Road safety, rider safety

Hi all,

I have ridden for the last three weekends (two short and one long ride) with Islington CC and thoroughly enjoyed it every weekend, I can't praise enough the warm welcome by all, great ethics of waiting for the last rider and general enjoyment by all for simply riding a bike out into the beautiful quiet lanes surrounding London.

Having ridden with many cycling clubs/teams over the UK and Europe there is, I feel, an area which stood out and should be improved upon to help everyone long term at the club. This was the need to improve rider and group safety. As this club grows, which it will and very quickly, larger numbers will be riding all over London and around the lanes with little or limited group riding.

Riding in a group on the road is safe (contrary to belief). Its all comes down to the riders and what they look like as a group on the road from a motorist perspective.

The ideal is everyone side by side, two a breast. A shorter group on the road and easier for a motorist to overtake. Imagine if you are driving along a country lane and see a group of 10 cyclists ahead riding side by side. They are visible, uniform , compact and predicable. They would be effectively the same length as a slow moving mini bus. Not a problem.

On the other hand if you came across the same 10 cyclists riding in single file that's two mini buses to overtake (a motorist will not want to 'pull in' to a line of cyclist if they misjudge an overtake - the results would be catastrophic). Something even worse - half a group in single file and side by side - even the most skilled driver would struggle to get past without having to calculate variable risk whilst overtaking.

I know at times the group is fragmented due to terrain, up and down. However for the most part we take our time riding and enjoy a chat. If we can improve and stay compact we'll be safer. To instil a simple and very effective way of riding (from grass roots as new riders join) that would go a long long way to prevent any potential mishaps with cars.

The article below prompted me to share my thoughts. http://ukcyclelaws.blogspot.co.uk/p/the-laws-according-to-highway-code.html?m=1

Happy riding

Ashley

Thanks for your thoughts, Ashley. Togetherness and team work is very important, as you say. We actually are running a group riding skills workshop on Sat 23 Nov.

One thing - as you have been out with us three times, you need to join officially. You can do that at http://www.islington.cc just click the red Buy a Club a Membership button.

Looking forward to welcoming you to the club.

I actually read that article on the way into work this morning - very interesting.

shouldn't you have been looking where you were going?

You mean you don't multitask on the bike? You're losing valuable time!

(I was on a bus)

I'm going to get some of those google glasses, that way i will never be 100% focused on anything ever. ;-)

I totally agree with all the points @afb made. We need the more experienced riders to encourage better group riding just generally, on every ride- i'm certainly guilty of not speaking up as often as I should.

I concur.
After discussing this with someone in another club, (hackney), they do a "buddy" system. You ride two abreast, but people are a bit nervous about riding very close next to someone, so the idea is you get to know the rider next to you over the course of some or all of the ride (if you get on with them) and as you're chatting you become more confident riding next to that person.

On Sunday's ride Jim and I were acting as backstop for Luis and we did try to get everyone to "buddy-up". It worked for a bit then it all went to pot as a few new riders got a bit nervous. I have also called "Single out" at some points as it just wasn't safe for doubled up, however, a lot of the new riders didn't understand the signals and calls.

We might need to revisit this with experienced members finding out how experienced the new riders are, maybe up Archway? Prior to Bald faced Stag.

Just to add my 2 cents as someone who is looking to join (don't worry @shannonball, its all in hand) and has been out on the last two shorter rides.

The standard of riding varied greatly from those that had hardly ridden a bike to those that had obviously been riding in groups for a long time. As someone that is pretty comfortable on the bike and I feel I have pretty good bike handling skills (commuting into London each day from High Barnet), but have never ridden in a group.

It may have been a good idea for the leader of the ride to make sure that everyone understood the signals (pot hole, slow, etc) and the shouts, prior to the ride - there are only a few and it wouldn’t take long.

Secondly as most people looking to join will generally join the shorter rides it would be good if the members "buddied" up with those faces that arent familiar and took the time to find out a bit about them and their riding experience.

Safety is paramount and I am sure is the primary concern for all (I assume we mostly have to go back to work on Mondays). So maybe before someone is accepted as a member they have to go along to the group riding workshop, even if that is just a basic introduction.

Finally, for me, Sunday rides are all about the social aspect, so I would happily ride two abreast at all times and happily chat to who ever I was paired with. And happily encourage those that are nervous and new to the whole thing. Cycling should be inclusive not exclusive.

(aka rubertoe on Bikeradar)

how about we give a discount off membership renewals if you have been to the group riding workshop :-)

I have been to a workshop, I may be biased.

I haven't been riding in groups long and I would have a guess that most of the members haven't either. It took me a few rides to get used to riding as a group.

Maybe we need to find out a little more about new riders at the start of each ride. Get a more experienced group rider to chat to them on the ride, find out how much group riding they've done, hand signals etc...

I would definitely suggest that members attend the riding workshop.
There's one this Sat. islingtoncc.microcosm.app/events/61/?limit=25#comment2720

@aidan I've been to them all so far, can I get a double discount?

i think i'm going to get into trouble with the club treasurer at this rate.

Aidan - I would not favour such a discount.

to be clear - i was only joking :-)

Naturally, if anyone tries this on a club run they will have David to answer to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QNdx2hs0n4

That video is going viral. I find those descents hard enough going forwards.

Danny McAskill has a reply to that, a backwards, front wheel wheelie down some 25% hairpins...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhabgvIIXik

(skip to 3.45 if you don't want to see a whole 5 minutes of incredible stupidity from Martyn Ashton et al)

Isn't one of those guys in a wheelchair now?

@shannonball

yes he is: Martyn Ashton http://road.cc/content/news/93511-trials-legend-martyn-ashton-confirmed-having-suffered-life-changing-spinal

That makes my "incredible stupidity" comment seem a bit insensitive. I figured he had recovered but by the sounds of it some of the filming was done before the accident and other riders filled in for him after. Best wishes to him.

I think your comment is valid rather than invalid

it might be valid but it wasn't exactly thoughtful!

Update form this website is great:

http://www.bikewalknc.org/2015/04/why-cyclists-ride-two-abreast/