How often do you all get yelled at, buzzed, or anything else you would consider harassment? I've had a few incidents in the past week, so I'm curious if this is par for the course (I've been bike commuting for about a month), or is this normal?

I've been running daily for twelve years now. I don't encounter nearly as much animosity while running.

I don't have a bad time out there. I can remember in the mid-90s getting yelled at a few times. It seems that my neighborhood has mellowed a bit since then, because I can't remember being treated in a very aggressive way since.

My commute has a bit of traffic. I don't suppose I deal with as many cars as a commuter in NYC, but I have to contend with a few. A four lane highway (6, at one point) with speed limit varying from 30 to 45. About half the way I have a good shoulder to ride on, but I'm in the lane a good deal of the time, too. When I recently made the same ride at 2 AM I was a bit surprised at how quiet it was. Normally, it's zoom, zoom, zoom the whole time.

I'd say that 8 out of 10 cars clearly move over for me, either all or part-way. Some times when traffic is "packed together" they don't. But usually there's enough room for all of us anyway. I do get annoyed at a few (on most rides) who don't make any effort at all to move even one foot for "some jerk on a bike". I did get one guy recently who gave me a dirty look as he passed me. Just ahead was a red light. As he slowed up for it, I could see him watching me in his mirror as he slid over to the right as far as possible to keep me from coming up along his right side. The dumb-ass didn't know that I wouldn't have done that. He just assumed the worst. I could see that there was no cross traffic, so I went around him on the left and blew the stop light. When he was able to catch up and pass again, he gave some kind of smart-aleck comment as he went by. I hadn't done him any wrong; he was just a creep who was mad at me for simply being there.

To condense just a bit, my biggest problem is idiots who don't make any effort at all to give me just a bit of room even when they have plenty to their left. It happens daily, but occasionally I'll finish a commute and notice that no one did that to me that day.

In 8 1/2 years of all-season commuting, I've been honked at maybe five times, been yelled at from car windows maybe three times, and I may have had something thrown at me once (hard to tell). Also, I had the distinct impression someone shot a BB gun at me once, but nothing hit me.

The most dangerous thing out there, judging by the number of near misses, is the wrong way cyclist. Those guys are the worst.

It's so rare that I can remember all of them from the last four or five years. Including the buzzing bus yesterday.

Every day. I ride through Manhattan. Say no more?

Just about never. I ride in Boston.

Mind you, you can't move around Boston by bicycle, car, foot or any other means and be too terribly thin-skinned in the manner that many suburbanites are. OMGnoes that person CUT ME OFF (meaning, pulled ahead of me and then moved into my lane), this is a deadly insult/attack upon my very person! It's a city, it's very crowded, you're going to rub elbows, and if you're the type who views that as "harassed", then you'll see "harassment" constantly.

Maybe once a year on average, maybe less. I've also received a thumb's up by a 18 wheeler.

- I've been told "you're not a car" when I was waiting in the "go straight" lane instead of the right (right turn only)
- Been yelled at "bike path!" when I was riding the street. I actually prefer the path.
- Had a handful "angry honks"
- Been told bu the police that I can't use a particular street, which is private (trainyard). Sucks but they were right.
- The only real incident: a woman texting. I saw her coming at me in the mirror and swerved at the last second. She was back into texting as she passed while taking a curve. I wish I caught her up and destroyed her phone.

As far as being buzzed, some pass a little closer than I like but I wouldn't say they "buzzed" me, much less on purpose.

I bet I get as much flak when I drive but I don't hear it.

I've gotten more encouragement than hostility. Except on my 2 1/2 miles on a 65 mph road. I don't feel "threatened" but I've been wary of a couple of cars getting too close to the line, but I can't determine if that's hostility or just a dumbass driver not paying attention.

Maybe a handful of times a year. Harassment is infrequent enough that it's noteworthy, but not something I particularly worry about. Most motorists in the areas I ride are considerate and patient. I'll pull over every so often to wave motorist(s) around me (say, where there's a gap in a long line of parked cars, and I'm taking the lane to keep out of the door zone.)

I agree with rhm - wrong way cyclists are a frequent hazard. I deal with them by waving them to my left (their right), simultaneously edging to my right. Almost all of them get it.

I'd say if I didn't get buzzed it would be a good day. You have to protect your turf and the drivers need to get used to you. When I was commuting everyday this summer I was well treated. However after taking some weeks off and getting back into it I could tell the drivers weren't happy to have me back. On average I might get buzzed twice per trip so maybe 4 times for the day. I've taken to just shouting 'Hey!" really loud so they know I know they were intentional. Try to avoid a confrontation though - those are always regrettable.

Almost never. In the last year, I had one guy yell at me to get right for being in the left lane when I was making a left turn, but that's it. I take pretty bike friendly streets, and there are enough other riders around that the drivers are pretty aware of them.

Frankly, the behavior of other cyclists appalls me much more often than that of drivers.

LabelCD6

The way that motorists treat cyclists seems to be different depending on the region that they are in, and the manner in which the cyclists ride (I get far less harrasment riding in a vehicular manner). It would help if you do not have your location in your profile if you made a note of it in your post.

Maybe once or twice per month. Last night on my way back from a group ride I had someone yell at me to "get a car", which was funny since the bike I was on may have been worth a few more dollars than the thing they he was driving.

only once in the two years that I have been commuting and that was because I was too stupid to know how to react to being in heavy traffic. I recently bought a house a few miles out from town that extended my commute by a few miles and I usually get nice comments from my new neighbors about my rad bike or how jealous they are that they don't commute by bike.

Rarely ever.

i get buzzed at least once on the way in and once on the way home. as for confrontation, i've had 1 this year that was mostly my own fault- since then i've learned to keep my digits to myself and not curse at people

No, do say more!

I ride through Manhattan every day as well (from Penn Station to Upper East Side every morning; from Upper East Side either back to Penn Station or over to Hunterspoint Avenue LIRR station every afternoon) and no one ever harasses me here. Most of the harassment I get is on Long Island, where I summer. In NJ, where I live most of the year, I get very little harassment.

In 5 years, I've been yelled at I think 3 times, honked at 3 or 4, and had a half-full plastic water bottle thrown at me once. Never been passed close enough that I'd call it a buzz, closest has been a bit less than 2 feet I'd guess. Most people give me 5+ feet, possibly because nobody seems to really know where the right hand side of their car is.

I also think you get used to it over time. When I first started commuting about a year or so ago, if anyone got inside my "3 foot" zone, it would freak me out and I would consider that being buzzed. Now my definition of getting buzzed is anything inside a foot and a half.

Maybe once a year someone yells something stupid.

Once every couple of years. The worst thing that's ever happened was one evening about 10 years ago around halloween a carload of teenagers passed me and hit my upper arm with a small pumpkin.
I was going uphill and the sting of the hit and the ensuing adrenalin brought on by a potential conflict actually gave me a bit of a rush. I started laughing and gave them the finger. They just kept going.
Have to say I do get more "thumbs up", nods and waves from motorists than harassment.

Yeah, I agree so far. I get honked at occasionally when I don't cross over an on ramp with my magical 50 mph legs on my way to the residential neighborhood pull off, but that's about it. I've had more thrown at me in a parking lot at 3 AM standing still here in NJ than on my bike (bike=0!)

Yesterday I was waiting at an intersection along Rt. 31 to make a left. The motorist wanting to turn left behind me gave me a whole car length in between her and me. I motioned for her to pull up, she could get a lot closer without me caring. She rolls her window down and says "No, I hate it when jerks pull up on me and try to pressure me out of my lane when I'm riding, and I wouldn't want to do the same to you." I was shocked.

I hardly ever get harrassed. Maybe one out of every seven days that I ride, if that. Occasionally I'll hear some insult yelled by a passenger in a passing car, they're usually teenagers.

I biked 59 miles on Saturday and got beeped at twice. Both times, it was on a four lane road with me in the right lane and the left lane was wide open for passing, within a 1/4 of a mile of each other. Both times it was gray haired man driving a *** late 90's American "luxury" sedan. Apparently, those land barges don't handle well enough to change lanes.

I chalk both incidents up to just bad Rhode Island drivers and not hatred for bicyclists. Rhode Island does have the worst drivers in the country. That's not just an opinion, it's a statistical fact.

I've been harassed once this year, a passenger of a vehicle yelling out "Bicycle Fa..ot".

That's it and it doesn't even bother me. That was in the Suburbs (Lakewood specifically).

In Denver, the urbanites are very cool and calm. They all realize traffic sucks and its not the bicyclist's fault.

Five times over the past 3 months, and only one of those a serious issue where someone cut me off and could have cause a crash. Police got involved in that one.

For the most part, the drivers on my commute route are courteous and share the road quite well.

I do keep in mind one thing - There's an a-hole in every crowd, and sometimes it's me...