Chris516

I agree. Especially when we have a right to be on the road.
Great point. Because, Every time someone yellls at me, to get off the road, or get in a bike lane(even one that may not exist or be blocked by vehicles). I think of it like they are vomiting their brains. Because of their stupidity.

I hope it wasn't something like a Big Mac/Double Cheeseburger, Large Fries and a Classic Coke. That would have been a waste of good(bad)food.

So, I should go back to wearing gym shorts, getting saddle sores and chafed legs. I think not. I don't carry any weapons on me. Because, There is no need to.

bovine

Oh, no. Absolutely not. Specialized clothing is called for on long rides. I just commute about 15-20 miles a day so it's not needed in my case, and I like to be in street clothes when I stop off on the way home for groceries or a beer. I was just wondering if there is a correlation between the two. No action should be taken on the part of you or other cyclists to correct for and mitigate the idiocy of these drivers. I'm extremely sorry if I implied otherwise.

And, yeah, I've only ever used my knife to slice apples, pizza, open packaging, etc. I would never draw it on someone, primarily because I'm a pacifist but, also importantly, because I have no expertise in knife fighting and I'd likely be more of a danger to myself than the assailant. I can imagine that the placement and my size can act as a deterrent for the sort of idiots who would throw empties at passing bikes though.

kickstart

Maybe, maybe not.
I had a bottle thrown at me when I was walking along a road wearing work clothes. I'm 6' 200 lbs and cleancut.

bovine

Yeah, I'm realizing that it was a stupid aside that I shouldn't have even brought up. Smacks of short-skirt victim blaming. Sorry about that.

kickstart

Actually there are probably some who think that way.

Rollfast

I'm just wondering why a 3 year old thread got resurrected last fall and how the original topic line relates. A new thread should have been started.

Chris516

I switched from wearing gym shorts, to biking shorts. Because my gym shorts would ride up legs and it would be rather embarrassing. Also, Because of them riding up my legs. I would end up with a terrible rash on my inner thighs. Lastly, The bike shorts I do have, I have three pairs of these: Performance Elite Shorts

They have extra padding in the seat and fit snug, quite nicely.

Poonjabby

Had someone throw a water bottle at the wife and I twice now never hit us. Had a truck pass me and the passenger side window exploded. It wasn't until a few minutes later I wondered if they tried to hit me with something and forgot their window wasn't down.

Poon

mtk

I got hit with a shake. It was full of chocolate chunks. One of the messiest days of my life. People have no regard for anything without 4 wheels.

caloso

The last two times someone threw something at me from a car, I was wearing dress pants, a button down shirt, and a tie, and was on my way home riding through one of the nicer neighborhoods in the city.

mtk

One of mine was a near a university (naturally), and the other was in my own neighborhood by someone I didn't even know. Needless to say, I found that person.

bovine

The advocacy forum makes me want to stop random drivers in Austin and shake their hands for not making my city the anti-bike hellscape that some of you describe. Seriously, I've never, not even once, been harassed while biking and I've been riding here since 2003.

KD5NRH

That's because it's Austin; everybody just assumes they're dealing with a member of the 99.99999999997% of Austin's population that's mentally unstable.

bovine

Sorry about your hellscape.

genec

Well you know.... that's just weird.

bovine

Yeah, I'd probably break my streak if I did that, huh?

kickstart

Virtually all of my not so common negative encounters have happened on a single two mile stretch of road. Its a four lane arterial that is lined with low income housing, retail, a transit center, and city Court/jail.

KD5NRH

Worst I dealt with was when I lived in Dallas, and would cut through the SMU campus fairly regularly to get to several places.

bovine

Yeah, I essentially bike on downtown lanes, residential, or arterial w/ bike lanes or extremely wide lanes, so I can completely understand that I just put myself in situations where I don't typically draw the ire of whatever d-bag drivers who would throw things or hurl insults.

bronco71

I had one like that. Dumbass stuck his head out the passenger side window of the lifted redneck truck to yell something obnoxious at me. Before he could utter a word he got whacked in the face by a giant flying beetle. Damn instant karma.

seeker333

Middle-income bored suburban kids are some of the worst. Alone they are harmless, but with peers, especially those of opposite sex, they really act out. I am especially cautious when I see a herd of these kids standing near the side of the road, or see a carload heading my way.

60spacing

I've been really fortunate around here. The most that's happened to me is someone squirted water at me when I was riding up the Big Thompson Canyon from Loveland to Estes Park a few years ago. I've had a few of the usual "Get off the road!" idiots (like I'll quite riding my bike on the road because they told me to ). I've never had anything thrown at me.

genec

As in "Keep Austin..."