Road Cycling - Pushy Patty and he Bemer!!

I just feel the need to rant, so please excuse me!!

The other day I was out for a ride and ended up on a relatively well traveled road (with two lanes on each side and a center passing lane). Well, her I am spinning my brains out to get 20 mph going up a nice little hill (about a 1/2 mile long and about 3+ grade when Pushy Patty pulls up behind me and starts honking her horn like I am supposed to just get off the road and let her by! It wouldn't have been so bad, except THERE WASEN'T ANYONE IN THE OHTER LANE!!! She just sat there harrassing the hell out of me for the shere fun of it!! It took all my composure not to flip her one when she finally got tired of her game and went around me (and almost hit my I might add). I could have sworn she had a Clear Chanel sticker on her car!!!

Thanks for letting me rant...Bill

yeah, i've gotten that too. it's annoying. if there's another lane open, or room for them to pass, i make a big dramatic jesture w/ an arm and wave them through. kind of like a peasant would to royalty. that obviously sarcastic. the other think you could do in that situation is simply stop, get off, and confront the person. i don't mean challenge them to a dual or anything, but you could go calmly explain to them that you are entitled to use the road as well, and you understand that it can be frustrating being trapped behind a slower moving vehicle, but maybe they want to use the open lane to the left to pass the slower moving vehicle (you) on the right. that's how the system works. good luck
dan

Pull out your multitool and toss it through the windshield...no, then you'll have to buy another tool.

Make sure the person is smaller than you then, Chuck the bird.

When she tries to hit you remember the plate #and call the cops.

PJ

I agree. If the basic fails call the cops and report that she tried to run you off the road and make a formal complaint. This will cause the police to speak with her.

Then they make the point of Bikes.

Just Sunday we were going down a road that curved to the right. There was a road to the right of the curve right at the curve. Well, there was a car behind me and my friend. I didn't see a blinker but did signal that I was going left or with the road and not turning off. I wanted to make sure they understood. Well, I get passed and my friend almost gets taken out by Granny.

She either didn't understand the left signal, didn't care, didn't think anything about bikers that is worth not hitting them. She just ran him off the road.


I also almost got hit on a steel bridge that I took the whole lane for. He wanted nothing to do with waiting about 10 seconds for me to cross.


I CARRY PEPPER SPRAY WITH ME. I want to carry my G23 but pepper spray will keep me feeling safe.

I do the Dramatic After-You-Milady gesture too. If that doesn't work, I soft pedal. If that doesn't work, I trackstand. (You think I'm riding slow? You ain't seen nothing!)

I just feel the need to rant, so please excuse me!!

The other day I was out for a ride and ended up on a relatively well traveled road (with two lanes on each side and a center passing lane). Well, her I am spinning my brains out to get 20 mph going up a nice little hill (about a 1/2 mile long and about 3+ grade when Pushy Patty pulls up behind me and starts honking her horn like I am supposed to just get off the road and let her by! It wouldn't have been so bad, except THERE WASEN'T ANYONE IN THE OHTER LANE!!! She just sat there harrassing the hell out of me for the shere fun of it!! It took all my composure not to flip her one when she finally got tired of her game and went around me (and almost hit my I might add). I could have sworn she had a Clear Chanel sticker on her car!!!

Thanks for letting me rant...Bill

That sounds like no fun at all -- however, my suggestion is to just let it go and think nothing of it. She didn't physically harm you, she just tried to rain on your ride. As a person who has commuted in Chicago area traffic for 11 years, I have learned that the best reaction is no reaction. Courtesy and tolerance are a key to affecting how motorists perceive cyclists. It's paid off for me. People on my normal commute route are so used to seeing me and seeing me ride courteously that I have had very, very few confrontations.

That sounds like no fun at all -- however, my suggestion is to just let it go and think nothing of it. She didn't physically harm you, she just tried to rain on your ride. As a person who has commuted in Chicago area traffic for 11 years, I have learned that the best reaction is no reaction. Courtesy and tolerance are a key to affecting how motorists perceive cyclists. It's paid off for me. People on my normal commute route are so used to seeing me and seeing me ride courteously that I have had very, very few confrontations.


Yea, I just kept cranking and didn't even look up when she zoomed past. Oh, I did smile at her when I got the the red light she was racing me to!! What a shame, she didn't smile back.

Yea, I just kept cranking and didn't even look up when she zoomed past. Oh, I did smile at her when I got the the red light she was racing me to!! What a shame, she didn't smile back.

LOL -- hey, maybe she just thought you had a nice backside and was FLIRTING with you?

Not to rag on BMW drivers, but I saw something that struck me as odd today. On my way to work I saw a lady driving a BMW X5 with a personalized license plate "HUGATREE". How can you have that plate on a 50K vehicle that probably gets around 15 MPG, driving around with the A/C on?

Not to rag on BMW drivers, but I saw something that struck me as odd today. On my way to work I saw a lady driving a BMW X5 with a personalized license plate "HUGATREE". How can you have that plate on a 50K vehicle that probably gets around 15 MPG, driving around with the A/C on?

You mean to tell me you have never seen a BMW wrapped around a tree?

You mean to tell me you have never seen a BMW wrapped around a tree?

"Khuon" isn't a screen name for "Billy Joel", is it?

LOL -- hey, maybe she just thought you had a nice backside and was FLIRTING with you?

Hay, you may have something there! Shame her's wasn't all that nice!

"Khuon" isn't a screen name for "Billy Joel", is it?

Nope... just my last name. :)