How do you keep your cool

DonDaddyD
DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
edited September 2010 in Commuting chat
OK I have to admit I have lost my temper a number of times on the bike.

I've assessed the causes:
I'm exercising, which means that adrenaline is in my system and at a quite high level. I'm in a state of arousal (not the sexual kind) and I'm very vulnerable/life in my hands so feel compelled to defend myself if threatened.

The results can sometimes not be productive.

So control measures need to be put in place to manage this particular mental state.

What do you do to manage this hightened state when cycling and about to lose your temper?
Food Chain number = 4

A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
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Comments

  • CXXC
    CXXC Posts: 237
    pedal harder! :evil:
    _______________________________________________

    www.redlightjump.co.uk

    FCN 3 (FCN 4 if I'm carrying clean pants)
  • Clever Pun
    Clever Pun Posts: 6,778
    I'm trying out being overly polite while dripping sarcasm and a withering attitude you get to put them down and they don't realise it for a while.
    Purveyor of sonic doom

    Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
    Fixed Pista- FCN 5
    Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
  • BiggerBoat
    BiggerBoat Posts: 168
    Big Breath. Count to 10.
    We need a bigger boat.

    Giant OCR 4
    Trek Madone 5.2
    Ridgeback Speed (FCN 15)
  • Wallace1492
    Wallace1492 Posts: 3,707
    I am usually the opposite....

    Very relaxed cycling, look at the drivers and pity them.

    DDD you need to chill mate.....
    "Encyclopaedia is a fetish for very small bicycles"
  • wgwarburton
    wgwarburton Posts: 1,863
    Hi,
    I try to focus on enjoying the ride, instead of getting psyched up chasing lights and gaps in traffic. Not riding slower so much as concentrating on being relaxed and efficient.. thinking ahead, going with the flow etc.

    Bit more zen... bit less aggressive.

    I find that this gets me into a state of mind that makes it much easier to make allowances for people making mistakes.

    Cheers,
    W.
  • t0pc4t
    t0pc4t Posts: 947
    most of my riding is open road so they're in the distance before my top starts to really blow
    Whether you're a king or a little street sweeper, sooner or later you'll dance with the reaper.

    Cube Curve 2009
    Giant Anthem X4

    FCN=6
  • essex-commuter
    essex-commuter Posts: 2,188
    I hate confrontation so just tell myself how much luckier I am than them and just deal with it. Every time a boyracer accelerates past me I just tell myself that it probably cost him a fiver in petrol to do it.

    I'm very relaxed on the bike to be honest. Assertive but relaxed.
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,411
    Clever Pun wrote:
    I'm trying out being overly polite while dripping sarcasm and a withering attitude you get to put them down and they don't realise it for a while.

    The mask helps (you can shout what you like into it, and no-one can hear, but I may well give your approach a try. Probably best delivered in a slightly plummy English public school accent, with lots of 'dear boy' and 'old chap'.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • bigmat
    bigmat Posts: 5,134
    You need to just be cool... 8)
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/41991871@N ... otostream/
  • Mr Sworld
    Mr Sworld Posts: 703
    I'm psycotic all the time so there is no difference when I'm on the bike..... :twisted:
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    another option is to find a more chilled route? some roads just aren't nice roads to ride/drive down and even if slower another way can be so much nicer.
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    Who needs to keep cool? Carry an Uzi 9mm and blow the scum away as soon as they bother you.

    Sorted. 8)
  • R_T_A
    R_T_A Posts: 488
    First of all, city cycling is significantly different to what I do, and I don't envy you one jot.

    Even with lights/Hi-Viz et al, I imagine myself as invisible to motorists, and ride accordingly.

    Put it another way: What reaction are you trying to get when you lose it with someone? If they said sorry, would that be enough? By shouting at someone, all you're going to get is a load of standard abuse back ("shouldn't be on the road", "why don't you pay tax" etc.).

    I shake my head, and move on.

    (Or carry an Uzi)
    Giant Escape R1
    FCN 8
    "Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
    - Terry Pratchett.
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    I've never had a problem just rising above it, keeping calm and continuing on my merry way.

    Remind yourself that people make mistakes, and that two wrongs don't make a right.

    Nobody's out to get you.
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • Mr Sworld
    Mr Sworld Posts: 703
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    Nobody's out to get you.

    It's safer to assume that they are..... :shock:
  • EKE_38BPM
    EKE_38BPM Posts: 5,821
    CiB wrote:
    Who needs to keep cool? Carry an Uzi 9mm and blow the scum away as soon as they bother you.

    Sorted. 8)

    I stumbled across an American cycling forum and they were seriously discussing what gun to carry when cycling.
    Posts were along the lines of:
    "My .22 fits into my fanny pack so its easily accessible."
    "Dude, a .22 wouldn't stop someone coming for you. You need a .38 at least."

    Madness.
    FCN 3: Raleigh Record Ace fixie-to be resurrected sometime in the future
    FCN 4: Planet X Schmaffenschmack 2- workhorse
    FCN 9: B Twin Vitamin - winter commuter/loan bike for trainees

    I'm hungry. I'm always hungry!
  • Wallace1492
    Wallace1492 Posts: 3,707
    DonDaddyD wrote:
    OK I have to admit I have lost my temper a number of times on the bike.

    I've assessed the causes:
    I'm exercising, which means that adrenaline is in my system and at a quite high level. I'm in a state of arousal (not the sexual kind) and I'm very vulnerable/life in my hands so feel compelled to defend myself if threatened.

    The results can sometimes not be productive.

    So control measures need to be put in place to manage this particular mental state.

    What do you do to manage this hightened state when cycling and about to lose your temper?

    Ask your fanclub: ddd.jpg
    "Encyclopaedia is a fetish for very small bicycles"
  • essex-commuter
    essex-commuter Posts: 2,188
    EKE_38BPM wrote:
    "My .22 fits into my fanny

    Hehe. I'm such a child!
  • t0pc4t
    t0pc4t Posts: 947
    EKE_38BPM wrote:
    CiB wrote:
    Who needs to keep cool? Carry an Uzi 9mm and blow the scum away as soon as they bother you.

    Sorted. 8)

    I stumbled across an American cycling forum and they were seriously discussing what gun to carry when cycling.
    Posts were along the lines of:
    "My .22 fits into my fanny pack so its easily accessible."
    "Dude, a .22 wouldn't stop someone coming for you. You need a .38 at least."

    Madness.

    from the MTB general bit on here

    http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12718536
    Whether you're a king or a little street sweeper, sooner or later you'll dance with the reaper.

    Cube Curve 2009
    Giant Anthem X4

    FCN=6
  • EKE_38BPM
    EKE_38BPM Posts: 5,821
    t0pc4t wrote:
    EKE_38BPM wrote:
    CiB wrote:
    Who needs to keep cool? Carry an Uzi 9mm and blow the scum away as soon as they bother you.

    Sorted. 8)

    I stumbled across an American cycling forum and they were seriously discussing what gun to carry when cycling.
    Posts were along the lines of:
    "My .22 fits into my fanny pack so its easily accessible."
    "Dude, a .22 wouldn't stop someone coming for you. You need a .38 at least."

    Madness.

    from the MTB general bit on here

    http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12718536

    I see your point, but, c'mon, WHAT GUN TO CARRY WHILST CYCLING?!
    FCN 3: Raleigh Record Ace fixie-to be resurrected sometime in the future
    FCN 4: Planet X Schmaffenschmack 2- workhorse
    FCN 9: B Twin Vitamin - winter commuter/loan bike for trainees

    I'm hungry. I'm always hungry!
  • t0pc4t
    t0pc4t Posts: 947
    well it's of no concern to me, I'm a fully qualified ninja and therefore have like throwing stars and stuff secreted about my person

    plus I can do mean looks very well
    Whether you're a king or a little street sweeper, sooner or later you'll dance with the reaper.

    Cube Curve 2009
    Giant Anthem X4

    FCN=6
  • solsurf
    solsurf Posts: 489
    The only person that’s going to come out best from you and a car, is the car, who’s in the wrong argument is not worth thinking about (the cyclist is always right). Just stay and look cool!
    http://www.pogu.co.uk
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    I think you're all missing the point - except the carry a gun comment.

    You cannot just remain cool if all the chemicals in the brain, a result of exercising, are the similar ones needed to go retard crazy.

    So how do you - the actual act - remain cool. Some people go to a happy place, some people count to 10.

    What keeps you from losing your temper (and we all have a temper to lose) when some brick-sh*t decides to cut across you and stop right in front of your bike?
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • t0pc4t
    t0pc4t Posts: 947
    the chemicals you're referring to trigger the fight or flight response and people have said, they use flight and put that into the ride

    the psychological side has also been discussed, I use ninja stars and mean looks
    Whether you're a king or a little street sweeper, sooner or later you'll dance with the reaper.

    Cube Curve 2009
    Giant Anthem X4

    FCN=6
  • nich
    nich Posts: 888
    I don't keep cool.

    Better out than in innit.

    I just whisper really loudly and let it all out. No one will hear anything what with all the traffic around me anyway ;)

    My ride home is usually safe, but always action packed, always at a high state of alert.

    I take the time at traffic lights to take a few deep breathes, take my hands of the bars, stretch a little, look around me, look up at the blue sky, or look down to cover my face from the pouring rain.

    At the end of my route I treat myself to a cycle through a lovely park. Away from the main roads, just me usually, pootleing along with the birds and squirrels :)
  • DonDaddyD
    DonDaddyD Posts: 12,689
    I'm too cute to look ninja.
    Food Chain number = 4

    A true scalp is not only overtaking someone but leaving them stopped at a set of lights. As you, who have clearly beaten the lights, pummels nothing but the open air ahead. ~ 'DondaddyD'. Player of the Unspoken Game
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    DonDaddyD wrote:
    I think you're all missing the point - except the carry a gun comment.

    You cannot just remain cool if all the chemicals in the brain, a result of exercising, are the similar ones needed to go retard crazy.

    Yes, yes you can.

    I do.
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • notsoblue
    notsoblue Posts: 5,756
    t0pc4t wrote:
    the chemicals you're referring to trigger the fight or flight response and people have said, they use flight and put that into the ride

    +1
    FCN 4 PX SL Pro SRAM Red
    FCN 8 Scott Sportster '05
  • solsurf
    solsurf Posts: 489
    I may be missing the point, but I have now been knocked over after remonstrating with a car driver twice now. The vectra thought it taught me a good lesson and the saab driver just sped off. The pain and the cost from the last one just taught me in the same way a child would learn from a smack, that the pain is a response that makes it not worth it.

    All I’m saying is and god knows it is hard, for your own safety try and take the morel high ground and tell yourself they are not worth it.

    cheers
    http://www.pogu.co.uk
  • shm_uk
    shm_uk Posts: 683
    I think I've now got to the point where nothing surprises me any more, so whenever something happens that would have previously got me riled I now have more of a " *sigh*, typical, ah well" sort of mental response...

    People make mistakes, stupid is as stupid does, I just let things wash over me...


    However, I've never yet been run into or knocked off my bike, so I've not idea how I will react if that actually ever happens :?

    Hopefully it'll be something like:
    1. did anybody see me look stupid coming off my bike?
    2. is my bike ok?
    3. am I ok?

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