England is the most dangerous place in the world to ride a bike. T or F?

Durangodave

Is my impression of cycling in England correct?

1. Narrow roads
2. High speed traffic
3. Abundance of wannabe F1 drivers
4. People will pass you NOW, not wait until it's safe.

Very different from my experiences in France, and even Scotland, in the highlands. Even in the USA, I've never felt that threatened by cars.

__________________
"I must (deride me not) be somewhere where I can, without disaster, bicycle." Henry James, 1896

Eldrack

I've ridden from Lands end to John O'Groats without any problems. Fine you have a few irate and annoying drivers who think you shouldn't be on the road and hoot at you. Apart from that its all been good for me. Only crash I had was caused by a pedestrian in a town centre.

darkboong

That pretty much concurs with my experience. Now of course we have judges letting people off for killing a few cyclists at once, and fining cyclists for cycling safely on the road.

There are exceptions to that rule, particularly in rural areas.

__________________
Free Beer !

MountainPro

i didnt feel threatened by traffic on the few city cycling adventure through Englandshire...

its dangerous no doubt, but there are greater dangers to cyclists than cars..

anyway, check out this thread..

http://www.cyclingforums.com/showpo...894&postcount=1

__________________
HARD
.

HowardSteele

[QUOTE=Durangodave]Is my impression of cycling in England correct?
One conselation for you , it is worse out here,i'm not talking open country roads,your narrow lanes look quite intimedating.But a regular CITY RIDE outhere you face

1. Unlicenced,unskilled drivers usually uninsured.
2. Minivan taxis who are their own law to the rules of the road.
3. The prospect of being bike jacked.
4. Shot at
5. Stoned(not ridding stoned thats your own fualt)

although ridding stoned might take the egde off all of the above
That was one cool ride,man

Don Shipp

I do not regard England's roads as unduly dangerous.
The French drivers have a very much higher kill-rate.

__________________
"Boudreaux pissed me off, what should I do?"
"Nothing, just shut up and take his advice."

Durangodave

Where I felt most threatened was in the countryside near Derby. Must be all those Roll Royce engineers. Still loved the ride though. Didn't even attempt London.

Southern Cal is a tangled mass of autombiles. Even Marin County, where I grew up is denser, faster, and the people are busier with less patience.

__________________
"I must (deride me not) be somewhere where I can, without disaster, bicycle." Henry James, 1896

Durangodave

Really? Wow, I wouldnt have guessed. The French seem much more patient on the road. Or maybe its just that there's a tighter network of tiny backroads for the cyclist to chose...

__________________
"I must (deride me not) be somewhere where I can, without disaster, bicycle." Henry James, 1896

Wurm

Not trying to 'one-up' your assertion Dd because I've never been to UK, but here in NY's capital area of Albany, the road cycling/traffic conditions are getting ridiculous. I don't know what it is, but the Cager's here are some of the worst I've seen in the US, and I've lived in AZ, FL, MO, TN, TX, and VA. I'll tell ya, if I continue to be an active cyclist, I don't expect to ever die of old age. I'm serious!

I'd rank these turkeys 2nd after those from New Jersey or Wash., D.C. It's not just the Left-Coaster's who've got it bad!

__________________
"Bush is the first President to admit to an impeachable offense."

- John Dean, former Counsel to the President (Nixon)

The aim of big corporations is to separate fools from their money all of the time and ordinary folks from their money most of the time. The rest of us must fend for ourselves.

tmuk55

seems to me you have all lived rather sheltered lives

You should try Rome, Athens or New Delhi! Even Amsterdam, famous for its cyclists, is not for the faint-hearted!

As to the unlicensed, uninsured drivers, we call them Chavs (some say it stands for Council Housing Abominable and Violent, but there are many theories about the acronym).

The blokes tend to be either pasty and thin or red and fat, with huge beerbellies. Their only income is benefits, thieving, drugs and pimping.

The women often start off slim and pretty (though by no means as a rule!) by 16 they are pregnant, sometimes with their seond kid. They wer Kappa training suit - though neither they nor their fellas exercise EVER! -, pristine (shoplifted) Kappa, Reebok or Nike trainers, loop earrings large enough for hoolahoops, and the peculiar hairdo we call "Council Housing Facelift", with a ponytail so tight they look oriental.

Chavs are often horribly inbred, born victims/sponges, in their own Council Flat by age 18, with 2+ kids, bull-dog or staffordshire (or American Pitbull) and on Benefits (usuially "On the Sick) for life. The women and their kids get battered and sexually abused/exploited from the word go, while the me spend a significant portion of their lives in nick!

As one copper put it to me "B******* is a place with thousands of people and only hundreds of surnames!"

CHAVS ARE NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF ENGLAND. their role-models are Ali-G and Eminem!

tmuk55

[QUOTE=MountainPro]i didnt feel threatened by traffic on the few city cycling adventure through Englandshire...

ENGLANDSHIRE?

WHAT the heck is "Englandshire", when it's at home?

FYI: Shire is the arcaic name for "County", and a shire will almost always take the name of its main city, i.e.
Gloucester > Gloucestershire
Nottinghasm > Nottinghamshire
Chester > Cheshire
Buckingham > Buckinghamshire
York > Yorkshire
Derby > Derbyshire.

Some exceptions are Wiltshire (no City called Wilt) and Berkshire (no city called Berk! )

England is a Nation, has been for over 800 years! According to Patriots "there'll always be an England!" not true of shires!

HowardSteele

[QUOTE=tmuk55][QUOTE=MountainPro]i didnt feel threatened by traffic on the few city cycling adventure through Englandshire...

ENGLANDSHIRE?

WHAT the heck is "Englandshire", when it's at home?

I sort of get the mental image of bare footed Hobbits,with cleats screwed to the soles of their feet ,ridding their penny farthings through the shire

tmuk55

I sort of get the mental image of bare footed Hobbits,with cleats screwed to the soles of their feet ,ridding their penny farthings through the shire [/QUOTE]
LOL! And me with only a size 6 and using short toeclips!

TTFN!

Durangodave

South Africa claims the prize, so far.
Congratulations, and my condolences.
.

__________________
"I must (deride me not) be somewhere where I can, without disaster, bicycle." Henry James, 1896