I am kind of ashamed.

JB and I are riding the other afternoon, it is windy and starting to rain, the roads are wet. We are waiting at a light at a very busy intersection and when the light turns green, the car next to us decides she would rather have our lane. Now, she sees us, for sure because we just sat next to her car for 3 minutes. She just about takes him out with her car.

At the next stop, I jump off my bike and begin yelling at her. She has a practiced blank look on her face, and won't look at me. I take my hand and smack her window next to her head very hard. "four tours in Iraq, and you want to kill him with your CAR?!!"

I almost thought the police would show up at my house. I am not sure why I snapped, I have never done it in a car. I am feeling that this response is getting worse, not better. I am giving up traffic rides for awhile.

Nothing wrong with letting a driver know that they made a mistake. I like the comment. It lets her know that she almost hit a person who is defending our country. Your outburst of emotion may pay off. Maybe she'll respect the next bicyclist that she sees.

Don’t feel bad for a second. 4 tours defending our freedom / safety and some rude driver puts his life at risk while cycling!

You did good! Thank you (one less motorist I might have to educate)

When coward bullies like her get away with it once, they do it again until someone gets in their face.

Believe me, many of us know just how you felt and reacted. The slap on the window really does work.

JB, Thanks for your service.

+1 for sure. Thanks. 4 tours? Holy crap.

Don't sweat it...we all have our human moments. Perhaps this was hers as well.

Double up on your traffic communication and courtesy as penance over the next few rides and in no time you will feel right as rain.

Four tours in Iraq. That's why you snapped. That sounds terribly stressful. He's supposed to be home safe now.

Most of us have had our psycho moments. Generally, it's a bad thing to go psycho. It's physically dangerous and can get you arrested. It can also ruin your mood. A smile and wave is usually the best response.

That said, I can see the benefit if more drivers feared that the cyclist they were about to pass might just go psycho if a driver passed too closely.

Those moments, while powerful and sometimes disturbing are very natural. Almost getting wiped on your bike is alot more real to the mind than almost having a fender bender. Take all the adrenaline of the incident, stew for a block..and you are perfectly justified in forcefully airing your anger. When a driver is trying not to see you, you know they know....and they are merely wishing you weren't there. I've had a few of these over the years and I'll hope you may have scared her into paying better attention. Hey don't be ashamed, it's not like you broke every glass surface of her car with your u-lock....

I yell out their license number, especially when they do something illegal. If there is any justice, the driver's will spend the next few days worrying that I contacted the police who somehow have the time to track them down and give them a ticket.

it's things like that, that let you know you're human
don't sweat it

You did ok...*****s have a right to the road too.

When i was an avid motorcyclist i used to carry rock fishing weights( one under each chronometer). they are about a lb each. I had a woman once cut me off on the freeeway, Thought she might not have seen me then when i gt beside her she flipped me the bird without even looking! so i slowed down a bit just beside her quarter panel gave a little space, loaded up & fired the ammunition took out her rear side view window then wound up bike & vrroooomm! poof i was gone!

Yeah, that works on a motorcycle where your ability to accelerate coupled with narrow size allows you a getaway... back in the day my fellow motorcyclists would carry used spark plugs in their jacket pockets for the very same reason.

Sure wouldn't work on a bicycle though.

Everyone "snaps" sooner or later. Everyone has that point where you just can't bear it any longer, and you have tell the idiot off.

I'm a total zen cyclist, no matter what happens I never get phased. My cycling buddy however is the exact opposite, he blows up at every other car. But this probably means I'm just repressing it and I'm going to blow up bad one day.

i ha a rage before now i figure whats the point? I started biking to end anger

Yeah well, best just to shrug it all off. Cause all repercussions will lead to is serious injury, death or long stint in prison. Like my ole gran pappy youz te tao me,, "If yah can't stanz de heat denz git out de fia."
Gots me spinach on.....

Bingo...


No issues with you snapping. Don't stop road riding though. Think about why you got upset (beyond the obvious) and .... ah screw it. You know what I am going to say and probably thought it anyways. Main thing is he and you are ok. Good luck.

wow, I thought I would get spanked. last thing we need is motorists hating us.

So...on today's ride I was thinking about this. Because I used to think cyclists were sorta of angry people (SoCal) but of course now, I see why! So...I try and give nods and be nice to drivers that are being considerate...waiting for me to pass, etc. I have been getting really angry at motorists and the only way I can turn it around is to maybe encourage the "good" ones.

I did hit her car really, really hard. You just have no power out there. I can understand if they don't see you. It is the ones that look right at you and do it that make me nuts.

I was kidding a little about post traumatic stress by association, but you hear of these guys running missions, IEDs and then coming home and getting hit by a bus.

This might sound crazy, but it is addictive, like a video game, dodging obstacles. I had a good ride today!

I find reading some of these threads brings out more anger in me than actually cycling does.

yea, I know what you mean I think. I solo dive and sometimes all the accident threads on my other forum make me start to be paranoid. It can ruin your mo jo.

Maybe kidding, but it is a real problem. A lot of time the family and friends get stressed out more than the deployed service members.

That is the thought that hit me when I read your OP - 4 tours, comes home and some idiot driver hits him.

Catherine, no motorist in their right mind, and even most of the crazy ones, is going to hold a grudge against a cyclist who says what you said to that woman. You'd probably even give Lars Larson, Portland's extremely conservative shock jock who detests cyclists, pause.

We all lose it at times, and you were certainly primed to go off under the circumstances. No one was hurt, and maybe you scared that woman for the better. Don't sweat it, and get back in traffic!

so...CB HI, I have been only riding a couple months. Do you think the kaleaniole highway is dangerous?
JB says he thinks it is okay, because lots of cyclists, there IS a bike lane, etc. Some of the busy intercections curdle my blood a bit. I am improving, but rolling through the middle of the busier ones is a little freaky at times, especially trying to get clipped in on the second foot fast enough to power through, yield to the oncoming, and then get out of the way, before the light changes.