Lads in Cars .........k**BHeads?

Got-to-get-fit

I have been commuting now for 4 month and i am pleased to see that the british youth has kept its foul mouthed, no brained, vicky pollard'esque demeanour.

Since i started commuting i have had ****er, poof, dickhead and hope you fall off you f**ker shouted at me whilst cycling. Its always by a group of lads in a saxo,fiesta,nova,clio and the car usually has hardcore dance music pumping out.

Perhaps im getting old but then im only early thirties.

Anybody else having similar experiences or is it just the area i live in?

my evil toad army will rule the world

Chris42

yes almost every ride here in kent somthing happens! from the stuff you mention above to having eggs thrown at us spat on and slamming breaks on in front of us. However not just 'kids' but, and i know this souds strange but, BMW drivers & 4X4's are as bad.

must ride hills must ride hills!

sloxam

its the area you live in.
its called the uk.
the little b##gers are everywhere, wait til they start throwing stuff at you. i've been soaked, had empty drinks bottles and cans thrown at me. some kid even launched his lunch at me from the top deck of a double decker bus. guess he didn't like the butties his mum made him.

winning is everything
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legend
roubaix

couldn't think of a stupid elephant gag

venster

I've had a sandwich lobbed at me from a WMV - idiots !

sithebike

I usually get 1 thing happen each ride, anything from verbal abuse, threats of physical violence, things thrown at me and even nice people passing me in cars thinking maybe I need assistance going up the hill so they try and push me with their wing mirror.. how nice!!
I love this country

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Got-to-get-fit

christ almighty....i thought i was getting peeved off with a few insults but ive never had anybody's lunch thrown at me.
Maybee the kid on the back of the bus just thought you needed your energy levels boosted and though he we would help you out with a mid ride snack????

my evil toad army will rule the world

onurbike

it is not just against cyclists, I had a can of drink thrown at me as a pedestrian!!

When on my bike, usually the teenagers in their small cars with very big speakers or those driving expensive cars and think they owned the road for the price they paid for their motors.

The question is: how do you respond???

I used to salute them with one or two fingers but now I don't even bother.....they don't deserve the aknowledgment even in this way.





Baby elephants are faster than some riders from.... http://www.spokesgroup.com/

photojonny

I wouldn't say it's the whole of the UK.

I've been commuting and doing weekend rides in and around York for nearly 6 months, have have not had a single insult or any hassle.

Oh, actually one. Some driver after thye had passed me beeped the horn and pointed to the (awful) cycle path that was next to the road. Obviously unaware of the Code.

I think York is a pretty cycle friendly place, and probably has less of a chav quota than elsewhere. It may well be though, that if the local areas promotes cycling, and cagers get used to it, the hassle goes down. Don't know.

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where there's two wheels, there's a way....

Anonymous

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Chris42</i>

yes almost every ride here in kent somthing happens! from the stuff you mention above to having eggs thrown at us spat on and slamming breaks on in front of us. However not just 'kids' but, and i know this souds strange but, BMW drivers & 4X4's are as bad.

must ride hills must ride hills!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

You just have to learn to "Deal" with it. [B)]






I'll get my coat.

A Baby Elephant is for life, Not just for Christmas

bigjim

Out on a two hour solo ride yeaterday. Three incidents. All verbal abuse. On one I was riding peacefully along at the side of the rode in a 30MPH area and I heard a screech of brakes behind me. A little old lady had slammed on obviousley seen me at the last minute. panicked and doing well over the speed limit. She ignored my look and started off agiin whilst studiously ignoring me. The young tossers behind her in the hatchback who had to slam on to a standstill from approximately 60mph because of the little old dear, drove at the side of me. A young girl rolled down the window and shouted "get off the road Dickhead!". Obviously it was my fault. When I decided to lose it and have a go back they drove off [I'm 6'2" and 15 stone]. Still winds you up and makes you think. There again I get this crap when I go running.

Jim[:(!]

Jim.

Nothing to prove.

2191flint

Blimey!! I never experience any of this (KoD) must be a nicer class of people in the Royal County tee hee[;)]

Signature free - with immediate effect.


Me and my bike- http://aolpictures.aol.co.uk/galleries/flintosaur9/

Dayvo

Sorry to hear of all your depressing and worrying stories. [:(]
Here there isn't the chav mentality, there are good cycle lanes in abundance, and the number of regular cyclists is rising all the time.
The population of Sweden is only 9 million, and just over one million live in Stockholm. There's more space and less traffic.
I admire you all for keeping on going.
Good luck and ride safely. [:)]


I get knocked down . . . but I get up again . . .

Got-to-get-fit

Dayvo

Do you have a spare bedroom, i could easily live in sweden ....not just for the hassle free cycling but just imagine all the beautiful swedish girls in their lycra......mmmmmmmm!



my evil toad army will rule the world

Norvcp

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Got-to-get-fit</i>

I have been commuting now for 4 month and i am pleased to see that the british youth has kept its foul mouthed, no brained, vicky pollard'esque demeanour.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Oi, that's harsh! I'm 17 and avoid associating myself with these kind of dickheads. It'd be nice if you didn't lump us all together. I think part of the problem is that most of us non-violent kids are too shy to say anything to the others. People quite happily bang on about "chav scum, Vicky Pollard" type jargon but forget to praise the teenager that doesn't threaten them at all.


......................

"Prejudice burns brighter when it's all we have to burn"

Dayvo

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Got-to-get-fit</i>

Dayvo
Do you have a spare bedroom, i could easily live in sweden ....not just for the hassle free cycling but just imagine all the beautiful swedish girls in their lycra......mmmmmmmm!
my evil toad army will rule the world
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Got-to-get-fit!
I get the impression that your imagination is doing all right as it is!
But it doesn't beat eye-to-body contact! [}:)][:p]



I get knocked down . . . but I get up again . . .

Unknown

I do nearly all my cycling in the Leeds/Bradford conurbation, I never ever had any verbal abuse or had anything thrown at me. I'm going on for "BigJim" size so maybe that's it?

It's depressing reading what some others have to put up with.

gbb

Localised for some maybe, but i have only ever had one incident in Peterborough...and god knows, some people here are the pits.

One 1/2 full bottle of pop thrown toward me from a car full of chavs...well, it didnt really come that close anyway.[:D]

I wonder if you get a small hardcore of people doing this...it used to be the same with car theft round here. It was happening a lot, but it was all perpetrated by a very small but prolific minority.

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Chill out, fer Christsakes....

plusgourmande

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by markf</i>

I do nearly all my cycling in the Leeds/Bradford conurbation, I never ever had any verbal abuse or had anything thrown at me. I'm going on for "BigJim" size so maybe that's it?

It's depressing reading what some others have to put up with.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

I'm with you here, mark. I've never had any trouble from other vehicles.
If you guys insist on riding in the middle of the road, maybe you should go faster so you don't even have to interact with cars.

Or maybe London drivers are used dealing with cyclists.

Brian B

I have had a lot of abuse over the years but surprisingly not from youths. Its usually middle to pension age that I find the most abusive. When out in pairs we ride side by side but if the road is busy both ways we usually go single file. This it seems is not good enough for some and just either hurl abuse at you or honk the horn.

Last week a guy in his 70s honked like mad because we were side to side but we had stopped at traffics light at red. A while ago I got a spate sudden shouting just as cars were passing and found that to be the worst as the fright alone often was enough to give the bike a shake as my body reacted to the shock.

One guy shouted at me once that roads were for cars and I should pay my roadtax like him. I retorted that I did indeed own a car and it was'nt a piece of **** like his and just cycled for pleasure. This upset him further but by this time I was off my bike and my 6ft3" was now apparent and I told him I was taking his number and reporting him to the police. Needless to say he wizzed off but I cannot think what would have happened if I had not intimidated him or was somebody smaller than him.

Brian B.

in the wire

LOL, I think it's useful to have some cutting comebacks like this pre-prepared.

Buggi

i've had yoof lean out the window and smack my arse!

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webbhost

I've had the occasional school kid shout at me (usually telling me to go faster lmao), but not alot else. I guess im one of the lucky ones.

Just out of interest - I wonder if clothing and appearance has any effect?

For example, are drivers less likely to cut you up and throw abuse at you if you are wearing proper gear and "look pro" as opposed to if you are wearing normal clothes and no helmet?

Even when in a car, i personally tend to have more respect for road cyclists that wear gear than teens going down the road dressed normally on a MTB.... ? (I dont drive btw, im referring to being a passenger lol. Perhaps this is just because seeing people in good gear inspires me to get on my own bike?)

For those of you that have replied, do you get get abuse and what clothing do you wear (also road bike or mountain bike?)


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BigBren

I don't think I've ever had a ride that was free of incident; low level stuff like kids shouting and such is so frequent as to be beneath notice, although I do sometimes spin the bike round to watch them scatter. [}:)]

What's more worrying is the casual way motorists will use their cars to try to threaten or intimidate - veering towards you, playing chicken, shaving as they pass etc. I even got shaved by a pi$$ing ambulance on Friday night!

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I retorted that I did indeed own a car and it was'nt a piece of **** like his<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

I've advised young chav before now that my bike was worth more than his car, and I did once say to a ranting bloke at traffic lights that he was only jealous because his g/f was looking at my arse. His face was a picture, especially when she started laughing aswell.

Bren

giant_man

Don't get it. It must be depending on where you live I guess because after cycling for over 8 years I have never had any hassle like this. The only incident i can recall is a threatening response from a bad driver who came out without looking. My shaking of head he didn't like, wound down his window and threatened to 'sort me'. I will say the driver was coming out of a caravan park so who knows what kind of breeding he had as a child lol!

But apart from the odd word from kids trying to race you or whatever 99% of rides are fine. People say hello on a sunday morning if you're riding through their village which I am guessing is the norm but yeah hassle free riding for me.

It could be of course cos i live in the sticks and not in a city or a town. Who knows.

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SIZE IS EVERYTHING! or at least that's what my LBS tells me.

amircp

Just bad driving is the most common issue for me. I did have a run in with a bloke on a cycle path though recently. His dog was running riot, chasing bikes and biting ankles. However all he saw was me using my bike as a shield and shouting at the dog. Rather than listen to me calmly tell him that I was just defending myself from a dog that had just attacked two others - he repeatedly shouted 'don't you f***g hit my dog with your bike!' and threatened to hit me. My cycle training has equiped me for cycling away at speed rather than boxing so that's what I did.

Putting my grumpy old man's hat on, the UK does seem to have a cultural problem these days, with a lack of respect for others. Other countries that I have been don't have this problem to such a degree. Not sure what the solution is.



4x4s - no better than flares

bigjim

I think you get more abuse if you are kitted out in Lycra and on a road bike. The small minded see you as a nerd or soft etc. If I am on my old beaten up mountain bike and not wearing a helmet or obvious cycling gear[t..t hat. as they are referred to around here] I never get any abuse. I am a big ugly guy and probably look like a bit of a nutter. MBH says I've a face like a rock. Which could be right of course.

Jim

Nothing to prove.

scapaslow

Boy what a depressing story! Just to add to the gloom - couple of weeks ago i was out for a ride in Hamilton (near Glasgow) with my friend who lives there and twice had the boy racers hurl past shouting abuse. The second was the worst because they sneaked up quietly on a busy road then opened up with the verbals as loudly as possible. I got a bit of a fright and was lucky not to jerk the bars as they went jeering into the distance.

I ride almost exclusively on rural roads and never experience this abuse. The worst offenders are middle aged female subaru drivers who think they own the road because they live nearby. I had one appear out of nowhere on a single track road who started honking for me to get out of her way when there was nowhere to go except the verge. Normally on such roads i'll wait until the road widens slightly at a farm gate or similar and let the vehicle past. But no she couldn't wait and cut me up nearly forcing me into the ditch. Next i meet a milk tanker who stops for me and waves me through!

Recently, i met a cyclist up on holiday who had a puncture on a single track road near Dunning in Perthshire. I stopped to see if he needed any help and while we were chatting a 4 by 4 stopped and the very polite occupants asked if we needed any assistance. The other cyclist said he was amazed at how friendly people were up here and how it would never happen 'down south'.

So, i guess it just depends where your wheels pass through as to what kind of abuse you get.

How right you are Norv that so many decent youths get tarred with the same brush as these hoodlums. Its always a minority that give the majority a bad name. There are some decent people out there but alas decency isn't in vogue at the moment (has it ever been?).

domtyler

Norv, you are scum 'cos you're a young bloke. You are scum 'cos you like cycling. You are scum 'cos _________(fill in any other minority group you may belong to here). The word is prejudice and unfortunately, as it goes hand in hand with pig ignorance, there is a mighty lot of it around.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Porridge not Petrol
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Greenbank

I just wear headphones.

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JWSurrey

Fortunately, the North Downs aren't too bad, though I drive to the start as I can't face the Surrey City roads.
Something that profoundly irritated me this weekend as a cyclist, horse rider, 4x4 and horsebox driver (tin hat going on as I write)...

Someone in a 7.5tonne horsebox decided to wheel suck me, then overtake on the narrow lane, right by a car parked on the other side of the road, just got in front, then hit the brakes for the junction 50yds beyond!
A few weeks ago I had cause to chase after a couple of random cyclists who whizzed past me downhill - to ask them to perhaps look at providing some mutual respect to horse riders in the locality - I was braking for a couple of nervous horseriders walking up the hill - leaving me to a torrent of abuse (and horse hooves) about my unruly cycling "pals"!

Won't bother next time - still, that's unfortunately probably the lorry driver's attitude!

chewa

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Brian B</i>

I have had a lot of abuse over the years but surprisingly not from youths. Its usually middle to pension age that I find the most abusive. When out in pairs we ride side by side but if the road is busy both ways we usually go single file. This it seems is not good enough for some and just either hurl abuse at you or honk the horn.

Last week a guy in his 70s honked like mad because we were side to side but we had stopped at traffics light at red.

Brian B.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

had the same thing happen to me and my wife last year as we were cycling along ona Sunday morning on a big wide side road in Barnton (nothing parked, no other traffic) Flatcap 70 year old came up behind us in his Micra and tooted, and when I dropped back to see what he wanted he said we were "causing an obstruction and had to ride single file". The road was about 40 feet wide!!

My wife didn't think I'd lost it when I chased him to his house to discuss the matter further, but she did think I had lost it when I got home, laminated the relevant section of the highway code and then cycled back (a round trip of 10 miles) to post it through his letterbox.

I think for a moment she was thinking of having me sectioned!, but it's hard to explain how worked up I got. This was a perfect Sunday morning ruined by some fool in a Nissan[:(!].

plus je vois les hommes, plus j'admire les chiens