Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Why do people ride in the middle of the Wightman Road?
Coming down Wightman this afternoon a woman behind me a woman was honking and when she eventually passed she had her window wound down and shouted something about staying closer to the kerb.
The reason I ride in the middle of the lane is when it's not safe to pass. I'm in front of you and higher up, so can see further ahead. I can see oncoming cars and cyclists, so I know if you pass me you'd be putting your and their lives in danger as well as mine.
If it looks safe to pass I usually pull in a bit - many drivers don't seem to know how wide their vehicle is and pass too closely. Most of the time it isn't safe though, the chicanes and hills mean that visibility is usually not good. The chicanes are there to slow cars down, it may well have done that overall but cars still speed up when overtaking cyclists, just like they used to do around the pedestrian refuge islands.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mavic Starfish on
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Agreed, I maintain the primary position when I use Wighman rd, it would be great is every car driver had to cycle for a week in London, they'd take more care after that.
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Permalink Reply by Dave W on
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The answer is simple. I’m in front so I dictate the situation. If I don’t think it’s safe for the vehicle behind to pass, I position myself so it can’t.
And that’s my decision. If the driver doesn’t like it, tough.
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Exactly, it's purely for safety reasons
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I wouldn't even recommend pulling in a bit if it looks safe to pass. Two reasons:
Firstly you're reducing your contingency space, which is particularly bad if a driver then passes too close.
Secondly, you're reinforcing the expectation that that's where you should have been in the first place.
On a road as narrow as Wightman, drivers should never overtake cyclists - regardless of what speed they're doing - unless the oncoming lane is completely clear. In that case it doesn't make the slightest difference whether you're six inches from the kerb or six feet.
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Permalink Reply by JoeW on
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Yes I've been starting to reconsider this to be honest. Mainly because it's difficult to tell if there are actually several cars behind me, I might pull in when it looks safe for the first one but then the ones behind that one tend to dive in too, which then becomes unsafe as soon as oncoming traffic starts to appear again.
Is safety around cyclists part of the driving test this days? I don't get the impression that many drivers are aware of why cyclists might drive in the middle of the lane.
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Permalink Reply by Bob Ruggles on
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Not only Wightman road. Seems its the way of many these days
Especially where there are speed bumps. worst is Truck drivers, who do not seem to see cars or cyclists
My biggest issue is adult cyclists riding on footway, especially near me as close to a school
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Permalink Reply by PaulG on
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I have to say I tend to the opposite view, which is that allowing motorists to pass wherever possible is generally a good idea. I am not particularly comfortable with the idea of cyclists policing the road by deciding when motorists get to attempt to overtake. I would also be very aware of the risk of provocative behaviour causing frustration leading to rushed and dangerous overtakes.
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The problem is that roads are often re-engineered to effectively require cyclists to "control" the traffic, by adding road narrowings and pinch points so that they have no choice but to be rolling roadblocks; but without anybody understanding, let alone respecting, what has been done, and often in places where the volume and speed of traffic makes such an approach a problem.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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I love catching up to motorists that have over taken me in London. I average more than 14mph on my trip into town and I know they don't make better than 12 (usually 9). I even managed to beat a motorcycle from Newington Green to the Heron Tower last month, presumably because I could use CS1, and they couldn't, but also because the traffic levels are so high, it's impossible for them to filter like they used to.
This provocative behaviour you speak of, is it like when women wear the wrong kind of clothes?
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Glad you've said that... Bloody cyclists eh? In any case, I'll ride as I see fit to keep me safe.
Chapeau on averaging 14mph. I'm lucky to average 11 down to Westminster, but even then fancy I''d still give most vehicles a run for their money. I used to be able to top 12 on a shorter journey down to the Monument on a similar route to yours, but I'm fatter and older now.
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