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I've only had one confrontation and a few stupid kids calling me names. The one confrontation was a few years ago when I'd ride through town to get to the start of a trail. The car pulled over really close and the passenger screamed out "eat my door". I stopped and watched the passenger open the door just past me. The car stops, two teenagers get out and start calling me names. I reach for the pepper spray. Passenger pulls out a tire iron from the backseat. Someone called the police, because a cruiser showed up right about this time. Driver claims I kicked the door. Cop separates us. Asks me for ID. I show him my gun license (full concealed carry and sub-mg), because frankly it looks like my driver's license and in the adrenaline rush, I didn't notice the difference. His eyes widen and he asks, "Are you?" I say, "Always." Tells me to have a nice ride and thanks for keeping a cool head. As I'm calming myself down, putting the pepper spray away, I hear the cop yelling at the two kids, "Be glad he only pulled out the pepper spray! What were you going to do with that tire iron?!" The kid with the tire iron is in handcuffs bent over the hood of the car. I ride home, figuring no amount of trails is going to be better than this. I hope I don't have to get into that again. Names I can handle. Attempted physical harm is just wrong. I haven't had any name-calling nor bad experiences in the past few weeks as I've started commuting again.
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Winner!
This has to be the most awesome post...
Originally Posted by Cyclaholic
Different groups, different motivations...
Out of all the threats I encounter the vast majority of them just don't know how to safely negotiate their way past a cyclist through sheer incompetence, ignorance or they're just too youg (immature/irresponsible) to operate any vehichle. There's no malice involved, only ignorance and incompetence. I'd have to run a nationwide chain of driver training academies and have lots of legislation chaged before I'd have any impact on that problem so I just let it go. These are the ones that will kill you without meaning to, and the ones I most watch out for and worry about the most as they represent by far the biggest threat to me. Then there's the average mums and dads that give a short toot on the horn and pass slowly and carefully with a ridiculously wide margin, sometimes they even hang back and don't pass me but wait untill I signal them to go. Some think they are being 'safe' by alerting me to their precense where others are just saying "cycling is very dangerous and I wish you weren't here because Im afraid to hurt you accidentally". No sense worrying about them, My father probably falls into that category. They are a small group and a mild annoyance at most. There's the tough mouthed version of the ridiculously safe that try to shove their safety concerns by agressively demonstrating to you just how much danger you're in (the 'teach you a lesson for your own good' crowd) they turn to water with a little confrontation, usually an invitation to get out of their cage shuts them up. These idiots are a bigger annoyance but pose little risk. Then there's the 1% of true a-holes that will go out of their way to harm you or otherwise bully you for their own sadistic pleasure. They don't really care if you end up hurt or dead so long as they aren't held accountable. As far as I'm concerned they deserve to meet disproportionate resistance because they only language they understand is pain and fear. They drive a weapon that serves a secondary purpose as transport. Needless to say they shouldn't be in society, never mind driving on the roads. They are a very small proportion of cagers but an encounter with one is often an unforgetable experience. I've hade a few run ins with the "1%" sociopaths, some of which ended in a physical confrontation. Recently I was deliberately road raged and hit by one - it was a totally unprovoked attack while I was stopped waiting for cross traffic at a stop sign - he came up behind me honking agressively, deliberately hit me from behind (he stopped, revvied his engine several times, then lunged forward) then deliberately sideswiped me when he took off. There were plenty of witnesses and all the cops would do was to give him a ticket for negligent driving. Another time one said something to me as he went by and I gave the standard F*** YOU reply. He screeched to a halt across several lanes blocking the road, got out and ran at me. Then he made the mistake of grabbing my handlebars and shaking my bike, he got his face well and truly smashed in and his car keys taken. There's been a few more, like the two punks that tried to mug me for my laptop in a parking lot, I was heavily into my martial arts training back then as I had just graded for my black belt - they didn't get the lappie and I doubt they would remember just what did happen to them. |
Originally Posted by chipcom
Aww come on, don't be so hard on yourself, you still got plenty of assholish in ya! :D
Come on there petty officer slag don't accept the fact in a remorseful way that you were drafted in as a company 6" gunners mate then tossed over board as a worn out tool. Never fret, There are plenty of corners for you on the avenues, you scuttlebuttin nuttin' tool. Now back in your hole you mole. |
Originally Posted by pj7
For me, it was all about getting my jollies at someone elses expense, and cyclists are easy targets. They are for the most part skinny little fella's with no threatening muscles to show. They made a very easy target since I knew that if it came to physical encounters I would be the one walking away from the fight.
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I was called a "SPIC" by a redneck in a huge Chevy Truck passing by in the opposite traffic lane. Not so much "anti-cyclist" as it is "racist," I suppose, even though I'm not Latino by any means :rolleyes:
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I have spent lots of time riding in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Roussillon, France.
California, probably experienced road rage something like six times a year; Nevada, more times than I could count. Oregon, less than California. Roussillon, Never and it's been over a year now. |
I haven't started commuting yet (just got my commuting bike yesterday actually), but I am already used to people getting mad at me on the road. I have an 89 Chevy pickup that is, uhm, not a vehicle known for fuel economy. Since I can't afford to get another car, when I have to drive the truck I drive it like a grandma, I accelerate real slow, generally go under the speed limit 5-10 MPH, etc, to save on gas (I do all the other stuff too, keep it tuned up, check tire pressure, etc). I have people tailgating constantly, and the really angry ones sometimes flashing their lights or honking when there is no place for me to go to let them pass (I don't do this in fast/passing lane on expressway) then when they can pass they roar past me a gazillion miles per hour flipping me the bird, then slam on their brakes to stop at the traffic light, then light 'em up to race to the next traffic light to slam on their brakes, repeat ad nauseam. Hey, the less I use my brakes the less I am accelerating and wasting gas I figure. Its amazing how stupid and wasteful some drivers are.
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This thread is making me paranoid. I can't fight worth a rat's rear end. Skinny with no upper body strength. Maybe pepper spray would be a good idea for me.
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I started riding again in 1990 and rarely have noticed any sort of negative response from motorists. Certainly, I have never been attacked or had anything thrown at me that I noticed. Someone shot a paintball at a group of us in a rural area once, but it wasn't from a vehicle. We thought my leg was bleeding until we figured out what it was. I do try to avoid high density traffic areas and to be predictable and signal where appropriate. I suspect a lot of situations that are taken as threats or rudeness may be simply unconscious cagers. There do seem to be a lot of nut jobs behind the wheel though.
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People yell out here (in St. Louis) but it's no big deal. 99% of motorists are very nice, and it's important to be friendly in return. All these encounter stories are scary, just chill out and give them a nod and smile!
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I personally don't think that cyclists are the innocent victims that we make them out to be on this forum. I still drive to work part time and there are an abundance of cyclists on the weekends and quite a few during the week along my entire route.
For all the people on the forums that follow the rules of the road there are still plenty out there that think they somehow have special rights because they are on bicycle and a belligerent attitude to boot. Just today on my drive to work a group of four or five Fairweather Fairies blew through a red light forcing traffic to come to halt and conjesting the intersection long after they past. I am guessing by the honking horns that I was not the only one upset by this stupidity. Another one that pisses people off around where I am are the group riders and/or clubs that ride four and five across (even though their total group is less than 20 people) and they extend well beyond the bike lane and into traffic; basically blocking a lane of traffic when they have a clear lane all to themselves that is more than wide enough to accomidate the number of riders in the group. I am sure there is some arguement here on the legality of it, but on a road with a speed limit of 50-55mph having a lane blocked by "vehicle" going 20-24mph is going boil some blood. Almost a year ago I nearly creamed a cyclists who was crossing the street in the middle of the night on dark street with a black bike with a black hoodie on. I was going almost 10mph under the speed limit, posted 45mph, and didn't see this guy till he was almost stuck in my wheel well. Another problem is that drivers classify cyclists into one large group. More than once I have been asked by non-cyclists "Why do you guys do this or that stupid thing," when they are actually talking about some BMXer doing tricks in the middle of the street and not about commuters or other groups of cyclists at all. I have some group of punk 18-21 year olds who think it is funny to yell as loud as they can when passing me to try and scare me. This has happened more than once with the same group of kids in the same car. I have been tempted on more than one occation to catch up and return the favor but with a 45mph speed limit and a long distance before the next stop light I haven't had the chance. Lastly, I just think that cyclists are easy targets for butt-munches. Throw a slurpee at my car and you are going to have one pissed off driver who can follow you all the way home. I can't say the same thing if you toss the same slurpee at me while I'm on a bike. Perhaps we should be as willing to call out other cyclists for doing stupid crap as much are we are willing to be critical of the drivers. BTW, this is perhaps one of the more interesting topics I have seen on the forums. |
I am a cyclist and a motorist who lives in a bike-heavy area, and I can tell you this: when I am driving in my car, 99.9% of the problems I encounter on the road come from other cars. For every one cyclist that slowed me down temporarily, there must be 1000 cars that have done so. And I can't think of one instance where a cyclist endangered my life while I was driving...but I can think of many dangerous encounters with other cars. I'd venture to guess that my experience behind the wheel is typical. So why the disproportionate amount of hatred towards cyclists?
I believe it's a reflection of a basic herd mentality. Out on the roads, cyclists are targeted because they are different. Instead of driving a car like everybody else, they are riding a bike. That's being different. When you step out of line, that's when you get noticed. When you don't conform to established norms, some people really freak out. I've felt this to be the case for some time now, and it's supported by the reformed anti-cyclist on this very thread. Describing a cyclist on the road, he says: He looked odd, like a clown, and out of place. |
Originally Posted by _pj7
For me, it was all about getting my jollies at someone elses expense, and cyclists are easy targets. They are for the most part skinny little fella's with no threatening muscles to show. They made a very easy target since I knew that if it came to physical encounters I would be the one walking away from the fight.
Originally Posted by _beaver_
That is the most ridiculous thing i have read on this board yet.
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Originally Posted by DataJunkie
This thread is making me paranoid. I can't fight worth a rat's rear end. Skinny with no upper body strength. Maybe pepper spray would be a good idea for me.
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Originally Posted by cradduck
Perhaps we should be as willing to call out other cyclists for doing stupid crap as much are we are willing to be critical of the drivers.
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I read the forums almost daily, thanks for asking.
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Originally Posted by IPCostello
sat in the driver's seat with a "cold-one" in their hand and said they would shove the end of the bottle up my...
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Originally Posted by cradduck
I personally don't think that cyclists are the innocent victims that we make them out to be on this forum. I still drive to work part time and there are an abundance of cyclists on the weekends and quite a few during the week along my entire route.
For all the people on the forums that follow the rules of the road there are still plenty out there that think they somehow have special rights because they are on bicycle and a belligerent attitude to boot. Just today on my drive to work a group of four or five Fairweather Fairies blew through a red light forcing traffic to come to halt and conjesting the intersection long after they past. I am guessing by the honking horns that I was not the only one upset by this stupidity. Another one that pisses people off around where I am are the group riders and/or clubs that ride four and five across (even though their total group is less than 20 people) and they extend well beyond the bike lane and into traffic; basically blocking a lane of traffic when they have a clear lane all to themselves that is more than wide enough to accomidate the number of riders in the group. I am sure there is some arguement here on the legality of it, but on a road with a speed limit of 50-55mph having a lane blocked by "vehicle" going 20-24mph is going boil some blood. Almost a year ago I nearly creamed a cyclists who was crossing the street in the middle of the night on dark street with a black bike with a black hoodie on. I was going almost 10mph under the speed limit, posted 45mph, and didn't see this guy till he was almost stuck in my wheel well. Another problem is that drivers classify cyclists into one large group. More than once I have been asked by non-cyclists "Why do you guys do this or that stupid thing," when they are actually talking about some BMXer doing tricks in the middle of the street and not about commuters or other groups of cyclists at all. I have some group of punk 18-21 year olds who think it is funny to yell as loud as they can when passing me to try and scare me. This has happened more than once with the same group of kids in the same car. I have been tempted on more than one occation to catch up and return the favor but with a 45mph speed limit and a long distance before the next stop light I haven't had the chance. Lastly, I just think that cyclists are easy targets for butt-munches. Throw a slurpee at my car and you are going to have one pissed off driver who can follow you all the way home. I can't say the same thing if you toss the same slurpee at me while I'm on a bike. Perhaps we should be as willing to call out other cyclists for doing stupid crap as much are we are willing to be critical of the drivers. BTW, this is perhaps one of the more interesting topics I have seen on the forums. |
Originally Posted by _beaver_
That is the most ridiculous thing i have read on this board yet.
I was being serious in my post and giving away information from my former self, information of me at a time that I am not proud of, and I was hoping that it would shed some light on this type of situation for those interested. Hopefully you weren't using that information to attack me. (??) And the actions of the person I used to be ended up with me locked away for a very long time. Something else I am not proud of. Life is hard enough, but a felony conviction on my record and the knowledge that I was the cause of a persons death makes it that much harder to make a living for me and my family. |
Originally Posted by CB HI
Chipcom, I and a few others have encountered a few stupid motorist with this same attitude. For some reason, they just can't figure out that someone who cycles all over the place may be in better shape than they are. Not to mention, some of us actually know how to fight with cowardly bullies.
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Originally Posted by pj7
So was the attitude that we (my buddies and I) had back in the day. But the fact remains, in my mind I knew I'd be walking away from the fight, wether it be true to fact or not, it is just the attitude I had back then.
I was being serious in my post and giving away information from my former self, information of me at a time that I am not proud of, and I was hoping that it would shed some light on this type of situation for those interested. |
Originally Posted by cradduck
Perhaps we should be as willing to call out other cyclists for doing stupid crap as much are we are willing to be critical of the drivers.
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Originally Posted by pj7
And some of those cowardly bullies have the means to take it a bit further my friend. Not all firearm owners are law abiding people. And not all cowardly bullies are too cowardly to use their car, tire tool, or other implementation as a weapon. At which point a persons physical fitness would play no role.
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Cbhi, I should have been more specific in my comment. It seems that many cyclists are willing to call out motorist on the spot for what they have done wrong and then post it on bike forums but I read through the forums and rarely hear about a story where the poster talks about observing a cyclists doing something not-too-smart and calls them out on it. I am not talking about being corrected later on in the forums for their ignorance.
You are right, there has been no case of a bike putting our life in danger or putting us at risk of death from pedaling to and fro. I agree that 90% of personal near misses have been with other cars, but a driver does something stupid and causes an accident there is a chance that both parties will walk away. A cyclists doing something stupid and connecting to the hood/mirror/underside of a car doesn't stand the same chance of being unscathed. I don't generally recall every time someone makes a dumb move on the freeway, but I can recall every single near collision I have had with bicycle. The situation is far scarier because your brain has already made the distinction that someone is about to get messed up real bad. The question what why the ant-cycling mentality that some people seem to have, not who puts who at most risk. I agree with standing out and going against the flow is a HUUUUUGE part of the problem; I live in conformist, white bread Orange County after all. But there is more to it than just making a blanket statement about being a non-conformist. The question was what are causes for the anti-cycling sediment and what can be done about. I supplied my observations and also observations given to me by friends and family and the occational complete stranger. |
Originally Posted by Blue Order
I think you're spot on. Cowardly bullies will get back at you in cowardly ways.
I've had several friend who have had their asses handed to them in a streetfight but later vendicated themselves in a most unpleasant and uncalled for way. A fight by the way, which they were in the wrong in the first place. It's just the attitude of some people. An attitude I shared for the longest of time. and I use the knowledge I gained from my experiences to better myself and hopefull inform others. It's a penance of sorts that I pay; I have spoken to troubled teenagers in assemblies and participate on forums about such things. |
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