"JohnP" wrote in message
. ..


The weekend before last it was a cyclist - who kept waving me past,
despite it being a fairly narrow country road, close to a bend, with
no idea what might be coming the other way.


It is dangerous as most people will subliminally feel obliged to comply
with gratitude. I never wave anyone out. There are times when I may
obviously lift my hands off the steering wheel to signify I am not going
to
move.

I was driving along a single-track road with passing places, following a
cyclist. Whenever we got to a passing place where it *might* be safe for me
to overtake, he moved out into the middle of the road, preventing me
overtaking. But when we were in a single section, approaching a bend, he
signalled furiously, waving me past. He did this several times: it was not
just a fluke. Either he *wanted* me to force him into the verge and then hit
an oncoming car that appeared from round the bend, or else he had no traffic
sense at all.

He seemed to be getting more and more irate that I wouldn't overtake, but he
wasn't letting me do so at the places where it was safe. On one occasion I
could see the top of a red Royal Mail van over the wall around the bend, so
I *knew* it wasn't safe. From his higher vantage point he should have had an
even better view of it and known not to beckon me on.

I think some of the problem is the "performance cyclists" who want to ride
as fast as their stamina and the gradient will let them, and who aren't
prepared to let any other traffic past. When I'm cycling, especially on a
narrow country lane, I try to be aware of whether there's anything behind
me, and will always pull into a farm gateway. The "point ahead and then
left" gesture seems to convey very well my intention that I'll keep going
until I get to the gateway that I can see ahead, and then I'll pull over.

As a car driver I will occasionally want to drive slower than I sense cars
behind me want to (if I'm looking for an address, or I want to admire the
view) and I will find somewhere to pull over, rather than just driving
slowly and making them wait. I once had a problem with my car (turbo hose
hadn't been properly re-attached by garage, so car was running with no turbo
assistance) which meant my car could only get up to about 40 mph, and slowed
to about 20 on even gentle hills. I drove home very carefully, looking for
pulling-over spots and ready to let normal-speed traffic get past. (I played
merry hell with the garage for returning my car in the state that they did,
after rectifying an early problem. I booked it in for the loss-of-power
problem to be investigated, not relishing the drive there, but something
made me check for loose hoses, and found the hose to the turbo was hanging
off. It took a minute or so to tighten the jubilee clip and normal service
was restored. So I rang to cancel, and reported the problem to the service
manager who gave me my next service or MOT for free. I hadn't realised just
how much a turbo-diesel *needs* the turbo - evidently a normally-aspirated
1.6 is pretty puny!)