Ashamed of myself

secretsam

Did something that I'm not proud of this morning

Was riding up the inside of a line of traffic on the Gray's Inn road (right up past Condor) and a BMW X5 decided he wanted to park; he saw me, but that wasn't going to stop him cutting across me and nearly knocking me off. No comment on going up the inside; no choice-buses, taxis etc the other way so outside a no-no.

Anyway, I hauled on the anchors and overtook as he parked.

And gobbed all over his car.

I was a little angry (finished work at 11 last night, tired, etc). I'm not sorry for him or his pen1s compensator, but am upset at my lack of control and disgusting behaviour.

Lucky his window was closed :oops:

DavidTQ

When I started cycling I found myself shocked at how angry I could get as Im a very calm and cool person by nature. I think Ive calmed down to a degree on the bike but still if someone does something stupid Im very likely to let them know...

secretsam

...ah, well now I'm a pent up ball of rage most of the time, which isn't a good start really...

Mayhemwmb

I know of people that would have accidently 'collided' with his expensive wing mirror, amazing how they snap off My mate complained of a slightly bruised shoulder but seemed quite proud of his actions.

ChrisLS

...I used to commute like a ball of rage on a bike, and then I thought,"hold on I'm meant to be enjoying this" :? ...so now I've calmed down...there will always be idiots on the roads and cycle paths, and maybe sometimes I make a mistake, but there are a hell of a lot of safe drivers out there. I've taken to thanking drivers who hang back and pass safely when I ride narrow country lanes.

clanton

ChrisLS wrote:

...I used to commute like a ball of rage on a bike, and then I thought,"hold on I'm meant to be enjoying this" :? ...so now I've calmed down...there will always be idiots on the roads and cycle paths, and maybe sometimes I make a mistake, but there are a hell of a lot of safe drivers out there. I've taken to thanking drivers who hang back and pass safely when I ride narrow country lanes.

Agreed! It used to be me vs all the drivers and I used to get stressed on my commute. Now I focus on all the (vast majority) of decent drivers, try to smile and enjoy my ride - I feell a lot better arriving at work now!

It is funny how road rage gets you on a bike though - my other half is ordinarily a very calm person and also a very calm driver yet I've seen her thump a white van with her fist!

BigBlackShed

Yesterday morning a car overtakes me as I'm about to pull out and pass a stationary car. He gets along side me, brakes hard and swerves left to give way to the car come the other direction. I did manage to stop before hitting the parked car.

I give his boot lid a good bang (hurting my hard in process). He jumps out and shouts something like "What the beep do you fink your beeping doin, you beeping beep beeper!" You get the drift.

So I say politely "Would you mind giving me a bit more room next time, please?" Total shock from him. He didn't expect that. Then "Mr White Van Man", who's behind us, starts yelling at "Mr I Like To Aim At Cyclists". They then get in to a right old shouting match. Both are out of their vehicles. I was pretty sure fistie-cuffs were about to start.

So I'm off down the road, I could still hear them at it 100m away and then more horns start blaring.

What's that doing to their stress levels? And it was only 8am.

graeme_s-2

On the one hand, it's nice to see a WVM standing up for you, on the other hand he sounds like a bit of a psycho who was just looking for a good argument with anyone.

Bassjunkieuk

I had a lovely lady pull out of a side road on Grays Inn Road today on me, I was filtering up the left hand side and she just came straight out - following the other cars that where coming out as the road was "blocked" by a taxi. She didn't even make an effort to stop at the giveway line, if she had she might have spotted me! I'd already anticipated not being seen to backed off the pedaling but it's still frustrating!

Gussio

SecretSam wrote:

And gobbed all over his car.

Better to have phlegm smeared over his car than you. Very rare to find a considerate X5 driver, especially in London. X5's are too wide and too powerful to be driving around on congested roads, IMHO, particularly with a tw@t behind the wheel.

mrchrispy

im practicing my sideways slide emergency stop so I can pile into the next person that pulls out of a junction and stops in front of me. Should be fairly spectacular with little damage to either me or the car

Bassjunkieuk

Gussio wrote:

SecretSam wrote:

And gobbed all over his car.

Better to have phlegm smeared over his car than you. Very rare to find a considerate X5 driver, especially in London. X5's are too wide and too powerful to be driving around on congested roads, IMHO, particularly with a tw@t behind the wheel.

I'd agree fully there, but then for London I think most cars are overpowered, why on earth do you need to drive around in a £100K, 150+MPH super car except to make it clear you either have more money then sense or a small todger :-) any why on earth people use 4x4's is beyond me! I remember when I was in my car having a bag of crisps between jobs once and an old couple where circling the underground car park trying to find a bay big enough to allow her to park her XC90 (or some other HUGE offroader) when there where plenty of car sized single bays left :-)

I don't begrudge people getting these sorta vehicles and wouldn't say no to the chance of driving a nice Lambo or a Ferrari (as long as it's not red!) but I'd much rather take them out on a autobahn or race circuit so I could appreciate them at their best

ChrisLS

mrchrispy wrote:

im practicing my sideways slide emergency stop so I can pile into the next person that pulls out of a junction and stops in front of me. Should be fairly spectacular with little damage to either me or the car

...I sometimes think it would be good to be a stunt man... 8)

dirk_van_gently

I too have taken to the carrot rather than the stick approach, acknowledging drivers who have some patience, rather than thinking I am an obsticle in their way. I normally just give a friendly wave or nod. It seems to work, and out here in the sticks it's not really the best plan to piss car driver off, because you have every chance of meeting them again on the road, perhaps less of a consideration on London's (or any other big cities) streets.

dirk_van_gently

Interesting, obviously there is some kind of language filter on the forum, I typed "P!$$" but it inserted wee-wee, Oh well. 8)

cee

Gussio wrote:

SecretSam wrote:

And gobbed all over his car.

Better to have phlegm smeared over his car than you. Very rare to find a considerate X5 driver, especially in London. X5's are too wide and too powerful to be driving around on congested roads, IMHO, particularly with a tw@t behind the wheel.

See that for me is the problem with the X5 (and funnily enough the same is true of the Apple iPhone). the first word that pops into my head when I see someone using one (or either) is "prat"!

secretsam

cee wrote:

Gussio wrote:

SecretSam wrote:

And gobbed all over his car.

Better to have phlegm smeared over his car than you. Very rare to find a considerate X5 driver, especially in London. X5's are too wide and too powerful to be driving around on congested roads, IMHO, particularly with a tw@t behind the wheel.

See that for me is the problem with the X5 (and funnily enough the same is true of the Apple iPhone). the first word that pops into my head when I see someone using one (or either) is "prat"!

DING!! Ten points for that post, spot on. I don't care if the i-Phone is the greatest communication device ever, the type of person who's going to rush out and get one almost certainly doesn't need all its functionality and won't use it...it will be a status symbol, like most fancy phones.

BentMikey

mrchrispy wrote:

im practicing my sideways slide emergency stop so I can pile into the next person that pulls out of a junction and stops in front of me. Should be fairly spectacular with little damage to either me or the car

I've heard from one lady recumbent rider that a Streetmachine chainsaw makes a lovely dent in a car door when she couldn't quite stop after a driver pulled out of a side road on her. The driver was apparently extremely pissed off!

dirk_van_gently

SecretSam

almost certainly doesn't need all its functionality and won't use it...it will be a status symbol, like most fancy phones.

Let's be honest how many of us have bikes with 20+ gears, and only use 4 or 5?

Doom

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

Let's be honest how many of us have bikes with 20+ gears, and only use 4 or 5?

I went to the Alps and of the 20gears only used 2. One going up and other on the way down.

Back on topic... I have found that trying to be grateful to those drivers who are considerate and not lose my rag with the few idiots I encounter has considerably improved my enjoyment of commuting in London.

secretsam

Dirk Van Gently wrote:

SecretSam

almost certainly doesn't need all its functionality and won't use it...it will be a status symbol, like most fancy phones.

Let's be honest how many of us have bikes with 20+ gears, and only use 4 or 5?

Muhahahahahaha you've got me there...but regular London steed only has 12, of which I use 2 or 3 - not so bad (it's mostly flat and I'd go single if I could be ar5ed)

DavidTQ

Ive got 30 gears but I dont tend to have favourites use them for constant small adjustment so I use most of them regularly. I probably shift gears more often than many cyclists I guess probably something to do with the interesting topography of my commute

Bassjunkieuk

DavidTQ wrote:

Ive got 30 gears but I dont tend to have favourites use them for constant small adjustment so I use most of them regularly. I probably shift gears more often than many cyclists I guess probably something to do with the interesting topography of my commute

I think I use my gears much more now I have the newer bike with STI shifters, as I don't have to take my hands off the brake hoods to change gear :-)

I don't think I make quite as good use of the gears I have, 24 in total, as I could - but mainly because of my riding style. I mainly use the middle chainring and change at the rear quite a lot. The big chainring only ever really gets used on descents and I haven't used my granny ring up front to much, except on the ride with a friend the other day who was struggling on a hill and I didn't want to leave him behind - so I used it as an opportunity to give it a try :-D

I do need to try out more of my gears as I don't think I've quite found my "sweet" gear yet, but it's a bit more difficult now as I don't have a visual indicator of what gear I'm in!