How to stay calm?

jonny_trousers

izthewiz wrote:

At the other end of the scale, I recently had someone toot me as they started to overtake. I gave them the usual reflexive one-fingered wave, only to realise a moment later that it was my mum! I blamed it on a bad day when I saw her next, and she laughed about it, but I felt a bit of a Terry all the same. :oops:

To be fair though, your mum can be a right impatient bi...

rick_chasey

estampida has a point.

I wouldn't be surprised that a reason behind the unusually high levels of hassle I get is because I'm pretty small.

sketchley

Rick Chasey wrote:

estampida has a point.

I wouldn't be surprised that a reason behind the unusually high levels of hassle I get is because I'm pretty small.

Yes that would be the reason. I've had a white van man jump out of van after I banged the back of van while being left hooked. As he came round the back of van and saw me he backed off somewhat but still proceeded to call me a fat cnut.

That reminds It's been a while since someone called me fat cnut, maybe the cycling's working........

NGale

Funnily enough I never get any problems when I'm cycling in uniform to the unit

In normal cycling gear however, I seem to be a target for every driver in Exeter

greg66_tri_v2.0

Sketchley wrote:

That reminds It's been a while since someone called me fat cnut, maybe the cycling's working........

Oh, to aspire to be called nothing more than a cnut! Love it.

veronese68

Sketchley wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

estampida has a point.

I wouldn't be surprised that a reason behind the unusually high levels of hassle I get is because I'm pretty small.

Yes that would be the reason. I've had a white van man jump out of van after I banged the back of van while being left hooked. As he came round the back of van and saw me he backed off somewhat but still proceeded to call me a fat cnut.

That reminds It's been a while since someone called me fat cnut, maybe the cycling's working........

You skinny cnut

I once did the pushing buttons thing. It was great. Bloke in a gold M3 convertible nearly wiped me out so I gesticulated what I thought he did with his right hand as I went round him. He came after me swerving all over the road hooting and flashing his lights. I could have lost him (riding a Ducati at the time). Instead I pulled over and asked him what the problem was. He demanded to know why I'd called him a banker. I told him he's nearly wiped me out as he was texting like a w**ker, driving a w**kers car like a w**ker, the w**ker. He told me to be more careful as he could use his car to kill me as I was more vulnerable. I told him the police might like to hear this before using a word that begins with w a few more times. I was furiously jabbing him in the chest whilst ranting. I then realised his forehead had a red mark where my visor kept hitting it. I eventually left him to it and let him drive off.
A while later I caught him up, remembered his threat and thought it safer not to pass him. He turned off, I decided to follow him and make mischief. He turned up a few side roads with me following and eventually stopped and said "Right, I've called the police". I said "great, lets wait for them. Using the phone when driving again." After 5 minutes he told me he couldn't wait any longer. I insisted he wait. A few minutes later he told me again he had to go. I told him I'd let him go if he apologised. He said I deserved it for calling him a w**ker. I said we'd wait. He protested then said he's apologise if I did. I refused and called him his favourite name again. After much toing and froing he eventually apologised, promised not to use his phone when driving and tried to make up with me. I accepted his apology and told him to stop acting like a w**ker and rode off.
I don't recommend it, but it was a lot of fun. I later realised the bloke worked down the road from here. Saw him as I walked to Sainsburys. He looked quite confused when I started laughing at him.

clarkey cat

Ah so that was you was it?

Extralight

Things that encourage other people to have a go at you? Well, apart from riding like a tw*t by jumping lights, riding pavements, switching without indicating, squeezing through gaps that are too small, making contact with other vehicles, etc, I've observed the following:
- being small and runty, I think like others that it's likely that people feel 'safer' in being abusive to someone like me.
- I used to ride with a courier bag. As soon as I ditched this for a backpack/rucksack, I got a lot less hassle. Everyone has prejudices - as a cyclist, you may assume that anyone in a taxi or a white van is likely to be dangerous and hostile towards you - and I think many motorists (and cyclists) associate couriers with reckless and selfish riding. People make judgements initially on appearances and slot you in to the stereotype they have for who they assume you are, rather than judging and responding to observed individual behaviour.
- Contact with vehicles: I used to slap cars and vans when I was young and foolish - seemed like a good way to wake someone out of their stupor, draw attention to my presence or their bad driving, or wind them up. As someone else has commented, touching their vehicle is often what pushes them over the edge. Whilst being pursued by an irate motorist may be exhilarating and even satisfying if you escape, if you're injured or killed it becomes really rather stupid.
- Be aware of vehicle blind spots and try to avoid spooking motorists by appearing 'from nowhere'. If you give them a shock or surprise or frighten them, they may respond angrily. If you want to stay alive, you'll be keeping out of blind spots anyway - ask yourself, can you see the driver in their miirrors? If not, they can't see you and may squash you inadvertently.
- Speed: riding slower brings fewer near misses and altercations. Many of the problems arise because motorists fail to anticipate how fast you're going. Ride a bit slower, and not only do you increase the likelihood of meeting their expectations, but you've got a better chance of taking evasive action if someone pulls out on you, or overtakes and then turns left. It's probably easier to stay calm if you're riding at a relaxed pace - if your heart rate's already elevated, I suspect you're more prone to responding angrily to an incident. Bad news if you're into Silly Commuter Racing, but save the speed for those stretches where the road is wide and there aren't side junctions or crossings. Even better, just give yourself an extra 10 minutes to get yourself to and from work a bit more slowly, in one piece and relaxed and happier, and save the workout for a dedicated training ride on quiet roads free of stressed out commuters.

clarkey cat

good post

greg66_tri_v2.0

except for the last point (ride slower). The safest speed is the speed that matches the speed of the traffic around you. Slow past queuing traffic, fast in free flowing traffic.

Another pointer: learn to read traffic. Lots of drivers don't use indicators. Often you can work out from their road positioning, and their speed relative to other traffic (eg looking hesistant in the approach to a left turn) what they might do. Hang back; give them space. Never, ever, ever ride towards a gap that might get smaller.

veronese68

Greg66 wrote:

except for the last point (ride slower). The safest speed is the speed that matches the speed of the traffic around you. Slow past queuing traffic, fast in free flowing traffic.

Another pointer: learn to read traffic. Lots of drivers don't use indicators. Often you can work out from their road positioning, and their speed relative to other traffic (eg looking hesistant in the approach to a left turn) what they might do. Hang back; give them space. Never, ever, ever ride towards a gap that might get smaller.

Being sensible now I agree with Greg on this. I ride along a narrow stretch of the A312 that is probably the most dangerous bit of my commute. When I first started and was even slower than I am now I would often get cars 'overtaking' me only to pull in whilst they were still alongside as there was a car coming the other way. Cue hard braking on my part to avoid being knocked off.
I now manage to keep about 25mph along that stretch, drivers are happier to sit behind me and I rarely get sqeezed. On the frequent occasions I'm passing traffic I always do so on the right as I feel safer on that side as there is more room and I just tuck in when there is something large coming the other way.
I do agree with Extralight on the other points.

Extralight

Yes, Gregg and Veronese are right, if you can match the traffic speed and thereby eliminate the need for other traffic to pass you, and be cautious when passing them, then it's probably safer (however, many drivers do feel compelled to try and get past you, even if you are moving quicker than them. In their mind they see cyclist = slow and will hold me up, must get past).

Hopefully the general point about near misses and speed is still helpful. When I think about my commutes, the one where I've set the fastest average (a crazy 19.8mph - crazy given the number of lights I have to stop at) was actually a very reckless ride with far too much overtaking of traffic and filtering. I was motivated by setting a new personal best, but ended up taking unnecessary risks.

As you say, riding with the traffic is good if you can. Riding wide rather than in the gutter to stay in the line of sight of pedestrians and cars at junctions also helps. Just remember that someone waiting to pull out may not appreciate that you could be going faster than about 15mph, and anticipate that they may pull out on you.

clarkey cat

I'm amazed at how quickly people ride down NKR with all the peds, nodders, left turning cars and lights everywhere. Its bonkers. By all means open her up on Embankment though :P

Koncordski

clarkey cat wrote:

I'm amazed at how quickly people ride down NKR with all the peds, nodders, left turning cars and lights everywhere. Its bonkers. By all means open her up on Embankment though :P

I was very guilty of this when i started commuting. I now save it for the next Strava segment. :twisted: