Mountain Biking - I was out riding...

I was riding along pedalling away and here comes this kid flying by in his car with his friend since there was a passenger. He screams "Lose some weight you fat arse" then he comes back by again and yells "That's one huge B*tch" So then I'm fed up at this point. I stop and dismount my bike. They come by again and I tell em to bring it and what do they do when I come at their car....they stomp the gas....buncha idiots. I'm out cycling enjoying myself and cycling (trying to lose some weight) and they yell at me....I hope they enjoyed spending their gas yelling at me! :p

People suck.

I'm no psychologist, but I always figure that such behavior is a compensation for some personal deficiency.

Welcome to the world of roadside harassment!

They want to get a rise out of you. Don't give them the pleasure, ignore them and instead use the surge of andrenaline for your legs.

Best thing to do is keep your cool. There's always that small percentage of the population that are morons. One day, they'll mouth off to the wrong person and meet justice on the business end of a fist. Those guys will lose in the long run, the odds are against them.

I'm no psychologist, but I always figure that such behavior is a compensation for some personal deficiency.


aha! I knew it :D

I normally would shrug it off, but when I saw them coming back for a 3rd time and figured things would either be settled or they'd keep driving....most of the time I don't even respond. I just keep pedalling, but 3 times...they were asking for it :D

One day, they'll mouth off to the wrong person and meet justice on the business end of a fist. Those guys will lose in the long run, the odds are against them.


That's usually ME!

I get really pissed off by these characters. Whenever it happens to me, I let them know I think they're number 1! Then I do my best to chase them down. Funny thing is that when they see you coming after them, they always haul. Or maybe when they realize some 250 lb guy is chasing them down they haul.

Either way, they're jerks. Next time try chasing them, maybe you'll be fortunate enough to catch one at the next light and do what I did and pull the passanger out of the car by his hair! Pretty funny actually.

Wait wait, I'm a moderator, I'm not supposed to condone violence. Forget I told you that!

Just ignore them. Yeah rright!

LoL. That's great.

I normally would shrug it off, but when I saw them coming back for a 3rd time and figured things would either be settled or they'd keep driving....most of the time I don't even respond. I just keep pedalling, but 3 times...they were asking for it :D

Wow! Three times?!?!

In California, we have a "three strikes" law. They do it 3 times, you can then strike them. Who knows, you may run into them in town and you can refresh their memories by pummeling them.

BTW - I'm a pacifist.

really? We have a 3 strikes law? so if someone harasses me 3 or more times I can sock 'em one?

I thought 3 strikes had something to do with going to jail 3 times and then something happens. Like you can't have parole or something? huh...

I have my own 3 strike law. I count to three then I strike!

really? We have a 3 strikes law? so if someone harasses me 3 or more times I can sock 'em one?

I thought 3 strikes had something to do with going to jail 3 times and then something happens. Like you can't have parole or something? huh...

Yeah, you're interpretation of the law is correct. I was just messin'.

I have my own 3 strike law. I count to three then I strike!

Or 3 strikes: You strike culprit hard, culprit's butt strikes ground, and culprit's head strikes ground.

I know what youre sayin about the stupid car people. I like winter riding because the ammount of people with open windows is reduced by a lot. I don't get the fat jokes(I'm actually very thin) but I always get the whisles and 'honey' calls. Sometimes I just want to take my frame pump and say hello.

But I agree, they lack in something they want to mask. I know I could knock em flat and ride into the sunset if the opportunity presented itself. The meek person is the one excersizing the most power, I think Miyagi say...

The meek shall inherit the earth....if that's o.k. with everyone.

J/k, I'm feeling a little hostile tonight I guess. I wrenched my back yesterday and I'm a bit agitated.

Sorry guys, I'm usually very passive.

It's one thing to complain about a fat guy watching TV and eating potato chips, but complaining about a fat guy riding a bike is just plain moronic.

Wow! Three times?!?!

In California, we have a "three strikes" law. They do it 3 times, you can then strike them. Who knows, you may run into them in town and you can refresh their memories by pummeling them.

BTW - I'm a pacifist.
3 Felonies and you go to jail forever is what I think it is.

Next time they yell at you to lose some weight, tell them to head back to school and get an education, then get a life. End by calling them a bunch of lazy losers.

I've done it before. I haven't been called a fat arse, but I've been harrassed on my bike, and at times like that, I come up with the foulest language that makes most people stop in their tracks. I also don't have a problem chasing them down, and if I catch them, I don't have a problem going up to their window and confronting them right in traffic. Funny thing, though. When I do confront them, it usually ends up with getting traffic blocked, and the cars behind me are usually mad at the DRIVER for harrassing me. I've never once had a car take the side of the idiot driver.

If that doesn't work, carry a bat. I'd call that self defense anyday.

Koffee

It's one thing to complain about a fat guy watching TV and eating potato chips, but complaining about a fat guy riding a bike is just plain moronic.

Agreed. If anything compliment :)

Yeah, you're interpretation of the law is correct. I was just messin'.


oh ok, I was thinking "Damn! I haven't heard of that law before!?!?" :p

PWRD, you should have stood up and slapped you're ass. For some reason that really enrages people :)

Hm...the ass slapping one is good, but a nice beat down would have been nice.

I had something like that happen last week.My kids and I were out riding on thur.night when some punks come by a yell a#@hole! they had to stop at a light half a block up.I take off after them and when they see me coming up behind them they take off.Some people are morons!

Yea i know how the harrasment goes. I remember the first time somebody shouted osmething to me from the road and i dont know it was a pensive time, i was new to riding on the road and i nearly jumped so high i almost fell of my bike :p. But now i get used to it, theres a lot of idiots in highschool with lousy driving.

i get the same thing here... Theres always someone that doesnt like you being on the road, and usually its teenagers and young adults who are trying to show off.... Over here, once you hit 17 you buy a moped- well most people do- but i dont.. So they go round in packs of maybe 10- 15, and basically they mess up the whole road system over here.. They find it hilarious to scoot passed you with horn going at full whack and scare you ****less....

But, they thing that makes me laugh about it is that now that im alot fitter and faster than when i started, i find myself overtaking cars and scooters alot of the time... So, when they have to stop or have touble going up hill because they're so used to being sat on their fat asses, i speed passed them on my bike and just give em all a mouthful... And ride off... they cant catch you cos they're stuck, and you ride off with a huge smile on your face...

Sorted :)

But you cant do that with Cars, so I usually ignore them, lots of people give them the V, ive only ever done that once when i was in a REALLY bad mood, but that doesnt solve anything, you just provoke them...

Sorry to say, its something you have to learn to live with....

Sadly, that's part of cycling.

I remember hearing about some redneck almost killing a member of the US Mountain Bike team while she was out for a training ride before the Atlanta Olympics. I'm sure that same redneck sat in his living room and pounded his chest when "we" won the silver.

I've had three bad run-ins while cycling in the last 12 years. Two occured in rural, white-trash Missouri and one in LA.

1) Riding with a friend in Santa Monica, some dork tried to make a quick right turn before we pedaled through the intersection. He came so close that my buddy kicked his car. He stopped, got out, and pulled out a baseball bat. My friend used his bike as shield and kept backing up. I went to his car, hit the autolock, and shut the door. We rode off laughing.

2) Riding with my triathlon training partner, who happened to be black, in Missouri. If I had a dollar for every time he was called the n-word and I was called an n-lover, I'd...well...I'd have about 20 bucks. Funny thing is that my training partner was also a US Army Drill sergeant and could bench over 350. He'd could have broken any one of those idiots in half but he shrugged it off.

3) Again in Missouri, I had a redneck yell for me to get off the road while his wife threw a handful of nuts and bolts at me. I ignored them but they actually followed me down a side street...to a payphone...where I called the cops and had them arrested :)

EDITED: One more thing: NEVER let a comment about your weight affect you while you're exercising. As someone who lost over 40 pounds mountain biking, gained it back after quitting riding, and is trying to lose it again on a bike, I know that exercising when you're heavy is as hard physically as it is mentally. The ones sitting at home on the couch are the ones who should be worried...not us.

What they are looking for is a reaction. Anger or fear is what they hope for. If you just smile at them and say something friendly in a confident manner, they don't know what to do. I usually laugh and say hi and wave.
The reason they left, is you showed confidence, they were afraid. If you don't feel like getting off the bike, show confidence by being amused, friendly etc. Without being aggressive. It ruins the fun. Sometimes they just give up.

I don't blame you for being upset at all though, I would not complain if you put them in the hospital. I would be upset if they had a gun though. You never know. I'm in New England, there is lot about road rage in the news here. People get shot for less.

I wonder how riding in the car is helping them be more healthy?

I used to flitch when they shouted, but now I don't. I know by provoking to physical violence it could get dangerous, since they generally have attitude to go with. I do find it fun in the city to stick on cars. Light turns green, they zoom out like a drag race, I ceep pedaling. I arrive at the next light he sits there as I pass him and the light turns green as I hit the white line, not even braking. My record was 7 lights over about 4 miles like that. He was livid inside his little expensive cage.
I wasn't even sweating. Now thats poetic justice.

What ever happens, DO NOT sneak up on the car at a light and shove a potato up the exhaust pipe. If the car is just idling, this will cause the car to stall and not run, even if it starts again it will stall in few seconds. This can be dangerous so don't do it. It may not work sometimes, and you may get hurt, so NEVER do this.

yea.. some people are morons. how many of you guys had your sexuality questioned? i bet all of you have...

LOL! When I moved to the above-mentioned trailer-trash Missouri, I went for a short run my first day in town.

I stepped out of my hotel room wearing standard running shorts (not the really short full split ones, just regular ones) and a t-shirt. I stepped off the curb to take my first step and a pickup truck full of kids ran the redlight and swerved to make me jump back on the curb.

"Nice shorts, ******!" a kid yelled from the truck.

Welcome to Missouri, I thought! Fortunately, I only lived there for 3 years.

I haven't had my sexuality questioned, if anything people are impressed at my size and age what I do 'try' to do. I haven't had people yell at me on a bike. I have never seen a rider with a gun. I have had very few, if any problems on my bike in this province. From the descriptions of you and other threads over the last year, it sounds like hell on a bike.

I love to see someone question my sexuality, I always get a kick out of people who are 5'7 and 170 questioning people manliness if they guy is around my size (back in ontario I saw this happen a few times when I worked in prison) rarely worked out in the smart mouths favour :)

i get people yelling at me all the time but i cant hear them because they're moving so fast/ doppler effect. im riding along and then i hear "BLAHBLAHBLAH" and im like what the hell?

i get people yelling at me all the time but i cant hear them because they're moving so fast/ doppler effect. im riding along and then i hear "BLAHBLAHBLAH" and im like what the hell?

same here. actually, I'll usually hear one word, like "******!" or "shorts!" "road!". I can fill in the blanks, but still, its kinda annoying since I cant come back with a witty retort.

The same people in question actually informed me that I should "get a car" and I also found out that apparently my sexuality was in question. I was amused to say the least. The kids were probably 17 or 18, tops and driving an early 90's Accord station wagon. I guess that was their form of fun. Talk about not having a life.

yea.. some people are morons. how many of you guys had your sexuality questioned? i bet all of you have...
My bf has, not when im there. I have not been questioned so much as propositioned in crude and insulting ways.
Even when I was in high school I hated high schoolers who had cars, not because I didnt care to have one til 18, but because they generally drive without dignity. The ones around my town nowadays have the 6 inch chrome thing on thier pipe to make it 'cool' and in the process audibly a mile away. Then they have the nerve to honk at me and lean out the window and insult me. Then when I get to the hill I used to commute up everyday(600ft over 1.5 miles) they creep up on me then gas it really hard to make a point. The only point I can see them making is how much gas goes out thier tailpipe and down my lungs(very nauseating at times). The reconciliation is that they are paying through the nose for their little gas hog that 0-60s in just under a minute.(An unmodified 92 tercel will beat the best of these guys, its amusing)

I stepped out of my hotel room wearing standard running shorts (not the really short full split ones, just regular ones) and a t-shirt. I stepped off the curb to take my first step and a pickup truck full of kids ran the redlight and swerved to make me jump back on the curb.

"Nice shorts, ******!" a kid yelled from the truck.

Welcome to Missouri, I thought! Fortunately, I only lived there for 3 years.

You should have yelled back, "Yeah, your Dad loves them!" :eek:

Seriously, it's always better to just "let it go". I'm not big like some of you, though I'm certainly not small either, but I just prefer to not get into anything. These days, you just never know....

The key here is he was out RIDING they weren't so he's one up on them already.

I haven't had my sexuality questioned, if anything people are impressed at my size and age what I do 'try' to do. I haven't had people yell at me on a bike. I have never seen a rider with a gun. I have had very few, if any problems on my bike in this province. From the descriptions of you and other threads over the last year, it sounds like hell on a bike.

I love to see someone question my sexuality, I always get a kick out of people who are 5'7 and 170 questioning people manliness if they guy is around my size (back in ontario I saw this happen a few times when I worked in prison) rarely worked out in the smart mouths favour :)

Totally agree Mael. Sounds like a whole different game up here eh? The cold weather must make people nicer! :D

stupid and inconsiderate kids - too bad.
shoulda thrown your helmet at their rear window.

stupid and inconsiderate kids - too bad.
shoulda thrown your helmet at their rear window.
Waste of a good helmet

Agreed.

These days, you just never know....

Very important point.

I woulda thrown down...punks.

Luckily, kids like the ones we ran into the other night are the exception, not the rule. :)

Luckily, kids like the ones we ran into the other night are the exception, not the rule. :)
I still wish I could run into them at the mall and be like "remember me, I need to lose some weigh, since you don't have your car, let's see if you can run"

I need to loose some wieght

"How bout some weight training, you look about right" <grip> :D

we should get some paintball guns.. *spat spat*

we should get some paintball guns.. *spat spat*

:rolleyes: A bag of skunks, just toss one in the window.

(you might need to be a fast rider to catch up.)

Legal too...or no laws opposing yet. Maybe transporting wildlife minus permit (for the driver.)

Pepe rides in a padded bottle cage for the quick delivery.

shoulda taken their license number down, found where they live and beat them.