eshvanu

...next to me in a left-turn lane while I'm waiting for the light to change. The passenger rolls down the window, and says something like, "Sir, you're really brave riding in traffic."

I give him my standard "I'm following the laws" blurb, and he says, "Oh, no, I'm not giving you a bad time. It's a compliment".

We chat for a bit while waiting at the light, and the two young gentlemen were quite impressed. They told me I had no fear, and I politely let them know I have a LOT of fear while riding, and am quite careful in traffic, especially. We laughed at that one, and they went on their way as the light changed.

Was a very cool moment, and a good reminder that most people on the roads are respectful of cyclists, and some even admire us.

bluegoatwoods

Sure. You're right and it's good to keep on reminding ourselves.

The "buzzers" annoy and even enrage me. They also make it too easy to forget that somewhere around 95% of the cars that pass me move all or part of the way into the left lane. They are showing consideration and respect.

It's not such a terrible world out there....

starla

Very cool Some drivers don't forget they are human too...

lil brown bat

Most drivers don't forget they're human. One bad experience colors our perceptions to an unreasonable degree; reasonable people get past that, although it's not always easy.

aadhils

Heh I don't really have "fear" when riding. Just more adrenaline now and then if there are close shaves. But I'm still young (25) so I haven't learnt the meaning of fear yet

One thing to note though; Cycling looks more unappealing and scary from inside a car than when on the saddle.

RogerB

When I see another commuter I want to shout "he** yeah!" at them, but I'm always afraid they'll think I'm harassing them.

bmclaughlin807

I had a truck pull up in the next lane while I'm riding down a normally pretty busy 5 lane road (2 each direction plus turn lane) during a snow storm. Passenger rolls down the window and yells out 'You're f***ing INSANE, man!'


I'm not sure if it was a compliment, but I'll take it as one.

nashcommguy

Yeah, I was just thinking this a couple of days ago while riding my daily. While I grumble inwardly and complain sometimes about cagers it hit me that per volume of traffic I'm harrassed very little. Maybe one case every 5-6 months or so. We need to remind ourselves of that fact from time to time. Good call, eshvanu.

Doohickie

I get more nods, waves, and thumbs up than malicious honks and yells.

DX-MAN

Most folks anymore are getting a bit more used to bikes in the road in my town. There are always a few, though; they just don't get it, that the road isn't their personal domain. I like the ones that give me space when they pass, and at a reasonable speed. I will say, though, that most don't speak at all, good or bad.

ONE time, I received a compliment from a driver; it had to do with my taillight. She thought it was a good idea (in Indiana, in January, at 7AM -- I agree!), and told me so, with a smile.

formerly RE

Nice story. I've also found that most motorists tend to be respectful, especially of cyclist who know what they are doing.

Cyclaholic

Wow, cool!.... I wish that happened here on my planet.

cyclefreaksix

Nice. Thanks for sharing that.

eshvanu

First time I was bicycle commuting, in the mid-90's back in Oregon, someone did the same thing to me. I was too tired to flip them off, which turned out to be a good thing. It was my new boss, whose car I hadn't yet seen.

Jude

I just try and stick my hand out and give a thumbs up, if I'm on the appropriate side of the car and can get the window down in time.

Chris516

I wish all motorists were like him.

Praxis

Happened to me once. A bus driver, no less. They were admiring my SuperLeds semi truck taillight. Alas, it was too big for my homemade steel mounting bracket (or was it the reflector bracket? I forget), and the mount broke, and I got a much smaller PB SuperFlash. Appreciated the comment though.

rumrunn6

nice!

xtrajack

You gotta love it when that happens.

Johnny Nemo

How are things going in The Twilight Zone?

WCoastPeddler

Good story. I find that most drivers are pretty good -- they give lots of room on the lane and when the lane is excessively narrow, they wait until they can pass by going into the oncoming lane and are generally respectful to bikes. There's the odd exception but that's the way it seems to work most of the time.

I had a fellow on a Honda Goldwing pull up behind me as I was stopped at a red light, with my foot on the curb. His right turn signal was on and as I looked back over my shoulder at him, I indicated by pointing that he could go ahead and turn in front of me on the red. He pulled up beside me and thanked me for giving him the go ahead and said "us two wheelers gotta look out for one another". I thought it was cool.

I live in a rural/suburban area outside Vancouver, BC and have noticed a huge improvement with respect to motorists being courteous to cyclists over the past two or three years. Perhaps it's that there's more bikes, or perhaps it's just because in my part of the world there is a lot of growing exposure and acceptance of bikes on the road. There's still a long way to go before I could say it's really good, but it's definitely heading in a positive direction.

exile

lil brown bat is right in the fact that we sometimes color our views of motorists who do wrong. However it does make us vigilant even though we don't always wish to be so.

genec

Often it is not "fear," but anger that others cannot share the road with the same respect that we might have.

I do have to agree that most of the time there are no issues. But it really chaps my hide when someone does intentionally go out of their way to make your life a bit miserable.

The motorists I "fear" are the ones that aren't paying attention.

I do however quite enjoy the rare and occasional praise. I remember one Thanksgiving morning I was out for a bit of a leg stretch and had taken the lane on this narrow winding downhill road. As I approached a stop sign and moved over to let one car pass, I noticed the passenger window rolling down... and I braced for some onslaught. As the car stopped the passenger let out a "Happy Thanksgiving," and they then drove on. Made my day.