steel_knee

With all the road rage and shooting now going on in my area, Southern California, the last thing I will do is challenge someone, I'm 6'3, 250 pounds and in good shape, but I don't wear a bulletproof vest while riding, (gee maybe a good idea).

Also since I also travel a lot in a Motorhome I've become used to getting the finger by crazy drivers who wilkl do anything to try and get around an RV they are behind.

In general I'm polite and non-threating, but I carry Pepper Spray on the bike and a pump shotgun in the Motorhome.

sirfrancis

One minor disadvantage that the motorists have is that they carry visible identification in the form of a license plate. I ignore stupidity directed my way but I do try to get a glimpse of the plate number in case I see them doing something even more stupid to someone else.

jbonus

Great reply, tarantula. Sort of how I look at things when I'm upset at jerky behavior EVERYWHERE. Whatever happened to good parenting.

neilG

I too like the wave and ignore method. Although quite large and fit, I don't want my bike mellow harshed by a fistfight. In spandex. I met up with a guy riding around our local lake not long ago. He gave the finger to some freaks who buzzed us in their pickup. They screeched to a halt a few yards ahead of us and one got out, ostensibly to do battle with us. I told this other cyclist that if he said one word I'd kick HIS ass in front of the pickup dudes. A little hand waving and apologizing and pickup dudes drove off. That's when I knew I was officially too old for that crap. Be nice, back off, stay safe.

slide

Bizarre what folks in cages do to those not in cages. I used to run distance and found the abuse I took was amazing. It never bothered me because I was too busy being astounded to be insulted. Why yell at someone who isn't in a cage like you? What is yoru motive? I never solved it.

Too bad that same problem extends to riding a bicycle. Curiously, while you are just as vulnerable on a motorcycle, the cages seem to fear me then. That is except for the airhead soccer moms in their SUV's talking on their damn cell phones. They would probably fear motorcycles like other cage drivers if they were aware of anything outside their little spheres. They aren't.

hoss10

I live in the great white north so hand guns are not really a problem, so I'm pretty agressive with my finger when offended. Last year a guy cut really close to me on the highway so I gave him the finger he slammed on his brakes pulled over and jumped out of his car. As he walked back he seemed to loose some of his agression, when he got close I simply said "you have made a mistake", he turned and walked back to his car. What he had gotten wrong was the size perspective (I'm 6'5" and about 290 before lunch). I would have loved to hear how he explained it to the Babe in the car.

LastPlace

Here in SC I won't say guns are a problem but it would not be a case of getting shot,
it would be a matter if which gun the cager used, 'cause there are often several in the car.

LastPlace

biketownblogger

I do this exact same thing. It's too funny, the puzzled look on their face. I have even had a few people smile and wave back like they know me, and they don't. Gives 'em a "DUH" moment.

Snakesvudo

Personally, I think its cool when I get yelled at. Ahhhh I remember it like it was yesterday, the first time some jackass called me a ******. What a treat, I shot him the finger and smiled. I thought it was great. Had a guy flick a cigarette butt at me once, hit me right in the back of the head....he got the finger too but I thought it was a hellova shot! I have never had anyone pull over and for the purpose of doing me bodily harm but I believe in attitude, and well I if I gotta take a beating I might as well do my best to return the favor. Thats just me though. Ride hard and have fun, that's what it all boils down to for me.

Al1943

Just pull your Colt out and shoot'm.

gmason

I find the need to even have this thread pathetic. And I am somewhat surprised and dismayed that this is also happening outside the USA (England). I have also seen posts in other forums about the same thing in Australia.

I have to say that I have never been involved in, or even seen, an incident of any kind in the five years I have lived here (2.5 in North Holland and 2.5 in France). Not that I am unhappy about that in the least.

I wonder what causes this to happen. Too many cars on too little road? Lack of a cycling heritage? English as a first language? ???

glassman

It could be all of your reasons but I also think because many people did not have parents that taught them manners. We also live in a world where everybody is in a hurry and tend to overestiminate their importance. I run into people everyday that think somebody owes them something, either the government or their employer or their family and if they have to slow down because you are riding on their road and slowing them down, they might holler at you or worse. I have had to give a few attitude adjustments to stupid people over the years but thankfully I have not had much trouble with this type of incident yet...

slide

I think it as simple as the people in cages thinking they are so much stronger than we are that they can do anything they wish without any danger to themselves. I come to this from my running days when folks would run their trucks toward me and force me off the road into a drainage ditch. If I were in my own truck, they can't do this because we are equals, but here I am at their mercy - which is strained.

Where I live, cars don't give bikes the space they would another car - clearly again a sense of power mutates into a rage. They'd never do that with another car because the contest is equal. They don't even when I'm on a motorcycle. I don't know if the image of a motorcyclist is scary to them or if they can't speed away if they engage me like they can when I'm on a bicycle.

George Sheehan was puzzled by the rage motorists show toward the mild and the meek runners like himself. I think he just underestimated the meaness of the typical human.

gmason

Unfortunately, I think we (Americans, that is) can claim that as our accomplishment. More's the pity that everywhere I go, I find that we have done a great job of exporting it - especially to the younger generation - because everyone else wants to be like us.

I have met the enemy, and he is us. Pogo

2manybikes

The difference with the motorcycle is that the motorcycle is not slowing down the car. It is keeping up with traffic and does not delay the car driver. This does not make a motorist upset. Even a huge truck, a car, or a tractor that is going slowly gets in the way, and the car drivers get just as upset as a bicycle in the way. But they can't do anything about it.
The width of a truck or tractor makes it harder to misjudge and squeeze by. Also clearly the tractor can not move right and just take up a small portion of the lane. The narrow width of a bicycle, plus the typical driver having no idea of the laws, makes the driver try and squeeze by or get mad if you don't move over. They usually don't know the bicycle has a right to be in the road, at least with a slow moving truck, they know it is allowed in the road.

2manybikes

Exactly..the motorhome is huge and heavier than a car. It's the slow speed of a bicycle that upsets the drivers. They get just as mad at the motorhome, but they can't do anything.

joeprim

In addition to the fanny pack wear you NRA instyructors Tee shirt.

Joe

KeithA

I never would have believed how rude some drivers could be until the last couple of months when I resumed riding. Twice, I've almost been hit by cars running red lights.

The first time, I had to slam on my brakes so hard that my rear wheels lifted off. I had applied their brakes as well which probably kept me from going head over the bars. The guy, probably 25 in an SUV, slammed on his brakes, then looked at me and said, "Hey, you crazy or something." I told him that he had run a red light to almost kill me. He denied it and I told him to look up. Then, he said that it must have just changed. I told him to look at how many cars were already stopped before he went around their right to run the red. I always wait to make sure that traffics stopping before entering the intersection. This guy had actually cut to the right of the stopped cars to run the red. He seemed like he was drunk or something.

The second time (I had again waited for traffic to slow as if stopping), another car again failed to heed the light or the fact that other cars were stopped. He honked his horn at me. Then, his passenger pointed him toward the red light. I wanted to glare at him too, but he refused to make eye contact, kind of burying his head downward.

I'm pretty feisty in person, but my reason tells me that the best thing to do is to move on and, hard as it is to do, just continue the bike ride.

As Falstaff said in Shakespeare's Henry IV, "Discretion is the better part of valor." In these days of senseless killings due to road rage, it's best to move on. A confrontation may lead to long lasting damage or regrets that might not be considered in the heat of a moment. Anyway, letting loose on a good bike ride in the open air will soon allow the anger to melt away.

Now, as for the situation that started this thread, that guy is a dangerous loon and should be put away. It would be extremely difficult for me to not have reacted in a very confrontational manner.

OldGoat has won my admiration for addressing a very testing situation about as well as it could be handled in my opinion. That jerk was leaving him with very little leeway.

Vrex

I've had numerous occasions to think about that too. It seems sometimes like the veneer of civilization is really pretty thin. Some people are indeed restrained only by what they think they can get away with, and the feeling of power and invulnerability conferred by a motor vehicle leads to displays of naked aggression that you would never see in a face-to-face encounter on equal terms. If there is a positive side, it is that this kind of thing seems to be mostly the province of males in their teens and twenties. Testosterone is a powerful drug, especially in combination with alcohol. Presumably most of these people will grow out of it eventually, if they survive -- but only to be replaced by others (sigh . . . )

Duck22

Learn to shoot, carry a pistol, and ignore the taunts. Doing the first two makes doing the third a snap. A Parkerized Kel-Tec 3AT, or a titanium or Scandium S&W J-frame, are compact, lightweight self-protection tools that won't add but 400-500g to your load. Like your helmet, it's insurance against a very small risk of a very serious accident.

Live in a People's Republic? Fox brand OC (pepper) spray is a distant second choice, but if it's all you can carry, then go with it.

fmw

You could always do what I do. I do all my riding on quiet country roads at the crack of dawn. I often go 5 to 10 miles before seeing a car. Most people smile and wave. I think they get a kick out of the old dude pedalling a bicycle.

GrannyGear

Wonderful time to ride early early morning, but last season I damned near earned the sprinter's jersey pedaling away from a pack of dogs roaming loose.

FarHorizon

Been there! Done that!

bkaapcke

My son "fingered " guy when both were dirving. The guy started ramming his car. When the boy came home, I said go tell the cops in the morning. The cops said the other guy came in last night & said my son started the ramming. KThe mess mushroomed from there.

bkaapcke

My son "fingered " guy when both were dirving. The guy started ramming his car. When the boy came home, I said go tell the cops in the morning. The cops said the other guy came in last night & said my son started the ramming. The mess really mushroomed from there. NONE OF THIS FINGER STUFF, FOLKS. You don't know when you're dealing with a real nutcase.