“Possibly she is intimidated by the 10 tonne bus right behind her”: Bus driver criticised for impatiently tailgating cyclist before bus stop, but internet criticises the cyclist; TT day at the Tour de France Femmes + more on the live blog
With Ryan filing dispatches from a Dijon-bound TGV, Callum’s here to keep the live blog ticking over. Fingers crossed his ramblings cut the mustard…
Tue, Aug 04, 2026 09:55
4 August 2026, 09:28
Impatience 101?
This might be asking a bit much, but I like it when bus drivers drive slowly. It should be part of the social contract when taking public transport that the person transporting you takes every bit of care to ensure the mass transportation is completed safely and without incident.
Unfortunately, this video doesn’t appear to be observing every precaution. Geolocation is not my strength so we’ll have to limit this footage to ‘London’, but that’s not exactly the main take away here.
Bus drivers: don’t do this.#2SecondRule pic.twitter.com/hkDtJ73yIJ
— Tulse pHill (@PhillTulse) August 2, 2026
A bus driver tailgating a cyclist seems… dangerous? It requires only a modicum of an attention-lapse from either party to cause serious injury for the cyclist. Worryingly, the driver also seems impatient enough to be repeatedly looking to overtake, despite the regular bollards and pedestrian crossings in the road designed to reduce such an incentive, and the rapidly approaching bus stop that would cut off the cyclist if the driver attempted to pass.
Incidentally, I don’t think the cyclist’s behaviour is perfect here, but only because they appear to be riding too close to the kerb and to the parked car doors, making a Remco Evenepoel-style incident more likely, and also motivating the driver to try for a dangerous overtake because they see more of the open road directly in front of them.
But as our original poster identifies in the comments, “possibly she is intimidated by the 10 tonne bus which is right behind her.”
Unfortunately, over on the cesspit of Twitter, social media users don’t seem to grasp this…
“Pull in and let a bus running on a scheduled full of people pass. You are not safe with it behind you, you are holding up many peoples lives. It is not rocket science.”
“Gotta wonder why for their own safety the cyclist doesn’t just get out of the way for two seconds and let the bus go past. It’s not difficult.”
“Bus driver has done no wrong. Peddle faster or pull over. Don’t be a c***.”
“There’s all sorts of great bike infrastructure there, and the cyclists *still* insist on playing in traffic and being a menace to everyone around them.”
“Cyclists are the worst, thinking they own the roads.”
And on and on it goes. To get in advance of what might become a contested topic of discussion, the Highway Code rules drivers should maintain a two-second gap, but that buses and lorries should hold a four-second gap, though that’s harder to maintain on city streets than an A-road. This page also shows a useful chart of all sorts of stopping distances…
4 August 2026, 11:23
TT day at the Tour
There was some consternation when the Tour de France Femmes didn’t feature any time trial, individual or team, in last year’s race. Admittedly it’s harder to incorporate it when your stage race isn’t three weeks long, but there was relief in several quarters when it returned for this year’s race.
Although, as is the style of the time, the organisers have only gone and put a hill in it! The specialists won’t be happy about that, although there will still be around 14km of flat-ish terrain for the likes of Marlen Reusser to stake a claim on GC. The Swiss rider is my pick for today and, based on her racing form before the race, is also my tip for a great overall result in this race.
Demi Vollering actually won the last Tour time trial, back in 2024, despite not being a favourite for the discipline, but today’s parcourse should surely suit her characteristics. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, on the other hand will be hoping to limit her losses as defending champion.
If there’s a non-GC rider to look for, it’s Zoe Bäckstedt, the newly re-crowned British national TT champion riding her first Tour de France. We’re not biased, honest.
A final word should go to our yellow jersey Sigrid Haugset, who I’m sure is still in dream land after yesterday’s stunning 90km solo win. With a two minute buffer on the GC favourites, the Norwegian is well-placed to hold on to the race lead, maybe even until Mont Ventoux on Friday.
4 August 2026, 10:28
Boys build their own MTB bike track
Who says teenagers don’t go outside anymore? Oliver and Jackson were bored, and wanted to ride their bikes, a tale as old as Karl von Drais. So they set about making a bike track in the nearby field. BBC Humberside have captured them in action designing and riding their trail…
View this post on Instagram
We’ll have to send our off-road experts off to do a review…
4 August 2026, 10:25
Bike gunk watch...
That’s the technical term…
This bearing is probably done huh?
by
u/AlrightFineImAGirl in
Justridingalong
4 August 2026, 09:56
Bra-gate
It’s difficult to say what the solution is here. I’m inclined to think that if a woman is willing to wear an extra-padded bra whilst riding in 35 degree heat then they deserve the minor aerodynamic advantage that comes with it.
Then again, if it’s teams that are complaining rather than a snooty person in a UCI shirt, maybe some action should be taken, although any means of investigating the issue quickly becomes a privacy issue of its own…
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Callum is a News Writer for road.cc, having initially joined as a freelance journalist in September 2025. He is also a Road Book contributor and has written for the almanac since 2023. He has a master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from Cardiff University, where his dissertation focused on Geraint Thomas’ retirement and the boom and bust of the domestic racing calendar. He also has a degree in Scandinavian Studies & Politics which is somehow even more niche.
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Latest Comments
mitsky 4 seconds ago
Just two of my examples of impatient bus drivers: https://youtu.be/xuXRZjKkNfo https://youtu.be/SF4u42-lx84
iainf 5 minutes ago
@Bungle_52 You note "at least a bike's width, and in this case there was. Interestingly, just yesterday I passed a couple of parked cars (no oncoming traffic) and two cars going the same direction as I was overtook me as I did so. There was plenty of room but would this be driving without due care and attention?
mitsky 18 minutes ago
@Rendel Harris The shove was deliberate. It was over a wall with a drop. The criminal could not have known for sure this would not have possibly ended with a fatality. If he was to point a gun at someone and pull the trigger and hit their leg (by luck, not hitting a vital organ or killing them instantly) they cannot claim that "... it wasn't attempted murder as I was aiming for your leg"... Aiming a gun at someone and pulling the trigger should be considered attempted murder (I assume it is, always). The details of this incident are similar in the action/circumstances.
Bungle_52 30 minutes ago
@iainf I run cameras and I always stop behind a parked car unless there is at least a bikes width between the car and the white line. The choice then depends on the likelihood of the car door opening and the speed of the approaching car. I do not want to give the police any grounds for prosecuting me when I submit my footage and it has the added benefit that drivers know they should do the same for me when the situation is reversed. Many drivers seem genuinely surprised that I am willing to stop. I don't know whether it's down to this, the changes in the highway code or me riding primary but I am finding most local drivers are more and more willing to wait behind a parked car until I have passed. The main exception to this is the follow my leader situation which I find extremely annoying. Of course when I do have to report drivers for doing what this cyclist did the results are very patchy to say the least. For a couple of reports I was told that the fact that I continued cycling towards the car before swerving into the gutter undermined my case (NFA). The fact that the driver continued to drive at the cyclist in this example didn't seem to undermine their case.
Rendel Harris 40 minutes ago
@Pub bike Beat me to it, a familiar road to me as I have friends in Tulse Hill so quite often use it. I'm not a fan of always telling cyclists to ride primary when there may be good reasons they are not, but I always hold the centre of the lane on that stretch because the presence of a succession of traffic islands means if you don't you get numerous drivers speeding by and diving in hard before they get to the next island. Worth noting also that a little further on there are two sets of three-way traffic lights (Croxted Road junction then Herne Hill) which always have long queues any time of day, so highly doubtful that even at the relatively slow speed the cyclist is travelling waiting for her actually impacted on the overall journey time of the bus.
Bungle_52 54 minutes ago
Nice to see the cycle path being used. https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/alarm-after-car-drives-down-11091061
mdavidford 57 minutes ago
Not necessarily - cosmetic pectoral enhancements are a thing, apparently.
Rendel Harris 1 hour ago
@Backladder Has your airbag just activated or are you just pleased to see me?
Rendel Harris 1 hour ago
@mdavidford I accept the amendment, please read, "are we to assume that all riders actually have Darth-Vader-helmet-shaped heads under those absurd TT lids?"
7 thoughts on ““Possibly she is intimidated by the 10 tonne bus right behind her”: Bus driver criticised for impatiently tailgating cyclist before bus stop, but internet criticises the cyclist; TT day at the Tour de France Femmes + more on the live blog”
“Geolocation is not my strength so we’ll have to limit this footage to ‘London’”
No idea why I recognised this but the location is 58 Norwood Road SE24 9BH on the A215 northbound at the Deronda Road bus stop between Tulse Hill and Herne Hill.
Perhaps the cyclist was on their way to the nearby Herne Hill velodrome for a track day, preserving their legs for a sprint finish?
@Pub bike Beat me to it, a familiar road to me as I have friends in Tulse Hill so quite often use it. I’m not a fan of always telling cyclists to ride primary when there may be good reasons they are not, but I always hold the centre of the lane on that stretch because the presence of a succession of traffic islands means if you don’t you get numerous drivers speeding by and diving in hard before they get to the next island.
Worth noting also that a little further on there are two sets of three-way traffic lights (Croxted Road junction then Herne Hill) which always have long queues any time of day, so highly doubtful that even at the relatively slow speed the cyclist is travelling waiting for her actually impacted on the overall journey time of the bus.
one of the rttcgb lot wears/wore a hydration pack in the front for the same aero effect.
“Incidentally, I don’t think the cyclist’s behaviour is perfect here”
This is actually all about the bus driver’s bad driving but for some reason everyone seems to be blaming the cyclist. So the cyclist could have taken primary between the bollards but why should it be necessary? The bus driver should just keep at a safe distance. Even a slow cyclist will beat a bus point to point in London so there’s no reason whatsoever for the cyclist to pull over in this case.
And in general there’s no obligation for cyclists to pull over and let other vehicles pass: Highway code rule 72 When riding on busy roads, with vehicles moving faster than you, allow them to overtake where it is safe to do so.
There was no safe place here and allowing the bus to overtake would have put the cyclist in danger at the next bus stop.
“Boys build their own MTB bike track”
Shouldn’t this be on scrapland.cc?
Nice to see the cycle path being used.
https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/alarm-after-car-drives-down-11091061
Just two of my examples of impatient bus drivers: