Cycling on single-track roads

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Vorpal
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Re: Cycling on single-track roads

Post by Vorpal »

Elizabeth_S wrote:in their haste didn't see the no entry signs, fortunately they met me and not someone driving fast. Sure it does meet up with a cycle path, but you can't get to it that way. There were some great looking roads and cycle paths around Aviemore and I'll enjoy exploring them (but I wanted to go and walk in in Glen Feshie).

Are you sure about that? No entry signs or 'no motor vehicle' signs, are often placed at the beginning of false one way roads. They aren't actually one way, but motor traffic can only enter from one direction. Sometimes there are private drives or something that allow traffic to go the other way. The cyclists could have dismounted, walked past the no entry signs, then started pedalling again, and it would have been perfectly legal. If it is actually marked as one way, that would not be legal, but I would be very surprised if it were one way.
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Bicycler
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Re: Cycling on single-track roads

Post by Bicycler »

Vorpal wrote:
Elizabeth_S wrote:in their haste didn't see the no entry signs, fortunately they met me and not someone driving fast. Sure it does meet up with a cycle path, but you can't get to it that way. There were some great looking roads and cycle paths around Aviemore and I'll enjoy exploring them (but I wanted to go and walk in in Glen Feshie).

Are you sure about that? No entry signs or 'no motor vehicle' signs, are often placed at the beginning of false one way roads. They aren't actually one way, but motor traffic can only enter from one direction. Sometimes there are private drives or something that allow traffic to go the other way. The cyclists could have dismounted, walked past the no entry signs, then started pedalling again, and it would have been perfectly legal. If it is actually marked as one way, that would not be legal, but I would be very surprised if it were one way.

I think it is this road: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@57.17571 ... !2e0?hl=en
It is indeed a "false one way road", there are no one way signs but there is a no entry sign at the other end (no cycle contraflow): https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@57.17511 ... !2e0?hl=en

So, yes, the cyclist were legally travelling along the road. Though they may have illegally cycled past a no entry sign.
Elizabeth_S
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Re: Cycling on single-track roads

Post by Elizabeth_S »

Yes that explains it, but there are no properties off this road (but there is a field entrance right at the end which I guess is why they kept it 2 way so the farmer didn't have to break the law). Some of the family were actually cycling through the no entry signs at the time they met me so their move wasn't legal, and some were cycling from my lhs on the rhs, and I mean at the verge, of the 'main' road and turning (they were chaotic) so their road positioning was wrong. I was going slowly and I stopped before the junction due to their bikes, because I had to ease forward to the junction. At the turning at Inverdruie itself, the road that is blocked off was a filter lane and I remembered the road I was going down as two way from a few years ago before the cycle path was put in. The signs for national 7 see it going down that road but going north it follows the other 'main' road. I accept that legally they could walk through the signs and cycle up a single track road with no passing places in this case, but whether it is wise to do this? In any case, regardless of the no entry signs, some of them were on the wrong side of the road.
ingy64
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Re: Cycling on single-track roads

Post by ingy64 »

Hi,

I just wondering of anyone here has seen good examples of signage instructing both cyclists and cars to use passing places for single track roads? My wife and I often use a single track road for our cycling and driving, but almost without exception every time we go out on our bikes we have had a near miss with cars trying to squeeze past before a passing place. The last time, my wife's peddle was clipped by a large 4x4 thinking they didn't have to stop for anyone. I'm going to speak to the local council to see about what can be done.

It doesn't help when cyclist refuse to stop or pull over to allow faster vehicles to pass. If you're in a car you have to pull over to allow faster vehicles to pass and so should we as cyclists. That way people are educated on the safest way of using the road.
Vorpal
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Re: Cycling on single-track roads

Post by Vorpal »

The only way to prevent people from attempting to share where there isn't room, is to ensure that there really isn't room by riding out in the middle, or just left of centre until motor vehicle drivers have slowed enough to pass safely.

I've seldom seen any signs at all, except the occasional 'single track road with passing palces' at the beginning of a lane. Essex and Suffolk, at least seldom bother even with that much. Most of the places in the East of England that are posted that way begin wide enough for two vehicles, then narrow to single track after the first couple of farms.
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Mark1978
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Re: Cycling on single-track roads

Post by Mark1978 »

That's all well and good but when you have a two tonne car approaching you at 40mph things can look a bit different.
Bicycler
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Re: Cycling on single-track roads

Post by Bicycler »

Move out early is the best advice I can give on that one. Make it obvious that you are holding the middle of the lane. It's really only the same as primary positioning in theory. I've had some realise rather late on that I wasn't going to move out of their way and that they had better slow down. I've had one or two who felt the need to honk their horn after slowing down but I haven't yet had one attempt to run me down. It makes sense to be able to get out of the way at the last minute if you did meet the homicidal maniac, but I haven't met him yet.

Re: road signs - They are there for all road users. We should not need special signs to remind drivers to treat us that we are road users too and that they should show us the tiniest little bit of respect as fellow human beings.
Mark1978
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Re: Cycling on single-track roads

Post by Mark1978 »

Agree re road signs. I'm never sure I like the idea of blue signs showing a cycle route when there is no cycle lane or warning signs of cyclists on the road.

To me that implies that drivers shouldn't expect cyclists elsewhere.
Vorpal
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Re: Cycling on single-track roads

Post by Vorpal »

I'd like to think that we can use our best judgement about when to dive for the hedge :shock:

I'd honestly rather irritate a driver who has to *slow* suddenly to pass me safely than have him/her try to squeeze past me going too fast.

I won't say that I have never had a scary encounter with a motor vehicle on a single track lane, but the few that I've had have been entirely down to the driver of a motor vehicle going too fast for conditions.

I learned the lesson about position, more than anything, by pulling a trailer around on the back lanes. I was amazed by how much space drivers gave me. I thought it was solely down to the trailer, but I found that when I rode in the same position on a solo bike without a trailer, I had results that were nearly as good.

The only negative is that I did have one altercation with a motorist whom I scared when he came round a blind bend at silly mph (note that I don't know how fast he was going, but I'd guess more than 40, and it was a bend that I slowed for on my bike, let alone the car). He came to screeching halt in the road, as I dived for hedge. Then he rolled down his window to scream profanities at me. I attempted to point out that the outcome would have been no different if I'd been riding a horse (of which there are plenty in the area), or pushing a baby buggy. But of course, once he was onto screaming profanities, he wasn't seeing any sense. I can imagine that if I'd been on the side, like he imagined I should have been, either the outcome would have been the same, or he'd have clipped me at silly mph, and it would have been much worse than just getting stuck with wild plum thorns from the hedge.
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: Cycling on single-track roads

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
Bicycler wrote:Move out early is the best advice I can give on that one. Make it obvious that you are holding the middle of the lane. It's really only the same as primary positioning in theory. I've had some realise rather late on that I wasn't going to move out of their way and that they had better slow down. I've had one or two who felt the need to honk their horn after slowing down but I haven't yet had one attempt to run me down. It makes sense to be able to get out of the way at the last minute if you did meet the homicidal maniac, but I haven't met him yet.

Re: road signs - They are there for all road users. We should not need special signs to remind drivers to treat us that we are road users too and that they should show us the tiniest little bit of respect as fellow human beings.

+1 The only way..................
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ingy64
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Re: Cycling on single-track roads

Post by ingy64 »

We both tend to ride in the centre but there have been some, fortunately very few, that just give you no option but to dart for the verge. I've ran on the same road and had to dive out of the way to miss the side of a car that decided to blast full speed past me swerving towards me.

We have signs that remind drivers to use passing places to allow faster cars to pass, I just wondered if there was something similar that could be included to encourage the passing of all forms of road users at passing places only. Most people are getting better we've noticed and either wait at a passing place until we get there or wait until we get to a passing place to come from behind us to pass. A lot of the time is seem to be the people with the biggest cars that hog the road and get to mad if you force them to wait.
karlt
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Re: Cycling on single-track roads

Post by karlt »

Worst spot for me is Crow Lane from the back of Chesterfield station. It's single track and peaks at 15%, rising a total of 100' in about 1/4 of a mile. Going down it's a non-issue because you're only on the steep bit for about 10 seconds, but going up takes, well, a while... and at 5-6mph you get both the impatient driver behind and the oncoming one who can't be bothered to wait at the top. There are a couple of passing places and I try to point to them to tell the impatient they'll get a chance in a moment, but I'm buggered if I'm stopping because if I do I'm not sure I'll get started again.

I'm hoping that folk will realise that if they must use this route (wider roads are available, if a little longer) they risk getting stuck behind a cyclist. I will generally stop at the bottom if I can see someone at the top (the steep narrow bit is dead straight) and will also let any cars behind me go up first, but once I've started I'll finish.
DaveGos
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Re: Cycling on single-track roads

Post by DaveGos »

I live on a single track lane where in a car you are scraping bits of hedge on both sides with a car until they cut them about now and that's 1 mile from Telford and less than 15 from the centre of Wolverhampton . The majority of roads from my experience in the country are single track. They are not the majority of roads that people drive on , cars get off them generally ASAP as you cannot maintain an average of over 30 mph with blind bends etc. Generally they are pretty quiet , I can go sometimes 10 mins without seeing a car , as I have said cars head for the main roads. I never stop for cars on such lanes , as they are generally only doing a mile or so on them before getting on the main road and if you live in the country you have to live with it. Loads of horses in my village , where you have to stop completely for a minute some time , also delivery vehicles just block the road sometimes. I will go to the side and wave them by without stopping if there is a suitable place. Half the time when they get in front , they only stop in front of you because of another car.

There is an attitude problem with the 4 wd brigade who generally seem to have low self esteem issues (thus the car) and have little control over there chimp as Steve Peters would says. Also farmers with or without tractors are an issue as they never seem to slow down with various wide vehicles. They seem to have the attitude its their working environment , but at one time it was horses and then tractors around the farm , now its massive tractors with massive trailers going 10s of miles and they have not adapted the rules because of the farming lobby
ingy64
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Re: Cycling on single-track roads

Post by ingy64 »

Here in the western Isles many of our roads are single track and we have no option in many place to use the single track road as our daily commute. In some cases the single track road can cut up to 10 miles of a journey that you would travel if you followed the dual track roads. As a result it doesn't matter if you drive single or dual track here people are just desperate to get past anything that slows them even for a 10 secs.
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