Victoria Wheelers

You guys are so rude

I heard a woman riding her bike say this to us as we passed her on lockside near Claremont. An older woman, maybe even older than me. She was riding with a couple of others. They were riding single file and we passed riding a double line. Nothing looked amiss, nothing looked different than earlier or later passings. I am just curious about her reaction and what about our passing might have been seen as rude? I wonder if maybe we forget to pass as widely as we want cars to pass us? Perhaps we are somehow intimidating? I did not see anything we have not been doing safely for decades but her comment was unmistakably meant for us.
Is there something we should be asking? is this her problem? Is this much ado about nothing?

Mike the same thing has happened to us on the Sunday ride. Different woman by the sound of it but nevertheless she was also upset at us. I think you have a really good point about giving other riders more room like we want the cars to do. Good advice Mike!

I was out on Sunday from Burnside and another one. older guy riding an upright flatbar city bike. Why the F do you ride (pass) so damn close?
It does seem that some riders do not appreciate that we are used to being close to other riders but JQ public does not share the experience. We are also assuming their ability to ride a straight line is up to our ability.
I never ever considered this was an issue but I suppose I also never thought we would see this number of riders out on the roads every weekend. There is an irony too. Cyclists need to pass as wide as we want the cars too.