Alaraine

So i figured it would happen at some point but not quite the way it did? if that makes sense.

I was riding my Trek because i had just finished tweaking the Derailleurs again. The rear was not quite right, it is now. Anyway, i was riding a long willamette as a test ride to make sure it was all okay and i could stop worrying about it and some ass in a white car yelled at me something along the line of "I'd love to pull that Tail" I finally had remembered to put my hair up in a pony tail before riding, And his 'friend' i guess, yelled something along the lines of 'get off the road' i heard two distinct voices, both male. Ugh, some people are so gross. You know i expect to get honked at, i expect to get yelled at with things like "get off the road" but sexual innuendos, can't say i ever expected that. Mind, i was wearing a pair of jeans and a white tee-shirt, nothing 'pretty' or 'nice' well... it is what is i guess.

What are some things other people hear while riding?

StephenH

"Arrrroumphteeeoorr!" Which is to say, I usually can't tell what the heck they're saying, it all sounds the same.

FYI, I'm a 54 year old guy that's not exactly perfect fit. Occasionally, I hear stuff like that on the bicycle. If I go jogging, I'll have people honk or holler occasionally. If I go walk the dog, I'll have people honk or holler occasionally. So it's not entirely an attractive-female issue, nor a cycling issue, it's a "let's holler at random strangers" issue.

Machka 

Expect everything. And if they are just yelling ... <<shrug shoulders>> ... no biggie. Usually when they yell, they just remind me of big dogs with loose jowls flapping in the wind. Most of the time I can't actually hear what they are saying.

It's when they reach out the window and try to smack you that it becomes more of an issue. A good reason to use a mirror ... and not use earbuds or anything to block your hearing.

Alaraine

Willamette is a relatively low speed zone 35 mph, and they slowed down as a stop sign was very close. But yeah, it's not so much that they yelled as much as what they yelled and that i heard it so clearly, it made my skin crawl.

Also, i never wear ear buds while riding my bike. i need to be able to hear everything going on around me.

Timequake

If only I had a dollar for every time I heard someone yell, "Get a car, f--got!" I just don't get it.

Alaraine

It's the car culture in america, People see cyclists as obstacles at best, targets of ridicule as well. I grew up listening to my parents cuss out cyclists and complain about how we (as cyclists) are a road hazard and it should be illegal to ride on the road.

Also as a lesbian women, that particular "F" Word really gets me riled up, the last time someone called my wife and i that they got a tag teamed lecture from both of us... quite funny in retrospect.

Something else i noticed, surprisingly few people seem to know what bicycle hand signals mean... or they just ignore?

desconhecido 

They seem to recognize one of them.

Machka 

Like I say ... don't worry about the yelling. The yelling does not concern me at all.

I start to get concerned when there is grabbing, throwing, deliberately opening doors with the intent of hitting me as they drive past, deliberately attempting to run me off the road, attempting to both run me off the road and then scoop me up into the truck ... you know ... stuff like that.

Yelling is really no big deal.

k_obeastly

A couple of years ago I recieved a simple "F... you." I can't tell you how disappointed I was. It doesn't take much brain power to say something a bit more creative like "holy **** Lance got fat." To realize that I live around people so dumb was more frustraiting than the encounter.

"huhuhuh...I told him "**** you" good didn't I Josh?"
"derherherher...you sure did Darrell...that was funny..."

Oh well, that's what I get for moving to a place where pedophiles are the only guys that have girlfriends with all their teeth.

AlmostTrick

I'm sorry you had to endure that rudeness, I understand how disturbing it can be. Thankfully, most people are more mature and considerate than those losers were.

obed7

My kids are grown,hell my grand kids are almost grown, and I never was much for paying attention to the noise other people's kids make...

BugDude

The world is full of idiots and for some reason they seem to feel compelled to demonstrate their idiocy with loud vocalizations out of car windows. Ignore it, pretend you don't even hear it, and just keep going. I don't give them the satisfaction of a reaction.

I'm also a big ol' boy and a certified redneck bubba. I can ignore vocal crap all day long, but if they stop and give me cause to dismount my bike they better pack a lunch and have eaten their Wheaties that morning. I have yet to encounter anyone willing to stop because most are chicken crap blowhards that just like yelling out the windows of a car that you can't catch on a bike.

Just keep peddling.

modelmartin

My hearing is not the greatest so I do not even know what people are saying. I usually just smile and wave a big old Forrest Gump style of wave. They want to make people angry. I act as though they are being friendly! It is like the joke about what does a sadist do to a masochist? ................nothing!

SpeshulEd 

A giant smile and waving at them like they're a long lost friend you haven't seen in ages usually turns their ridicule into a "derp" look.

If you want be feisty, you can always squirt water at them if you're able to catch them at a red light or stop sign...or better yet, a used co2 cartridge makes a great chucking device.

GovernorSilver

Sorry to hear about that - you're dealing with at least two issues - one is drivers who resent cyclists "getting in their way", the other being sexist behavior. That's why my female friends put on headphones when they go out on solo runs - but it's dangerous to do that on a bike.

Eric3.0

Well....

I've been yelled at,and had things thrown at me....

Many times to the point I don't care and I laugh when it happens. I've even had a dirty, rolled up diaper thrown at me from a car, plus Dr.Pepper all over my face and bike, plus the entire can, plus .....the list goes on.

I've been yelled at, called Dork, Nerd, ***, ****, queer F'cker, did you lose your license, get off the road, *****(I'm a guy) and worse. Oh....middle fingers and spat at .

My biggest issue was when I was part of a dic heads showing off to his buddies in the car....getting close to me and honking the horn scaring me to death....They were behind me in my lane and I didn't know it...they honked the horn and I got so scared that I instinctive dumped the bike over in the ditch, because I really thought I was about to get run over and had no clue I was part of a prank. They quickly took off whilst laughing.

What kind of people would do that? why.....it just bewilders my mind someone would go that far.

Don't worry about it..... lots of people are just envious of us that get of our asses and do something hard like cycling all the time, being fit, being happy. They wished they were us, even though they'd never admit it. They just take out their unhappy lives out on the rest of us.

Don't let them ruin your day and just ride.

Number400

Every since we put the air horn on the tandem, I have been eager for someone to yell something not so nice so I can drown it out with the horn. Funny thing is that we get nothing but nice out on the tandem.

Bikerdave222

Strangely enough things in Nashville have gotten friendlier for me on a bike. In 2002-3 people use to yell at me and throw stuff. Luckily they are bad shots. This was kinda common happening maybe once a month but as I have now gotten on the road more often over a period of a year it has only happened once.

Phil_gretz

Alaraine,
I'm sorry that you had to hear that garbage. Like others have said, don't let it get to you. I'm glad that you didn't react by lowering yourself to their level. At least on this forum, you have supporters who've experienced the same stuff. We get it.
Phil

Marcus_Ti

It is an, "I'm a rude jagoff and am going to show it to the world" issue.

Man-children could really use a lesson in how idiotic and classless they actually sound. Boys who are 20+ acting like friggin 6 year olds, and thinking it is somehow masculine or cute...

Darth Lefty 

My favorite is still, "They went that way, Lance!"

steve_cay

I have never been pestered or hollered at while biking alone, ever. But I don't get in peoples way, and probably don't look like a "target".

That being said:

When I bike with my daughter who I tell to walk her bike across those busy 4 lane intersections (I don't trust her to ride through) ... some people actually have the nerve to start honking when they see the yellow on the other side, and she is rushing to get across before the 15s "walk" signal ends. Like they are terrified that they might have to wait a second after their green pops up!

Another time I am rollerblading with my daughter across an indicated pedestrian walk, and some lady yells out of her window (when she has to stop), that we should cross at intersections!

Or once my daughter was sucking on one of those freezee popsicles, and some guy yells out of a pickup truck "call me when you are 18". Part of me wanted to chuckle, part of me wanted to kill him

Either a coincidence, or perhaps peoples bullying nature is triggered when they see a female/child. Then again, the vast majority I find to be very polite, even waiting at a stop sign for a few seconds holding up traffic, if they even see me with a child approaching. Just some bad apples I guess!

Hangtownmatt

Its been my experience that this usually happens in the springtime as the high schooler's summer vacation approaches. It can be startling. This happened to me just recently and the carload of four juvenile boys got stuck at a red light just afterwards. As I pulled up alongside they rolled up the windows and looked quite embarrassed. Just stupid kids high on testosterone.

Marcus_Ti

Must be a weird Canadian thing.

The vast majority I find to be impatient self-absorbed jerks. Why does Canada get all the polite people?

steve_cay

Yes, it is a running joke how ridiculously polite Canadians are. Then again I am from Quebec "a distinct society", a little less polite than those stereotype Canadians!
BTW the pickup truck had US plates