Commuting - Holding a car

There are a few stop lights on my commute that can be pretty busy. Occasionally I will hold on to a car waiting at the light so that I don't have to unclip.
I make eye contact with the driver so that I know he sees me and make sure that I don't scratch the car. I haven't had anybody tell me to go away and I think its a lot safer than trying to clip on while going through a busy intersection.
Any thoughts?

I've occasionally done it, but sooner or later you're going to upset someone. You may also hold onto a car of someone who decides to jump a light.I take it you use toeclips? Why not swap to SPD's or the like?

Any thoughts?

this is going to cause trouble for you someday, some people consider their car as personnel space
clipping in shouldn't be difficult
trackstanding is a valuable skill
clip in after you've cleared the busy intersection
this could cause anxiety with unpredictable results in drivers lacking confidence or experience

yeah, i agree that someone will get really pissed off some time...

i track-stand most of the time or unclip if i know the wait will be longer than 1-2 minutes...

i used to "hitch" cars when rollerblading when i was younger and sometimes people would ge really pissed even though i would never have scratched or damageed their cars. (ok it's also illegal)

i currently have clipless on 3 of my 4 bikes and prefer it, but back in the day when i was poor, i never had much trouble clips/cages... leanr to trackstand for the short waits at a stop sign or a short light and then just get better at clipping in...

Sorry, but I'd be pissed if someone grabbed onto my car. If I was in the wifes car I likely wouldn't care

Although I have an unhealthy obsession with my car. :D Toyota MR2 btw.

What are the basics of trackstanding? Every time I have ever attempted something similar, I have ended up on the groud with all kinds of eyes to enjoy my mistake. :rolleyes: Now I try to pace my approach to the light, or always unclip if I get to the intersection. I have gotten better at getting back into the pedal, but occasionally it takes me a good 30 seconds to get the cleat into the pedal. That is frustrating.. esp when I am on a left turn.

I have a crappy car, but I'd still be pretty upset if someone felt the need to attach themselves to it, even if only for the duration of the light.

Yeah I have to agree with the others, you are asking for trouble by doing this. You can also mess up and possibly slip as you are reaching for the car, then fall against the car with your bike. That would be horrible. You could definitely cause damage that way.

I tend to keep a healthy buffer between me and any car, no matter if it's stopped, parked, or moving.

PBW

Even here in cycle-friendly Denmark motorists get pretty annoyed when you hold on to their cars. I would stop this practise if I was you.

This bumper sticker said it all:

"You toucha my car, I breaka you face"

Originally posted by christine
I have a crappy car, but I'd still be pretty upset if someone felt the need to attach themselves to it, even if only for the duration of the light.
Ditto.

I don't want people touching my car - and I definitely don't want anyone touching my bike.

Originally posted by cwodave
There are a few stop lights on my commute that can be pretty busy. Occasionally I will hold on to a car waiting at the light so that I don't have to unclip.
No.

Just my instinct, Dave.

i do it sometimes ,just to piss them off if theyve just cut me up , it realy makes some drivers agitated, their so busy roaring away & looking back when the lights change that they nearly side-swipe the morons toeing it thru the opposing lights on last of the yellow or start of the red :crash: :crash: poetic justice.! but no as a rule i dont do it but it does get an interesting reaction. ive noticed commercial vechicle drivers dont seem to mind, iv even exchanged pleasantries with truckies thru their windows while hanging on his fender waiting for the lights to change. as far as im concerned cyclists are more than welcome to hang on to my car if it makes life easier, but i dont regard a car as any thing more than a some-time nessasary evil,;)

This is a definite no-no in my book.

Even if you got the drivers permission, the other drivers will not know this and assume that you are a cheeky what-not for hanging on. At best it will raise antagonism between cars and cyclists at worst they may even try and teach you a 'lesson' by driving past you very closely . Numbskull of a an attitude by the driver but it only takes one.

carry a box cutter, no only joking :D carry a pen take their rego.#report them to the police for threatening with a deadlly weapon if theyve used their car in that fashion, tell the cops you think they were drinking;) they will certainly have a "word" with them. dont be submisive that also sends a "wrong message" :irritated

As a cyclist, I never do that. I prefer to be further off the track of the car driver... or right in front of them, where they readily see me.

As a car driver, I don't like the idea. I guess it would be OK if you used my front left fender or my left window (with gloves) to hold yourself. The right front fender would be OK providing you are not in a blind spot. But I don't like anyone hiding behind me. Too easy to miss.

Regards,

Looks like I haven't been looking at this from a drivers point of view.
Thanks for the input.

A picture is worth a thousand words! Here ya go:

http://www.tyleradam.com/ajcycling/funnies.htm

click on:
European Fiat car commercile

(must load full 39 secs)

enjoy!

I wouldn't dream of holding on to a car.

No wonder drivers get pissed at us.

Originally posted by Gus Riley
A picture is worth a thousand words! Here ya go:

http://www.tyleradam.com/ajcycling/funnies.htm

click on:
European Fiat car commercile

(must load full 39 secs)

enjoy!

OMG... that was too funny... I almost spewed my coke.

PBW

Urgh!! Car? I wouldn't want to touch one of those, you never know where they have been;)

Ed


(Seriously - I would never hang on to another vehicle of any sort, stationary or otherwise, for all the reasons given in the other posts.)

Originally posted by P. B. Walker


OMG... that was too funny... I almost spewed my coke.

PBW


Well that proves the Fiat advertisment was worth the money, as we are even discussing it on a cycling web site

Somewhere out on the WWW there is a site where loads of other funny adverts can be down loaded. Most of them are European or Australian, but there is a classic American one for tinned salmon where a bear and a fisherman have a fight - can anyone supply the URL ?

i've got a sure cure for any tendency you might have to ever touch a car again: try hitch-hiking cross country.

years ago, when i was too young to know better, i hitched from birmingham, ala., to new orleans, louis.

the characters i met were so bizarre and so scarey it made me realize that the world is populated by absolute psychos, and i go to great lengths not to do anything that might pi$$ them off. as others have said ... if you continue this practice, one day it will bite you.

i'm with sailguy, and a little farther behind...what IS trackstanding and what are the basics?