This is a new one for me. I was riding home from work Saturday evening, with my messenger bag on my road bike. I was on a relatively busy 4 lane road, and happened to notice a relatively rotund man on a mountain bike slowly making his way down the sidewalk. Just as I was thinking "good for him for getting out and getting some exercise!", as I am about parallel with him, I hear clear as day "LOSER!" from his direction. I was so confused I didn't know whether to stop, whether to retaliate with an insult about his weight, or what...? I find it so bizarre that a person on a bike would call out someone else on a bike, not to mention disheartening. Its bad enough the cagers are against us so often.

On a cheery note, my girlfriend (generally a non-cyclist) commuted to work today for the first time ever, and though she had only been planning on doing it every-other-day she found it so enjoyable, that she plans to do it everyday!

Maybe he wasn't yelling at you =p

That guy's the one thats the loser, my friend, not you. Just pass him off as an idiot and go about your way. Congrats on your gal getting into riding a bike. Now thats news worthy to mention.

cheers

Tourette's is another possibility.

Here's how you can tell. When he put his hand on his forehead with his thumb and index finger extended in an "L" shape did he use his right hand or his left hand? If he used his left hand then he was talking to himself, but if he used his right hand....

Maybe recognized a fellow bike is loosing weight just like himself?

Sounds like an idiot to me...
Congrats on your girl making the commute, that's awesome.

Cool on your lady riding.

Don't let the looser annoy you. I was on fun ride this morning and was informed by a motorist that bikes were for queers. Such an odd statement it brought a smile to my face and made me laugh. Silly man just insulted a good portion of the planet.

I would have given him my best "Men On Film" impression. "you absolutely right Mr. Man!"

My girlfriend would have laughed her butt off too.

I was riding up the CCT today and came slowly up to a guy, we were doing about 17 mi/hr. I was coming up so slowly on him that I rode 2 ft behind for a while getting a bit of a pull effect. I said hey "do you mind if I ride your wheel a bit" he said yeah.. then almost immediately he spit on the right side and sprayed me! The spit wasn't AT me , and the main part of the lugie did not hit me... but I got the point and backed way off. He wasn't spitting before this, WTF?

Don't cha see what's happening here? As more and more cagers switch to bikes, the once-friendly camaraderie of bike commuters is becoming the jaded JAM environment. It's like the bizzaro bike world.

I assume the 'yeah' meant that he did mind...reinforced with a loogie. Some folks are just anti-social I guess.

He did say "yeah". The way you wrote it he said it like "Yeah I do mind" as evidenced by his follow up action

Maybe he was talking to himself, I knew a fat kid that would say similar things while working out to psyche himself up.

Chase him, slap his ass, and yell "Squeaaaaaaal like a pig!

Oh no....

OP: I think you have reference paranoia. It's a serious psychological condition where you assume every mocking laugh, insult, or furtive conversation is about you...

I think the Mods deleted the thread, but when I first came to BF's, there was a thread in the Recumbent section titled "Angry 'Bent Rider"! I still laugh when I think about THAT thread! The OP rode somewhere in Oregon on a pink (probably faded red anodizing) BikeE. And his post immediately brought to mind the Unibomber! It was the most wretched post of scum & villiany that I have EVER read from a fellow "cyclist"!


In spite of his explitive filled rant, it was well written, which seemed somehow out of character with his rant. Dang, I'm going to have to search for THAT one. It was a doozy!

As for the OP of this thread, my first reaction to a comment like that is, a quiet extension of my right middle digit, followed by apathy.

Some people just really like to hate anyone that's not like them. He was on an MTB, you were on a roadbike, so he may have thought you were a Lance wannabe. He was on the pavement, you were on the road.... etc etc.

It comes down to "you're not exactly like me. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU???"

When you passed him, did you make any eye contact with him? Maybe if you looked at him, he took it as condescension. Perhaps he thought you were looking down your nose at him. You did mention, "good for him for getting out and getting some exercise!". As innocent as that comment is, it does have a wee smell of superiority to it. Like, "look at the fat guy on his mountain bike on the sidewalk...good for him for putting an effort into getting some exercise!" Maybe he was just getting from point A to point B by the only means he can afford.

BTW, I like your use of the word rotund.

Maybe someone else near to him yelled it, and it just sounded like it came from him. Maybe it was even directed at him.

The Weight Watchers participants in my building have adopted "loser" as a term of encouragement, and are competing to see who will be the "biggest loser".

Did you somehow think there are no idiots on bikes?

Idiots are all over the place. And they seem to be growing in numbers (insert reference to "idiocracy" film here). So it was just a matter of time before the idiots left their gas guzzling cages and got onto bikes.

And I hate to break it to you: You'll probably encounter even more idiots on bikes as time goes on.

OP: I would have gone back to clarify what he said. No threat, etc, just to figure out if I really should be surprised. Maybe he meant something else. Plus, he'll think twice before saying something like that to someone else next time (if he did indeed yell "Loser!" at you). Look at it this way: you're keeping him from getting an ass-kicking next time.

Also, the GF sounds like a keeper.

The spitter is an idiot, clearly. No need to clarify that.

There was an ad campaign in the Uk for some health serial bar... Special K I think. In it other people walked up to damned fine looking lady and called her a 'Loser'... becasue she was losing weight due to this wondrfull magical serial bar. Perhaps as a bloke attempting to lose some pounds his comment was a gesture of solidarity with you...'Loser' could now be the official term of respect for fellow pound shedders.

Stranger things has happened... I can remember the ad campaign for 'Tango'. Quite a few times a shavmobile would pass me and some brain dead hang his head of the passenger window and scream 'ORANGES!!!!' in my lughole.

hey!
I resemble that remark!

...and yes, I'm serious.