Drivers who threaten Cyclists

BigLights

high tower wrote:

If I encounter anyone like that and they come back looking for me I usually tell them to pull up when they can and I tell them I will kick 7 colours of s""t out of them. At 6"6 and 17 stone I ve yet to get someone to take me up on my offer. Although Iam sure I will meet someone someday, but as you say I won't be intimidated and I may not start the trouble but I will finish it.

this. I get the piss taken out of me at my office, but i'm not someone who tends to meekly back down when threatened (not that I get in really any proper fights, more just calling bluff). I'm also 105kg, and most drivers (esp BMW) are all mouth. I had one great altercation a while back with a black cab in London who was trying to run me over all the way down the Strand (I was primary in inside lane, doing 20mph)....eventually he mounted the kerb on Aldwych in front me, jumped out all ready for a raz. I said that's fine, calmly put my bike on the pavement, took off my helmet and gloves, and said OK mate let's do this, but YOU have to throw the first punch, for legal reasons (there wer about 50 witnesses at the bus stop). He was mouthing off and bla bla bla and I was just thinking, mate, seriously, you make me worry for the future of our race. It was all 'it's assault mate' and I was pointing out that it was he who stopped a cab on a kerb, jumped out, and threatened physical violence. Called me a 'pssy', so I pointed out again that I wasn't backing down at all, i'm ready, let's do this. Knowing full well that a bacon sandwich chuffing overweight 50 year old cabbie wasn't about to do anything. What a c**k. Bloody football hooligan type.

thegreatdivide

bompington wrote:

thegreatdivide wrote:

it was like cycling nirvana (apart from the days when it was horizontal rain and the wind was gusting at 70mph).

You didn't mention that when the wind isn't gusting at 70, you're getting eaten alive by the meanbh-chuileagan

I found the best way to avoid them was to keep pedaling...

Bustacapp

I'm a 6 ' 0, 18 stone powerlifter.

Does that mean I'm hard as nails and can/should beat the shit out of anyone who tries to confront me?

No does it shite. It just makes me look ridiculous if I get knocked out by a 65yr old, featherlite motorist.

I will continue to avoid confrontation where possible as:

a) what good can come of it if you win/lose?
b) who's to say you won't end up dead/killing someone?

Life's too short for fighting.

KonaMike

I was on my way home from work ,in slow traffic with a 7.5 tonne lorry behind me, I was turning right,made the correct hand signal and the lorry driver made sure he gave me a close shave on the inside as he carried on straight ahead .
I shook my head and carried on down the road towards my house,as I went to turn into my street I saw the Lorry coming flying down the hill with its horn sounding.He had taken the next right and doubled back just to find me !!
I waited so he didnt see which street I turned into and he screeched to a stop in the middle of the road,got out,stood right in my face and said 'Dont f@:>ing shake your head at me,you think your hard on that thing,I'll break your neck'
I pointed out I was a 10 stone bloke on a bicycle and he was a 18 stone bloke in a 7.5 tonne lorry .
His mate,who stayed in the truck,told him to stop being a dick and get in the lorry and luckily he did !
God knows what he would of done otherwise as he had cleary lost control !!

bompington

Bustacapp wrote:

Saturday night's alright for fighting.

FTFY

Seriously, you've got it there - winning a fight doesn't necessarily leave you in a better position than losing one.

zx6man

For a gesture to a guy who almost knocked me off resulted in him driving the car at me. Had witnesses to the fact that he actually drove at me the second time, but the red mist had taken its toll and I gladly accpeted his offer of him "knocking me out". Thankfully years of martial arts were my saviour and job was done. Ended up with the guy moving along. I am sure he would accept that what happened instead of facing an attempted murder charge. Totally stupid situation got out of control.....

sunburntknees

Imagine how sad these peoples' lives must be if they carry this sort of anger around with them all the time. I pity those who beep their horns at me.

mallorcajeff

I have had many a run in unfortunately and i dont go looking for trouble like some do. Keep myself to myself and dont abuse the road etc, but if i get cut up or put in a dangerous position I will let them know how I feel, 99% give you the finger and drive off which tends to ruin the ride for me but then I got used to it. The 1% that stop and want to have a go I will stop. I used to be 25 stone and a big lump but Im not as big anymore so people tend to want to cause trouble. If they are in the wrong I will stand my ground. Had a few death threats and 2 purposeful attempts to knock me off but once i caught up with them in traffic whcih is a great feelign them knowing your drafting in traffic at 30 mph and will catch them up, not realising how fast you can go on a bike, then I will get off and make my feelings known. Only ever got out of hand twice but that was two times two often, I am not violent in any way but will not have somebody threted my life of pur me in danger without recourse. One guy was so over the top i did think this is going to go proper pairshaped. brick5hithouse builder, going mental at me in alcduia one night when he caused all the problem i was just riding in the hard shoulder and he decided to skid into a roundabout that i was just entering and then he pulled over in front of me to call me everythign under the sun then started routing around in his toold for soemthing hit me with, so i moved the bike first thing! then walked over and it went off I have to say but this guy was just looking for a row.

After it was settled I took great privelegde in walking back to my bike clipping in and slowly peddling off looking at him searchign for his van keys that somehow ended up in my pocket whislt he was rummiging in the back of his van for what turned out to be a large spanner.

Van was still there two days later

I have a Countour HD camera that I never use and is never on the bike it was a present from my dad but I dont feel the need. In a perfect wrld be nice to have it running 24-7 for the just in case moment but i cant be bothered to keep charging it and emptying the card etc.

Just try not to rise to it, I know its hard but

Guanajuato

mallorcajeff wrote:

After it was settled I took great privelegde in walking back to my bike clipping in and slowly peddling off looking at him searchign for his van keys that somehow ended up in my pocket whislt he was rummiging in the back of his van for what turned out to be a large spanner.

Now THAT'S funny!

bompington

Guanajuato wrote:

mallorcajeff wrote:

After it was settled I took great privelegde in walking back to my bike clipping in and slowly peddling off looking at him searchign for his van keys that somehow ended up in my pocket whislt he was rummiging in the back of his van for what turned out to be a large spanner.

Now THAT'S funny!

Until he recognises you out on the road one day...

thegreatdivide

When a car has just raced passed us on a blind corner or towards a blind hill blaring it's horn we take a very sick pleasure in shouting ‘this is it boys’ in the hope that another car is heading the other way. It’s nearly happened on two occasions. Yes, I know this is wrong and it could result in loss of life which is bad etc etc but it’s the small things...

thegreatdivide

bompington wrote:

Guanajuato wrote:

mallorcajeff wrote:

After it was settled I took great privelegde in walking back to my bike clipping in and slowly peddling off looking at him searchign for his van keys that somehow ended up in my pocket whislt he was rummiging in the back of his van for what turned out to be a large spanner.

Now THAT'S funny!

Until he recognises you out on the road one day...

That's why he sold the Izoard ;-)

CiB

I don't fancy fights but the odd occasions when it's looked likely that it's going to kick off the aggressor usually backs down before it gets physical IME. I had one, riding into a quiet village, car parked on the left just ahead, another car was coming towards us but the bloke driving behind me decided that that was a good time to overtake me. Course he got halfway past then realised the oncoming car was now level with the parked car & he had nowhere to go so chopped it to his left and forced me to the kerb, which prompted the standard open palm 'what was that?' response from me, which he saw as he pulled away. Next thing his car is sideways across the road and this short fat bloke has leapt from it shouting all sorts of abuse & threats as he's walking towards me, so I turned round in the road, stopped and give him the stare and smiled at him, then asked what on earth doe s he think he's playing at, all over a minor coming nearly together that almost had me off thanks to his misjudgement and lack of foresight, and now you want a fight about it just because I queried it. Then I rode off, leaving him to walk back to his car chuntering. I got off the road onto the pavement just round the corner just in case; luckily some old boy was in his garden so I engaged him in meaningless chat about his geraniums for a moment whilst nutty boy drove past scowling.

No harm done. He had his shouty "I'll get you" moment, I had my face him down opportunity, and won as far as I can tell. Bloke was a right tw@t though.

DanDax1990

Love it how most blokes who weigh a lot seem to think they can take on the world, Being big/fat/overweight isn't a plus side when it comes to being able to fight. This ain't wrestling.

Bustacapp

DanDax1990 wrote:

Love it how most blokes who weigh a lot seem to think they can take on the world, Being big/fat/overweight isn't a plus side when it comes to being able to fight. This ain't wrestling.

I agree completely they should abolish weight classes.

DanDax1990

thegreatdivide wrote:

When a car has just raced passed us on a blind corner or towards a blind hill blaring it's horn we take a very sick pleasure in shouting ‘this is it boys’ in the hope that another car is heading the other way. It’s nearly happened on two occasions. Yes, I know this is wrong and it could result in loss of life which is bad etc etc but it’s the small things...

The thing is... The car would probably swerve into you to avoid the other car.

thegreatdivide

DanDax1990 wrote:

thegreatdivide wrote:

When a car has just raced passed us on a blind corner or towards a blind hill blaring it's horn we take a very sick pleasure in shouting ‘this is it boys’ in the hope that another car is heading the other way. It’s nearly happened on two occasions. Yes, I know this is wrong and it could result in loss of life which is bad etc etc but it’s the small things...

The thing is... The car would probably swerve into you to avoid the other car.

Most of the time they try it from the point of no return.

Coach H

DanDax1990 wrote:

Love it how most blokes who weigh a lot seem to think they can take on the world, Being big/fat/overweight isn't a plus side when it comes to being able to fight. This ain't wrestling.

Not sure about this one. A bad 'big un' is normally better off than a good 'little un'. All that mass, in whatever form does have an advantage and it takes a fair bit of skill, or luck, for a 'little un' to use the weight difference to their advantage by influencing momentum. Close protection security people for non-deadly situations (celebrities etc) tend to be big as general physical assaults just bounce off them and a light slap from someone with a lot of bulk behind them always hurts, as well as them being easy to spot.

Back on topic, I am in the ignore it camp but one of my friends wasn't on one occassion I rode with them. I will not recount the story here (as I did a few years ago and it went right off topic) but my mate is in a role in the armed forces that most people does not think exists in reality or would rather not think about and its fair to say his different reference point to controlled violence made one driver seriously consider how funny it was to try to run us off the road when we caught up to him at some roadworks.

Moral, you never know who you might be taking on if things resort to violence therefore its ALWAYS best to aviod it.

DanDax1990

What a load of b*ll*cks. You can't build muscle on your jaw. If you know how to and where to hit someone they're gonna go down. Failing that kick them where it hurts a couple of times.

markos1963

I try to avoid confrontations nowerdays it's just not worth the grief. I cycle for fun it's my hobby why should I work myself up into a state because of it? If I get a horn blown at me I just give a merry wave as if I know them and carry on. I make sure I ride defensively and make the cars have to overtake me in a proper manner.
Now occansionally I have been stopped by a mad man who is spoiling for a fight, I don't allow myself to get into a slanging match I just tell them straight. If you want to have a punch then do it now but make sure you put me down to stay because if you don't there won't be anyone around strong enough to pull me off you. This usually makes them think about it and whilst they do I just remount and ride off.

Briggo

BigLights wrote:

this. I get the wee-wee taken out of me at my office, but i'm not someone who tends to meekly back down when threatened (not that I get in really any proper fights, more just calling bluff). I'm also 105kg, and most drivers (esp BMW) are all mouth.

You're following the wrong bandwagon, Mr Clarkson decreed that Audi drivers are the new knobs. Keep up.

Coach H

DanDax1990 wrote:

What a load of b*ll*cks. You can't build muscle on your jaw. If you know how to and where to hit someone they're gonna go down. Failing that kick them where it hurts a couple of times.

I am assuming that you didn't spot " a fair bit of skill" in my post then? There are a fair few pro boxers who have never had a solid contact to the jaw in their careers, despite trying and training for it fairly hard.

DanDax1990

Boxing is also b*ll*cks. If it comes to it I'd much rather use my elbow/forearm than fist. Either way, It shouldn't come to that anyway.

Knowing how to defend yourself is a must these days, My opinion anyway. Fair enough size does intimidate most people and make most back off too. But there's a lot more chance of seeing something coming from a bigger bloke and more time to avoid or get in there first.

No matter what your age or size, You can know how to fight/defend yourself. If anything there's more a chance the smaller/fitter person knows what he's doing.

kieranb

In my opinion its best to avoid, from what I have heard from some people in the police I know it can be all too easy to seriously injure someone and then you are in serious trouble. Someone falls wrongly and hits their head on a kerb etc, or maybe trigger a response from some underlying medical condition.

Coach H

DanDax1990 wrote:

Boxing is also b*ll*cks. If it comes to it I'd much rather use my elbow/forearm than fist.

I should just leave it, but you really cannot have it all ways. You now say this when previously you said this

DanDax1990 wrote:

What a load of b*ll*cks. You can't build muscle on your jaw. If you know how to and where to hit someone they're gonna go down.

If you are trying to hit someone on their jaw boxing is probably the best fighting technique but your chances of a solid contact with an elbow is far less likely than a fist and you cannot put enough point load into a forearm strike.

Apparently, if it is going to kick off the best technique is to put someone off directly before you hit them - throwing keys in the air or asking a totally irrelevant question

Anyway, b*ll*cks is probably a better response :roll:

sadlybiggins

Coach H wrote:

Moral, you never know who you might be taking on if things resort to violence therefore its ALWAYS best to aviod it.

Totally agree. Why risk an altercation with somebody who is potentially totally unpredictable/unstable/tooled-up in command of a large lump of metal? Most of the really aggressive drivers probably are couch commandos but I wouldn't want to find out, especially in the middle of nowhere.

Reane_Machine

This thread makes me feel evry lucky that I've not had a nutter stop and offer me out yet.

Had a few plonkers buzz me and pass close and a couple too many near misses but no scraps as yet.

I would always avoid on principle though, especially as I'm not as good at scrapping as I was in my rugger days.

DanDax1990

I'd rather take Bas Ruttens advice than yours, Dangity dangity dang!

symo

Coach H wrote:

Moral, you never know who you might be taking on if things resort to violence therefore its ALWAYS best to aviod it.

This

high tower

Briggo wrote:

high tower wrote:

The point I was making is in my opinion car drivers do something silly in there tin boxes.

Ah yes I can see how "I'm 6' 6" and 17 stone, I'll kick 7 shades of sh1te out of them" got that point above across so well, silly me for not seeing that in the first place.

You didnt read the post correctly, in both posts I mentioned being followed by a driver after confrontation. Nothing wrong with standing up for yourself. I take it you had a sarcastic streak last night as the replies to my posts make you sound like a twat.

Flex the flab etc and the above quoted.

For the record:
I dont go looking for trouble but if a driver starts to follow me and intimidate me then you cant just accept that.
I am not fat but I am tall, just for the record.