Commuting - Bike at lane = Emotional trigger?

Yesterday night i had a interesting ride.

At the first mile, a group of homeless people started to calling me names as soon as they saw me.
Ok, that was no surprize so i ignore them.

Then there was a situation where a driver was at very slow speed, and looked confuzed, so i took the lane in front of him (not close) and went away. A Little later, this driver saw me slowing next to the sidewalk, so he honked and made some gestures.

Later i was at the central lane of a three lane one way street, it was late and there was very few traffic, so i was confident to be there, then i saw the lights of a car aproaching from behind, and when it was like 100ft from me, i took the right lane giving him more than enough space to pass. Well, the driver was very angry, honked a lot and threw his car in front of me to show his feelings.

When i was close to home, it was fantastic, the simple sight of me and my bike caused a driver in the opposite lane to become very furious, honking,yelling and shaking his arms, and i couldnt understand nothing he said.

Analizing those incidents, i think that maybe they were caused because i was "taking the lane", and that triggered some (bad) emotions in the drivers.

I had a similar incident Friday night. I was turning left, signalling left, travelling at speed limit (25MPH, I was going down a little hill), on a quiet suburban road, with one car 100 yards behind me. I took my left (from the left side of the lane, of course), and he zooms up, rolls down his window and yells something about "obeying the rules of the road." Hello? How did I not? And, further, how could I possibly have effected him?

Similar experience on Friday night I think. Or was that last night. Anyways I can't quite remember.

Seems like the weekend days and all the idiots come loose and run amok.

Well guys, I think that you'll have to get used to be on the winning side. There is whole lot of mentally unhappy, drugged, drunk and agressive people, and their frustrations with your happy accomplishmets drive them to the actons you describe. Get used to the fact that you'll generate envy and ignore that garbage. When I read some of the treatment that people in Europe are giving to Lance, including throwing brick through his car, spitting and no end of crappy talk - well, winners, such as you are must get used to the fact that loosers will try to get them in their ranks. Vast majority of the folks have heads in the right place, are nice, courteous and encouraging, unfortunately we don't notice them.

Vast majority of the folks have heads in the right place, are nice, courteous and encouraging, unfortunately we don't notice them.

We should start noticing them. Give a thank-you wave any time you can. We get enough @$#*&, it's helpful to develop some goodwill. For every jerk, hundreds of cars pass me safely. Some folks even go out of their way to be decent.

We should start noticing them. Give a thank-you wave any time you can. We get enough @$#*&, it's helpful to develop some goodwill. For every jerk, hundreds of cars pass me safely. Some folks even go out of their way to be decent.

I agree 100% and I always try to wave when someone yields to me. I also try not to give people dirty looks, swear at them, etc. Try, I say, because I've been known to vent when someone zips by me and cuts me off taking a right turn. :eek:

There do seem to be days where every driver is seething with anger. There is a certain tension to the traffic that is not always there. I have noticed this driving and bicycling. Today was one of those days.

We should start noticing them. Give a thank-you wave any time you can. We get enough @$#*&, it's helpful to develop some goodwill. For every jerk, hundreds of cars pass me safely. Some folks even go out of their way to be decent.

I do, and I think it might be helping, a little. Since I tend to come into contact with the same set of drivers each day, those who know that I am courteous, gracious, and ride in a certain manner, tend to cut me some slack.

Amazing how insecure people become when they get in an automobile. They have to find a smaller fish to assert their dominance over so they can feel in control again.

bkr

We should start noticing them. Give a thank-you wave any time you can. We get enough @$#*&, it's helpful to develop some goodwill. For every jerk, hundreds of cars pass me safely. Some folks even go out of their way to be decent.

I'll have to do that more - thanks

There do seem to be days where every driver is seething with anger. There is a certain tension to the traffic that is not always there. I have noticed this driving and bicycling. Today was one of those days.

Here, too! I spent my whole commute today dodging crazies... really unusual. One woman came to a stop at a stopsign to my right (I had no stopsign or light) and then just about drove into me; I had to dodge way over to the left to avoid her. She then swerved even FURTHER to the left, within a couple of inches of me, while I shouted her down... Her explanation? She was trying not to hit the pedestrians crossing in front of her when she left the stopsign, so had no choice but to run me down! Me, I thought the point of stopping at all was to wait until there was an opening... or at least until you didn't have pedestrians trapped under your bumper!

Analizing those incidents, i think that maybe they were caused because i was "taking the lane", and that triggered some (bad) emotions in the drivers.

Strange, I actually notice the opposite phenomenon. Sure, they honk and become abusive when I take the lane, but this happens at all other times too. At least they're not throwing punches then. To be honest I wouldn't worry about it too much. I've probably been on the receiving end of more driver aggression than most people on this forum combined. The thing we need to remember here is that there is no correlation between verbal and physical abuse (i.e. one does not necessarily lead to the other). We also need to remember that verbal abuse is just that -- nothing more.

You see, most driver abuse is motivated by sheer bigotry, and nothing more. The see something different and immediately fear it's presence.

Quite frankly, if safety dictates that claiming the lane is the appropriate move at a particular time, I'll do it, and I won't let driver abuse bother me.

I think a lot of it depends on how educated drivers in the area are about cycling. Many drivers actually think we should be on a path, or on the sidewalk, so they get angry when we ride "where we're not supposed to be."

Where drivers are used to cyclists riding responsibly on the road, I think they tend to be more accomodating, at least there are where I ride. But if I venture to another part of town, I might get a, "get on the sidewalk!" shout.

It must vary by area. Like LittleBigMan said. I've been commuting here for several years and only recall two people yelling at me.

Maybe it's because a crap load of people here ride bikes?

It must vary by area. Like LittleBigMan said. I've been commuting here for several years and only recall two people yelling at me.

Maybe it's because a crap load of people here ride bikes?

Is it the "Minnesota Nice" thing again? :)

bkr

I have horror stories about the way people treat cyclists around here...this is a true story, in fact.

I HAVE to 'take the lane' in 17th street because there is no sidewalk. There is a row of parked cars on either side of the roadway, on the other side of that, the brick walls of buildings. If there was a sidewalk, it was forgotten as cars drove up onto it in parking to get farther away from the traffic. there's not one now, nor room.

So, I"m merrily cruising downhill on 17th, aware that I'm the lead vehicle in a long line of cars, but I"m moving at a good clip and don't care. There's no reason for anyone to get upset.

Well, a concrete truck at the little T intersection at the bottom of this hill starts to pull out, turning left to come up the opposing lane. To be on the safe side, I apply a little brake pressure and slow down, being a concrete truck, fully loaded, and heavy, he's moving very slowly and it'll be a bit before he's out of the way.

It was at this point my rear fender saved my life. FOR NO REASON AT ALL, the woman right behind me STAMPS ON THE GAS and starts FORCIBLY PUSHING ME DOWN THE HILL. I couldn't very well swerve out of the way, because she was shoving me, and if I turned aside I'd be under her wheels faster than I could fall. The concrete truck's about twenty feet away and I dont' have room to try acrobatics, and the only thing I can think of is "Oh @#$%^^$#$%^&*(&!(*(&%$ this crazy ***** is gonna nutcracker me between her fender and this truck!"

She accilerated right up to the truck, slammed on the brakes, essentially throwing me into the side of this truck, which is now frantically trying to get out of the way any way possible, and can't back up because of traffic behind him, although he's trying, and is also sticking through the best part of the oncoming traffic lane. MEANWHILE, while I'm abandoning my bike to the wheels of the truck, trying to climb onto it to save myself without getting crushed by the rotating drum, and panicking that ne next minute the car's going to be piling up right where I'm at, this woman swerves to the side across the oncoming lane, clips the truck AND the parked cars squeezing past, bashes up her car, nearly has a head-on, manages back into her lane, clipping another car, stops in the middle of the lane, gets out of the car and stands in the oncoming traffic lane, verbally abuses the 'goddamn biker holding up traffic', gets BACK IN HER CAR, and squeals off.

I have NEVER taken the 17th street shortcut again, in spite of the driver of the concrete truck being very nice and going to all kinds of trouble not to run over my bike backing into the side street again, then taking me and my bike into the nearest shop and making me drink a glass of icewater until I stopped visibly shaking.

I never got a license plate number, unfortunately, and the trucker couldn't remember a proper one either. The man in the line of cars behind her gave one, but I never heard more from the police about what happened to her. I hope for the sake of everyone on the road her license was taken away. If I hadn't just installed my rear fender, when she'd shoved on my rear wheel like that, I would have lost control of the bike and fallen under her tires or the concrete truck's. Either way, I doubt very much I would have lived to talk about it. To this day all the bikes I take on the road have full rear fenders, and the one on the bike I was riding has a flattened spot and a visible bow in the supports where she bent it.

You must have a praying grandmother...

Sounds like scene from an Alfred Hitchcock thriller!

Glad you're fine!

That was attempted murder.

You must have a praying grandmother...

Sounds like scene from an Alfred Hitchcock thriller!

Glad you're fine!


I thank her every night :D


As to attempted murder....probably.