Making a rod for all our backs

chrisaonabike

Couldn't quite believe what I just saw. I turned right with (as in, having arrived at the lights almost at the same time, not in any way riding with) another roadie just now, into a major road two lanes wide plus a bus lane. The three lanes become two at the next lights.

I had headed over to the bus lane, well out of the way of what then transpired.

So the other roadie hogs the middle lane, and the car behind honks. Nothing outrageous, and arguably the roadie is entitled to be there if he's turning right at the next lights.

But the roadie turns round in the middle of the road and shouts F*** Off, really loudly.

Not surprisingly, the driver gets angry... chases after the roadie, who goes into the right hand lane ahead of me by about 50 yards by now. The roadie turns round and gives the car the finger.

Lights are red, and it's obvious that the driver is going to do something, so the roadie swerves into the left hand lane, which has a green filter. The car changes left too, still chasing.

At the last second, the roadie swerves right, jumps the lights, and escapes, leaving the car with no choice but to go left on the green filter.

If you're on here, Mr roadie, sir, I respectfully contend that you're a complete cnut, and give the rest of us a bad name.

Kerguelen

Don't believe a single word of that.

chrisaonabike

Kerguelen wrote:

Don't believe a single word of that.

Really? Honestly, that's exactly what happened.

ddraver

Ah the old "I ve got this friend called Other roadie" trick

Can't fool us Chris!

(i'd link to The Simpsons "Joey Jo Jo Shabadoo" clip if I could get on Youtube but it's blocked)

Mikey41

It's always entertaining when two arseholes meet each other

sloppyschleckonds

But what was he wearing? Important detail missing here.

chrisaonabike

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

But what was he wearing? Important detail missing here.

Not sure, it was all black.

I was in jeans and a t-shirt, so fortunately I was invisible to both the other roadie and the car driver.

ddraver wrote:

Ah the old "I ve got this friend called Other roadie" trick

Can't fool us Chris!

LOL. No, really, I was just on my way back from a friend's about a mile and a half away (god, I hate cycling in jeans, but the friend has a teenage daughter who loses no opportunity to take the p1ss out of me so I can't really arrive in the gear), I wasn't even out for a proper ride.

declan1

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

take the p1ss out of me

The question is, however, do you look like this:



or like this:



?

butcher of bakersfield

Two wrongs don't make a right, but what exactly did he do that was worse than the driver's actions? Sounds to me like he just 'tooted' back.

chrisaonabike

butcher of bakersfield wrote:

Two wrongs don't make a right, but what exactly did he do that was worse than the driver's actions? Sounds to me like he just 'tooted' back.

In fairness, it was one quick toot, followed by some very directed and deliberate provocation. I wouldn't have honked if I'd been driving in the same situation, but equally the roadie didn't have to occupy so much of the road.

I'd say the roadie was easily 75% at fault, overall. Anyway, it was last second escape by jumping the lights that was the really classy move that took the biscuit.

butcher of bakersfield

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

I'd say the roadie was easily 75% at fault, overall.

For being in the road? I would say making a rod for your own back is agreeing to being bullied out of the way at every opportunity and accepting any aggressive behaviour directed towards you.

Anyway, it was last second escape by jumping the lights that was the really classy move that took the biscuit.

I'd want out of the way too if someone was chasing me down in two tonnes of metal.

Hoopdriver

I'd have to agree. If someone was chasing me with a car I too would 'cheat' to escape.

And do we know what might have happened between car and cyclist BEFORE this first honk? You might have ridden mid-way into something that had already been going on for a couple of blocks.

At any rate a driver who will chase someone, create a potentially lethal situation, because someone gave him the finger is a far worse thing to have on the roads than a cyclist who took exception to being tooted at and made a rude gesture. I wonder if anyone on a motoring forum, who witnessed such a thing, would lament it in a post and describe the motorists actions as a rod for all their backs?

lotus49

Kerguelen wrote:

Don't believe a single word of that.

Why ever not?

chrisaonabike

Hoopdriver wrote:

I'd have to agree. If someone was chasing me with a car I too would 'cheat' to escape.

And do we know what might have happened between car and cyclist BEFORE this first honk? You might have ridden mid-way into something that had already been going on for a couple of blocks.

At any rate a driver who will chase someone, create a potentially lethal situation, because someone gave him the finger is a far worse thing to have on the roads than a cyclist who took exception to being tooted at and made a rude gesture.

I agree with all this. It's possible that there was 'previous', I just felt that the road was plenty wide enough for the bike not to be getting in anyone's way in the first place. My preference is for cycling in a non-confrontational way wherever possible, not to assert my 'rights' wherever possible.

No doubting the fact that the car driver was an arse too, especially since the gap between the two sets of lights was only about 20s - but the world seems to be full of angry people these days, I prefer to just avoid them where I can.

NITR8s

Did the cyclist look like this?