Never Stop to Argue!

andrewgturnbull

Hi folks.

I've come to the conclusion that the kind of nutter who wants to stop at the side of the road for a 'discussion' on road ettiquette is exactly the last kind of person you should stop for.

Tonight I was riding through Glasgow rush hour (with a friend) when a nice chap (ned) took exception to us cutting through traffic and twice physically squeezed me against the next car as we tried to filter through the middle...

A frank exchange of views followed through his open window and he sped off as the traffic thinned - only for us to find him waiting at a junction one mile down the road.

Now the thing was, in the meantime I'd seen him stop in a side street and retrieve _something_ from his boot before driving off to wait for us.

What did he get out of the boot? I wasn't about to find out...

Be careful out there!

Cheers, Andy

jonginge

:shock: Yep, discretion the better part of valour. Or he bravely ran away, away...
Seriously, there are some nutters out there...

gb155

:shock: nutter :shock:

toontra

Agreed. People who stop have the advantage of having sized you up (literally) and figured that they stand a change at doing you harm, especially if they are tooled up. To you, what gets out of the vehicle is an unknown quantity, and as you say they are often people with serious "anger management" issues.

Kieran_Burns

When i was practising TaeKwon Do I was taught the best weapon in a fight is your feet.

"Great!" I thought, "I'm learning a martial art to kick the crap out of people"

"No" says 3rd degree black belt teacher. "They're attached to your legs. Use them and run"

always_tyred

Ahh, Glasgow.

Its friendly, really.

kurako

Ah! The Glasgow ned. How I miss it!

http://www.glasgowsurvival.co.uk/people/people.html

In all seriousness, the furthest I go these days is a disappointed shake of the head or wag of the finger. As soon as you get in a slanging match you draw attention away from the fact that they're dicks and you've done nothing wrong.

roger_merriman

Kurako wrote:

Ah! The Glasgow ned. How I miss it!

http://www.glasgowsurvival.co.uk/people/people.html

In all seriousness, the furthest I go these days is a disappointed shake of the head or wag of the finger. As soon as you get in a slanging match you draw attention away from the fact that they're dicks and you've done nothing wrong.

yup. though in my case I so rarely get problems that it's easy for me.

Clever Pun

jeepers... if it had been a motorbike there wouldn't have been a problem

I really hate people sometimes

Compost

Kieran_Burns wrote:

When i was practising TaeKwon Do I was taught the best weapon in a fight is your feet.

"Great!" I thought, "I'm learning a martial art to kick the crap out of people"

"No" says 3rd degree black belt teacher. "They're attached to your legs. Use them and run"

Does TeeKwon Do teach mind reading? Mr Miyagi would have been proud!

CiB

Kieran_Burns wrote:

When i was practising TaeKwon Do I was taught the best weapon in a fight is your feet.

"Great!" I thought, "I'm learning a martial art to kick the crap out of people"

"No" says 3rd degree black belt teacher. "They're attached to your legs. Use them and run"

Said it before, but I've won all my fights by at least 100 yards.

Paul 8v

Nutter If I had to ride through glasgow I'd be like this
http://www.lovehina.me.uk/images/humour ... 0Motiv.jpg
I know he's on a motorbike but you get the idea

metalmonkey

Best advice I can give is no matter what "never put youself on offer" your just asking for problems.

I have words with drivers in the past about their conduct, espically when I though okay this could end real bad. I nearly got run off the road once, i saw this car up ahead there like 4 people in it. Real bad idea to talk with them.

I have real mouth on me, which i use to great effect but it can be counter productive as I have found out.

Also no amount of martial arts can save you in real full on street fight, been there and it didn't end so well.

Wallace1492

andrewgturnbull wrote:

Hi folks.

I've come to the conclusion that the kind of nutter who wants to stop at the side of the road for a 'discussion' on road ettiquette is exactly the last kind of person you should stop for.

Tonight I was riding through Glasgow rush hour (with a friend) when a nice chap (ned) took exception to us cutting through traffic and twice physically squeezed me against the next car as we tried to filter through the middle...

A frank exchange of views followed through his open window and he sped off as the traffic thinned - only for us to find him waiting at a junction one mile down the road.

Now the thing was, in the meantime I'd seen him stop in a side street and retrieve _something_ from his boot before driving off to wait for us.

What did he get out of the boot? I wasn't about to find out...

Be careful out there!

Cheers, Andy

Jesus, not the best..... what part of Glasgow, and what sort of car should I be looking out for?

Wallace1492

Paul 8v wrote:

Nutter If I had to ride through glasgow I'd be like this
http://www.lovehina.me.uk/images/humour ... 0Motiv.jpg
I know he's on a motorbike but you get the idea

Glasgow is not too bad at all. Had my fair share of dodgy cars, white van men and taxi's, but no really bad incidents yet. Well apart from one near death experience, but that was in Renfrew.....

thiscocks

I was so pissed off riding in a head-wind in the rain yesterday I was willing a car to cut me up so I could introduce the driver to a new world of pain (bad state of mind I know). Probably a good job I don't live in Glasgow! ie- I'd probably be dead by now.

suzyb

I was so pissed of riding into a headwind yesterday I wished I lived in Glasgow. Where they have those big things called building that provide some shelter instead of wide open fields that provide absolutely none

wgwarburton

suzyb wrote:

I was so pissed of riding into a headwind yesterday I wished I lived in Glasgow. Where they have those big things called building that provide some shelter instead of wide open fields that provide absolutely none

Do you ever come up to Glasgow through the week? Maybe you & Wallace & I could grab a coffee/sandwich whatever someday? I think he's just up the road from me most days....

Cheers,
W.

Porgy

The only weapon I ever had used against me was a black cab - the driver tried to run me down repeatedly - got very close several times - my tactic was to stand there till he got close and then jump at last minute - run like f*ck till he found me again...until I managed to get to the safety of Hyde Park where he couldn't follow me. Being on the pavement didn;t seem to deter him.

If I see a car stop ahead of me these days I stop and wait - if the reverse like the one last week did - I quickly head off in a different direction and hope they don't follow.

Paul 8v

Porgy wrote:

The only weapon I ever had used against me was a black cab - the driver tried to run me down repeatedly - got very close several times - my tactic was to stand there till he got close and then jump at last minute - run like f*ck till he found me again...until I managed to get to the safety of Hyde Park where he couldn't follow me. Being on the pavement didn;t seem to deter him.

If I see a car stop ahead of me these days I stop and wait - if the reverse like the one last week did - I quickly head off in a different direction and hope they don't follow.

you must really p*ss people off!

Wallace1492

suzyb wrote:

I was so pissed of riding into a headwind yesterday I wished I lived in Glasgow. Where they have those big things called building that provide some shelter instead of wide open fields that provide absolutely none

Yes, you would think that..... But when these big things called buildings funnel the wind down onto the tarmac thing, especially right into your face, it's not the best, and you yearn for the counry!! (Obviously sometimes there are shelter benefits, but Maryhill Road just seems to intensify the wind!)

WGW, sounds good sometime.... always happy for an orange juice or two.

Kieran_Burns

Wallace1492 wrote:

suzyb wrote:

I was so pissed of riding into a headwind yesterday I wished I lived in Glasgow. Where they have those big things called building that provide some shelter instead of wide open fields that provide absolutely none

Yes, you would think that..... But when these big things called buildings funnel the wind down onto the tarmac thing, especially right into your face, it's not the best, and you yearn for the counry!! (Obviously sometimes there are shelter benefits, but Maryhill Road just seems to intensify the wind!)

WGW, sounds good sometime.... always happy for an orange juice or two.

even worse when the wind hits the building obliquely and you get what amounts to a horizontal tornado zip down the road. :?

I swear I did a barrel roll one time..... :shock:

Porgy

Paul 8v wrote:

Porgy wrote:

The only weapon I ever had used against me was a black cab - the driver tried to run me down repeatedly - got very close several times - my tactic was to stand there till he got close and then jump at last minute - run like f*ck till he found me again...until I managed to get to the safety of Hyde Park where he couldn't follow me. Being on the pavement didn;t seem to deter him.

If I see a car stop ahead of me these days I stop and wait - if the reverse like the one last week did - I quickly head off in a different direction and hope they don't follow.

you must really p*ss people off!

So when someone attacks me it's my fault?

99.99% of people haven't tried to kill me....so I must be doing OK. this guy must have been a complete looney as all that happened is he overtook me on a mini roundabout while i was signalling to turn right - and just touched me with the side of his cab. Naturally I complained. He went one way and I went the other - then next thing I knew he was trying to kill me.

Whay was any of that my fault?

He'd probably already been pi55ed off by another cyclist. Maybe he'd just seen one go through a red light?

suzyb

So you have to put up with traffic and weather in the city :shock: Why would you want to cycle there

Yeah, I'd be up for meeting sometime. Not been in Glasgow for ages, lack of disposable income makes it kinda pointless. But meeting up with some fellow cyclists could give me the impetus to get the bso up and running and try actually completing the goal I'd given up on.

andrewgturnbull

Wallace1492 wrote:

Jesus, not the best..... what part of Glasgow, and what sort of car should I be looking out for?

Bishopbriggs - Silver Golf, GN56... something or other. If I'd remembered the rest of the number plate I would have reported the incident.

Cheers, Andy

AndyManc

Get a helmet cam ............. 8)

fossyant

Clever Pun wrote:

jeepers... if it had been a motorbike there wouldn't have been a problem

I really hate people sometimes

They aren't going to try and stop a few hundred kg's of motor bike and rider, but 100kg's and less, probably lighter than them.....

Just not worth it..........fight back with a sneaky cam.....

always_tyred

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

suzyb wrote:

I was so pissed of riding into a headwind yesterday I wished I lived in Glasgow. Where they have those big things called building that provide some shelter instead of wide open fields that provide absolutely none

Yes, you would think that..... But when these big things called buildings funnel the wind down onto the tarmac thing, especially right into your face, it's not the best, and you yearn for the counry!! (Obviously sometimes there are shelter benefits, but Maryhill Road just seems to intensify the wind!)

WGW, sounds good sometime.... always happy for an orange juice or two.

even worse when the wind hits the building obliquely and you get what amounts to a horizontal tornado zip down the road. :?

I swear I did a barrel roll one time..... :shock:

You two haven't done much cycling on exposed Scottish A roads, have you?

Trust me, there are a lot of wind farms up here for a reason.

roger_merriman

Always Tyred wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

suzyb wrote:

I was so pissed of riding into a headwind yesterday I wished I lived in Glasgow. Where they have those big things called building that provide some shelter instead of wide open fields that provide absolutely none

Yes, you would think that..... But when these big things called buildings funnel the wind down onto the tarmac thing, especially right into your face, it's not the best, and you yearn for the counry!! (Obviously sometimes there are shelter benefits, but Maryhill Road just seems to intensify the wind!)

WGW, sounds good sometime.... always happy for an orange juice or two.

even worse when the wind hits the building obliquely and you get what amounts to a horizontal tornado zip down the road. :?

I swear I did a barrel roll one time..... :shock:

You two haven't done much cycling on exposed Scottish A roads, have you?

Trust me, there are a lot of wind farms up here for a reason.

yup same for some of the more exposed hills in the breacon beacons etc, walk over them in a winter storm and you know it.

cjw

Porgy wrote:

99.99% of people haven't tried to kill me....

There are around 60,000,000 in the UK, 99.99% who haven't tried to kill you equates to 59,994,000 who haven't tried to kill you.... therefore 6,000 people have tried :shock:

Sorry, couldn't resist

hoolio

I've only had a car pull up and stop me once.
In summary: Two lanes, I'm in primary in one lane as I've just passed a parked vehicle and there's a juction coming up. Therefore I was in his way so he got along side me and started telling me that he'd had to brake! I responded with something contentious: "I don't know what your problem is mate" which obviously meant I was giving him "attitude".
When he got out of his silver Merc two things happened. First I had to stop myself from laughing as he struggled to pull himself out of the car and then ambled towards me like a fat short monkey dragging his knuckles on the floor (and that isn't exaggerated for comic effect). Secondly I thought to myself, sht, I really don't want to get into a fight, I'm just on my way to work. I'll have to take my rucksack off and everything.
There then ensued five minutes of him tellng me that I was a cnt and giving him attitude. I deployed an affable, rational, and almost cheerful mode of engagement and even suggested we find out who had parked the car there as it was in everyones way. That completely threw him, so he carried on calling me cnt for another couple of minutes. Then he got back in his car and cut a couple of people up at the junction and disappeared up the road to the sound of blaring horns.

In retrospect I probably could have avoided the whole confrontation with an intial "Sorry mate" and just carried on. While I can look back and laugh about it now the guy was really looking for a fight at the time and I was expecting punches to start flying.
I came to the conclusion that arguing with idiots never works anyway, so why put yourself into a fight.