Originally Posted by
woodway
I was riding about 20 feet behind another cyclist on a 3-lane (middle turn lane) road on my commute home a few weeks back when a car passed both of us really close. Did it on purpose too, as there was no other traffic around, and the turn lane was totally clear.
I just threw out my usual "middle finger salute", shrugged it off as another idiot and kept pedaling (I was wearing mitten gloves so I don't think my salute had much impact on the driver, but it made me feel better), but the guy in front of me totally blew up. He started spewing profanities and sped up to try and catch up with the guy at the next light. He was roasted and I think it could have been an ugly scene if he could have caught up with the guy.
Uh, were you behind a big guy with a beard, riding a black Cross Check with full fenders and a handlebar bag? There's a distinct possibility it was me...
I have, on some instances, been "that crazy guy". The one doing a big-ring standing sprint down a hill, chasing after a guy who swung his truck over to try and clip me... Or (ask keithm0 about this one) yelling profanities at the top of my lungs, sprinting up Novelty Hill after a 35 miler, hoping the light would go red on a carload of teenagers who hassled us.
I am still, when I notice the instances of yelling and bad driving are on the rise, the guy who puts 1/2" track spikes in the cleat holes of his left shoe, to give drivers something extra to think about when they get home after trying to crunch me against a line of parked cars.
I have been known, more than once, to dump a full waterbottle of Accelerade on a driver's lap at a red light.
I have seen another rider, angry at the driver laying on his horn while he (cyclist) was keeping pace with traffic, reach back and pull down his shorts to moon said driver for about a quarter mile.
Back in my courier days, I saw another guy from my shop kick someone's side mirror clean off their car. (Back in the day of manual adjust, stick-mounted style mirrors... but still, a hefty kick.)
My all time favourite has to be from last summer, though. I was waiting at a street light a couple blocks from our local skate/bike park. The people in the car behind me had been hassling me for the past couple of blocks; riding my wheel, revving the engine, laying on the horn. Finally, at the light, one of them leans out the window and yells "Hey bike f*g!" Well, I guess the BMX kid coming from the park thought he was the one getting yelled at, because he picked up a decent size rock and whipped it at their car, cracking the back window.