driving up the Castlewellan road from Newcastle, a busy road where overtaking is normally easy unless there is traffic coming the other way.  On this occasion my lane of traffic was slowed to about 12mph by a couple of cyclists riding casually side by side and having a conversation.  There was no opportunity to get past as the opposite lane was packed with traffic.  The upshot of this was that we all had to drive at 12mph for several minutes.  What the cyclists were doing wasn't illegal, they can ride two abreast on main roads for as long as they want but I'm pretty sure that I wasn't the only one in that queue cursing their ignorance.  Personally I prefer the common sense approach of two abreast until the traffic behind slows and then go single file, it keeps the cyclist safer but doesn't slow the drivers too much.  Anything else seems to just further annoy the motor vehicle drivers and result in the cyclists getting passed in more marginal places, actually increasing the danger rather than limiting it.  At this point I was myself a driver more than a bit annoyed by the arrogant actions of cyclists.

I've spent a fair bit of time riding bikes on the continent and two things there definitely hold true.

1) Cyclists are given space and respect by drivers.
 2) That doesn't mean that drivers are going slower (if anything they're faster and more dangerous).

The difference I've witnessed though is that the drivers put their own necks on the line always giving me a full lane, moving themselves completely on to the wrong side of the road rather than cutting close to me.  This is a matter of attitude.  At present many drivers here seem to still see cyclists as second class road users and they see nothing wrong with passing within a metre of the rider's handlebars.  Unfortunately cross winds, pot holes, poor road surfaces etc make this a potentially lethal act.  On the flip side, I've come across many cyclists here who display open animosity to drivers and as a result almost take pride in being as obstructive as possible.  I've no doubt that as cycling becomes more and more mainstream these attitudes will gradually change and the roads will become safer, however, in the meantime surely us cyclists have a duty to ride responsibly with a thought to not irritating other road users too.  Mutual respect is the only way to guarantee genuine safety on the roads.

As a postscript to this blog, yesterday I completed the Giants Causeway Coast Sportive, 120 miles of twisting and sometimes narrow roads in horrendous conditions and at times limited visibility.  There were over 800 cyclists on the road, a sizeable hindrance to any car drivers journey and yet I didn't see any marginal overtaking, horn beeping or animosity at all.  This is credit to both the drivers and cyclists.  Co-existence on the roads can work, even in the most dangerous of road conditions.