sorry to bring this subject up but being a regular driver on most of the main roads on the island i have just nearly run into a group of cyclists who didn't have any regard for anyone but themselves when i made a point of their safety all the response was 2 fingers to me, i am very worried that there will be a tragic accident because of their total disregard of the safety of anyone including themselves. has anyone else come across this problem or am i being too sensitive.
As a driver/cyclist/pedestrian I agree that there are bad car drivers and bad cyclists. In fact I have been knocked over on the path by a cyclist who had no brakes or tyre tread and was speeding (if he was a car driver he would have been in court).
The problem seems that the Spanish attitude whether its on a bike or in a car that the road belongs to them and others need to get out of the way. Don`t think you are going to change this attitude you just need to drive defensive be aware that they have no regard for other road users whether they are on a bike or in a car.
I see daily incidents where both types of road users shoot out of junctions without stopping/slowing/looking whether they have right of way or not. I approach junctions with the assumptions someone is going to dash out in front of me even when I am suppose to have right of way.
Problem is the police do not seem to police the behaviour of road users. The police often stop drivers to check if you do not have the correct document or for a breath test, these are both worthwhile. However never seen police booking cars double parked, parking on zebra crossing or cyclists riding dangerously on paths or roads.
I agree with your feelings about the number of cyclists who disregard common rules on the road which are often for their safety. Fortunately the roads are not too busy compared to the northern countries otherwise there would be carnage on the roads here. Its something you have to live with here for the other benefits it brings. You are not alone!
You will start to see more and more cyclists over the next few weeks as the different teams arrive for their winter training, but what you have to remember is that we're in Spain and like most other european countries (not UK) cyclists take preference over cars and you need to allow extra caution when overtaking them. You will also notice that cyclists have their own crossing areas at pedestrains crossing and cars must give way, the police give a dim view to cars striking cyclists even though I agree sometimes they do act as if they own the road.
Quote Wavell < when i made a point of their safety >
Exactly how did you do this? did you all stop at the next layby and then did you get them all to sit in neat rows while you admonished them, winning them over with your ice cold logic and reasoned argument? or did you yell abuse at them from the safety of your little tin box, bristling with self righteous indignation as you made your cowardly escape, basking in the afterglow of your little "moment" made your day did it, just had to come on here and tell everyone all about your little triumph eh? get a life.
We had this same debate last year. I´ve seen 30 - 40 cyclists 3 abreast on the road from Antigua to Triqui, and a line of traffic behind them. They don´t give a damn, they don´t pay taxes like motorists do, the Guardia do nothing. There´s a lot of motorists driving about with road rage.
I bet most, if not all of those cyclists pay road tax, and in my case I pay road tax for a car a van and a motorcycle. Have you read Yorkiecouple`s post? If it`s true that cyclists take precedence on Spain`s roads well, that is how it is and you have to accord them the right of way. I guess it`s much the same as India and sacred cows. I deliberately choose to commute by bicycle and take the view that if more people did then there would be a bit less road rage and more understanding. Too many motorists behave like utter morons towards other road users simply because they think they can get away with it, catch them out of their protective shell and they are just pathetic little creeps.
Cyclist who put themselves in danger deserve to end up in the graveyard. They will not need to be more careful the next time round, as there will not be one.
Big chunk of metal, small flimsy thing and rider. No contest.
There were lots of cyclists on the road when we were over last week.Most were ok though there were a few riding 2 or more abreast. What does annoy me though is when they ride on the road when there are really good cycle roads been built at considerable cost,why not use these and keep safe.
The trouble with cycle paths is that they're mostly narrow and twisty. They're ok for folks like me, who's nobody's idea of an athlete, but any sort of serious cyclist has to get out on the road to achieve enough speed and distance to make the exercise worthwhile.
I bet you would've given way to these people if they were on horses, purely for the horses sake not the humans.
Run them over, they're all on drugs, look at Armstrong....
LOL Barry,how u doing fella ? Hope the young un's ok ? U still go in The Entertainer ?
I did see quite a few lycra louts on the West Coast road North of Costa Calma on our last visit. All riding pelaton style, making it hard to get by without creaming one or two off
Quote from: zedzedeleven on January 24, 2013, 21:00:32 PM
Quote Wavell < when i made a point of their safety >
Exactly how did you do this? did you all stop at the next layby and then did you get them all to sit in neat rows while you admonished them, winning them over with your ice cold logic and reasoned argument? or did you yell abuse at them from the safety of your little tin box, bristling with self righteous indignation as you made your cowardly escape, basking in the afterglow of your little "moment" made your day did it, just had to come here and tell everyone all about your little triumph eh? get a life.
sorry if i have upset you i didn't mean to do this, i did stop and speak to the people not in a nasty way, i just thought they needed to realise that some drivers on the island are not so safe in their driving skills, by the way they were french luckily i speak the language but i'm sorry to say this didn't go down to well, once again i'm sorry if i have upset you but i still have the interest of these people at heart. bye the way I have lived on the island for 25 years & have seen many changes, especially in drivers.
Lance Armstrong should be applauded for being able to ride a bike so well while on drugs.
I tried it once, hit a dog and fell into the canal.
Quote from: tarkacreek on January 25, 2013, 17:01:48 PM
Lance Armstrong should be applauded for being able to ride a bike so well while on drugs.
I tried it once, hit a dog and fell into the canal.
ha ha ha,,,
Quote from: falkirkdan on January 25, 2013, 02:30:14 AM
Cyclist who put themselves in danger deserve to end up in the graveyard. They will not need to be more careful the next time round, as there will not be one.
Big chunk of metal, small flimsy thing and rider. No contest.
Not the sort of response that I expected from you Dan, then I noticed the post time. Good night was it?
You want to see him go on winter fuel payments
Quote from: zedzedeleven on January 25, 2013, 17:25:39 PM
Quote from: falkirkdan on January 25, 2013, 02:30:14 AM
Cyclist who put themselves in danger deserve to end up in the graveyard. They will not need to be more careful the next time round, as there will not be one.
Big chunk of metal, small flimsy thing and rider. No contest.
Not the sort of response that I expected from you Dan, then I noticed the post time. Good night was it?
ZZ every night is a good night. I am a night owl. I have been waiting for years for a political party that will ban mornings. They will get my vote, well otherwise their policies are all the same once they get in power. Where are the expenses forms :D
ZZ I do get peed off with the self rightous cyclist who think they are saving the planet. Hate to think of the money spent on providing them red cycle lanes the front of traffic lights etc and then then just bump up onto the pavement and fly past pedestrian and drop back down onto road in front of cars. As say "Big chunk of metal, small flimsy thing and rider. No contest".
Quote from: stedge on January 25, 2013, 19:35:38 PM
You want to see him go on winter fuel payments
Now Steve do not get me going!!!!
Falkirdan, brilliant, go into politics, you will get my vote.
You're joking we've got enough jocks running England :o
I can understand the various points of view from both the pro-cyclist posts and those who get annoyed with them.....but at least due to our roads and weather conditions, they are coming to the island in droves for training for the big european events.
This island needs promoting to all groups and types of visitor, and its ideally suited for sporting groups, its a niche market for the island as where else better can they go, during the winter that offers such good grounding to train as elite sports people, our roads are ideal as are our weather conditions.
Las Playitas must have had a fortune spent on it and is a sporting place of excellence, which needs to be used..and promoted in UK/Europe....yes I know all these cyclists are not trotting into Caleta etc and spending in the bars and restaurants every night, on beer etc, but you only have to visit places they stop off (e.g. Ajuy, Pozo Negro etc ) and the bars are often packed with them drinking soft drinks and coffee´s so they do in their own way spend and put something in the economy of local places even the bars in Antigua are often packed with them during the day.
This island can cater for everyone......if everyone lives and lets live, just drive your cars with a little care and attention to these people, who have as much right to be here as anyone else, and who may just go back to their respective countries and say what a marvelous place it is, and promote the island by word of mouth.
All kinds of sporting groups should be encouraged to use the fabulous place we live in for the same purpose, plus other groups such as football schools of excellence, running clubs, sailing clubs etc etc etc.
They have to train somewhere...why not here ?
Well other than the cyclists the other sports folk are welcome to come and train in the Falkirk area. We have some great facilities.
But not the weather in Falkirk Dan lol
I'm not sure what the problem is.
If there are cyclists on the road I wait till it's safe to pass then pass giving them a wide berth.
It's not difficult.
trouble is with some of them it never is safe to pass. What with them weaving about all over the place you could be waiting for that safe moment all day and with a queue of tailgaters building up impatiently behind you. So eventually you take a chance and because most of the roads are so narrow you almost end up embedded in a dry stone wall.
Got no problem with cyclists who are traffic aware but theres a lot out there who are a menace to themselves and every other road user.
Here Here Steve.
The only island that cyclists should be allowed is Sark
ZZ as I have already said Big chunk of metal, small flimsy metal thing and rider. No contest! Much safer on Sark :D
Hmmmmm i might have elaborated on the subject for effect i'll admit. But ZZ for over exaggerated postal content you got me beat every time.
Ps they don't have to go all the way to Sark. Theres always the safe option of the bikes in the gym for those with a consuming desire for physical activity.
Dan, your (repeated) oversimplified remark is just too smug and flippant to be taken seriously, does the same logic apply to children walking along the road at night, returning from a carnival?
Cyclists are no problem.. Try getting behind a tractor pulling a double load of hay on the A66 in Cumbria.
Theres good cyclists and theres bad cyclists just like theres good motorists and bad motorists. This thread was started about the bad ones . Whatever way you look at it a bad cyclist is a danger on the roads no matter what the road conditions are, and has been stated more a danger to themselves than anyone in a car. If you do end up injuring one of them or even killing them you will have to live with it for the rest of your life.
Dans right dodgy cyclists should be banished to Sark. Or shot if its cheaper.
Quote from: ashworth on February 06, 2013, 05:36:01 AM
Cyclists are no problem.. Try getting behind a tractor pulling a double load of hay on the A66 in Cumbria.
Aye, been there done that. Superb road on a motorbike, or it was before it got festooned with cameras. I can empathise with you being from sarf Cumbria mesel`, narrow lanes and lots of agricultural traffic. You just wait, don`t sweat it. I take the view in Fuerte that I`m on holiday. not in any particular rush and hopefully the peleton will include some tight lycra clad female bottoms to appreciate while I wait.
Nice to have a balanced reasoned and mature point of view stedge. Pity it isn`t going to come from you. Some car drivers just seem to hate all other road users, selfish and arrogant to the point of presenting an extreme hazard to everyone else. Ever wondered why some drivers deliberately move out to try and close a space that a motorcyclist could have used to get past? and why the mad suicidal dash as the end of a dual carriageway approaches by the car driver that seems hell bent on passing a van/lorry/wagon at all costs, and the cars that always ignore the cones and warning signs on a motorway road works site, forcing in at the front just to get that two or three car advantage. and you champion these morons eh?
That mature balanced point of view sure ain't coming from you either zed. An obvious car hating, motorist loathing pro cyclist you appear to have conveniently forgotten the other side of the argument. The bikers who think the highway code is just something other road users have to read and doesn't apply to them. You know ....the ones who weave all over the carriageway, ride three abreast talking to the one next to them. You know....those who have no idea what a hand signal is and think motorists automatically know where they are going, and above all those who have no lights on a dark night. Theres no doubt some cyclist are of the opinion they have a divine right to do as they please and everyone else has to jump through hoops watching out for them. The balanced part of my assessment is that i am fully aware that a lot of bikers don't fall into that category. Something that escapes you regarding motorists.
Dannys still right send the useless ones to Sark. The dodgy motorists can go with them.
You think you've got problems - they stay in Las Playitas and their two main runs are up to Pajara and beyond and around the circuit south of Tuineje through La Florida and Violante, so we come upon them all the time
Nothing to do about it as they are a major asset to the islands economy.
Remember you can cross a solid white line by not more than ONE meter to get around them [if there is an R in the month and the Guardia are in a good mood]
Quote from: zedzedeleven on February 06, 2013, 09:13:26 AM
and the cars that always ignore the cones and warning signs on a motorway road works site, forcing in at the front just to get that two or three car advantage.
Having been a company car driver for more years that I care to remember. The above comment is one that makes my blood boil. I have been waiting in the queue approaching road works and along comes Jim or Joan up the outside lane thinking some idiot will let them in and usually there is a idiot. As say being a company car driver then, so not my car or insurance, I would pull out into the outside lane and refuse to let these chancers in. They do not like it! I have forced a few into the cones where they got stuck. Other times have worked with trucks where we each move out a bit and form a barrier and when we get to cones we let each other in leaving a trail of chancers unable to get in.
Now it is my car and my insurance, so dont take the risk now.
More on the cyclists who do not care. As many will know the A1 with all its roundabouts down through Yorkshire etc is very popular with cycle road races. As many of the idiots approach the roundabouts they try to take the staightest track cutting accross the lanes and centre of roundabout to reduce the distance, without a thought that a car could be behind them. On one trip I had this happen a few times. However further down the road we had a hold up and guess what. One of them was lying on the roundabout under a car. Wonder how that happened????
Some drivers ignore the fact that the cyclist is already on the roundabout and pull out into their path. That's how I ended up lying there!
Saw an example of bad driving at roadworks on the M9 out your way on Sunday Dan, an artic forced its way in at the last second..... :o
Here here ZZ.
Most people who are complaining should chill a bit....they are either on hols or live here so what is the big rush to get past a few cyclists, they should have all the time in the world and enjoy a nice steady drive around the island-
Same intolerance is shown to motorcyclists on a lot of occasions........its all about awareness of what else is on the road whether its cycles,motorcycles, animals etc etc.
Quote from: duncolm on February 06, 2013, 11:10:29 AM
Some drivers ignore the fact that the cyclist is already on the roundabout and pull out into their path. That's how I ended up lying there!
Saw an example of bad driving at roadworks on the M9 out your way on Sunday Dan, an artic forced its way in at the last second..... :o
Not the case on the one I saw on the A1 There was some sort of race and they were all going like the clappers, changing lanes without looking behind. That may be ok on closed road race or velodrome.
So you must stay in my area. M9 has not got the safest record due to it not being the busiest motorway and favourite of the boy & nowadays girl racers. Worst accident spot for youngsters is about Winchburgh/Linlithgow section. They try to see how fast they can get their souped up banger to go. Have a friend who is a fireman for that area and they attend lots of these type accidents. Really sad! Have a friend whose daughter was involved in one of these accidents and now she sadly is confined to a wheelchair and needs constant care.
its the pro cyclists on here should chill out a bit. As said the thread was about bad cyclists not bad artic drivers, tractor drivers, goat herders or any other motorists come to that. And by the way if i'm on a 2 week holiday the last thing i want to spend my valuable time doing is stuck behind some joker on a bike who's careering about like he's been sniffing a line of cocaine.
Dans still right. sark it is.
This is a classic UK / Fuerteventura thread!
Visitors are always going somewhere important, very quickly and have to be there on time no matter what. If anything prevents that from happening, i.e cyclists, Guardia Civil checks, etc everyone is up in arms!
People that live here are just pleased when they arrive - whenever that may be. It is a state of mind that took me 18 months to adjust to, but I feel so much more relaxed about life now than when I was travelling 40,000 miles a year on UK roads within tight timescales
Celebrate the success of arrival, don't worry about the journey except to enjoy the beautiful changing scenary
Lol i've heard it all now. I've been called a few things over the years but a bike bigot is the bestest. Its hard to know wether you're serious sometimes zed. my take on it is your having a secret laff.... you got to be.
There are dangerous bike riders on the roads. Its a fact. It can't be denied even with your over excited anti motorist rhetoric . I think the subjects just about been flogged to death now., so on yer bike ....
Intolerant car drivers are at the root of a lot of incidents. I have seen the morons that have to honk their horns to admonish other drivers that have done something unexpected, even seen them doing it to learner drivers who have been a bit timid when crossing a junction. Cyclists are paragons compared to these self appointed sentinels. Dangerous cyclists? what`s dangerous about a flimsy lightweight racing cycle?
I was driving to work this morning along a little back road I use. Going through one of the small settlements named after the family that have lived there for generations, where the speed limit is 60kph, an old pick up truck pulled out in front of me. My immediate reaction was hand on horn, gesticulate some form of rude hand sign and mouth obscenities
Too late I realised I was breaking the speed limit and had I been going at the correct speed I would easily have seen the old boy long before he pulled out - and he would have seen me!
I felt so guilty - I wish I could have gone back, found him and apologised
I still have some of the old UK habits - how much longer?
Know what you mean Spike. There isn`t a universal sign for "Sorry mate, my fault" is there? Plenty for venting one`s spleen though.
Hi Spike, I tought you were longer on this forum than 2011. I always enjoyed your posts and tought they went back futher. Maybe its the auld head needs a defrag.
You're right Dagwood - but it was under a different name and I got confused - [you know the age thing] so I use the name of my Community radio show that airs on a Friday at 6pm on www.canaryuk.com (http://www.canaryuk.com) - repeated on Sunday from 8am to 10am
Captain Sensible joins me, along with a few other local reprobates who are kind enough to give their time to keep the community up to date with events here in Fuerte and Lanzarote [and Watford, don't ask!]. We now have listeners from around the world -Dublin, Swansea, Chicago, etc. to name but a few
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to give the program a plug
Thanks Spike, so its not the brain thats banjaxed. I must log in for the crack. It sounds better than all the doom and glume you get on the main stream stations.
Quote from: Spike On Q on February 07, 2013, 20:49:11 PM
You're right Dagwood - but it was under a different name and I got confused - [you know the age thing] so I use the name of my Community radio show that airs on a Friday at 6pm on www.canaryuk.com (http://www.canaryuk.com) - repeated on Sunday from 8am to 10am
Captain Sensible joins me, along with a few other local reprobates who are kind enough to give their time to keep the community up to date with events here in Fuerte and Lanzarote [and Watford, don't ask!]. We now have listeners from around the world -Dublin, Swansea, Chicago, etc. to name but a few
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to give the program a plug
dont forget Romford the centre of the universe ;)
Quote from: zedzedeleven on January 24, 2013, 23:01:20 PM
I bet most, if not all of those cyclists pay road tax, and in my case I pay road tax for a car a van and a motorcycle. Have you read Yorkiecouple`s post? If it`s true that cyclists take precedence on Spain`s roads well, that is how it is and you have to accord them the right of way. I guess it`s much the same as India and sacred cows. I deliberately choose to commute by bicycle and take the view that if more people did then there would be a bit less road rage and more understanding. Too many motorists behave like utter morons towards other road users simply because they think they can get away with it, catch them out of their protective shell and they are just pathetic little creeps. wow i wish i had your dosh
Crikey, if that explanation is comprehended by anyone other than james joyce or timothy leary I will show my ar$e in Woolworth`s window.
Quote from: zedzedeleven on February 13, 2013, 09:28:09 AM
Crikey, if that explanation is comprehended by anyone other than james joyce or timothy leary I will show my ar$e in Woolworth`s window.
Its a pity that Woolworths high street shops are now, no more (Where have you been man!)
Just because you failed to comprehend this idiomatic expression I am sure another user of this wonderful site 8) would have lapped it up, if only for you to honour your word and get your Lycra clad ar$e out :o
Yeh but who are you to judge people? (bingo caleta thread).
I don`t know what wiki is but pot calling the kettle black is simply one person accusing another person of something they themselves are guilty of.
Woolworth closed? oh no, where am I going to get my pick`n`mix now?
been out and about for the day and had the pleasure of overtaking/swerving around said cyclist's theres hundreds of em all over the gaff.
anyway sat outside a bar in la oliva and a group turnup,stop and hog the side road a 4x4 comes round the corner and they werent ogging the road anymore 5 on em ended up in the bushes, did i larf? me? course i attractive (to me anyway) did :o :o :o
LMAO :-* ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
be nice to think it was a cactus bush lol