By Erin Bishop  January 30 2010

Cycling on Mid Canterbury’s rural roads can be scary at times, but most drivers are accommodating, cyclists say.

The continuing battle between cyclists and motorists heated up again this week with a Christchurch businessman making what he later said were tongue in cheek remarks about driving his H2 Hummer motor vehicle into cyclists on the Port Hills.

 A number of Ashburton police officers bike to work, so the Guardian asked a couple of them for their personal thoughts on cyclist safety on Mid Canterbury roads.

 Sergeant Vicki Walker lives in the country so has to tackle a relatively busy country road to get to work, and she always did so cautiously after a number of close calls.

 “I’m always cautious because it’s a rural road and there’s not a lot of space,” Ms Walker said.

 She said wore a bright yellow vest, always stuck to the left, checked behind her for cars and if motorists slowed down as they passed her, she’d give them a wave.

 Some of her close calls had been with buses and stock trucks and the reason she rode a mountain bike was so that she could duck off to the side of the road if needed.

 “Most drivers are pretty good but if people haven’t been cyclists themselves they don’t realise how unnerving it can be to have a car pass you at 100km/h,” Ms Walker said.

 “They try to give you room, but sometimes it’s not as much as they think and the wind drift can sometimes be pretty exciting.”

 Tinwald Cycling Club member and Ashburton police senior constable Rob Hooper said he’d never had any issues with motorists either in races, or during recreational riding, but he’d be naive to say they didn’t occur.

 “As a club we’re pretty mindful that its in our best interest to be responsible and be good road users too, because at the end of the day we’re going to come off second best,” Mr Hooper said.

 “And we hope that in return, vehicle users are mindful of the position we are in.”

 He did recall one time when cycling club members on the Ashburton River bridge were squeezed into the side of the bridge by a truck driver.

 Ashburton police senior sergeant Grant Russell said cyclists weren’t always blameless.

 Just a couple of weeks ago, he dealt with a cyclist who pulled out into the road every time a car went to pass him.

 That incident occurred in town.

 Mr Russell said cyclists needed to take more responsibility.

 “I’m not saying it’s shocking, but it could do with some improvement,” Mr Russell said.

 Another Ashburton cyclist, who did not wish to be named, said she’d had close calls even this week.

 In one evening ride alone, she had a scary moment with a truck, before a motorcyclist passed her far too close for comfort – she believed the motorcyclist did it deliberately to scare her.