does anyone else get any abuse on their commute?

chris_bass

Hi

recently i have had a few incidents which have left me wondering if its something I'm doing wrong but i seem to get quite a lot of abuse on my cycles.

i the last 3 weeks alone i have been spat at 3 times, had countless people swear at me, beep their horn at me or generally lunge at me to try and make me swerve or fall off and on Monday i had someone actually throw a plank of wood at me which narrowly missed and went under the wheels of my bike.

is this normal or is it me?!!!

mrtuk

Chris Bass wrote:

i the last 3 weeks alone i have been spat at 3 times, had countless people swear at me, beep their horn at me or generally lunge at me to try and make me swerve or fall off and on Monday i had someone actually throw a plank of wood at me which narrowly missed and went under the wheels of my bike.

is this normal or is it me?!!!

Doesn't sound normal to me .. where is your commute?

Had some yoofs throw stones and kick footballs at me one or twice, but they were far enough away to not be accurate. I assume you're on the road and not the pavement

chris_bass

i go from the north of birmingham to the south, i do go through some dubious areas so guess i'll just have to grin and bare it! there's no real route round it!

yeah only ever ride on the road and mind my own business and don't do anything dangerous or anything like that!

kelsen

How many other cyclists do you see on your commute on average? Sadly, if you are in the minority it immediately makes you a target to the mindless and ignorant masses. Perversely, I feel a lot safer cycling in London than I would in my hometown of Glasgow simply because I know I'd get singled out by neds (chavs) cycling around certain areas of Glasgow. However, in London there are so many cyclists around that it would be futile to single one out.

The Rookie

I'm always being abused as I pass the cars queued at the lights - the lights just down from the works company car park where about 1 car in 3 belongs to a work colleague..... I put it down to physique envy!

I've never had anything like the OP though - that is bizarre!

Simon

sheep_go_baa

I agree with Kelsen's point: anyone/thing in the minority is, unfortunately, likely to get some kind of abuse. I cycle through what was once the largest council estate in the country and often get jeers and comments from the lovely little darlings that are out (I would say playing, however mostly it is more of a destructive nature...).
However outside of the estate I have had very little problems in the 10 months that I have been commuting from Bradford to Leeds.

chris_bass

haha, yeah i'll put it down to physique envy i like that!

i've found a route that is 60% nice country roads, 20% reasonable town roads and 20% not so nice town roads so i guess i'm ok for 80% of the time!! i'll just have to cycle quicker in the rougher areas!

MichaelW

Get yourself a helmet cam, send the results to Harry Hill then claim your £250. Make sure you get a nice steady shot the the number plate.

If you are the lone cyclist, riding the same route every day, I would think carefully before "grassing up" a scumbag to the police; you are very easy to identify and vulnerable to an "accident". Maybe you can get the local plod to check their tax and insurance. It should be easy meat for them and add to their monthly stats of crimes solved detected.

KonaMike

I get the usual abuse from car drivers but I have never been abused by a pedestrian,I think the helmet camera idea is worth consideration !

king_jeffers

KonaMike wrote:

I get the usual abuse from car drivers but I have never been abused by a pedestrian,I think the helmet camera idea is worth consideration !

+ 1 helmet camera a requirement. Think I would get a car if that was my daily

cloggsy

King Jeffers wrote:

KonaMike wrote:

I get the usual abuse from car drivers but I have never been abused by a pedestrian,I think the helmet camera idea is worth consideration !

+ 1 helmet camera a requirement. Think I would get a car if that was my daily

+ 1 on the Camera thing... You need to start reporting people mate!

phillipjohnson

If you get abuse it might be varying the time/route of your journey a bit each day.... if kids expect you at a certain time they might hang about for you to abuse if they have nothing better to do.

I don't get anything as serious as you get but I ride a Brompton and I invariably get laughter from a bunch of kids when I ride past and 99% of the time they will shout after me "Pull a wheelie".

AndyManc

"does anyone else get any abuse on their commute?"



Does the pope s*it in the woods ? :shock:

Just out of interest, do you wear all the hi-vis gear , brightly coloured helmet etc etc ?

Cyclist that wear all the safety gear tend to get the most abuse.


.

shouldbeinbed

AndyManc wrote:

"does anyone else get any abuse on their commute?"



Does the pope s*it in the woods ? :shock:

Just out of interest, do you wear all the hi-vis gear , brightly coloured helmet etc etc ?

Cyclist that wear all the safety gear tend to get the most abuse.


.

Not my experience, I wear the gear, Oldham is hardly a hotbed of cycling & I ride through some grotty areas twice a day & work in another on the edge of Manchester.

I can count the witty comments & beeping I've had on the fingers of one hand and still have fingers left over.

Twisterboy

Morning commute is fine as it's dead early in the morning when I go in.

Afternoon/Evening - Sometimes have kids on their way back from school getting in the road or being pushed in front of me, get the occasional ned/chav making snide litle comments, but aside from that my commute is fairly easy.

David

nation

I commute in Birmingham (north to city centre). I've had some aggressive passing and general driver tw*ttery, but never outright abuse.

My route is mainly Tyburn and Lichfield road.

jonny_trousers

Sounds horrible! If I were you I would alter my route. Even an extra mile is worth it to avoid having things thrown at you. It's all good extra training.

jamm13dodger

If somebody spat at me he next thing thy'd be doing is spitting their teeth out. You're clearly a better man than I am keeping your cool in that situation.

CyclingBantam

sheep_go_baa wrote:

I agree with Kelsen's point: anyone/thing in the minority is, unfortunately, likely to get some kind of abuse. I cycle through what was once the largest council estate in the country and often get jeers and comments from the lovely little darlings that are out (I would say playing, however mostly it is more of a destructive nature...).
However outside of the estate I have had very little problems in the 10 months that I have been commuting from Bradford to Leeds.

Is that 'Ravo' by any chance?

sheep_go_baa

CyclingBantam wrote:

Is that 'Ravo' by any chance?

No, the beauty of Holmewood.

PO Paul

All the time, latest one last night.
Streatham High Road, got passed with about 1cm to spare by a blacked out windows, hatchback type, boy racer, 3 million decibel stereo system, pile of junk. Passed the "vehicle" a few hundred yards further up the road when it had to stop because of the usual traffic and I casually looked in through the front passenger window that was now wound down as I went past. A minute or so later, when the traffic started to move again, I could hear the vehicle coming up behind me and as they went past (about 2cm this time) I was called a W ucking F anker. Err, why?

jimmypippa

shouldbeinbed wrote:

AndyManc wrote:

"does anyone else get any abuse on their commute?"



Does the pope s*it in the woods ? :shock:

Just out of interest, do you wear all the hi-vis gear , brightly coloured helmet etc etc ?

Cyclist that wear all the safety gear tend to get the most abuse.


.

Not my experience, I wear the gear, Oldham is hardly a hotbed of cycling & I ride through some grotty areas twice a day & work in another on the edge of Manchester.

I can count the witty comments & beeping I've had on the fingers of one hand and still have fingers left over.

Up to six?

(or is that just my village)?

Initialised

Yesterday the passenger in a car alongside a rider in front of me (not for long mind) reached toward the rider and gestured at his posterior in a groping motion. Moments like this make me wish I was a video-logger.

andrewlwood

Initialised wrote:

Yesterday the passenger in a car alongside a rider in front of me (not for long mind) reached toward the rider and gestured at his posterior in a groping motion. Moments like this make me wish I was a video-logger.

That sounds more like a compliment than abuse to me!

Initialised

andrewlwood wrote:

Initialised wrote:

Yesterday the passenger in a car alongside a rider in front of me (not for long mind) reached toward the rider and gestured at his posterior in a groping motion. Moments like this make me wish I was a video-logger.

That sounds more like a compliment than abuse to me!

It would have been from a woman, but it was bloke on bloke gropage

shouldbeinbed

jimmypippa wrote:

shouldbeinbed wrote:

AndyManc wrote:

"does anyone else get any abuse on their commute?"



Does the pope s*it in the woods ? :shock:

Just out of interest, do you wear all the hi-vis gear , brightly coloured helmet etc etc ?

Cyclist that wear all the safety gear tend to get the most abuse.


.

Not my experience, I wear the gear, Oldham is hardly a hotbed of cycling & I ride through some grotty areas twice a day & work in another on the edge of Manchester.

I can count the witty comments & beeping I've had on the fingers of one hand and still have fingers left over.

Up to six?

(or is that just my village)?

makes playing the banjo a doddle

chris_bass

seems like I'm not the only one then!!

This week i had no incidents which was good, I have started taking a more scenic route at the start of my commute so i go through the dodgyer parts a bit after the traffic and that seems to help!

I did have two middle aged women admiring my legs the other day though! i can live with that

Blue Meanie

I had a car stereo thrown at me! The driver was so incensed he grabbed the first thing he could find, his pull-out stereo, so funny. He missed, I stopped and he got a red-face and a thick ear.

wizzlebanger

Yeah I get it as well. Just general buffoons shouting abuse from cars for no reason. Last one I had was a couple of weeks ago when someone driving in the opposite direction was beeping his horn loudly. (there was no one else on the road apart from him and me)

When I looked over he just gave me an aggressive bird. He got one back.

Generally though it's idiots in cars just shouting at you as they drive past. I find I'm more likely to get it on a Friday going home if the weather is good.

Worst I've had is someone throwing a can at me from a car. It hit me square in the back (had my rucksack on) but was thrown with enough force to wobble me. I caught them at the lights and got of and invited everyone of them (4 in car, 1 girl driving + 3 males) to try it again. They just gave me more abuse from inside the car although the girl looked mortified.

I should have put my cleated foot into the side of the door.

steve36

riding on local road with mrs steve36 when scrote leans out of a car and lashed me with a horse whip!!!.driver of vehicle then proceeds to nearly crash car into hedge
nasty marks on my leg and back but it could have been a lot worse.

tangled_metal

No major incidents when I last commuted regularly (I'm an imposter here as still psyching myself up to get back on a bike to work). Except the bus that nearly got me. Seems bus drivers don't realise a cyclist who can comfortably get high 20s mph on the flat doesn't just stop in one place when you overtake just before a mini roundabout with a central bollard light thingy that effectively narrows the road to bus width plus bike width. Taught me that even if I have right of way to always take defensive action. I knew what the bus driver was going to do so at the last minute I was able to brake and miss the bus. I was too angry to take the number plate but I did chase after the bus for as long as I could. That was my fastest ride into work too so not all bad. A new commuting PB for me.

Other than that near miss I get cars that I have overtaken in traffic then overtake me and move right over into the gutter so I can't get past them at the next lights. Solution is to take feet out of clips and lift my bike onto the curb and walk the bike past then carry on. Then get in front of the traffic and cycle in the middle of the lane so noone gets past me!! Well at that point it is one way and I need to be getting over into the other lane so I am kind of justified, I think. Also allows me to maintain most of my speed round the bend into the side road shortcut i can make.

Come to think of it the biggest abuse I get is from the guys on the shopfloor at work. One kept taking the pissout of me and lycra. I wore baggies and not a sniff of lycra on my body as I kept telling him but he sees a cyclist on a road bike must be wearing lycra and won't accept it otherwise. At least with people at work I can give it back and then some. ALL day long too. Amazing what rejecting their work so they have to re-work them and their count goes down does to the level of abuse at work.