“Dear slower cyclists… don’t pass me”: Cyclist complains of riders shuffling ahead at traffic lights “in tiny bike lanes where I can’t overtake” + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Busy bike lane etiquette
Considering so many inches on our live blogs are given over to the systemic struggle cyclists face to be treated as human beings worthy of life and 1.5m of tarmac by drivers, it’s quite nice to occasionally dip our toe into the topic of cycle lane etiquette. It means more than anything that lots of people are using them! Who would have guessed it?
Soon, may we dream of a world where there is no competing struggle between cyclists and drivers, that riders are protected and supported by systems of infrastructure that incentivise and encourage more people to ride their bike so that it soon becomes a default. Then we can have fewer live blogs with sharing the opinion of Simon Jordan, and more live blogs discussing things like this, a Reddit post that begins “Dear slower cyclists…
“The thing that irritates me above all is when I stop at a red light and another cyclist decides to edge slightly in front of me, and then turns out to be far slower than me once the light turns green. Always happens in those particularly tiny bike lanes too where I can’t then overtake. Just because you are using a Lime bike and my bike looks like crap doesn’t mean you will be faster than me.
“While it does give me huge satisfaction to spite you and casually overtake when an opportunity presents itself, I would prefer not to have to slowly cycle and loudly sigh behind you while I wait for said opportunity.
“I’m mostly exaggerating but please, if you wouldn’t consider yourself particularly fast and it’s not an old man on the bike in front of you, try not to overtake at red lights.”
A fascinating discussion. Supposedly, there is not proper justification for people to inch forward at a red light, providing you share a view of traffic similar to that of cars who queue behind one another in congestion. Given their size that makes sense, but bicycles don’t have to move like that…
Bicycles are hugely space efficient, which is why they make a lot of sense in congested cities.
This video demonstrates why there aren’t traffic jams in bike lanes.
Just imagine the traffic queues if every bicycle here was a car.
— Adam Tranter (@adamtranter.bsky.social) 23 May 2026 at 11:35
Still, by the same logic it seems a bit arse-y to try and overtake someone stopped and waiting patiently when the above video also shows that fellow cyclists are not an obstacle to moving where you need to go. Which brings us on to the issue of overtaking within a cycle lane. I would discuss it myself, but I think some fellow people on the internet have hit the nail on the head in the replies…
“How you feel is probably how cars feel about all cyclists constantly overtaking them when queuing at red lights one after the other (although forgot the safety part of why cyclists go to the front).”
“Everyone slower than me is annoying and in my way. Everyone faster than me is a f***ing lunatic. I am the only sensible cyclist in all of London”
“You should wear a shirt or a hat which informs riders around yourself that you are actually very fast.”
“They should realise instantly a superior being is behind. Pull in and bow their head as you glide by”
This is in all likelihood a commute, there are probably junctions aplenty. It really doesn’t seem there’s any reason to rush. But hey, what do I know?
Corrections corner
I am a fool, I will walk around with a sandwich board of shame around my neck until at least tonight.
It wasn’t just the CroTour today, with the Omloop van het Hageland escaping my attention in Belgium.
The race was won by Tim Merlier, his 12th win of the season, ahead of Cofidis’ Stanislaw Aniolkowski.
Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) gagne pour la deuxième année consécutive le Circuit du Houtland devant le Polonais Stanislaw Aniolkowski (Cofidis) et le Néerlandais Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets). #OvhH pic.twitter.com/E23kYPKLBr
— 🚴 Les Rois du Peloton 🚲 (@LRoisDuPeloton) September 23, 2026
Oh and while we’re at it, the retiring Alexey Lutsenko won Gold in the Asian Games Road Race with a long-range solo attack. There, that’ll do…
Six Parking Spaces! Six!
Will someone please think of the spaces…
Racing round-up: A maiden victory
Just one pro race to catch you up on today from Croatia, where Uno-X’s Carl-Frederik Bévort took his first professional win in a bunch sprint after an excellent lead-out from his team.
He was unbeatable with this leadout 😮🙌
Carl-Frederik Bévort wins Stage 2 at the CRO Race to take the first pro victory of his career. pic.twitter.com/466y5l3tAF
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) September 23, 2026
Juan Sebastian Molano finished third to extend his lead in the overall classification.
Someone's idea of heaven?
Perhaps a very pricey Christmas present…
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No Pog
When the European Championships announced their entry list (crucially not their start list), there was much consternation at the fact that Tadej Pogačar was included on the list, despite the fact his team have clearly stated the Slovenian’s season is over.
So, cue a lot of journalists ringing around, trying to get to the bottom of the whole shebang.
Daniel Friebe maybe had the most concise summary of his interactions:
Pogačar camp – team and manager – absolutely adamant that season is over.
— Daniel Friebe (@friebos) September 23, 2026
And now, the European Championships’ Slovenian organisers have themselves also come out with a press release. Note how they skirt around Pogačar’s non-availability however…
“Slovenia will also be represented by some of its leading riders, including Primož Roglič, Matej Mohorič, Jakob Omrzel, who confirmed his participation during a recent visit to the President of the Republic, and Luka Mezgec, who will race for the final time in his distinguished career at a European Championships on home soil.”
Stop press! Luka Mezgec is riding! I repeat Luka Mezgec is riding the European Championships! Good grief, thank heavens we, the international media, are updated on the availability of the 38-year-old Jayco domestique.
Perhaps I’m being a little harsh on Mezgec, though considering the flourish his name gets compared to all the accolades and races won by the riders who precede him on that list, it does seem slightly odd. Maybe they’d reserved the last line of the paragraph hyping up the absent Slovenian and were forced to change plans but couldn’t be bothered to reorder their list of riders. That’s the funniest explanation to me at least…
Clearly a man of style...
Geraint Thomas for new CEO of Rapha OFFICIAL PETITION
— Cosmo Catalano – How The Race Was Won® (@howtheracewaswon.com) 23 September 2026 at 13:32
This post is worth it for Cosmo’s alt text which reads:
“Thomas on Barloworld in 2008, about 20lbs over his “normal” race weight, with a Chav haircut and Rudy Project half-rim pink tint sunglasses that peaked probably a decade prior.”
Harsh…
New jerseys incoming?
David Lappartient Marion Rousse Tour de France Femmes 2026 stage 2 Aigle (Image Credit: A.S.O./Billy Ceusters)
The World Championships happening means it’s also an excuse for all sorts of cycling bigwigs stakeholders to get together and chat about their sport. The two big storylines emerging are the likely awarding of future World Championships to Pune, India, and the races voting to give themselves another jersey competition which they can award to the best placed home-nation rider.
The proposal is reportedly supported by riders, race organisers and the UCI, though teams are reportedly worried another jersey may reduce their exposure to sponsors. I might gently counter that most team riders aim to win jerseys other than their team’s in any event.
Anyway, Escape Collective report that teams are set to be won over thanks to negotiating additional hotel rooms and VIP tickets to races which they’ll be able to sell to sponsors and fans. Money talks!
Expect to see Paul Seixas in a tricolour at the Tour de France, Enric Mas resplendent in Spain, Domenico Pozzovivo out of retirement in an Azzurri blue.
"This is a fairness issue"
A bad day to bury your (surprisingly good) product launch
One of the perils of your CEO leaving with little warning, is that other parts of your business might find themselves heading full steam ahead with their latest product launch and marketing campaign.
We normally wouldn’t give a product launch much attention on this page, but since this manages to be naff, kitsch, but also quite well done, we’ll give Rapha a pound of attention for their Novantasei launch with 90’s style products and a teleshopping style of infomercial that I quite admire.
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It even features a Lotus, so what’s not to like?
Worlds rest day
It’s the one day of the week where the good people of Montreal can sit in their gas guzzlers eating poutine and pondering their favourite ice hockey players. Yep, my knowledge of Canada isn’t what you might hope it is.
Although saying that, the final circuit for the road races, in action from tomorrow, will likely remain closed for much of today to enable riders to complete their reconnaissance and training rides on closed roads. Given what happened to Seff Van Kerckhove, that’s probably a good idea…
In the meantime, we’ve got yesterday’s junior TTs to catch up on…
In the women’s race, Maria Okrucińska came away victorious, the Pole beating Yana Decruyenaere by 12 seconds over 10.7km – an unfortunately paltry distance if you ask me. Meanwhile Aalia Clay came third by just seven hundreths of a second, a fantastic result for the 17-year-old who became British junior TT champion earlier this year. One to watch!
Aalia Clay 🇬🇧 jumps to second place after a very strong ride and sits just behind the current leader Yana Decruyenaere 🇧🇪
With this, she pushes Lily Edwards 🇺🇸 out of a potential podium position.#Montréal2026 pic.twitter.com/vajcy6Q9Uq
— UCI (@UCI_cycling) September 22, 2026
The men’s race was meanwhile won by Spain’s Benjamin Noval, who bested the excellently named Belgian Vic De Smet by six seconds over a 20km course. Here’s some rather sweet footage of the celebrations as De Smet falls short…
🥇 BENJAMÍN NOVAL ES CAMPEÓN DEL MUNDO
El español se ha llevado el ORO en la contrarreloj junior masculina.
📺 Síguelo EN DIRECTO en Teledeporte y @rtveplay https://t.co/56x6E4ZqRZ pic.twitter.com/ZKkn64XOeH
— Teledeporte (@teledeporte) September 22, 2026
It should be said that Noval is set to join Netcompany-Ineos next year, though it’s unclear if he’ll join the Development team or make the leap, a la Remco Evenepoel, straight into the World Tour team. But the 17-year old is already widely considered an extremely talented prospect with a potentially very bright future ahead of him. I hope for his contract’s sake he hasn’t signed on the dotted line just yet…
More Rapha tumult
Quite why the only photo we have of Fran Millar on our database is a black and white Rapha snap I’m not quite sure. Not convinced the obituary-esque look is necessarily one the British brand want to push…
Lovely bit of bike haulage...
How to ride climbs...
From the commute to a Col…
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Latest Comments
@jackcycles if what the Times has reported on is true, then there is certainly a legal aspect that needs to be investigated
No idea if they still do it (the writing on my helmet is too small to read). There was a label inside stating, "Don't expect too much from this helmet".They were never designed to be used for racing; at the speeds that modern professionals go, they need to wear motorcycle helmets. I always wear mine when I go shopping in case I trip over and hit my head on the ground.
@qwerty360 "Oh; Huge reduction in all injuries;....." Which reminds me of the original Thompson, Rivara and Thompson study about cycle helmets, which found that helmets prevented 85% of deaths, but when peer reviewed, it was shown that helmets prevented injuries to all other parts of the body. That study was absolutely the most awful piece of original research about cycle helmets, completely invalid, but it's still the most quoted. You don't say where the figures you quote come from, but I'm sceptical of their validity.
@Nigel Garage Guess he's finding out that real life doesn't have an edit button, eh?
“The consultation showed a strong preference for Dryden Road to return to two-way traffic,........" But doesn't the council have policies which dictate that Active Travel routes should be adopted, preserved and promoted? From Devon CC's Roads and Traffic webpage: "Following a 2021 public consultation which showed almost 75% of respondents in favour of permanent changes to reduce traffic,........" So 75% of people are in favour of permanent changes to reduce traffic, but another consultation says take it out. Why aren't they going with the result of the 2021 consultation? "It followed concerns about the impact of displaced traffic on surrounding roads......" This is always exaggerated, and usually much smaller than the reduction in traffic on the blocked road, and of course, this is no exception: 'Devon County Council reported that closing Dryden Road to motor vehicles reduced traffic by 574 vehicles in the AM peak on Dryden Road itself, while increasing traffic on Bovemoors Lane by 180 vehicles in the AM peak. 'Impact on Surrounding Roads • Bovemoors Lane: Saw an increase of 180 vehicles during the morning peak hours following the modal filter/closure. (Devon CC) • Parallel Corridors (Heavitree Road and Topsham Road): Experienced no significant change in traffic volumes, with vehicle numbers remaining largely the same before and after the closure. (Devon CC) • Air Quality & Congestion: Critics and local campaign groups argued that the closure pushed congestion and fumes onto nearby residential streets, though official council data indicated minimal impact on major parallel routes.' (BBC) My guess is that some councillor has to drive an extra 500m because of the closure.
@Blackthorne83 Please can you let us know what was said, as you apparently know that it was just "exercising his speech" [sic] and didn't deserve any sanction?
@jackcycles your biggest obstacle is a narrow mind - also caused by poor maintenance. Just Google "Cycling KSIs netherlands vs uk" to see how wrong you are.(not that you're open to facts)
@mark1212123 pausing before posting on social media would help a lot of folk. (not you, though)
@chrisonabike only in the brains of the hard of thing
@jackcycles this whole thing is culturally deeply disheartening. Richardson was snitched on by a woke ‘whistleblower’ teammate for exercising his speech. Now British cycling is obligated to take performative measures to safeguard their image given their sins of the past. And a young rider sent to ‘re-education training’, reputation slandered without trial and career derailed. Everybody loses. Great job British cycling, propping up riders and then publicly throwing them under the bus.
23 thoughts on ““Dear slower cyclists… don’t pass me”: Cyclist complains of riders shuffling ahead at traffic lights “in tiny bike lanes where I can’t overtake” + more on the live blog”
Day 2 of asking road.cc to check their emails to reply to my request for the original copy of a photo taken of me and fellow volunteers running Kidical Mass on Sunday
@Boopop road.cc is a tiny organisation and certainly doesn’t have a dedicated employee checking the emails, be patient – in my experience they do get back to one relatively quickly but it’s not reasonable to expect instant replies.
@Rendel Harris I didn’t expect an instant reply, I was just surprised that they hadn’t checked their emails all day yesterday seemingly.
Two things for Mr Macho to consider there, firstly a Lime bike can accelerate far more quickly than a human rider, so they are not going to hold you up getting off the line, and secondly they do 15 mph (in fact most of them, judging from my Garmin figures when following, seem to do about 17–18 mph), which is more or less the optimal speed in London for traffic light phasing. If you ride at 20–25 mph most of the time all you are doing is ensuring that you arrive at the next red light earlier. Unless you’re in a hurry (in which case plan better/leave earlier) or actually training (in which case central London is probably not your best option) just relax and literally go with the flow instead of trying to outstrip it.
@Rendel Harris Wheras they are capable of doing those speeds, that isnt a guarantee the rider will.
All cars on the road are capable of 70mph yet you will always get the driver sitting at 55-60 in the middle lane. I think that’s the annoyance of people who get stuck behind ‘slow’ cyclists.
@Smoggysteve That’s definitely the case with plenty of unassisted riders, in my experience in London every Lime bike user wants to get to the top speed as quickly as possible and stay there. I agree that the 10mph cyclist whom one passes between lights who then insists on going in front (often going over the stop line to do so) at the next lights, necessitating a continual run of overtakes, can be extremely annoying, but it doesn’t really apply to Limes (I suspect the person making this complaint deliberately mentioned Lime bikes to point out just how amazingly fast he is).
@Rendel Harris In fairness, the original plea is to ‘slower cyclists’ and it is they who , regardless of the type of bike they are riding, its aimed at.
@Rendel Harris There’s also the issue that Lime/other hire e-bikes kick quite hard as you set off, so if there’s a non-e-bike in front of you, there’s a real risk of running into the back of them while they get moving. So (on the rare occasion I ride a hire e-bike) I’ll try and get to a position where there isn’t a rider in front of me, unless they’re also on an e-bike, to avoid that risk!
@Rendel Harris I ride a singlespeed in no visible Lycra, no rocket but I don’t hang about. What’s tiresome is being judged as a slowpoke by someone on a fancy bike and kit who pulls ahead of you at the lights then rides significantly slower than me, the “act like Wiggins, ride like Cribbins” paradox.
@Rendel Harris I reckon this can be fixed with a simple new law. The operators of vehicles on list A (ebikes, escooters, range rovers, teslas, carbon race bikes, bmws, and so on) may not pass, obstruct, or even approach vehicles on list Z (my bike).
Lime bike riders can be annoying, but can also be good to draft behind if a strong headwind. Just have to make sure you pick a competent rider to follow.
There are some cyclists who seem to think that they have a god-given right to be at the front of any queue. It’s pretty irritating to overtake someone, only for them to cut in front at the lights so that you have to do it all over again.
@AidanR It’s also pretty irritating to be riding a multi-thousand pound road bike in race kit, and be overtaken by someone on a hybrid with a basket, wearing street clothes! ; )
Drives me mad at the Westminster end of the Embankment cycle lane, where there will often be enough cyclists queuing that you might, shock horror, have to wait for two traffic light cycles before you get through. So many cyclists just jump to the front and expect you to make space for them. Worst example I saw was a pedicab driver who overtook the 50 odd queuing cyclists and then sat blocking the cycle traffic in the opposite direction.
@quiff Pedicabs should be banned in London, blocking cycle lanes, severely ripping off tourists, blocking pavements when not in use, often a front for low-level criminality (drug dealing/transportation) and riders frequently highly aggressive. I had a nose to nose confrontation with one a couple of weeks ago as I was walking to the Proms because I politely asked him to move his incredibly vulgar contraption (it looked like Barbara Cartland’s bedroom on wheels) off the pavement in Buckingham Palace Road where it was forcing all pedestrians to leave the pavement and walk on the roadway. Instant aggression, shouting and swearing and threatening violence – fortunately a passing police motorcyclist clocked what was going on and told him to pack it in and get his machine off the pavement. They are an absolute blot on our fair city.
“How you feel is probably how cars feel about all cyclists constantly overtaking them…”
Dung Old Karen Taco Trump must be so pleased that AI is progressing so well.
Absolutely beautiful tool set!
If mentioning excellent names surely U23 ITT silver medallist Nienke Vinke should be put forward?
I’m out in Montreal for the Worlds. It has been great so far – can’t wait for the road races to start tomorrow. Going to be some long days. Got some great photos of the time trials.
Re: the snarky Geraint Thomas caption “sunglasses that peaked probably a decade prior” – to be fair, that became a bit of a personal brand.
What gets me is the people who, after I’ve been stuck behind them for a while having to ride slower than I normally would, when I eventually get to a point where I can overtake then decide they want to have a race.
Far too many cyclists in bike lanes would benefit from leaving their egos at home. Cycle lanes are not race tracks
It drives me nuts when I’m waiting at a red light and another cyclist pushes in front of me, I glance down at their cassette and notice they are in a high gear, and lo, the light turns green and I am stuck behind them as they sloooowly accelerate.