Phew, that was close

[944fan]

May need a new set of Bibs after the commute in this morning.

Was turning right at a roundabout, typical MK affair with 4 exits. As I come round corner there a car coming from the road ahead of me. I can see the driver is looking down the road to see what is coming, not on the roundabout. The car is braking as you can it leaning forward. Suddenly as I am almost level with his exit I see the weight of the car shift backwards as he comes off the brake to go as the road is clear (still hasn't checked the roundabout).

I had a couple of options, try and accelerate passed the exit and miss him, bail out of the corner and go completely round the roundabout, or slam then anchors on.

Which did I choose? Secret option 4. Wave my arms and shriek at the guy like some crazed One Direction fan with a bad case of the mental. Worked though, saw me, braked sharply, overshot the line but missed me as I was in the centre of the lane.

Very nearly "literally" st myself.

Any other near misses today?

[IroningMan]

If you will live in Milton Keynes...

Having just invested in Assos bibs I am working extra hard to avoid any near misses.

[944fan]

Tell me about it. The right hand turn off the A421 towards Bleak Hall is fun in rush hour as well. Thankfully the traffic means no-one is approaching it at full tilt.

[Mr E]

944fan said:

Any other near misses today?

Almost taken out at a mini roundabout last night.
I'm going straight on, car approaching from the left. It's my roundabout.
Approaching car looks right, looks straight at me and I can only assume does a SMIDSY. Pulls out.
I was already covering the brakes, and his window was open. I think the first he knew I was there was when he heard my manly shriek and rear wheel locking up.....

[944fan]

Another fking close one this morning.

Stupid bint pulling out on the roundabout. Only when I shouted "Oi look out" did she see me and stopped, in the middle of the roundabout. She then got beeped by others for blocking. I may have called her a stupid bh which I regretted after but it happens in the heat of the moment.

[extraT]

When I used to cycle in London, I used to have to cross 3 or four roundabouts. After a few near misses I decided to get off the bike and walk it across the junction. Yeah, I maybe a pussy for that, but that's better than the guy I saw being wiped out by a Kia one day....

[bakerstreet]

Mr E said:

Almost taken out at a mini roundabout last night.
I'm going straight on, car approaching from the left. It's my roundabout.
Approaching car looks right, looks straight at me and I can only assume does a SMIDSY. Pulls out.
I was already covering the brakes, and his window was open. I think the first he knew I was there was when he heard my manly shriek and rear wheel locking up.....

I'm always on the hoods/brakes when I'm commuting. I cycle through some busy urbean areas and through some tight lanes with blind bends.

I pulled away from a set of a traffic lights this morning and the A-Class that was behind revved away and then just pulled right across my path and parked up on the left. His parking spot was barely 100ft from the line of the junction. He must have been desperate for that space.

I'm not in a great mood today so I took one look at him and shouted t&%t Usually I wouldn't have bothered, but as I said, I was in a bad mood.

[Birdster]

I'd say that's a good idea mate. I go to the local cycle centre now and a few guys on nice road bikes go there now rather then ride on the road it seems.

I was out at a local forest the other day and popped out the other side and decided to take the road back to my car. People overtaking too close, or waiting for a gap and then overtaking me coming up a slight blind hill. Anything coming the other way you can bet the guy overtaking me would have swerved into me.

I know it says more about me than the others who do cycle on the road, but I feel far too vulnerable on the roads around here.

[944fan]

extraT said:

When I used to cycle in London, I used to have to cross 3 or four roundabouts. After a few near misses I decided to get off the bike and walk it across the junction. Yeah, I maybe a pussy for that, but that's better than the guy I saw being wiped out by a Kia one day....

Tempted to do the same. This roundabout is the worse one. Its on the A421 and each approach is dual carriage way and it gets busy and people get impatient.

fks me off that see didn't see me. I am 6'5'', 17 stone on a 62cm Trek with a bright blue cycling jacket and my lights on. You can probably see me from the fking ISS.

[frontmech]

944fan said:

Tempted to do the same. This roundabout is the worse one. Its on the A421 and each approach is dual carriage way and it gets busy and people get impatient.

fks me off that see didn't see me. I am 6'5'', 17 stone on a 62cm Trek with a bright blue cycling jacket and my lights on. You can probably see me from the fking ISS.

That is a nasty roundabout but like you say is normally very busy so keeps vehicle speeds down during rush hour traffic. Although this can also cause the problem of drivers racing from their junction to join the roundabout into the smallest of gaps.
I'll sometimes take the option to join the redway before a roundabout go through the underpass and re-join the road again on the other side. This away you can avoid any problems from drivers who fail to notice bikes even if they are as visible as you were!