BigMac23

haha did you get to trash his vehicle when he ran away?

7mm Mauser

When they yell at you in a harassing manner, yell their license plate back to them.

SilverSurfR

Pretty sure I've posted this story before. One of the first times out riding some guy in a pickup yells out a--hole as he passes. Kind of odd, wide street, I'm not obstructing traffic, guess the guy just felt like being a d-bag. I then notice that this guy is going to hit the red light about 1/4 mile up the road. I charge up the small hill and stop at the corner, guy now has passenger window rolled up and won't look in my direction at all. Must be pretty easy to yell insults at a stranger when you think you'll never see 'em again.

Earlier today (now yesterday) I see a car backing out a driveway, I can tell the driver doesn't plan on stopping to let me pass as she backs completely into the street so I slow down and come to a complete stop about 10 feet from her car, and she just sits there and gives me this WTF are you doing look while throwing her arms in the air. So I say out loud "what are you waiting for" as I ride around the car, when some guy standing on the curb (I assume some family member) yells something at me. Wonder what he said.

At the end of that ride I'm coming down a cross street to the one where I live. Some guy has his car stopped on the road with the right turn signal on talking to a group of people on the sidewalk. OK, I begin to make my move to go around him when he turns off the turn signal and starts driving. I move back to the right behind him and he stops, at this point I figure it's not safe to pass this guy until I know what he's doing. So I'm stopped behind this guy wondering WTF is he doing. When his group of buddies out on the curb yell out that I "need to move out of the f---ing way" cause he's going to park.

<Shrug>

gvonne

I've got "******!" twice. Strange thing is both times were in the city. When I'm out in the sticks people are VERY polite to me. Some even waving. Yes I am black by the way.

gvonne

Oops they have the auto bad word filter on. It was the "N" word fir the previous post.

BoodBianchi

I've been biking for a month everyday, only thing this girl yelled was "heyyyy sexyyy." Not going to complain.

boclcown

hahaha BoodBianchi

Atol

I just get random crap thrown at me.

roccobike

THey don't say anything to me. In fact they keep waiving their hands telling me I'm number one! I just wish they'd use their index finger instead of the middle finger.

Indyv8a

I called a guy a d*ck head for running a stop. He was going about 30 and if I handn't seen him, he would have plowed into my son and me. His passenger window as down so I serenaded him with opinion. "Nice stop, DH." I really enjoyed it. As for people yelling at me, hasn't happened recently, but teenage boys seem the worst around here.

Here's a nice irony factor. I'm a teacher, for extra cash and summer I am teaching driver's ed. You can guess how much sermonizing I do on giving bikes room. I even tell my students bikes have more of a right to the road than cars. (I believe that's true.)

jesspal

People love go yell "Go Lance", I don 't think they have figured out that all cyclists are not named Lance.

blamire

'lance is faster'
so is lewis hamilton but you don't see me going on about it

big john

Maybe you should've ripped the top off of the car and pulled them out by the throat. I think you could do it.

I've heard this crap, too. A co-worker told me cyclists have no right to be on the road because we don't pay road tax by buying fuel. A lot of idiots think this way. (nice sig, btw).

chevy42083

"YOU'RE ON HGH!!!" around tour time last year... also around the time all the HGH stuff was going on with baseball. Baseball was my first thought (maybe cause I'm from Houston, and know lots of Astros fans).

"Get on the road ****!" For one, we had a girl in the group :dunno: . Two, we were in the shoulder lane (where cars parallel park, but there were none for at least 3mi... we took the lane before coming to them later). Not sure if that punk was a cyclist who thought we didn't know what we were doing or what. Maybe he's a Critical Masser.

Two of the guys I ride with have long blonde hair... more than one occasion a car will pull up close, pace, start to roll down window, and as it gets next to them... window up and take off.

mawtangent

About once every couple of months I get a "yell" from the open passenger-side window of some random passing vehicle (it's usually from an old truck). I imagine the culprit is a 18-25 year-old male (though I never get a good look since they're usually going around 60 mph, and are way down the road before I look up). The yell comes when the vehicle is right next to me. I believe the goal is to startle me, and watch me "fall apart" or something. By nature I'm a "jumpy" person, but when I'm on my bike I'm in "expect anything/focus on the task" mode and the yell hardly fazes me (it helps also that, probably unknown to the yeller, the yell doesn't have that much punch in that setting, it gets mutted in the wind). I do get a bit angry at people who just want to "mess" with others for the fun of it, but I'm learning to just "let it go" and forget about little anoyances.

A couple of days ago a little car drove unnecessary close to me and the driver honked its horn. I assume the goal was to startle me also. I didn't get a look at any of the passengers but they were probably bored young people looking (desparately) for entertainment on a Friday summer evening.

runner pat

Get yourself a handcycle, you'll be free of all the negative comments, cars passing too close, nobody throws things at you, it's great.
Only downside is needing to get a handcycle.

urbanknight

Yeah, I think over the past 10 years "Go Lance" has been the most unoriginal thing to yell at a cyclist. I hear it at least once a month.


A guy in a pickup did that to me on the way home from work one day. I caught him at a red light and he was actually willing to pull over and discuss it with me. Amazingly, he was a young father in nice slacks and a pressed dress shirt. He claimed I wasn't giving him enough room to pass (I was riding just outside the door zone). I tried to explain the door zone and the right to control the lane, and how his only job was to pass me with a safe margin even if that meant using the other lane (2 lanes in each direction on this road). He still disagreed, but I thanked him for taking the time to discuss it respectfully.

GirlAnachronism

We got this on a group ride yesterday. Along with "nice buns" from a car full of girls (I assume that one wasn't directed at me).

nstrav10

let's see yesterday i believe they yelled F.A.G. and then when they were a good way up the road the passenger stuck his hand out the window and motion to keep up (as they sped away of course)

scotch

usually i hear:

"hey!! i'm an angry, lazy slob who hates his life and i resent your physical fitness and the fun it looks like you're having and i need to let you know about this!!!"

jdon

Yeah, I had that same word yelled at me by an oncoming guy in a pickup. He also launched an apple at me and hit me on the knee. Same ride, a few miles later I was doing a trackstand at a light stretching my hamstrings. Two gals pull up beside me and yell "YEOW!!" with the driver giving two thumbs up.

It all balances out.

jhmiller

I've gotten the standard "Yo Lance," though it was followed up with the three 16-year-old DBs chanting "*******, *******."

Another occasion I was stopped at a light when a car screeched up alongside, and the passenger yelled "have some!" Startled me pretty good. Startled me more when I realized he wasn't kidding, he'd thrown a good-sized roach me. I thought about it.

And I've gotten "nice ass" from the local college girls, which at 30 I'm getting old enough to really appreciate.

tntyz

Usually it's just a yell, I suppose to startle me into doing something. What they expect, I don't know. Do they want me to swerve under the wheels of their vehicle?

Sometimes it is the ever so creative, "Get the F*** off the road."

People can turn into real jerks when they're behind the wheel.

Ivandarken

This is me as a driver yelling at a cyclist story. So I am driving to work in the city, going to a location photo shoot. It is the first day on this job and I like to get there early because there are always new people for me to manage. The whole way (about 8 miles) on a strait road with hundreds of stop lights, this cyclist is taking up the entire lane (I realize that the law lets him do this... that's a whole other thread) and all of the cars are lined up trying to find an opportunity to pass him.

All of the drivers are getting really pissed off at him and were doing the regular aggressive maneuvers to show their dissatisfaction. I was trapped in a routine where I would get to pass him, then hit a stop light, he would pass me (going through the light) and we would repeat the process.

The cyclist was making it very clear that he was going to own the road and would not let anyone pass him unless they could get around him in what were limited opportunities. Finally (it was summer and my windows were down) I yelled out "You're going to get yourself killed!" He didn't respond.

So I proceeded to honk once each time I was preparing to pass. This went on about 20 times. Each time he would move over to block my way. Eventually he would come to a stop light and get in front of my car and mad dog me. I would just honk once. This went on for a few stop lights, and he continued to take up more of the road than he needed to, still making the point to hundreds of drivers.

Then on one stop light, he (a very big guy by the way) rode up to my window and looked at me threateningly and said "Yeah, well that's why you're such a lard ass and I am so trim" I looked up incredulously and responded "Dude, that is so gay" (no offense to our Gay friends, his use of the word "trim" really just demanded it) And then we both moved on.

It was the most inconsequential verbal barrage I have ever participated in with someone on the street in Chicago. Normally there would be cursing, threats, or other slurs. We just traded mildly critical sentiments.

So we continued the dance for another mile or so when I seemed to have lost him and I had to turn off to a side street to my location. I parked, got out, and then looked up and there he was, this big guy- right in front of me. I thought he had followed me to start a fight. Then I realized that the guy I had been slightly road raging with, was there to work on our job. Which meant... He was there to work for ME!

What are the chances.

A few months later I saw him at a coffee shop. He called me over and I asked him what he had been up to. He said he just got out of the hospital after getting hit by a car and suffering really bad injuries. To his credit... he said it was completely his fault. I think he realized that having rights and using them to their fullest extent are very different things.

Personally... I have never had anyone yell anything to me when I am riding. But I always ride my bicycle with a cyclists' AND a drivers' perspective. Let's all just get along.

urbanknight

Well, at least it was a creative spin on a classic.