urshurak776

I was riding in a fairly busy area (unavoidable for a mile or so from my house.) There was a car behind me that would not pass me (though I made every effort to move over as best I could to allow it.) The car behind them was laying on the horn, screaming out the window, cussing, you name it..... Finally, I had to get over to the left turn lane to turn back into my neighborhood and this guy comes screaming up along side me, literally slammed on his brakes (BIG guy, no shirt, tatoos, muscular and probably 235lbs or so. AND he had a buddy in the passenger seat.) He was screaming I had no business in the road and he was tired of all the (explitive) cyclists. I would normally have explained that I have every right to the road, just like a car, however, I was pretty certain that trying to reason with this A$$ hat would have done no good. Heck, there are signs all over the place saying "share the road." Anyway, I just looked ahead and turned when I had it clear, pretending to ignore him the whole time. It really disturbed me though.

Have you guys / gals ever had somebody do this to you?

Thanks for letting me vent

Todd

Homebrew01

Most of us have had some variation of that experience. Some milder, some worse..... You just have to shake it off and move on.

roadwarrior

Sure. I ignore them and keep riding. That's a lot more fun than a confrontation. It's like they are not even there.

Although one time a guy like that was yelling. I looked over and said ,"Dude....you look like a heart attack waiting to start.". Without a retort, he drove off with his middle finger in the air. Like I gave a crap.

Fwiw, when i lived in Europe people yelled at you too. So much for the cycling culture.

Don't worry about it.

If a car is that squirrely where they won't pass and clearly can, I find a driveway, pull over and let them go.

big john

Many times.

urshurak776

Thanks guys. I was prompted to post because I got up this morning, had some coffee, started to work (I was working from home today) and was thinking about my ride tonight. The memory just flooded back. You guys are right though, I am not letting people like that ruin my riding.

NWS Alpine

Good idea to grab his plate and report it to the local PD. That way next time when he actually does something to someone else there is record of previous incidents. Will help the next victim instead of he said she said.

Sounds like he is a ticking time bomb just waiting for the chance to take someone out.

Dudelsack 

To be honest, this stuff tends to ruin my day. It's funny how a couple hundred of cars can pass you without incident, but one meth-snorting psycho can detroy the enjoyment of the ride.

PiLigand

I had guy tell me to "Get off the road or [he's] calling the cops!"
Which I guess wasn't too bad. Jeepers, you really got the inbred end of the stick on this one. Hopefully this guy was just having a (REALLY) bad day.

Good call on getting the plate number if you can.

MikeyBoyAz

Yes, these events happen. They are good practice at maintaining calm, in contrast the dip at work has nothing on the road rage, so keeping my calm at the office just gets easier.

urshurak776

Good idea on the plate. I wish I had thought of that.......darn....

Seattle Forrest

Of course. It comes with the territory, like flats, and rain.

Normally I try to ignore them. When they're laying into the horn, that's not really possible. The truth is it gets into my head and I spend the next 10 minutes being pissed. But there are two things that break me out of that:
Ultimately what's important is that you're out having a good time riding, getting some exercise, and being outdoors. It's easier said than done (by a lot) but try not to let these people in your head.

coasting 

yup. i ignore as best as i can, but one time this car overtook me then stopped in the road waiting for me to get up to him. i wasn't going to fall into his trap so I stopped in the road too and we both stayed stationary for a few minutes playing chicken. he blinked and drove off. I win!

caloso

In those cases, I pull out my phone and take a photo of the license plate and the driver's face if possible. Even if your phone doesn't have a camera, just play act like it does. That usually calms these yayhoos right down.

dalava

What these guys want is your acknowledgement of their presence and your engagement with them. Don't give them at satisfaction is not only best for the situation, but also best for your own mental health. After a few times, I am now able to move on and not let it bother me for too long. But it's disturbing nevertheless.

urshurak776

You said it PERFECTLY! Thank you

coasting 

i did that once and it riled him up more and he tried to take my phone.

BoSoxYacht

This sort of thing happens to me a few times a year, but it never happens to a friend of mine that openly carries a G20 in a holster above his center jersey pocket.

coasting 

uh oh.

Silvercivic27

****

merlinextraligh

I've found smiling and waiving can be quite effective. It pisses them off that they didn't get the reaction they wanted.

And +1 on the camera phone if things get ugly.

DaveWC

I do that exactly and act like I have it on video, talking to the phone & the driver. In every case so far they have shut up & quickly driven away.

Siu Blue Wind

It's enough to shake me up pretty good but not enough to let those people control my enjoyment of riding. I can't let them upset me for too long. That gives them complete control.

shoemakerpom

See you weren't Shook. That's what they are trying to do. I talk to a cop every week about these type of things and they don't take it lightly. In fact they categorize it as road rage and if the guys throws anything at you its a felony.

Rootman

A few times, I just ignore them, although once I did not.

I was at a stop light, first in line, one car behind me. The dude just laid on his horn screaming something incomprehensible, all I heard was ".... off the road!". I could imagine what he was screaming though. I just calmly got off the bike, put the kick stand down and parked it right in front of his front bumper, walked back to his window and tapped on it (he closed it as soon as he saw me coming). I asked, "How may I help you?". He just pretended to ignore me. The light cycled TWICE and I took off at the next green light. Now that was not muscle bound, tattooed inbred but it still gave me great satisfaction. Call me a jerk, i don't care I was just miffed and would of gladly had a polite conversation had he had balls enough to speak with me.

Nachoman

Yup. Happened to me just the other day.
It took a lot of self control to ignore the guy.