How do you handle a Bicycle Vendetta respectably after 60?
09-12-23, 08:39 PM
#51
climber has-been
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I have found the biggest asses I meet in my rides are the late 50's to late 60's guys that are all kitted out. they are dressed like they are world class racers yet they are going slow on very fast bikes. I try and talk to them as I pass them on my not so fast looking bike and in my not kitted out clothing. I have yet to have one say hi back. I always announce myself saying coming up on your left and always will say hello.
(I'm one of those 60-somethings kitted out on a fairly racy bike, but I always respond to a greeting. Sometimes riding slow, sometimes not.)
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Last edited by terrymorse; 09-12-23 at 08:51 PM.
09-13-23, 04:10 PM
#52
Made it to 84 WHOOPIE
Some folks ride to get away into their own world. Sometimes I do that. Not everyone is jovial or communicative all the time. Also, sometimes I don't hear what people are saying. Why should this be some terrible sin? I very seldom wave at other Auto drivers. You may be joyful and carefree, the other çyclist may be burdened with some worries and terrible problems that he's trying to think through.
Last edited by gobicycling; 09-13-23 at 04:35 PM.
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09-13-23, 08:40 PM
#53
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Another approach is to yell like newbie pro wrestler Killer Kadoogan (Stimpy, at 10:21 in the video), who doesn't really understand that pro wrestling outbursts are generally less friendly.
09-14-23, 07:27 AM
#55
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At 73 I do what I can to keep my mental balance by staying focused on the good. Just yesterday on a 3 mile climb in the foothills w/o much of a shoulder a pickup oncoming and a loaded 4 horse slant load being pulled by a dually coming up behind me and I all were all gonna meet at the same spot on the narrow roadway and both trucks braked and took turns passing me slowly in the oncoming lane 10' from my bike.
09-17-23, 08:31 AM
#56
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I was riding hard on the last leg of 25 miles back in July. There's a short 30 degree rocky hill that I have to climb to get home. On a hot day, it's a challenge. After that I must have veered into the left side of the trail and an oncoming bicyclist shouted loudly and cursed at me. (
I've had people veer across my path, and I've never complained. )
I never thought much about it at that time , but the last few weeks I'm starting to see this guy regularly coming my way on rides, riding the same trail as me . He's 60 plus with Grey hair and he's in pretty good shape. Everytime I see him, he shouts loudly at me.
Today I tossed out the famous two word profanity in return to him.
A smarter me would have said nothing and even smiled, but that's easier said than done when you're streaming along briskly and you're using the primal side of your brain.
I regretted it instantly. De- escalation is the best thing to do in conflict. This is really childish. On the other hand a nasty person is a nasty person, and manners don't always work. I have no idea.
Being 60 plus, I do have one mature insight. Everything just rolls along and passes into time and nothing is really significant. This will all pass.
I've had people veer across my path, and I've never complained. )
I never thought much about it at that time , but the last few weeks I'm starting to see this guy regularly coming my way on rides, riding the same trail as me . He's 60 plus with Grey hair and he's in pretty good shape. Everytime I see him, he shouts loudly at me.
Today I tossed out the famous two word profanity in return to him.
A smarter me would have said nothing and even smiled, but that's easier said than done when you're streaming along briskly and you're using the primal side of your brain.
I regretted it instantly. De- escalation is the best thing to do in conflict. This is really childish. On the other hand a nasty person is a nasty person, and manners don't always work. I have no idea.
Being 60 plus, I do have one mature insight. Everything just rolls along and passes into time and nothing is really significant. This will all pass.
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09-18-23, 07:37 PM
#57
Senior Member
In the Ann Arbor area some MUPs are regularly friendly places and some are regularly stiff and standoffish, unless you run into a happy group of friends.
09-22-23, 02:31 PM
#58
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All cyclists can be strange at times. They have their recognised (by them) "give way" rules which nobody else seems to know about.
A young lad, about 11 or 12, walking towards me on the cycle path, in the cycle lane. On his mobile phone, he didn't spot me so I pulled to the right, onto the pedestrian lane, no worries.
He then moves over having finished, so I start to move back and hear a tirade of abuse, amongst which was "Use the ****** cycle lane!"
The young aren't so much taught to be assertive. They're just not disciplined these days, or encouraged to be dominant wherever they go.
It's a philosophy, I suppose, to ensure survival in a criminally inspired landscape.
Oh! The joys of thinking you know it all . . . . .
A young lad, about 11 or 12, walking towards me on the cycle path, in the cycle lane. On his mobile phone, he didn't spot me so I pulled to the right, onto the pedestrian lane, no worries.
He then moves over having finished, so I start to move back and hear a tirade of abuse, amongst which was "Use the ****** cycle lane!"
The young aren't so much taught to be assertive. They're just not disciplined these days, or encouraged to be dominant wherever they go.
It's a philosophy, I suppose, to ensure survival in a criminally inspired landscape.
Oh! The joys of thinking you know it all . . . . .
09-23-23, 01:59 PM
#59
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In the San Francisco Bay Area we get a lot of Indian people and that's not the problem. The problem is that they are used to walking/driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Yes, they still follow the original British rules. There are lots of countries that started that way but changed later. In my case the the Indian engineers that are hired by the Google/Oracle/etc big companies are not directly the problem, it's the grandmas/uncles/nannies/etc that they bring along on whatever the rules allow. These people like to get out for a walk/run on our local paths. Fine, but someone should remind them what side of the road/path we use. Like this morning riding along and I encountered a woman walking on the left and chatting away on her phone. On a Saturday this path is pretty busy and I couldn't easily find an easy way around. So I yelled "you are walking on the wrong side" as I dodged around the incoming walkers and passed. I suppose her reaction was something like "these Americans are pretty weird". When I was stationed overseas on a U.S. government post we got some information about the new culture. I wonder if the Indian contractors that send people "over here" take similar precautions?
09-25-23, 07:19 AM
#60
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In the San Francisco Bay Area we get a lot of Indian people and that's not the problem. The problem is that they are used to walking/driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Yes, they still follow the original British rules. There are lots of countries that started that way but changed later. In my case the the Indian engineers that are hired by the Google/Oracle/etc big companies are not directly the problem, it's the grandmas/uncles/nannies/etc that they bring along on whatever the rules allow. These people like to get out for a walk/run on our local paths. Fine, but someone should remind them what side of the road/path we use. Like this morning riding along and I encountered a woman walking on the left and chatting away on her phone. On a Saturday this path is pretty busy and I couldn't easily find an easy way around. So I yelled "you are walking on the wrong side" as I dodged around the incoming walkers and passed. I suppose her reaction was something like "these Americans are pretty weird". When I was stationed overseas on a U.S. government post we got some information about the new culture. I wonder if the Indian contractors that send people "over here" take similar precautions?
09-25-23, 04:03 PM
#61
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Reminds me of the threads in the Road sub forum about nobody waves at me... from many years ago.
OP maybe try giving him the L for "love"
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09-25-23, 06:53 PM
#62
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I myself am married to a Pakistani woman and am very familiar with the whole Auntie/Uncle relative structure that comes with it. There are lots of the signs along the path about where to ride and walk. In this particular case on a busy weekend morning i was feeling stressed by the mass of oncoming walkers and riders. That’s why I usually stay at home on the weekends. Good luck to you and yours.
09-27-23, 11:47 AM
#63
Newbie
I have found the biggest asses I meet in my rides are the late 50's to late 60's guys that are all kitted out. they are dressed like they are world class racers yet they are going slow on very fast bikes. I try and talk to them as I pass them on my not so fast looking bike and in my not kitted out clothing. I have yet to have one say hi back. I always announce myself saying coming up on your left and always will say hello. One day i passed a guy who obviously looked fit had a little gray pony tail and I ended up getting caught at a light and before the light changed he pulled up and I said great day for a ride and he would not even look at me and took off like a bolt when the light changed and I passed him again and said F' you. I have passed that same guy several times since that day and now he will at least acknowledge me when I pass him. I think he thought I was on an electric bike or something. I am a fat beer drinking 65 yoa who rides a fat tired slow looking bike but I have pretty good legs still lol.
