Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Biking Road Rage - Fingering

Has anyone done this lately and do you have any stories associated with this?
I "gave the finger" or "flipped the bird" to a woman for honking at me because i did a legal lane change prior to her even turning right onto the street which i was on today...

I flip off people that blatantly cut me off because im on a bicycle. I usually get real close to there car and tap is hard enough they hear it but not hard enough to cause damage. I dont want to trouble that denting their car might cause.

You might want to rethink your use of the word "fingering." I'm just sayin' it doesn't sound at all like what you mean...


Has anyone done this lately and do you have any stories associated with this?
I fingered a woman for honking at me because i did a legal lane change prior to her even turning right onto the street which i was on today...

You might want to rethink your use of the word "fingering." I'm just sayin' it doesn't sound at all like what you mean...

I think you are thinking of 'fisting.' Different topic, but same idea. :lol:

Seriously. If that happened every time someone had a run-in with a discourteous driver, cycling would be the most popular sport on the planet.

I only flip people off after they perform potentially fatal jackassery. Of course, when I do I am often rewarded with intentional hostility and violence. People trying to hit me with their car doors, people jumping out and swinging at me, being run off the road, you know. Then I get really incensed to a point where I am afraid of what I will do to a person. It really makes me feel so horrible, all that rage and adrenaline. Lately I've been pretty chill, but then again no one has tried to intentionally kill me in response to a hand-gesture after narrowly avoiding (of course the avoiding is all on my part) accidentally (absent-mindedly) killing me. It's a ****ty situation all around. I'm practicing a more spiritual solution.

Man I flip people the bird quite a bit. I think I am one of like 10 people around campus who actually ride in the road like we're supposed to. So many people overtaking extremely close all the time on the two lane roads around campus.

Last time I flipped the bird was a guy overtaking me in the MIDDLE of a decent sized intersection super close. What pisses me off is when people overtake me and then I am easily able to keep up, if not pass them, because of the heavy traffic.

Then the other day I was turning left and I headed over the the left side of the lane and a guy on a motorcycle passed me on my ****ing left with less then like a foot of room. That really pissed me off because I also ride a motorcycle when I'm back in my hometown and was utterly surprised that a guy on a motorcycle was not driving defensively. Of all people I would think the next most vulnerable vehicle on the road would at least have the sense to give me some room to turn...

All in all 85% of drivers fail daily.

I rage hard, though I am really trying to change that. I really just don't think it's right when people get off with absolutely nothing happening to them when they seriously endanger someone else. I feel they should pay with a broken rear window at least, but I always leave my u-lock in my bag so I never have it handy when someone needs a little lesson.

All in all 85% of drivers fail daily.


Probably closer to 90 or 95%, especially on ****ty days when I would hope that people would be the most careful. You know, ****ty viability, increased stopping time, slower and more traffic, these are all things that I would think cause people to be more careful when driving a dangerous vehicle. Unfortunately this is not so and these are usually the days when I get the most pissed. Even so, I think that flicking people off is dangerous and stupid. When I allow someone to **** up my day and piss me off because they are acting like an ******* I am only increasing the amount of ******** in the world. I try to stay calm and maybe educate them on why they shouldn't feel they need to try and zoom by me by passing them after they inevitably get stuck behind another SUV. Not saying that I never flip people off, but I always feel dumb and uncreative when I do.

I think you are thinking of 'fisting.' Different topic, but same idea. :lol:

nope, wastan was correct. you should really edit it - it sounds wrong!

Vicoll I think you mean "gave her the finger" or "flipped her the bird"

I always give people the finger if they honk / do something stupid. It just lets them know I heard them / saw them and they were wrong!

last time someone honked at me, I gave them the bird, which is my knee-jerk reaction... when I got home, I realized that they were honking because my tail light had fallen off and were trying to let me know. Lesson learned.

I never do...most people are a**holes, not just drivers. Most drivers cut people off, but most cyclists run stop signs and are blatently rude to drivers as well. It is pretty hypocritical to get mad at drivers most of the time...

Also pissing off someone who is driving something weighing a few thousand lbs more than you and your bike is just stupid.

... It's a ****ty situation all around. I'm practicing a more spiritual solution.

I've been toying with the idea of getting some stickers for my handlebars to remind me to keep some calm and perspective. I'm leaning toward "Kindness" or "Forgiveness" or something like that.

I've been toying with the idea of getting some stickers for my handlebars to remind me to keep some calm and perspective. I'm leaning toward "Kindness" or "Forgiveness" or something like that.

the only fingering I do is in the bedroom. There are way too many crazy people in NYC to risk giving one of them the finger leading to me getting hit by an insane person or worse. When people nearly hit me head on when turning or when they can clearly see me and do something stupid I make sure Im in thier field of view and I wave politely just to tell them "hi you almost killed me".

I fingered a woman for honking at me

New favorite ss/fg quote ever.

i'd be careful about fingering cagers. if you're both heading in the same direction, you might end up in the same place. it will be awkward. you ragin' mad, cager completely oblivious that you even exist. you just look like a lunatic. as a safety precaution, don't assume anything, and certainly don't assume that cars will see you. this is the reason you wear hi viz clothing and need bar end or helmet mirrors. you can prevent a lot of this azzwhole stuff by making yourself visible. yep, be very careful about fingering people.

Quite frankly drivers should get mad at me considering that I tend to ride in the middle of the street and run red lights. However, if a car is behind me, I usually slow down and let them pass me. Like rubberducks said, ppl in New York are aggressive and you never know what they'll do if you piss em off.

Even so, I think that flicking people off is dangerous and stupid. When I allow someone to **** up my day and piss me off because they are acting like an ******* I am only increasing the amount of ******** in the world.

This is the approach I attempt to take. Key word "attempt."


I never do...most people are a**holes, not just drivers. Most drivers cut people off, but most cyclists run stop signs and are blatently rude to drivers as well. It is pretty hypocritical to get mad at drivers most of the time...

I suppose I find this true but when I do my jackassery in the road it's usually the people in cars not understanding what I'm about to do (probably for the frequent lack of signalling and filtering through traffic way faster than I should) and even when I'm being a jackass I'm still super defensive and always have a way out, cars never drive defensively...

It's just super annoying when a car get's pissed off just because it's a bicycle. Especially around campus the cars don't realize they can't really go any faster than me in the traffic but they still think they HAVE to pass me just because. Or when I need to turn left people honk at me all the time. Honestly would you honk and yell if I was just in my car making you do the same exact ****ing thing.

/rant

Ever try spitting on their back window after they've passed you too close (and/or honked) and get stuck at a red immediately after?

What's the point!

That finger doesn't hurt them very much. All you really accomplish is to let them know that they made you mad. Making you mad is probably what they were trying to do. Congratulations! You just rewarded them by letting them know they were successful.

I used to flip the bird quite often but then, in about 1994 or so, I flipped a guy off and he used his car to try to run me off the road. This was before cell phones so I was pretty much alone. Luckily he must have come to senses and realized what he was doing and sped off but it was still pretty scary.

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumb_280/1213789945OhxOID.jpg

Do this.

It confuses people

I fingered a woman for honking at me.

I am really wrestling over the decision whether or not to sig this.

Do it.
http://www.rs485.com/parking/fingerbang800.jpg

I think I might just get a hat with a middle finger on it so I can keep my hands on the bars.

i flipped someone the bird when they wouldn't stop honking at me while i was riding in an alleycat in columbus. i was doing nothing wrong(i was even on the right side of the lane) and as soon as he passed me, he threw a cup in my face.

My favorite occasion to extend a helping finger is when I'm riding safely on the side of the road...allowing plenty of room for cars...and I get some dumbass who is afraid to pass me, deciding it would be much better to ride my ass instead (making me, themselves and other drivers uncomfortable in the process). I'll motion that it's ok for them to pass, yet they refuse. Sometimes they start honking. That's when my finger goes up as though it has a mind of its own. There have been a few occasions that when said car begins honking, I've decided that I may as well use the whole lane if they're going to ride my ass anyway and pull right in front of them...often slowing myself to a snail's pace. You should hear the honking then! My friends and I even made shirts that say "it's ok to pass me" in huge reflective yellow letters on the back and it still doesn't work. Idiots.

I avoid doing this even when people really piss me off.
Its hard to resist sometimes though.

A kid I went to high school with was murdered by someone he flipped off.
The nutter followed him into a parking lot and beat him to death with a pipe.
True story.

if i think i could have died, you get the finger. if you feel bad about that, you shouldn't have created a situation where i thought you might have killed me.

What's the point!

That finger doesn't hurt them very much. All you really accomplish is to let them know that they made you mad. Making you mad is probably what they were trying to do. Congratulations! You just rewarded them by letting them know they were successful.

I don't think people honk at me when I'm on the road to make me angry - they do it because THEY'RE angry that they have to wait 3 seconds to resume their 10+ over the speed limit escapade to the supermarket or wherever they're off to. I agree that angering someone driving a 5000 lb hunk of metal who is (already) mad at you is a bad play, but sometimes I just can't help.

And I seriously laughed out loud to the comment about spitting on a windshield and then ending up at the next light with them.

I just ignore them. If they were really that important they would have a siren and lights and not just a horn.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/images/stories/large/2009/07/23/cantadore89211745.jpg

I do this one because I win.

My favorite occasion to extend a helping finger is when I'm riding safely on the side of the road...allowing plenty of room for cars...and I get some dumbass who is afraid to pass me, deciding it would be much better to ride my ass instead (making me, themselves and other drivers uncomfortable in the process). I'll motion that it's ok for them to pass, yet they refuse. Sometimes they start honking. That's when my finger goes up as though it has a mind of its own. There have been a few occasions that when said car begins honking, I've decided that I may as well use the whole lane if they're going to ride my ass anyway and pull right in front of them...often slowing myself to a snail's pace. You should hear the honking then! My friends and I even made shirts that say "it's ok to pass me" in huge reflective yellow letters on the back and it still doesn't work. Idiots.

These people are THE MOST ANNOYING DRIVERS in the world. It happens to me on really wide 2-lane roads where the idiots drive 4 feet away from the median too, which downright confuses me. Maybe these drivers just see me and want me to finger them :).