Appreciating the alternatives to cycling on the roads.

Sorry but I think you are being too sensitive and the pressure you are feeling is mostly in your imagination.

I would consider spending less time looking in your rear-view mirror.

Matt

Hi, I cycle from DIdcot Parkway station to campus and I take the longer route via Upton just for that reason.
I have cycled on the roads before but not around this area. When I first started working here I took the bus from the station and after witnessing several near misses and how close the bus gets to cyclists on the roads that put me off. So I cycle on the sustrans 554 route, which adds about 5-10mins to my journey but it is a much nicer route personally.
I also have to agree with you that there are drivers out there who are impatient, especially on the 30mph roads. I reguarly see speeding cars around the area. However there are those who do stick to the speed limit. It is just that there are more cars out on the roads nowadays and so the number of impatient drivers increase. I would suggest putting your hazards on if a following car is too close. This in my experience results in them overtaking after tailgating me.

I suggest getting a dash and a rear view camera. That will give you some arrurances that if someone breaks the law there is evidence for the police to use.

I also cycle from DIdcot Parkway station to campus, but I come in early in the morning.

As a general rule, I find that most of the drivers I meet when I’m getting to Chilton or Rowstock roundabout before 7am are really good, but after that the “idiot proporation” increases steeply. Perhaps this is because those who are organised enough to get out at that time are rarely panicking ‘cos they are late.

My real problem is on the way home as people charge home for their egg and chips… (consider this a small wheel fold-up road bike vote for a decent surface on the cycle route to the bridge over the A34 and Hagbourne Hill)

This is very hypocritical coming from me, when my car is often found in the car park on a perfectly good cycling day, but my knee jerk reaction to your post is –

Get out of the car and back on your bike! That’s one way to reduce the number of cars on the road and tip the balance in favour of cyclists.

Failing that, continue to treat other road users with respect, and when you think someone else is driving like a **** hold the moral high ground by sticking safely to the speed limit. It is frustrating when someone tailgates you at the speed limit, but there’s not need to rise to their bait and start driving like an idiot yourself.

Rant over. Get on your bike and enjoy yourself.

I commute from Abingdon by car, and also bike. When in the car and I come across a cyclist, I simply wait until it’s safe to pass giving sufficient room. Until such time vehicles behind me have to wait with me, and I have no qualms whatsoever about them doing so, or potentially delaying them by a few seconds. When I hear from motorists that they hate being held up, I have no sympathy – in the grand scheme of things, it simply is not significant. Likewise when on the bike cycling from Abingdon, I grasp hold of the fact that I am a perfectly legitimate road user, I assert my road position by not cycling in the gutter, and expect cars and vehicles to pass me safely, and do not worry about ‘holding anyone up’. Doing the Abingdon-Drayton-Steventon-Rowstock route by bike, after 9am & 6pm, I do not usually find any problems at all. Motorists commuting at a busier (or any) time, have to come to terms with the fact that some people will choose to do the same by bike, and they need to respect this accordingly.

Hello,

I commute from Wantage to Harwell Campus by bicycle. I use either the A417 or Sustrans Route 544 (the route which Mike mentioned in his original post). My choice of route depends on the time of year and the weather. After a few days of rain the Sustrans Route gets very muddy. This takes it’s toll on the bike and clothing. I haven’t got the time to strip and clean my bike every weekend. Despite some repairs and upgrades Route 544 it isn’t suitable for all bikes, all year round. I grounded the pedal on the rutted section near the tank farm this week. I’ve come off three times on black ice in winter. Despite these niggles, it is a lovely route to work, almost traffic free, but could be better. Base on conversations with work colleagues who are considering cycling to work, the main factors which put them off using Route 544 are the mud, potholes, and the shortage of changing and storage for wet weather gear. My employer has plans to do something about the facilities at the end of the commute. What can we do to get the route improved? My point is that by improving the quality of routes and extending the Science Vale network, more people will take up cycling to work even if it is only for part of the year or part of the week.

The A417 is quicker and cleaner. I find the majority of drivers are considerate when overtaking. It’s worth bearing in mind that as creatures of habit, we tend to leave the home at the same time each day and so do people who drive. So we end up annoying the same drivers each day! On the odd day I do drive to work, I have never been delayed or inconvenienced by cyclists on the A417 (perhaps because I’m not cycling that day!). The biggest delays in the mornings are caused when a vehicle stops to turn right to Ardington or the Hendreds, at the Featherbed Lane turn and Rowstock Roundabout.

I don’t want cycling to become confined to specialist routes or cycle lanes. We can and should continue to share the road with the motorists. However, I think we have reached the point where the biggest barrier preventing more people form cycling to work in the vale is the infrastructure, on the roads and off it.

Oh, and my tip for dealing with an irate driver: Blow them a kiss!

I’m sorry but I agree with the second post and that most of this is in your imagination. I very much doubt that someone “chased” you just for beeping at them.

As far as fuel economy, you’ll get held up at roundabouts, traffic lights, turnings, bends in the road, by queues of cars, so the couple of cyclists really isn’t an issue.

I’ve got to be honest, if you feel pressure on the roads round here, you really are being too sensitive. Round Harwell, i’ve been HUGELY impressed by the room the vast majority of drivers give cyclists and how long they will wait to overtake. I also drive between Harwell and the Canoe Club in Abingdon and the cyclists just aren’t a problem as once you overtake, you only get stuck behind cars and miss perhaps one round of the traffic lights at the right turn into Abingdon, no big deal.

I also agree with the person who said that the roads are for everyone. I think it’s good for Harbug to make people aware of the alternative routes, but shouldn’t be telling anyone that they have to use them or making people feel that they shouldn’t use the road if that’s their choice. You talk about “ungrateful” cyclists who refuse to use routes, however, these routes just aren’t suitable for all. The route between Didcot and Upton is used by a LOT of people, not just cyclists and in my opinion strong cyclists on road bikes are far better suited to being on the road where there are clear rules and responsibilities, cycling at 30km/h+ on these sorts of shared routes isn’t appropriate and is an argument against a quite a lot of the “cycling” infrastructure put in. It’s only suitable for people who occasionally cycle and are pootling along. A shared use path with cyclist and pedestrians in the same space is just dangerous and frustrating if you cycle regularly and for many cyclists, 25km/h+ is just pootling along.

“gets the bikes away form the angry roads”, “I just wonder about people cycling on the road when they do not have to.” These are the kind of statements and sort of attitude that people should be working to stamp out, not advocate IMHO.

Quite simply, some bikes just aren’t suitable for the routes around here – there’s no way I’d ride my road bike up the Winnaway or across the track over the field to Upton.

I’d agree that shared cycle way and paths are not suitable for the speed of some. I’ve regularly seen a large group of people leave the bus park, go over the zebra crossing and completely take up the cycle portion of the shared path as well as the pedestrian portion even when bikes are approaching.

I’ve found all roads around here pretty good for driver attitudes. Only one incident a couple of weeks back when a driver gesticulated at me to go onto the cycle track, completely oblivious to the fact he was not paying attention to or looking at the road at the time 🙂

“some bikes just aren’t suitable for the routes around here”: hmmmm… I see it the other way around. The quality of the pavement on some of the the paths seems to assume that people ride mountain bikes; and the quality of the road pavement is pretty appalling as well! FirstGreatWestern only allow 6 full-sized bikes on a train, and that quota can be filled at just one of the stations between Bristol and Paddington (talk to guys who try to get their bikes on at Reading to come to the lab about how many trains it can take before they get a place in summer).

“shared cycle way and paths are not suitable for the speed of some”: speed isn’t the vital thing for a lot of people (particularly the fat, unfit, and “middle-aged” like me), but things like quality of path and road crossings are. However, as an occasional bus passenger, it is annoying to see people wandering around obvilious of the cycle way. While better signage and colouring key parts of the path might help alert the “occasionals and visitors”, most of the people at in/out-muster are regulars, and it would probably take a determined education initiative amongst staff and contractors to have an effect on them.