Chris516

Too darn bad. I am still going to do it. So if someone tries hitting me with something again. When I am on the road, they will probably hit the motorist behind me. Unless, They slow down to try n' get a good shot.

They would have account for angle of the shot. Also the speed that I am going and, they are going.

El Cid

Once, about fifteen years ago, I asked a co-worker's daughter if she wanted to go with me to my company christmas party. I was more or less ignored, but I heard later that she had been the butt of numerous jokes, mostly asking if I was going to double her on my bicycle or put her in a sidecar. I rented a car for that evening, and didn't hear the story until after the fact. I still regret not going to the human resources office and naming all the names I possibly could.

Hauptmann6

I've been on both sides(not the road rage) of the issue. Enough bikers don't follow traffic laws (stop signs, lights etc) and hold up traffic in places you can't get around. courtesy both ways go a long way. If you are riding on a road where you can't pass and you have a car behind you, pull over for a min to let them by. Yes we as bikers have the right to the road, but hey why hold people up on principle.

RoadTire 

Does the line, "hippie type commie ****" ring any bells? Some jerks just ought to be put out of everyone's misery.

Really? I can't say komuniest and "British and Australian colloquialism for cigarette: " in the same sentence? I was just quoting the closed minded troublemakers profiled in "Uneasy Rider" by the Charlie Daniels Band.




(moral of the story: a pair of Sapphire martini's and BikeForums mixes like oil and water.. My error. Seriously. )

Astrozombie

Count to ten TC! And take a deep breath! ..........
You stare into the darkness eventually you become it, I ask myself if i want to be like them? Fat, angry and ignorant?
Imagine my future family watching me how a) I want to live to see them and b) That's not how I'd want them to see me. Just the other day I got a "fa****" for the first time in a while (probably because my hair is fairly long now?)
Around here they're probably "******" types like my brother, Anti-social ******s who treat their women like crap and still have their mom do their laundry. Maybe they'll end up in jail soon and you won't have to hear it from them anymore? And those rims + fancy cars are probably just being leased.....to impress woman, knock them up and then refusing to pay child support.............but anywho.....

I just laughed and actually realized that i was a "fa****", as in the word came from the wooden twigs that were used to start fires when "heretics" were burned at the stake. Me being an Atheist that would qualify, and then I laugh "just imagine if i wore something that said i was an Atheist" And if you are that ignorant then hopefully you'll never really go anywhere in life, let them have that moment. (Like many in my family)

yote223

No sense getting wound up over stuff like that. I make it a policy to NEVER let someone else rent space inside my head. It's not worth the time. ( looks like I figured out how to push some buttons though)

tsincognito

I'll use this as my introductory post as the topic hits home for me. I have Cystic Fibrosis and underwent a double-lung transplant back in March, 2011, and by May I was riding. Although I was always a big fan of riding, because of my lungs I really couldn't ride more than a mile without becoming utterly winded and reduced to severe coughing fits. I would watch the TDF, get so amped about riding that I would jump outside for a spin only for reality to hit. Well, I was eventually transplanted and it has proved successful so far. However, back to May. I was borrowing my brother's huge mountain bike to ride on a paved trail and it was probably the 3rd time I had been out riding since my transplant. Needless to say, I was riding so slow that the Sun set quicker than I was able to get back to my starting point. I was having difficulty powering over 1-2% hills.

Well, during the last mile and shrouded in complete darkness except for my bike light, a group of riders pass me and one yells out "Dude, you have to go faster than that, the girls are gonna pass you!" I smirked it off as some friendly ribbing and struggled to the end. After pedaling more squares I finally made it back to the beginning where the group of guys who passed me were also at. At this point, the same fellow who had yelled out at me earlier noticed me coming in and said something to the effect of "Holy ****, the girls actually did pass you dude, what are you doing out here?"

Obviously not friendly ribbing. Out of breathe I got off my bike and went up to him. Mind you, at this point post-transplant I was at most 125 lbs having lost all my muscle mass. My head was shaved because I had difficulty lifting my arms over my head to even wash my hair. So imagine my appearance -- indeed, my grandparents said I reminded them of their days in the concentration camps in Spain. I asked him face to face how him, his friends, or the girls who passed me, would be doing barely two months post double-lung transplant and if he felt good about his behavior. I still haven't heard a group become that silent that quickly. The man in question didn't have the balls to apologize to me and I just walked back to my car when one of his buddies came up to me and profusely apologized for his friend's behavior and asked if I would like to ride in their group one day.

I never accepted and that moment has pretty much stuck with me on every ride when I see someone struggling, or a person who doesn't fit the "mold" of a cyclist. I have no idea what their situation is, but I do know they are taking the time and effort, not to mention pain, to improve their health. I always make sure to give them a wave, and not be that ******* on the trail.

Sorry for the length! I guess I need to make my real intro in the Introduction forum now...

danmc

I feel so lucky when I read posts like this. I've been riding about 150-200 miles a week for the past two years, and the worse that's happened to me is that I got mooned once. Every great once in a while someone yells something stupid or honks to be funny, but I can go weeks without it happening. Maybe it's because I don't ride in urban areas, I stick my bike on my car and drive 10 miles to get to the rural areas with little traffic.

CbadRider

Welcome to the forum! That's a great story.

MEversbergII

Well, ****. That is pretty terrible of the lot, though there was no way on earth they could have known about your situation unless you told them.

M.

tpelle

Personally I have no issues with male bicyclists wearing spandex, but I must admit that I enjoy more seeing the female cyclists in spandex.

BTW, I'm one of those people that think that you should have to take a physical and get a permit before being allowed to purchase spandex - and I include myself in the group that inhabits a spandex-free zone.

caloso

I am one of those people who think you ought to use the correct equipment for the endeavor. A proper jersey and bibs are as much equipment as apparel, so for any ride over say a 20 minute ride to the office, I'm going to dress for the ride. And for what it's worth, I haven't seen any correlation between bad driver behavior and whether I'm wearing team kit or a button-down shirt and tie.

casio04330

tsincognito i tip my hat to you for being brave and coming back from after your illness..

mlander

???

Yes, correct, that's exactly the point - that's why you don't shout rude comments to strangers.

mlander

Nah, it was a good post. Wondering how you're doing now with those lungs?

mlander

On topic with thread: yes, I've had a lot of stuff shouted at me.

Cars are a very deeply entrenched part of American culture. I believe the perception is that if you are riding a bike, you are rejecting American culture. You are an affront to the American way of life. You are practically a flag-burner.

Perhaps there is a component of badly misguided, deranged patriotism. Or just simple and plain, small-minded prejudice.

It’s easy to withdraw into our most crude animal instincts. It is more difficult to overcome them and strive to accept beliefs and ideas that are unfamiliar and discomforting (like Spandex). The vast majority are going to take the path of least resistance

rumrunn6

wow, OP where do you live?

TrojanHorse

Of course you do - most of the funds to repair highways come from the general fund, which is paid for by income taxes. Gas taxes don't even come close to repairing the damage that cars and trucks do to the roadways, so in fact you are contributing MORE than that knucklehead and doing LESS damage.

Regardless, who are all these cyclists wearing spandex? I'll stick to lycra, it's safer.

GhostSS

Bullied? No, but I'm an 'urban' cyclist, no lycra.

People being jerks/being dangerous yes and I have ZERO qualms dealing u-lock bashing justice if I was knocked over or struck with an object. Considering that I live Downtown Waikiki it would be a snap catching up to the offender considering the constant stop and go traffic here. I was a boxer before I was ever a cyclist and my aggression regarding matters like that carry over.

SKunKWerKs

I hear you bro- as a former Marine I always make sure to carry my u-lock, my bike pump, or something else I can use to "get someones attention" if I absolutely need to. Some people don't understand they carry our lives in their hands when they are behind the wheel- I would never condone attacking someone- but defending myself is mandatory.

gear64

I have an incident about every few years or so, mostly teens trying to see how much you flinch when they scream from behind. Occaisionally a "get your your *ss on the sidewalk." Drink thrown at me once. Diesel belched at me once, they slowed down enough to make sure a got a face full when they accelerated. Pushed off the road once. I get a little tense any time I hear a diesel approaching. On the other hand two days ago I was thinking it was be nice to a biker day. Everyone seemed to be smiling and ceding the right of way to me.

Northwestrider

I've had an apple thrown at me many years ago, a bit of verbal abuse but it is very very rare. Nothing at all like what you have described.

yugyug

I've copped abuse, but usually only after I've told a driver off for shaving me or some other form of poor driving. The funniest was when I was shaved by a truck driver, and when I pulled up to him at the lights and said to him "You nearly hit me" he just turned to me and said "You're a f**king d***head!" and drove off. Something about the way he said it in this thick Aussie accent was hysterical. My wife cracked up too when I told her, and said "Yeah, well, sometimes you are a f**king d***head!"

krobinson103

Not so many years ago some kids dropped a brick off a freeway overpass. Killed the driver of a car. Its a deadly weapon. Be worse on a bike. But yes, sometimes people get on my case for riding. I tell them in no uncertain terms I couldn't care less about them and their cages and go on my way.

casio04330

I feel alittle better now i know i am not the only one