MasterHalco

Tonight I was driving through Cambridge, MA on Cambridge Street. I stop at a sign and wait for traffic to clear to turn right. I look left and see two road cyclists coming toward me. I continue to wait for these guys to pass. As they pass me the first guy looks right at me and yells out, "STOP MOTHERF***ERS!"

I was already stopped, completely stopped (not moving at all) for at least 10 seconds.. And I was patiently waiting for these guys to pass by before I started again.

Why did those people yell at me for no reason? Do they think they are helping educate people about cycling? It didn't work; I felt like running them over.

I know how to drive and pay attention to cyclists. I worked as a bike messenger for a couple years. I dealt with bad drivers on a daily basis. I never called any of the good drivers motherf***ers.

Think about what you're saying before you say it.

MasterHalco

BTW: the cyclists ran the next red light.

CB HI

College town, some dumb college student cyclist are like that. Don't let it bother you, karma/darwin will educate them soon enough.

Bekologist

maybe you were 'inching'. maybe they had just had a ragin cager set them off on the last block. maybe they equate personal use of automobiles- on a sunday, no less- to be partly the cause for the oil wars and world strife due our american imperialism. maybe they were rabid environmentalists.

and maybe they were stellar, blue ribbon scofflaws. I like talking back to the cagers sometimes too, even if they've specifically done nothing wrong.

gcl8a

Yeah, it's possible that you were 'inching' forward, or maybe just too far over the white line. Hard to say. I see a lot of cars do this sort of thing, as if they don't realize that it makes it their intentions rather ambiguous.

I used to be a lot more 'in your face' like that when I was riding until I went for a ride with three people I didn't know very well. We came to a round-about and a car was looking like it was going to enter but then stopped short. Clearly, the driver needed a little education about bikes on the road, but the string of obsenities and finger pointing by my compatriots left me a little embarrassed. So I gave the guy a little hand wave and a 'thanks' and he waved back. I'd like to believe that a little friendliness will go more towards improving his behavior than just having him being ticked-off at a bunch of JAC's, whether justified or not.

sgtsmile

It is also possible that you did exactly what you said you did, and that you were dealing with a couple of idiots.

Juha

Maybe they were chasing said MFs?

--J

John Wilke

THat's my guess. As the moron tally increases during each ride, I get more and more vocal. It could be that you happened across them after they've been dealing with traffic for 2 hours or more. Hard to say exactly since we weren't there, but at least you STOPPED and actually SAW something (most people don't it seems).

The other day I started to make a right turn after properly signaling. A car comming the other way (also properly signaling) made a left turn at the same time and almost ran me over! (I'm 6'5" 250 lbs wearing an ORANGE jacket) Man, I let loose on them Well, it had an impact since they didn't pass me on the subsequent blind uphill until it was clear and I waved them by.

Now, I don't mean to take a personal strike against you, but I'm glad they spoke up and became vocal. The vast majority of drivers have no common sense and often they need to have someone tell them that they did something wrong. They still might not know what they did, but maybe they'll actually try to think next time (probably not, but maybe).

jw

MasterHalco

I take no personal offense taken from you guys. Unfortunately, I was neither inching nor poking into the street. I was completely, totally halted. There was at least two yards between me and the cyclists. Had I been doing something wrong I, too, would be glad they spoke up. As I was doing nothing wrong, they insulted me and criticized me for no good reason. That kind of behavior gives us cyclists a bad name. It is regretable.

Also they weren't college kids. They were fully spandexed roadies in their 30's.

nelson249

Unfortunately, there are idiots everywhere. With behaviour like that it is no wonder I often see entries on blogs where the author cheers when a roadie gets nailed. Hard enough getting respect on the roads without morons like this.

EnigManiac

It's unfortunate you were the victim of unwarranted unfriendly language, but don't let it bother you. We cyclists get that every day and most of us just let it slide. Many here remark about how some cager or JAM or just some idiot yells something at a cyclist and they don't even report a tenth of what gets hurled their way. While it's not a case of 'turnabout is fair play,' it is something that happens, for whatever reason, right or wrong. We don't judge all motorists by the actions of a few, nor do we judge all cyclists by the actions of a few.

closetbiker

If you were stopped, were you stopped past the stop line?

I find it's common to have cars doing this and partially blocking (or at least calling into question the cars intentions) the through lane.

Most cars I see stopped that are going to make a right turn have their rear tires past the stop line. I've also had those cars make their right turn just as I'm passing, forcing me to the left side of the lane, and a couple of times, into the gap between the turning car and oncoming traffic from the opposite direction.

sbhikes

Maybe they were making fun of you for waiting so long.

MSPD

While you were looking at them coming at you from the left, perhaps a couple of pedestrians were starting to step off the curb into their path to your right. You could have been caught up by the shock of thinking they were screaming at you (and also trying to check out their bikes) that you never noticed them (back on the curb) when you made your turn. Possible?

Maybe they weren't screaming at you. (You say he "looks right at you" but most cyclists I know are wearing glasses that make it impossible to really tell what they are looking at).

I don't know...I'm kind of a pollyanna "assume the best in people" guy. Maybe to a fault.

rule

Polite drivers who loiter at an intersection scare the crap out of cyclists more than those who move on.

shog

Must have been in something in the air yesterday. I had the same thing happen to me outside of Columbus, Ohio. I was stopped at a stop sign and saw a paceline coming towards me so I was waiting for them to pass. Suddenly the guy at the head of the paceline slams on his brakes and starts cussing me and giving me the finger. I was probably 15 feet back from the intersection, I wasn't creeping and I had eye contact with the guy just before he slammed on the brakes.

Shog

If bicyclists want respect we have to give it.

sggoodri

Perhaps there was another driver who appeared to be moving forward, perhaps behind you?

During the commute in this morning I witnessed a near-collision between a sidewalk cyclist (contra-flow) and a driver about to turn right-on-red. The driver stopped in time; the cyclist proceeded to the driver's side of the car and verbally let loose on him after that.

A lot of experienced cyclists are really scared of right-turning traffic, and they should be. My way of dealing with this danger is riding farther into the lane for visibility and extra maneuvering room, never riding on sidewalks, and encouraging my police department to ticket right-on-red offenders who don't stop properly, since this also innocent endangers crosswalk users. (Our police give a lot of tickets for this thanks to automatic red light cameras tuned to detect these.) Other cyclists let their anger out on the street, expecting a fight with anybody who might cross their path, but I don't like such confrontations, and I think they can get dangerous. The few times I had words with anyone on the street, it just made me feel worse.

Az B

'Roid rage. You know all those cyclists are doping.

Az

GaryA

Another reason I wear a whistle. If I see someone inching (I see you weren't) or not paying attention I give a quick blast on my whistle to get their attention. I find it to be a lot less rude then yelling at people, and more effective.

lima_bean

Maybe they werent actually yelling at you.

Erick L

Paranoid cyclists who think motorists are out to get them. There are many, just look at this forum.

spry

The raised single finger referred to the Buckeye "we,re #1" in the basketball finals this week.
With drivers like my daughter and friends on campus,cycling in greater Columbus scares the chicken out of me.

MasterHalco

+1

sgtsmile

yep...

randomgear

Please take no offense. They are upstanding members of C.A.I.: Cyclists against Incest. They say it loud and they say it proud.