wphamilton

I wonder how many will 'fess up.

When I see someone really slacking, I'll sneak up on them and then ding my bell and pass. I admit it, I know that they're imagining a kid with a toy bell about to pass them up and it can be annoying. But it's too much fun to resist.

So what's your annoying habit?

unterhausen

There is this one thing I do that probably qualifies. When someone sneaks up on me and dings their bell, I smack their handlebar and watch them fall over. Then I laugh and laugh. I know it annoys them, but I just can't help myself.

ok j/k

I was annoying one guy when we both stopped at a stop sign and said hello. Of course, I didn't expect that to be annoying, but some people like to stay in their own private world and not be bothered with uninvited interpersonal interaction

achoo

Ride a drop-bar race bike. In my full team kit. With clipless pedals. And no bell.

It's a comfortable bike, too.

It's that last that really annoys uptight people with nothing better to do than judge another person's cycling choices.

joeyduck

I was thinking of starting this exact thread.

I think the most annoying thing I do is pass commuters in their full kit on race bikes while i am on my lht with my son attached. Ding a ling coming by, want some dried fruit?

alan s 

I'm able to take shortcuts that most road bikes wouldn't take (curb hopping, dirt path, etc.) or I know of a slightly better route, so sometimes I get into a situation where a faster roadie passes me on the straightaway, then I get ahead, and they have to pass me again. In one area, this can happen 3 or 4 times in a ten minute period, until there is an open stretch where they finally pull away. Must be mighty annoying to have to try to keep up with and repeatedly pass a MTB. Tortoise and the hare.

spare_wheel

In order of annoyance:

1. I treat most red lights as stop signs or yields. Oddly enough this seems to bug other cyclists more than drivers.
2. I treat all stop signs as yields. Oddly enough this seems to bug other cyclists more than drivers.
3. I shoal drivers. Oddly enough this seems to bug other cyclists more than drivers.
4. I come to a halt and attempt to block traffic for any pedestrian who looks like they want to cross.
5. I often split lanes when there is a bike lane/cycle track.
6. I refuse to buzz cyclists or pedestrians on crowded MUPs and will attempt to prevent others from trying.
7. I try to give walkers, joggers, wheel chair users, and skaters absolute priority.
8. I always enter bike boxes from the left not the right.
9. I commute on carbon fiber road bikes with flat bars.
10. I mix lycra and normal clothes.
11. I dress in black most of the time.

wolfchild

Here is my list:

- I only ride FG/SS bikes and don't even own any multi geared bikes
- I track stand a lot
- I don't use cycling specific clothing
- I don't shave my legs
- I don't use clipless pedals
- I wear black or dark coloured clothing
- I don't wave at other cyclists
- I use a backpack or messenger bag
- I don't maintain a "proper or real cyclist look"
- I keep my bikes dirty, ugly and ghetto looking
- I don't use "cycling specific jargon"
- I often break the law by running red lights and stop signs
- I often ride ninja style

Darth Lefty 

I ride a non-grail bike from the early Seventies, which is coated in useful bike-boom accessories that enthusiasts believe ruined it vs. its Sixties iteration.

Torker

I've never seen another bike commuter so... Nothing?

Darth Lefty 

@wphamilton I bet your fairings fill roadies with bafflement followed righteous fury. You're cheating. It's no better than a motor.

treadtread

I can't think of anything. I probably annoy someone, but I don't know who or how. I ride in shorts/jeans with a high viz vest, panniers and fenders. Bicyclists overtake me and keep going, so I don't know if they or annoyed - or I overtake them and keep going, in which case I still don't know if they are annoyed. I stop at most stop signs (except a couple that never see any traffic), don't split lanes or shoal cars.

Hmm - I probably annoy motorists in one stage where I take the lane for a bit.

wphamilton

I've got a hunch about that, why he might keep to himself

That's true, but the pickup truck rednecks seem to really approve. I do have to cop to that one also.

tarwheel 

I rarely ever see other bike commuters, so if they are annoyed by me they must be extremely touchy.

yankeefan

1) Bright a** blinkie on MUPs/Bike Lanes. Idgaf if it bothers your eyes, as long as it makes me more visible

2) Shoal everyone and roll up to the stop light with my front wheel firmly angled in the crosswalk, feet never touching the ground and remaining so perfectly motionless that pigeons flock to me like a statue in the park.
--> on the same note, I always hold my stand at least 5 seconds after the light changes to green, mainly because I forgot to gear down before stopping and I'm having difficulty accelerating from 53/11

3) I ride no handed so that I can take selfies. Getting likes on Instagram are way more important than me crashing into you because I can't steer my bike.

4) I toss my empty water bottles in the bike lane with no regard for the safety of the riders behind me. Don't wanna get weighed down on the 1% climb that I have to do before I reach to the office.

5) I always sprint and make dangerously close passes because I want to be KOM of a new strava segment I plan on creating when I get home/to the office

john4789

Rcrxjlb

I ride these really close to the roadies & their $5000 carbon toys:

spare_wheel

The denali would definitely score some serious annoyance points among some of the Cat 4/5 crowd! IMO, you should show up at a club "try out" ride on that just for kicks. The raleigh is cool and will probably get approving glances from the retro-grouch-leaning competitive cyclists.

KenshiBiker

Probably this. The middle 10 miles of my 14+ mile commute is along a MUP. The vehicular traffic on both ends isn't horrible, but it is there. Therefore I run my Dinotte Quad 4 on high steady when it's dark, and high pulse when it's light. And I'm too lazy to stop when I get on or off the MUP just so I can change the setting on the light (I've tried to do it while riding - I ain't that flexible).

Also, I'm sure my headlights upset some folks. If there's oncoming traffic (regardless if on wheels or on foot) on the MUP, I try to shield my bar light (NR Lumina 650) and look away with my helmet light (Dinotte XML-3). But sometimes a rider is coming towards me on my left and a pedestrian is coming towards me on my right (that's the correct side for pedestrians on the MUP), and there's nothing to do but maybe try to look down. Or sometimes when I'm climbing out of the saddle to get up a grade and another rider is coming down the grade, I usually don't (can't) take my hands off the bars to shield the light. Like I said, I'm sure I upset some folks.

achoo

You must really be annoying - you scared them all off.

JoeyBike

A good friend of mine enjoyed the same trick - his tiny son in a baby seat on the back of his LHT. My bud is a really strong rider who stood atop a few podiums in his day. He trained his boy to say "Bye-bye" and wave every time he passed the Aero-Geeks training out at the New Orleans Lakefront on the weekends.

As for me, I guess I might offend some folks tender sensibilities regarding red light running. I don't stop for very many of them.

kickstart

I guess there's something wrong with me,
I like to smile and be friendly to everyone, endeavoring to make my interactions with others a positive experience. I don't understand why one would intentionally cause others displeasure just because they're different.

Torker

You know, you may be right! That might explain why the guy who lives a quarter mile from work still drives his car everyday...

Worknomore

I have a rack&lights on a ti frame bike. Thats gotta annoy somebody somewhere.

mgw4jc

Cracked me up. Can you get a selfie of you on a strava segment tossing a water bottle and shoaling drivers all at the same time? I'd help make that go viral guaranteeing at least an additional 15 likes.

loky1179