General Cycling Discussion - Teenagers...Don't You Love Em?

I took a nice 1 1/2 hour ride on Saturday afternoon. The weather is finally starting to turn nice here in Wisconsin. In fact it was perfect. What could ruin this wonderful ride?

1. One bag of food leftovers in a Macdonald's bag thrown at me from a passing car.

2. One empty beer can also thrown at me from a passing car. The girls in the car seemed to be about 16 years old. My, they thought that was funny.

3. Two guys in a pickup pulled up along side me to warn me to be careful because my chain was turning. Golly, am I glad they pointed that out.

4. One group on teenagers in a car using "nasty" words and interesting hand signals. This also seemed to be very amusing to them.

This all happened on one afternoon ride. This is more incidents of this type than I have experienced in the last 4 years. It must be the weather.

Stupid little idiots. I notice that teenagers are really reckless hotheads at the wheel and they scare the c*** out of me- blabbing on cell phones while they roll through stop signs, etc. In the meantime, you're in great shape and they're all tubby little rug rats who drive everywhere!

My goodness! I am so fortunate to have three compassionate and well-mannered children. I do not understand teenagers who do ignorant things like those described above.

I have never had anything thrown at me, although there have been a few who have yelled "Hey, baby!" or something equally as silly....mainly teenagers or college kids. It is a source of great amusement to me when that happens now. It makes me wonder if they have some sort of Oedipus complex or something, since I am old enough to be their mother!

:D

Originally posted by bjlaw
I took a nice 1 1/2 hour ride on Saturday afternoon. The weather is finally starting to turn nice here in Wisconsin. In fact it was perfect. What could ruin this wonderful ride?
Hm. I wonder... :D



1. One bag of food leftovers in a Macdonald's bag thrown at me from a passing car.
They were full. Americans should have the freedom to burp and toss.



2. One empty beer can also thrown at me from a passing car. The girls in the car seemed to be about 16 years old. My, they thought that was funny.
No, that's not funny. That can could have had beer left in it! Waste not, want not...



3. Two guys in a pickup pulled up along side me to warn me to be careful because my chain was turning. Golly, am I glad they pointed that out.
It's really nice when motorists are helpful that-a-way. :thumbup:



4. One group on teenagers in a car using "nasty" words and interesting hand signals. This also seemed to be very amusing to them.
This is my pet peeve. It's so refreshing to see young people mastering proper hand signals. (The "nasty" words...are you sure they weren't just trying to accentuate their hand signals? I mean, don't be too quick to judge the flower of our nation.)



This all happened on one afternoon ride. This is more incidents of this type than I have experienced in the last 4 years. It must be the weather.
Spring has sprung! :beer:

I would have stopped after #2, read the license plate, and called the police to report under an aged DUI... maybe they would get arrested...

Originally posted by wabbit
you're in great shape and they're all tubby little rug rats who drive everywhere!

I agree!!! I had one pull up beside me yesterday at a stoplight and tell me that I looked like a queer in that fa**ady, a$$ outfit. I replied to him and said "That's why I look as good as I do and you are still a fat a$$!"

Boy am I glad I was never a teenager! (Not to justify these peoples actions, but please be a little less general in your characterizations).


I notice that teenagers are really reckless hotheads at the wheel and they scare the c*** out of me- blabbing on cell phones while they roll through stop signs, etc.
I've seen plenty of people over the hill doing that too. It's not a problem with teenagers, it's a problem with society.

Ms Vicki, thank you for raising the kind of children intelligent people wouldn't be constantly embarrasses to be seen with. Hopefully people don't try to apply the same stereotypes to them.

Final words - constructive criticism and positive reinforcement, make of them what you will

I think that this has all become worse in the years since Nancy Reagan and "Just Say No," teen abstinence education, and all that. Teenage drivers seemed less crazy and mean 20+ years ago when more of 'em were smoking reefer and having active sex lives. All those pent up hormones, y'know.

i was stopped at a light once and a passing car threw a piece of a kitkat bar at me. it felt like i got shot.

Even though I consider myself a member of the group talked about here (I am almost done with my undergraduate work at college, so maybe I'm at the upper end, but ya know...) I too am appaled at the behavior that these kids are showing.

I'm sure you all recognize that thse actions don't cover the attitude of every kid, but I just wanted to reiterate that there are a lot of good kids out there also. I know neither I nor any of the friends that I know would even think of doing anything like what's been shown here. Hopefully there are more good kids out there than it seems at times. As for myself, I sure hope that I can mark myself down for the "good" side.

Ok, yeah. I guess that's basically what I was thinking. Now I just need finals to end so I can get out of the city and hit some real trails!

If they do something serious get their plate number. I keep a pen in my bag just incase. I had someone hit me with their hand once when they passed by. I got their plate number and the cops made a little warning visit.

If they are just trying to be funny I try to be funnier. The other day some teenagers were in a car next to me at a stoplight. The one kid yelled hey nice butt. I told him thanks and that I was not into guys, but I was sure he would find someone someday. I may have embarrassed him because the car was full of teenagers and they bust out laughing. I like to be extremely nice or funny in those situations. Always seems to get to people because they expect you to yell nasty words back at them. If I am all by myself on a deserted road I tend to be a little quieter.

:D

Two years ago, a female triathlete and newspaper writer suffered a broken pelvis because a group of teenagers thought it would be "cool" to open a car door in her path.

My two teenage sons know that I expect them to treat everyone, particularly cyclists and pedestrians, with respect.

ah the joys of youth. . .
to be honest, I don't remember my teenage years,
but they tell me I had a heck of a time. . .
(those of you who remember the 60's didn't live
through the 60's).
Agree with the above, write down numbers maybe
have a little chat with the local sheriff etc. then they
can have a chat with the parents.
As for number 2, call the police. I have NO tolerance
for DUI.

Originally posted by MsVicki
My goodness! I am so fortunate to have three compassionate and well-mannered children.
well they're from texas, what do you expect?
(ok, we do have a few renegades here, but not too
many :lol: )

Marty

I think that a more appropriate subject line would be "Jerks ... dont' you love then?!?"

Jag-offs that do that sort of stuff come in all ages, shapes and sizes. I've had my share of misc stuff throw my direction from a variety of jerks in autos. Of course, I always call them on by shaking my fist or showing a variety of fingers - no one has ever come back yet. (thank god!) :D

Im kinda in the same group as rashenup, Im a college freshman though so a bit closer than rashenup is. Im a triathlete and thus run and cycle. I get so much s*** from people. Idiots at lights that dont stop even though I have the right of way. Lazy, unfit, fat a**es yelling dumb crap. Havent had anything thrown at me...yet. Im fully behind that 'thats why I look good and you are fat!!', I love running by couples or going past a car on my bike and seeing a woman with a fat guy who obviously thinks beer drinking is an olympic sport. One of my fitness goals is to go past these couples and make the women think 'why doesnt my guy look like that?!' Sorry for the rough ride, at least the weather was nice.

Ouch :(

Come on we aren't all bad.

-Matt-

The last time a kid insulted me from his car and swerved into me, I sprinted him down, caught him at a light and spent the next two minutes discussing what I thought about him, his heritage, his parents skills, his car, and just about anything else I could think of. His girlfriend was laughing her butt off. Oh, yes I'm fiveten, weigh 180 and look like I just got out of county on asault and battery (I really am a sweetheart tho) I just get annoyed when someone gets hot with me for doing something that harms no one and I enjoy.

well, i have to agree that the things that some people do can be REALLY inconsiderate. and while people of all ages do it (sometimes the older ones are even WORSE), but teenagers do tend to do it more often. ya know, they're rebelling against whatever and haven't yet defined themselves and their values and are more open to peer pressure...

i have to admit i did SOME inconsiderate things as a teenager that i thought were really funny. i think the worst was that i used to intentionally drive my truck through puddles of water after it rained soas to splash pedestrains. one time i sent a wave of water about 6 ft high into a postman...

or i used to go "egging" although we hit cars instead of pedestrains or cyclists...

i don't think i ever injured anyone. but i did do some stupid stuff.


I think that this has all become worse in the years since Nancy Reagan and "Just Say No," teen abstinence education, and all that. Teenage drivers seemed less crazy and mean 20+ years ago when more of 'em were smoking reefer and having active sex lives. All those pent up hormones, y'know.

well, i think kids today are just as crazy and as rebellious as ever, but teenagers today are always treated like "kids" and then we wonder why they act crazy as soon as they're not under direct supervision...

oh, and i agree, there are still a lot of good teenagers out there.

Wow. that bites man.

I've had it happen to me plenty of times. My favorites though are still the cars that pull right out in front of you from a cross-street when you're doing like 25-30 MPH down a paved road hill... :rolleyes:

I'm 18 years old myself and I must say I've honestly never done any "dirty deeds" to roadies, pedestrians (unless they were a group of kids walking out at like 12:00 midnight causing trouble), or people on bikes. It's just plain ********.

I've had an incident where a lady talking on a stupid phone came out from a sidestreet and dang near hit me, as I was running parallel to the main-street on the sidewalk... so what's she do.. she just cuts across the street in her Explorer... I stopped, and followed her down to the next stop sign, pulled up next to her and exclaimed some nice words... something along the lines of "Thanks for almost killing me you stupid yuppy *****"

Oh well. Sorry. Had to vent a little I guess.

Perhaps I was a bit too harsh. I didn't mean to be all inclusive. However they were all teenagers on this particular day. I love teenagers too. I have two of them.

I tried really hard to get the license plate number of the beer can throwers but they out ran me and turned up a street with a large incline. I wish my eyes were better. I had my cell phone in my pack which I carry for emergencies. I was prepared to report them. If it was later in the season I would have climbed that hill to go after them.

This is a subject that really bugs me, teenagers in this day and age have been spoiled way too much and also have not been taught respect and good manners. I have been called about every thing in the book while riding, but when you give them the finger it seems to help me vent a little. I know it is probably not the right thing to do but it keeps from getting to pi$$ed off. YES, I have actually had someone turn around before and confront me until they seen what I really looked like. I guess the 195lb 5ft 8" rock solid bald headed dude probably looked meaner than he actually was! I have also been run off the road by an ambulance with no lights or sirens on , that just kept on going. That really ticks me off. Meanwhile I hope wish everyone a safe cycling summer.

Originally posted by nathank
...i think the worst was that i used to intentionally drive my truck through puddles of water after it rained soas to splash pedestrains.

That was you?!?! :mad:














:p

Well i'm not a teenager anymore by a few years, though i still feel like one. Anyways, I was always a biker when i was a teenager so if my friends wanted to give anyone **** i wouldn't let them. I hate the ****ing ****head *******s that have nothing better to do than to mess with you on the road. Like what the hell is wrong with these people. I never understood other teenagers and why they wanted to **** with people that hardcore. I can understand messing with kids in school and what not, but not on the road, i means that's serious and it's one thing that's always irked me. Don't give me a gun on a bike cause i'd lay waste to a lot of crappy and inconsiderate drivers (in my fantasty world). :)

Hey DrGonzo.......

For your literary pleasure have you ever read Spike Bike? This would be for your fantasy world of course.

http://members.aol.com/clubnbc/spike_1.htm

Originally posted by TriDevil
One of my fitness goals is to go past these couples and make the women think 'why doesnt my guy look like that?!

I agree 110%. I have never said it before, but that has definitely been one of my goals too! Everytime I see a car slowly passing me by and the wife/girlfriend is just staring at me through the corner of her eye and the side view mirror, that's enough to inspiration to keep me going!

I've never had a problem with teenagers. It's the (chronological) adults. Just two days ago I had a particularly ugly run-in with a driver who ought to have provided a better example for the kid in the passenger's seat.

I was riding in the bike lane and passed a car that had stopped in the middle of the road to make a left. Just behind me I could hear a car revving and when I turned to look there was a car right on my tail, using the bike lane to pass on the right. I pointed to the car lane and yelled "Hey! Stay out of the bike lane!"

The car pulled up even with me and the driver (a woman in her early 30s, I'm guessing) started screaming the foulest things, leaning right over her son. The kid looked embarrassed. The driver accelerated to about 100m ahead of me then made an aggressive veer into the bike lane and kept driving there.

I was pissed so I started sprinting, hoping that I'd catch her at the next light. She must have seen me and gone "uh-oh" because then she blazed up to the next light and made a right turn without even slowing. Lucky for her I was coming from the gym and was pretty wiped out. ;)

Anyway, she's a lost cause. Unfortunately, her kid probably will be too. In a couple of years he'll be throwing trash at me....

I've been lucky with teenagers this year. On my ride home from work I go past one of the local high schools and haven't had any problems. In fact not too long ago I got a thumbs up from some teens in a car when they passed me as I was reaching the top of a particulary steep climb.

Zack

Originally posted by bjlaw
3. Two guys in a pickup pulled up along side me to warn me to be careful because my chain was turning. Golly, am I glad they pointed that out.


actually, that sounds kinda funny. That just seems like a harmless joke.

EVERYBODY, don't flip people off it just gets them madder at you. Give them a big thumbs up for their foolish behavior. It shows you know they screwed up without giving them a reason to throw it back at you. This has worked great for me for about two years now since I first did as an impomptu sarcastic visual response to some bonehead maneuver. His response was so funny I have done it ever since. Except, of course, when we are both stopped and I can discuss their shortcomings face to face.

Good idea vegas! I'd call the highway patrol, give them the license number and say, "I saw this car driving erratically and speeding!"

Last year I had a group a young girls offer themselves to me. They said I could have any one or all of them if I wanted, then spouted off there bra sizes, etc. Wasn't sure how to reply since we were stopped at a light. Light turned, I smiled and pedalled off. I hope my kids don't do that.
Oh, another time, some nice girl in a backseat was making tonguing motions at me while waiting at a stop light. Nice kids. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by pletcgm
I agree!!! I had one pull up beside me yesterday at a stoplight and tell me that I looked like a queer in that fa**ady, a$$ outfit. I replied to him and said "That's why I look as good as I do and you are still a fat a$$!"
The ultimate revenge goes like one of these:

1) They follow your lead (and get to walk through the same ordeal.)

2) They grow old in half the time. If you ever see them, you won't recognize them, and if you did, you'd feel too sorry for them to exact payback.

:(

Originally posted by Stor Mand
Last year I had a group a young girls offer themselves to me. They said I could have any one or all of them if I wanted, then spouted off there bra sizes, etc.

...another time, some nice girl in a backseat was making tonguing motions at me while waiting at a stop light.
Stor Mand,

Just Say No.

:beer:

Teenager kids are God's punishment for....









Having been a teenager :roflmao:

I think cyclists are in the same boat as motorcycles. I've heard stories that motorcyle riders will rip your side mirrors off if they get a chance with their gloves. Some carry socks with coins and swing them at pestering cars. If I was at a stop sign and some kid was being an ass I'd probable take a nice swing at his mirror (if I had gloves on) But then that would make me no better than them ... it'd be fun though.

As a high school sub teacher, I thought I'd seen it all with teenagers until I spied an attractive girl in the back of the room She had her blouse open, her bra half off, and one breast exposed. She had a pen and was writing something on her breast. When I approached her and asked what the hell was going on, without hesitation or embarrassment, she said: "I'm writing my boyfriend's name in a circle around my nipple." None of the kids sitting in her area gave any indication they thought something strange was going on. Times are a-changin!

I've had people lean out their car windows and almost hit me. I've had people yell at me and also throw stuff at me.

After getting hit with some food, I didn't think it was funny, neither did the State Police when I called them and neither did the family of the kid that was driving the car. The others in the car ratted out their "friend" and HIS family was very apolgetic to me. In the great scheme of things, I doubt this will have any lasting effect on him, but I hope it does.

On a more positive note about teenagers, I was riding and a car of teenage girls drove by with 2 of them sticking their heads out the window yelling "Nice ass". I smiled at them and kept riding. But it was a nice feeling that 17-18 yo girls find my middle-aged posterior attractive. :blush:

Originally posted by trmcgeehan
"I'm writing my boyfriend's name in a circle around my nipple."

Where were these girls when I was in high school?!? :D

bac...They now live in a doublewide trailer in Arkansas.

ok, i am a teenage cyclist and if i ever see any of my friends or anyone else for that matter doing this s*** i will pull some road rage on them (if im not the one biking... hahaha) seee...... yall got some teens on your side to0.:beer:

Originally posted by Rev.Chuck
EVERYBODY, don't flip people off it just gets them madder at you.

I usually just wave and them and they get the funniest look on their faces.

The reason I usually don't flip them off or say something smart is because you never know if that person is one of these people that is a nut ball. They could turn around and try to run you over.

Teenagers... Don't you love them?

NO, They are however a necessary evil.

I often think of WC Fields, "Get away kid, ya bother me!"

Originally posted by pletcgm
I usually just wave and them and they get the funniest look on their faces.

The reason I usually don't flip them off or say something smart is because you never know if that person is one of these people that is a nut ball. They could turn around and try to run you over.

I do the same. I love they looks on their faces. Especially the ones who had no clue they almost killed me. That "what the hell is he waving at me for" look and awkward wave back.

The reason I usually don't flip them off or say something smart is because you never know if that person is one of these people that is a nut ball.

Problem being, I AM a nutball. A BIG NUTBALL, 225lbs and 6'0". People generally back down from me. Especially when I'm pissed!

I often will provide a single digit salute and stand up and hammer towards the offending car when assaulted.

Last time someone yelled at me, (young men), I saluted them. They acted like they were going to pull over. At this point, I was so mad, I started sprinting like crazy to catch them and I pointed to a side street. They kept going. Fired me up though, increased my avg speed by 1 or 2 mph.

L8R

Originally posted by trmcgeehan
As a high school sub teacher, I thought I'd seen it all with teenagers until I spied an attractive girl in the back of the room She had her blouse open, her bra half off, and one breast exposed. She had a pen and was writing something on her breast. When I approached her and asked what the hell was going on, without hesitation or embarrassment, she said: "I'm writing my boyfriend's name in a circle around my nipple." None of the kids sitting in her area gave any indication they thought something strange was going on. Times are a-changin!

Oh, my God. What is our school system coming to??

What are school systems coming to? I don't know, but back in the mid '70's when I was in high school, things weren't exactly pristine.

In Kalamazoo, I had several girls threaten to kick my ass. I guess it was a sexual thing. :)

In Atlanta, every morning I arrived at school, the first sight I saw was very large group of kids standing together smoking. Cigarettes were also smoked in quantity. The air was filled with burning rope. No cops joined the party. In fact, I never saw it on the news.

Kids are just as confused today as I was thirty years ago.

IMFlorida2004, Im right there with you. If Im with friends and they start pulling some stupid s*** believe me, Id be the FIRST to smack their heads and tell them to get out there on a bike!