Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Transportational Clyde

This weekend has been an experiment in becoming a transportational cyclist. Saturday I rode 25 miles round trip to my local bike shop for an adjustment on the handlebars and to my gym. Sunday I rode to church, to a local used book store, and later that day, for dinner. (I moved pasta with eggplant more than two miles in my panniers without spilling.) So for Saturday and Sunday, I only used my car once, for a ten minute errand I should have been able to bike to. :-(

The only drawbacks have been motorists - I had horns honked at me, comments shouted out of windows, and in one case, waffle fries thrown at me. Obviously these poor folks have never seen a clyde on wheels.

I wouldn't sweat it Neil, you'll likely outlive them

It is not that you are a clyde on wheels, it is just Americans hate real bike riders. I know you have been reading the commuter forums and have seen the hateful things done to commuters. It really is a sad state of affairs. I understand the honking and poor driving, but the spitting and trash throwing is outrageous.

I plan to setup a click camera somehow on my bar bag. When this crap happens, and it will I will snap a shot and issue a complaint to the cops. I know nothing will happen, but to do nothing is not my way. The fries incident was assault, plain and simple.

It is not that you are a clyde on wheels, it is just Americans hate real bike riders. I know you have been reading the commuter forums and have seen the hateful things done to commuters. It really is a sad state of affairs. I understand the honking and poor driving, but the spitting and trash throwing is outrageous.

I plan to setup a click camera somehow on my bar bag. When this crap happens, and it will I will snap a shot and issue a complaint to the cops. I know nothing will happen, but to do nothing is not my way. The fries incident was assault, plain and simple.

With a deadly weapon at that. Imagine the transfats on those things.

With a deadly weapon at that. Imagine the transfats on those things.

MUHAHA... unfortunatly the weapon has probably already been chewed up by local varmits... it'll be difficult to prove assault without the weapon... can the cops to ballistics on a fry container to prove the said fries were came from his empty container? or lift fingerprints from a fry? :D

in all seriousness... that sucks... at least they could have thrown a cliff bar at you or something... you could have had a legitimate snack :)

Fry throwers vs a chess playing cyclist.
I'll back the smart guy to win in the long run.

MUHAHA... unfortunatly the weapon has probably already been chewed up by local varmits... it'll be difficult to prove assault without the weapon... can the cops to ballistics on a fry container to prove the said fries were came from his empty container? or lift fingerprints from a fry? :D

in all seriousness... that sucks... at least they could have thrown a cliff bar at you or something... you could have had a legitimate snack :)

If you want to test them, they're probably still where they landed, at the corner of 7th and Ridge Pike in Trappe, PA, just past the "Share the Road" sign.

If CSI has taught me anything....it is that those fries left an oily residue on the historian's jersey with a chemical combination only found at Hardy's.. They locate the closest Hardy's to the incident and are able to track down the receipt of purchase and video from the drive through camera. Just follow the evidence...snicker.

If CSI has taught me anything....it is that those fries left an oily residue on the historian's jersey with a chemical combination only found at Hardy's.. They locate the closest Hardy's to the incident and are able to track down the receipt of purchase and video from the drive through camera. Just follow the evidence...snicker.

Oh, they didn't hit me. They weren't even smart enough to hit a large, brightly marked target.

Happens to all of us. Every once in awhile they will catch me on the wrong day, and I'll catch up to have a nice "chat" with them about their behavior. I love the looks on the faces of cagers when they realize that I'm faster pissed off on a bike than they are in traffic, and that they're hollering does not a hero make.

You'll run into it anywhere, and at any size. If they can't yell "fattie" they will yell "hippie". Whatever they can do to feel better about themselves.

As everyone else said, just go to sleep smiling, knowing that you will definitely outlive them.

At least you didn't have a group of ATD's (Adolescent Teenage Driver's) yelling look at the fat ass at you and cat calling (me yesterday). I wish I had my frame pump with me. It would've been worth it to chuck it at them. Or at least a used co2 canister could've cracked some glass

I had a big bottle of Gatorade or should I say Haterade thrown at me. Luckily it missed.

I simply can not believe these cagers. Funny, a guy in car throwing a 'sports' drink at a cyclist. Maybe he just thought you needed some fluids?

I don't seem to get as many honks & shouts as when I started out. Do I just not notice them now? Has my bearing somehow changed to invite less harrassment? Have I become a familiar figure out on the streets? Have motorists become more subdued? I just don't know.

If you were riding on the sidewalk, they'd have further to throw the fries.:D

I don't seem to get as many honks & shouts as when I started out. Do I just not notice them now? Has my bearing somehow changed to invite less harrassment? Have I become a familiar figure out on the streets? Have motorists become more subdued? I just don't know.
I suspect it may be a combination of all of the above. I get waves and grins from some of the same drivers that used to wave with only ONE finger, now they use them all. I chose to take the high road and just wave back and smile, even if they flipped the bird. It seems to be working.:D