"Chris" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:Nobody hurt, neither of us even fell off our bikes, but I did have a
"coming together" with another cyclist earlier.Actually, it was a bit odd to be honest.
I was cycling away from Norwich along the Railway Path. On a long
straight stretch, there were three teenagers cycling toward me. They
were three abreast, thereby occupying the entire width of the path.
Slowing from about 30kph, I prepared for the one on my left to drop back
and make room for me to pass them. But they just kept on riding. There's
no doubt they had seen me - I had even made eye contact with the one on
"my side". As far as I could tell, there was nothing malicious going on
- no game of "chicken" or anything. But they kept on riding, not giving
way, and (inevitably) I collided with the one on my left.I managed to yell "... what are you playing at??!" as we made contact
(not completely head-on, I swerved slightly right at the last fraction
of a second, but I think he panicked and swerved toward me and collided
with my back wheel) and he said "Oh, sorry... sorry" in a pretty timid
way, which is what suggested to me this wasn't a game of chicken - it
just didn't feel like that. When I looked back, they were just cycling
on their way - and so did I.A very minor incident - but it was notable by being almost surreal. Do
kids not even know the cardinal "keep left" rule? I don't know what this
kid thought was going to happen - I was riding straight towards him with
nowhere to go.Like I say - nobody hurt, but my back wheel will need replacing - it's
pretty buckled now.--
Chris
On a slightly different tack...
I find that more than 50% of oncoming cyclists/pedestrians move to their
right and as I move further and further towards the left, they move further
and further to the right. We usually come to a halt (without touching) hard
up against the fence or whatever and I say "sorry I was always told to keep
left".
Could it be that I'm more sensible and read the highway code and that
they're thick and don't?
Or just that they move to the side that's closest?
It happens even on shared paths (marked with a line separating cyclists from
pedestrians); In that case they usually seem to move over on to the
cyclist's bit!
Paul.