VGC cyclists what do you ride and how many miles per year

[HigHurtenflurst]

SvennoJ said:

Luckily there aren't as many arrogant drivers around here yet I also avoid rush hour if possible. There are some here too ofcourse, sometimes even shouting get off the road out the window as they pass. And yeah cyclist aren't angels either. On my driving exam here I had a cyclist cross in front on me on a red light at two occasions. They probably helped me pass as I knew they weren't going to stop, evened out my not by the rules mirror checking. (I had to take the exam again after moving accross the pond)

There is a third category of drivers here. "Oh my god a bicycle, what do I do" drivers. They tend to overtake so far to the other side they actually go off road in a huge cloud of dust. Those are the ones that almost cause accidents with oncoming traffic. Cyclist are still rather uncommon here, especially since the country is in deep freeze half of the year.

I must say truck drivers are very good here. Never have a problem with those and there are a lot of trucks around here. Taxi drivers the same. Such a difference from taxis in Amsterdam. Ofcourse big cities tend to fuel road rage.

Yeah the arrogant are the minority, but even if it's only 1% you are likely to meet at least 1 every hour of riding, and it then depends on what the road is like for how you have to use it, and thus how they behave when passing.

I think I probably lump that third category with the ignorant, I have had a few who seem to linger behind me unsure of what to do even when there is ample room to overtake, then pick the worst moment to do so without properly looking ahead (though here in the UK there generally isn't an off-road section either side of the road)

For adhering to road rules cyclists are probably second only to scooter riders in terms of what percentage of them regularly ignore them, although plenty of those are more like wheeled pedestrians than cyclists (ie it's technically illegal to ride on the path but unless it's in a busy pedestrian area and you keep the speed down I don't see an issue)
I think truck drivers are normally very good everywhere, they get a lot more training and there is a lot more regulation. Large van drivers are more of a nuisance IMO as they still have a large vehicle with limited visibilty but have the same training and license as any other car driver. They are also more likely to be in a rush pressured by work, and as it's unregulated might have been working for longer hours than is safe.