Had my first "drive-by shouting" today.

shyretirer

And today I learned it's actually quite difficult to do the International W*nker sign while cycling in the wind.

owenlars

Ignore em keep the moral high ground

Initialised

At least they didn't give chase and try to fun you off the road...

Because that can happen if you don't follow the above advice.

shyretirer

I wasn't actually brave enough to do anything while they were actually in view!

kingofthetailwind

I tend to give the fingers and shout back. Not big, not clever and it'll get me in trouble one day. I imagine defending yourself in cleats is quite hard.

danlikesbikes

Just wave & smile, they will either drive off or get confused stare out of the window and crash*. Probably the same sort of people that shout at other road users so often the best option is just to ignore them though sometimes it can be quite hard to do



* Obviously it is beyond me to wish the worse of anyone to crash their car, but Karma does happen.

ooermissus

Initialised wrote:

At least they didn't give chase and try to fun you off the road...

Yeah you really need to watch out for the comedians. 8) 8)

fatsmoker

shyretirer wrote:

And today I learned it's actually quite difficult to do the International W*nker sign while cycling in the wind.

Not as international as you might think - living in Russia, Malaysia and the Czech Rep the sign was often met with bemusement.

I suggest all cyclists learn a martial art. Good for your all round fitness and puts you in a good position if you get into a confrontation.

vitesse169

fatsmoker wrote:

shyretirer wrote:

And today I learned it's actually quite difficult to do the International W*nker sign while cycling in the wind.

Not as international as you might think - living in Russia, Malaysia and the Czech Rep the sign was often met with bemusement.

I suggest all cyclists learn a martial art. Good for your all round fitness and puts you in a good position if you get into a confrontation.

I used to teach self-defence, this can be turned into a 'fold them up into an envelope' situ.... also, if riding in a group, I wave and invite them to have a nice day..... if I'm on my own FLIP THE BIRD...

Initialised

KingOfTheTailwind wrote:

I tend to give the fingers and shout back. Not big, not clever and it'll get me in trouble one day. I imagine defending yourself in cleats is quite hard.

They leave a nice scratch on a car panel and could seriously mess up someone's kneecap with a well placed kick. Someone I used to know totalled every windows and panel of an offending vehicle after the driver got out and got aggressive, they said most of the time waving their D-lock at the offending car was enough to prevent it going any further.

I tend to take the ignore and carry on approach rather than letting some idiot ruin my ride.

danlikesbikes

KingOfTheTailwind wrote:

I imagine defending yourself in cleats is quite hard.

I was knocked off my MTB about 8 years ago by an irate pick-up driver who on a one way system forced his way round me (by mounting the kerb) then proceeded to stop in front of me whilst double parked. I was moving along at a fair lick as he opened his door sending me flying, however sharing some DNA with a ninja I went over the bars & somehow slowed myself with a left SPD cleat being dragged down his front wing. So much so that when I hit the deck I was travelling slow enough to just wind myself & the bike was still attached to my right cleat and had the bars in my hands so it didn't get any damage other than a few scratches to the bar ends.

jacknorell

@Initialised: Was this friend of yours in Bristol by any chance? Else I know someone else who did the same thing...!

Initialised

No, London.

kenan

I like my Airzound, people are so surprised by the sound they just shut up drive off.

The other day in a CLK drove up behind me and commended my cycling prowess with a sharp note from his car horn. Unfortunately when driving past me with the roof and windows down I returned the gesture with my horn and scared the guy half to death as he swerved into the oncoming traffic.

notnot

In terms of balancing stories, I had a white van driver stop and signal that I could go in front of them when I was waiting to turn at a junction this morning Makes a nice change from the shouting/hooting/cutting me off etc!

Initialised

A while back there were about four of us at some traffic lights, about 20 metres ahead a car was in the bike lane hazards on. I gestured at the driver in the to ask her to let us all go round the car. She did, it's all about communication. A little eye contact and acknowledgement of other road users goes a long way and is much better for the soul than a slanging match.

sswiss

Depends on my mood!

If I have already nearly been killed just trying to get too or from the work and the adrenaline is pumping...the next MF that says anything is gonna get some back! :evil:

...but mostly I just think out loud ..."Fat/Stupid Lazy Wan*er"

revolutionedi

I have quite a few in the last 18 months.

My favorite was this guy in a VW SUV who heckled me 3 times within 3 miles. I caught up with him and couldn't resist having a word with him. He claimed i nearly caused an accident with a car he was following. I asked him what do you think would happen as a result of shouting at me driving at 40 mph in rush hour! He was stumped!

People like that have control issues and cyclists, just like ginger haired folk and vegetarians are easy bait to make them feel good. Fat, stupid looser type people jealous of the freedom we enjoy cycling to work.

shyretirer

The incident that caused me to start this topic was this:-

Came up to a T junction, and I wanted to turn right. So, I'm in the centre of the road, waiting for a learner driver turning into my road, who had managed to stall his car. "Fair enough, we' were all learners once", I thought. The learner, eventually restarts his car, and turns right into my road, and, checking that there's not traffic coming from both ways, I pull out. As I'm pulling out, the the passenger in the car behind me, as it passes, shouts out "Get out of the road", and then gives me the V sign as the car zooms of into the distance. I had to admire his bravery and Wildean wit, for a bit, before carrying on.

To be far, I've had many more positive interactions with motorists, than negative. Yeah, granted, you get the odd cockend who over takes you on a blind bend/hill, but usually, people let you out, give you plenty of space etc.

I just think back to when I was a motorist, when faced with a cyclist. Never used to bother me that much, apart from I was always scared that I'd never give them enough room when overtaking. Yeah, I'd get delayed by a few seconds while waiting for a safe time to over take them, but then I'd be far more likely to get delayed by other car users (like people on the school run etc etc)

notnot

shyretirer wrote:

I just think back to when I was a motorist, when faced with a cyclist. Never used to bother me that much, apart from I was always scared that I'd never give them enough room when overtaking. Yeah, I'd get delayed by a few seconds while waiting for a safe time to over take them, but then I'd be far more likely to get delayed by other car users (like people on the school run etc etc)

I think some motorists see cyclists as a marker for a 'too slow' speed on the roads - so as obstacles that need to be overtaken ASAP. This often gets people frustrated at being 'stuck' behind bikes - even when the bikes are going at a similar speed to other cars/around the max safe speed for the road and conditions.

On the plus-side, there's something satisfying about being overtaken by a driver keen to push past without leaving enough room and then hearing a crunch as they go over the next speed bump far too quickly

fatsmoker

notnot wrote:

shyretirer wrote:

On the plus-side, there's something satisfying about being overtaken by a driver keen to push past without leaving enough room and then hearing a crunch as they go over the next speed bump far too quickly

True. Had a race with a Merc SLK over speed bumps this week. I won!

Step_7

I tend to shout back and then funnel the aggression into the next Strava segment.... Set some of my fastest times like that!

Mr.Duck

This happened a couple years ago... I was cycling along, minding my own business on a very wide, main road. A big jeep like car passed me, and as it did, a young man leaning out of the rear window a bit shouted really loudly in my ear. I soon caught up and passed them in traffic and purpously knocked the wing mirror with my hand (absolutely no damage done whatsoever). The car speeded past me less than a minuite later, and this time the guy gave me a hard shove in my side/sholder. Car was about 10-20 meters down the road and I gave them the finger. The moment I did they slammed on the breaks and stopped the car in the middle of the road. I just quickly turned the bike around and went a different way home. There would have been a gang of them; I didn't want a physical fight.

People are arseholes.

Long_Time_Lurker

Mr.Duck wrote:

I soon caught up and passed them in traffic and purpously knocked the wing mirror with my hand (absolutely no damage done whatsoever).

So they shouted at you and you took it up a notch. They then followed suit.
They shouldn't have shouted, but you didn't need to touch the car.
There is no point in retaliating with car drivers - you just have to take a deep breath and let it go.
They are in a car (sometimes with more than one person inside). They have additional manpower, protection and speed in their favour.

Only pick fights that you can win.

graham1871

When I'm not on the RB I take the train - a short 2 miles on the MTB from house to station.

I’ve always (for 7 years!) taken the road on a downhill stretch rather than the cycle path which runs on the other side of the road on the uphill. On my way home I take the cycle path as it’s on the right side of the road and I’m slow uphill! However, on the down, it’s pretty fast and the cycle path crosses three or four roads and is shared with walkers. I’ve always thought the road was the right thing to do. It’s faster, which is a bonus, but I also figure safer.

I’ve never had any problems until two weeks ago some guy starts shouting out of his window to get on the cycle path. I ignored that… then it happened again another morning. But this morning he took it up a level and was nuts, horn and shouting and taking great exception to me overtaking when he got stuck in traffic. He overtook at speed (in traffic) and then weaved in front into the middle of the road to stop me passing. Hmmm… I made sure I overtook (overtaking and not undertaking!) when safe anyway and went on my way without saying anything. Sadly our commutes appear to share the same time so this is going to be a new feature of my station ride.

I’ve Googled it – the highway code says cycle paths are not compulsory. The dept. of transports says fast moving bikes should use the road rather than a cycle path (it even suggests using the road at speeds of above 18mph). The only thing I'm guilty of is "owning the road" before the roundabout at the end so I need to go straight on and not take the left turn. This is purely for safety.

Should I leave 5 minutes earlier and crawl downhill on the cycle path or stick to my guns and keep on the road knowing I’m doing nothing wrong but with the full knowledge there will be an “incident” with this guy. I'm struggling to choose between an easy life or enraging this nutter further. Helmet cam will be in use from now on... I almost feel I'm putting this on here for legal reasons when this guy runs me off the road next week!!

Long_Time_Lurker

graham1871 wrote:

Should I leave 5 minutes earlier and crawl downhill on the cycle path or stick to my guns and keep on the road knowing I’m doing nothing wrong but with the full knowledge there will be an “incident” with this guy. I'm struggling to choose between an easy life or enraging this nutter further. Helmet cam will be in use from now on... I almost feel I'm putting this on here for legal reasons when this guy runs me off the road next week!!

Stick to your guns. If he shouts or uses the horn, ride as slowly as you can to inconvenience him further.
Print off the piece of the Highway Code to give to him if he actually stops to shout at you.
Remember to take note of his number plate too.
And carry a big heavy d-lock in case he gets 'punchy'.

Poacher

Stick to your guns. Don't deliberately inconvenience him - at least not obviously! Note his number. Report the incident to the police and insist they take action - don't be fobbed off. If you have cam footage, all the better.
We need to get prats like him off the road to make things better for everybody - less aggro for law-abiding cyclists, less congestion for all.

philwi

I think as soon as you react negatively it gives the crazies an excuse to let rip, so I'd be wary about shouting back. I've been deliberately run down by people like that. The crazy people want to provoke you, so ignoring them is probably the most effective response too. Some of them think they can't actually physically attack you until you give them sufficient justification, so again, not providing any justification is actually a good idea.

As far as that specific person, I'd point my GoPro at him and if he breaks the law then I'd share it with the police. Using his vehicle to attempt to intimidate is against the law, although the police in my own "Cycling City" hate cyclists sufficiently that they need some pressure to do anything about it. The video is brilliant for that. It's hard for them to avoid taking action.

lg18

Continue as normal, do nothing, DON'T retaliate in any way. No doubt he will very soon get bored of getting angry and abusive. Helmet cam a v good idea in case he goes bonkers. And read the thread on "what to do in an accident"!
Lucy

Mindermast

notnot wrote:

I think some motorists see cyclists as a marker for a 'too slow' speed on the roads - so as obstacles that need to be overtaken ASAP. This often gets people frustrated at being 'stuck' behind bikes - even when the bikes are going at a similar speed to other cars/around the max safe speed for the road and conditions.

I absolutely agree. I have the impression, that one fast cyclist can speed up the traffic on roads with a speed limit of 30 Km/h (18 mph), simply by riding at 30 Km/h. It must be a horrible thought to some motorists to see a bicycle going at the same speed (or even higher) than their car. And it is a typical shouting situation. It is the same idea, that makes some motorists think, that bikers can react within a split second and stop on the spot. Most drivers know better and drive accordingly, but of course it is the idiots that get attention.

markhewitt1978

I would suggest getting a camera, and making a note of the incidents: time / place / exactly what happened. So if he does take it further you've got a record of exactly what he's done.