Two muppets

[anonymous-user]

On a 100 mile ride today with a mate of mine and met two of the most ignorant souls.

First guy was in a Leon and decided to show his brain power by dropping down two gears behind us and on full boost spinning the tyres and making lots of noise. I wouldn't mind but I hate noisy st slow cars. I displayed my feelings and he slowed before screaming off again. Caught him at some lights which was amusing and pulled up next to his window which was open. I asked him what his fking problem was and he just sat there. As we set off all of a sudden said knuckle dragger was all brave again and pulled infront of me and braked, waved and was generally a prat. I should have just smacked him when I had the chance....anyway.

Next up some horrible fat pig of a woman in a Civic driven by a.n.other with a young child bolted into a car seat leant out of the window called me a and suggested I 'fking move over'. As she had set the precedent for what I assume was her offspring I gave her a fair amount back.

Dear idiots in cars. 30 secs wont make a difference to your stty lives, stop annoying me I dont want a criminal record.

[XitUp]

First one your fault, second one her fault, imo.

[boobles]

So you havn't considered that perhaps your the muppet?

Oh & secondly, my Leon certainly wasn't slow when I owned it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Massive chip on shoulder if you ask me.

[anonymous-user]

boobles said:

So you havn't considered that perhaps your the muppet?

Oh & secondly, my Leon certainly wasn't slow when I owned it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Massive chip on shoulder if you ask me.

I didn't but thanks for letting me know you're one of those drivers on the road who should be avoided.

[boobles]

So how have you come to that conclusion?

[TonyHetherington]

They do sound like idiots, yes, but remember they're idiots in big hard metal boxes and you're the one mouthing off to them from a push bike.

You won't change their minds, or their behaviour, so let it ride over you (see what I did there?).

[SkinnyBoy]

I've been riding on the roads for nearly 30 years in towns countryside and cities and have never experienced road rage when on my bike. Its probably because I respect other road users because I expect the same. As a cyclist before I was a driver I reckon this gave me a better spatial awareness to road conditions and you can almost foresee problems before they can escalate. Maybe the OP needs to take a look at his attitude on the road and remember we own vehicles not the road they run on.

[anonymous-user]

boobles said:

So how have you come to that conclusion?

Becuase you obviously condone dumping a clutch and scaring two riders minding their own business for no apparent reason other than personal entertainment. Therefore you should be treated with caution and avoided on the road. On the way back a Cerbera gave it full beans but had the common courtesy to wait until he was 25 yards ahead of us, not difficult to understand really is it?

[anonymous-user]

TonyHetherington said:

They do sound like idiots, yes, but remember they're idiots in big hard metal boxes and you're the one mouthing off to them from a push bike.

You won't change their minds, or their behaviour, so let it ride over you (see what I did there?).

I do try and avoid confrontation but this pushed me over the edge. It was totally avoidable and it was obvious the guy did it for a bit of a laugh. I dont know what would have happened if it had escalated and in hindsight it wasn't the smartest thing to do but it boiled my piss quite frankly.

Anyway the rest of the ride was awesome, lots of sunshine and great roads around the Chilterns.

[anonymous-user]

weatehr has a lot to do with it, was a nice weekend so levels of intellligence seemed thin on the ground. there is no excuse for intimidating cyclists or general driving like a moron.

you havent stated where you were on the road and whether you were riding two abreast though. it does make me smile when i think that cars have to use the other side of the road to avoid other slow moving vehicles like tractors but insist on getting as close to a cyclist as possible.

[anonymous-user]

pablo said:

weatehr has a lot to do with it, was a nice weekend so levels of intellligence seemed thin on the ground. there is no excuse for intimidating cyclists or general driving like a moron.

you havent stated where you were on the road and whether you were riding two abreast though. it does make me smile when i think that cars have to use the other side of the road to avoid other slow moving vehicles like tractors but insist on getting as close to a cyclist as possible.

We were close to the kerb say under 1/2 meter and in single file on fairly normal A road. It was reasonably straight and a few oncoming cars which made this guy wait for around 20 secs. People are just so miserable on the roads and in a hurry to get nowhere. On my commute its different but the weekends seem to bring out a very special kind of driver.

[boobles]

yonex said:

boobles said:

So how have you come to that conclusion?

Becuase you obviously condone dumping a clutch and scaring two riders minding their own business for no apparent reason other than personal entertainment. Therefore you should be treated with caution and avoided on the road. On the way back a Cerbera gave it full beans but had the common courtesy to wait until he was 25 yards ahead of us, not difficult to understand really is it?

I am not suggesting that driving like an idiot is right.
It was your comment about the Leon being st & slow.

This is why I suggested that you had a chip on your shoulder & the fact that 2 people in the space of an hour or so managed to upsset you indicates to me that perhaps there is more to this than you are letting on.

[shouldbworking]

So first one someone made an error of judgement in trying to get past you quickly and minimise their time on the opposite side of the road, and the second one the context is notable by its absence - why did she shout at you to move over?

[aizvara]

SkinnyBoy said:

I've been riding on the roads for nearly 30 years in towns countryside and cities and have never experienced road rage when on my bike. Its probably because I respect other road users because I expect the same. As a cyclist before I was a driver I reckon this gave me a better spatial awareness to road conditions and you can almost foresee problems before they can escalate. Maybe the OP needs to take a look at his attitude on the road and remember we own vehicles not the road they run on.

yonex was aggressive where I don't think I would have been. That aside, I've been riding a little while and experienced similar things. A question regarding the point in bold; how exactly would the OP foresee the Leon driver spinning his wheels as he passes? I've had people swerve towards me or rev/beep/shout just as they pass. Before they do this, I'm normally not in a position to judge their attitude/driving, so how would I foresee this? I guess I could assume every passing motorist is going to attempt some sort of scare tactic, but that's not particularly helpful.

Edited by aizvara on Monday 3rd October 09:57

[KrazyIvan]

I think you need to take some of your own advice when out on the road.

yonex said:

There are so many experts, its better sometimes when faced with abject stupidity to just fall silent.

Your actions on both accounts will not have helped the next cyclist they encounter on the road.

[TonyHetherington]

yonex said:

TonyHetherington said:

They do sound like idiots, yes, but remember they're idiots in big hard metal boxes and you're the one mouthing off to them from a push bike.

You won't change their minds, or their behaviour, so let it ride over you (see what I did there?).

I do try and avoid confrontation but this pushed me over the edge. It was totally avoidable and it was obvious the guy did it for a bit of a laugh. I dont know what would have happened if it had escalated and in hindsight it wasn't the smartest thing to do but it boiled my piss quite frankly.

Anyway the rest of the ride was awesome, lots of sunshine and great roads around the Chilterns.

I won't deny that in the heat of the moment, nackered, sweaty and full of adrenalin that it is so easy to egt angry about something when hindsight would suggest you shouldn't have - but just something to think of in the future I guess!

[SkinnyBoy]

aizvara said:

yonex was aggressive where I don't think I would have been. That aside, I've been riding a little while and experienced similar things. A question regarding the point in bold; how exactly would the OP foresee the Leon driver spinning his wheels as he passes? I've had people swerve towards me or rev/beep/shout just as they pass. Before they do this, I'm normally not in a position to judge their attitude/driving, so how would I foresee this? I guess I could assume every passing motorist is going to attempt some sort of scare tactic, but that's not particularly helpful.

I was always taught to consider everyone a fking menace and give decent room but command your rightful space on the road and don't get into arguments or ride like a dick to provoke people. Simple as that. Yes you are going to get mongtards like the OP encountered all the time, but if you are easily riled up by some hijinx then road cycling might not be for you.

[Mars]

I can't see any justification for someone spinning their wheels behind a cyclist other than to intimidate. If I were that cyclist, I think I might have had a word too.

Please help me to blow a theory into the weeds (it might seem trite but it's based on something someone said to me a while ago). Is this aggression pointed at lycra-wearing racing-bike cyclists only... or does this type of thing happen to MTB and other "flat handlebar" cyclists? I guess this ought to be a poll.

[SkinnyBoy]

I can only speak from personal experience but my background was off road first with road riding secondary. The more social aspect and camaraderie garnered from getting filthy off road and having a laugh speaks volumes to me in contrast to the poor miserable wet commuter or the peletons of MaMIL's all trying to outBianchi each other.

[aizvara]

Mars said:

I can't see any justification for someone spinning their wheels behind a cyclist other than to intimidate. If I were that cyclist, I think I might have had a word too.

Please help me to blow a theory into the weeds (it might seem trite but it's based on something someone said to me a while ago). Is this aggression pointed at lycra-wearing racing-bike cyclists only... or does this type of thing happen to MTB and other "flat handlebar" cyclists? I guess this ought to be a poll.

I don't wear lycra (just normal clothes), I ride a hybrid (road mtb, basically) and am not particularly serious-cyclist looking person. As I said I've had people beeping at me, revving engines, shouting, all in order to scare; nothing quite as bad as the OP describes, though. Mostly I think my problems on the road are from other's inattention, rather than too much attention.