screamers

[seasponge]

i'm getting really tired of people in cars that scream when they get right up behind you and beside you. its really dangerous because it catches you off guard and sometimes makes you jump from being startled. aside from being dangerous its really rude. it happens about once a day where i live. very annoying

[Cyclepath]

I'd move. Things like this happened to me all the time in Conn., never here. :) The overall quality of life is better too.

One time an under-30 guy in a pickup (the typical profile) with girlfriend tried to run me over while i WALKED across the street on green. I happened to have my oak walking stick & slammed the left rear panel as i dodged. He sped off & didn't look back!

[ctyler]

Where do you live?

It's never happened to me here in southern Wisconsin.

[Cyclepath]

Would be interesting to know what parts of the country are
biker-friendly & which not. A map maybe?

[seasponge]

chico, california AKA college party town.

but it happens during non "party hours" all the time.

[Bikepacker67]

I'd move. Things like this happened to me all the time in Conn., never here. :) The overall quality of life is better too.

One time an under-30 guy in a pickup (the typical profile) with girlfriend tried to run me over while i WALKED across the street on green. I happened to have my oak walking stick & slammed the left rear panel as i dodged. He sped off & didn't look back!

No offense Cyclepath, but I regularly ride in NoHo, and Rt.5/9 area is FILLED with angry, belligerent motorists.

The only thing that differentiates them from the average BillyBob is that they have anti-bush stickers on their bumpers.

[bentbaggerlen]

Don't care what state or town you live in, theirs always at least one Knuckle dragger in every town. I have found that the more unusual the bike, the less often it happens though. More often it happens on the uprights, less often on the bents and trikes, and very rarely on the tandem bents.

I was ridding from NOHO to North Adams Ma. by way of Pittsfield last month when a screamer (AKA Motoring Primate) was yelling something out the window as they drove pass. It really struck me as odd as they had a roof rack with high end road bikes on it!

It's a shame you can never make out their little pearls of wisdom they feel that they have to share with you as they speed past. I imagine it something like....
"My family tree has root rot!" or "I have no friends!"

Butt the best one had to be in Ohio. I was sitting at a light when a car pulled up next to me, I glanced over and was treated to someones big harry a** sticking out a open window... all I could do was laugh! Butt what I really wanted to do was grab my frame pump and....

[Bikepacker67]

"My family tree has root rot!"

BWHAHAHAHAHA!
Never heard that one before!

BTW, BBL... ever take the Norwottuck all the way to the Belchertown end?
That's the best part of the trail.

[Santaria]

Someone moons me, I'm checking to see if they're birthing a colt, dry.

[seasponge]

basically it gets very old being "entertainment" for people sitting in cars.

[twahl]

Butt the best one had to be in Ohio. I was sitting at a light when a car pulled up next to me, I glanced over and was treated to someones big harry a** sticking out a open window... all I could do was laugh! Butt what I really wanted to do was grab my frame pump and....

Water bottle? With Gatorade would be better...

Pepper spray? Oh my, that stings, don't it?

[bentbaggerlen]

Butt...(yea its getting old now eh?) you know if I did use my pump, I'm sure I would have had a flat latter and would have needed it. And I would not have wanted it back after that.

Bikepacker67,
Yes, Its always fun to see what the Beavers have been up to... And if you start at the trail head at the CT river and ride around the Quabbin it make for a killer centry, I haven't done that one in years. I'm getting older and smarter!

You know the Forums have a lot of members around NOHO, maybe we should meet up at Pete's sometime, or better yet the NOHO brewry...

[Bikepacker67]

Bikepacker67,
Yes, Its always fun to see what the Beavers have been up to...

Couldn't that apply just as aptly to the NoHo terminus? :D

[JavaMan]

I hope there is a special place in hell for screamers!!!

[roadfix]

No screamers in L.A. I suggest you move to another town.

[Anthony King]

I've encountered the rare screamer. I guess they have no idea how little it effects me. Maybe if they ran up to me and screamed they could startle me, but guess what? I heard your car-engine way before you screamed. Nice sneak attack, giblet-head.

[hester]

No screamers in L.A. I suggest you move to another town.

i was screamed at here in l.a. just yesterday... the thing that gets me is not someone yelling something dumb out the window as they pass. you get immune to random crap like that living here. this person actually uttered an earth - shattering cry! like she was posessed by demons or something. took me by surprise and my foot slipped off the pedal. now i've got an inch long gash on my beautiful leg. so much for wearing that short skirt and high pupms for prom...

[seasponge]

i was screamed at here in l.a. just yesterday... the thing that gets me is not someone yelling something dumb out the window as they pass. you get immune to random crap like that living here. this person actually uttered an earth - shattering cry! like she was posessed by demons or something. took me by surprise and my foot slipped off the pedal. now i've got an inch long gash on my beautiful leg. so much for wearing that short skirt and high pupms for prom...

this is what i'm talking about.

[Kyle90]

Pick up a rock.. and throw it at'em.. Heh.. I usually just tell'em to f off. It dosen't startle me, cuase it's an everyday occcurance.

[cc_rider]

Screamers I ignore. If they want to show off their own stupidity, I'm happy to let them. I listen for cars and keep checking my mirror so I'm not too surprised by what's coming from behind.

It's the ones who buzz me, squeeze me over or cut me off that I have the big problem. Haven't had anything thrown at me yet (not that I know of) but I would treat that as an assault, too.

[drezdn]

Most screaming is uninteligible to me, as I played in a rock band for a few years when I should have been wearing ear plugs. Unjustified horn honks piss me off though, as they're usually uncalled for and could cause me to loose control of my bike and hit the person who honked.

[lilHinault]

If they're screaming, they're hanging their head out the window with their mouth open, what a nice target for pepper spray!

[HiYoSilver]

Stop being a screamer rewarder, get some mirrors. No jumping out of your skin, no reward. They'll eventually find a more rewarding target. Hate to say it, but you're part of the problem.

[Gojohnnygo.]

You guys are lucky. I was ready to kick some butt, I though you guys were talking about my girlfriend. :eek:

[jbonus]

Water bottle? With Gatorade would be better...

Pepper spray? Oh my, that stings, don't it?

Yeah, but you know how we cyclists are always suffering in perpetual headwinds.

[rigid4life]

I was ridding from NOHO to North Adams Ma. by way of Pittsfield last month when a screamer (AKA Motoring Primate) was yelling something out the window as they drove pass. It really struck me as odd as they had a roof rack with high end road bikes on it!

Maybe they were yelling encouragements?

[scarry]

I had a girlfriend who was a screamer. :D

[Delix]

Stop being a screamer rewarder, get some mirrors. No jumping out of your skin, no reward. They'll eventually find a more rewarding target. Hate to say it, but you're part of the problem.

You really cant be serious.

[John Ridley]

I've encountered the rare screamer. I guess they have no idea how little it effects me. Maybe if they ran up to me and screamed they could startle me, but guess what? I heard your car-engine way before you screamed. Nice sneak attack, giblet-head.

Yeah, the first few months that I was commuting, they startled me. These days practically nothing even bothers me. Cars can come right up next to me, gun their engine and lay on their horn, and I don't even flinch. The conditioning for not being scared extends beyond riding too; last summer at a reunion, my nephew snuck up behind me on a very hot day, and pressed a fresh-from-the-icebox, dripping wet ice-cold soda on the back of my neck while I was talking. He was pretty bugged that I didn't even pause in my talking. A few years ago I would have jumped out of my skin.

[HiYoSilver]

You really cant be serious.
See rigleys comments. This is classical conditioning. Positive rewards are seeing cyclists jump, give finger, etc. Negative rewards are ignoring jerks. It's up to you which reward you give to the screaming stimulus. With a mirror, you can prepare for a null response and help distinquish the behavior.

Think of this as dog training and you'll be close to accurate.

[damnpoor]

When I was a kid in Chico riding my bike home from school people used to yell, throw things, jump out and try to kick you, etc. Now I ride out in the orchards foothills so I don't see many people, but I have to agree that this town has a lot of ****-brained morons. The other fun thing is when you get the dumb drivers who think that getting right behind you and following you is somehow better than just passing.

[Cyclaholic]

I haven't heard a single screamer since I started using my I-pod

[CB HI]

It has been a very long time since I had a screamer. But the last one was a passenger. I caught up to the car, put my head right at the window opening and yelled very loud right into the guys ear. He jumped out of his skin. The car remained stopped as the driver and 2 other passengers were laughing at Mr. Screamer.

[bike2math]

A coworker who bought a Prius a couple of years ago finds enormous joy out of sneaking up behind me and honking the horn (about once a week). I'll grant you it was pretty funy the first few times, but at this point the joke is very very old.

I'm a jumpy person by nature and screamers always seem to startle me, even if I see them hanging out their window and know what they are about to do. But its okay. I figure it is just another type of Karma transaction. I'll get mine later and someday the screamers will get theirs. :D

[Riv-Lantis]

A coworker who bought a Prius a couple of years ago finds enormous joy out of sneaking up behind me and honking the horn (about once a week). I'll grant you it was pretty funy the first few times, but at this point the joke is very very old.



I think I'd tell them as much in a nice message across the hood of that Prius with an allen wrench from my multi-tool.

[nelson249]

I'd move. Things like this happened to me all the time in Conn., never here. :) The overall quality of life is better too.

One time an under-30 guy in a pickup (the typical profile) with girlfriend tried to run me over while i WALKED across the street on green. I happened to have my oak walking stick & slammed the left rear panel as i dodged. He sped off & didn't look back!


I did the same thing with a pair of steel toed combat boots when a car cut in front of me in a crosswalk. I might get myself a big old stick.

[nelson249]

It has been a very long time since I had a screamer. But the last one was a passenger. I caught up to the car, put my head right at the window opening and yelled very loud right into the guys ear. He jumped out of his skin. The car remained stopped as the driver and 2 other passengers were laughing at Mr. Screamer.


I like it :D

[maddyfish]

Not a problem here. I don't think anybody has screamed at me.

[pjrocco]

It happens to me almost every day. Makes me jump every single time... :rolleyes:

[San Rensho]

Here in Miami, road rage capital of the world, there are screamers, but not that many because the don't want to roll down their windows and disrupt their air conditioned cuccoon, and they have been conditioned not to scream at other drivers because it frequently is met by gunfire.

So instead, Miami drivers just try to run you down. They pass you as closely as possible, then get in front of you and slam on the brakes, look right at you and then turn left in front of you making you brake and swerve, etc.

Almost prefer the screamer because at least you know there is a threat.

[Bushman]

Last screamer that screamed at me got treated to an earful of compressed air horn, the kind used on construction sites to shut the site down if there's an accident.