Thoroughly ticked off a couple of rednecks in a pickup a little while ago

[Fumesucker]

In addition to my shopping trips I ride my bike about 15 miles a day on the average for conditioning and fun. I was out this afternoon riding down the access road to the local interstate because it's one of the flatter, straighter roads around here and doesn't have a tremendous amount of traffic. I heard a vehicle coming from behind me and glanced at my mirror, saw they weren't moving over very far and they were slowing down considerably, there wasn't any traffic coming from in front of us so there was no reason for them to stay close to me when they passed, it came as no surprise at all that the passenger shouted and banged the side of the truck through the open window trying to scare me.

Rather than getting mad and giving them the finger/shouting I blew them a kiss, smiled and waved, I knew they would be watching me in the mirrors. The truck slowed and stopped right in the middle of the lane (still no other traffic) about a hundred yards up and the doors started to open, I just kept on coming like nothing was happening. I got about fifty feet away still not slowing down and the doors slammed shut and the truck squealed out of there.

I had to pull over and park for a minute, I was laughing so hard I was afraid I was gonna crash.. Made my whole day.

This kind of thing happens to me a couple or three times a year, most people are really considerate and give me lots of room but there is the occasional jerkoff.

[sakabatou]

1. There will always be jerkasses.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. They sound like typical bullies: really afraid of confrontation!

Well done, my dear Fumesucker!

[bemildred]

3. Good job.

You big scary librul you.

[dawg]

4. Why the hate?

I've had people honk at me angrily for riding my bike on a country road. I stick really close to the shoulder, and it's very easy to scoot around me, but some people act like I just have no right to be there.

[HappyMe]

5. I will sometimes give the horn a toot

so someone on a bike knows that I'm back there. I'm not mad, I can't tell if they are listening to music or not. Then if it's safe, I'll pass them up.

[dawg]

6. A toot is fine, just no ....

Hooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!

[hedgehog]

22. I use my horn so infrequently that I may honk louder and longer than I like...

I don't think I ever honk at bicycles, but i do slow down and give them a wide berth.


BTW - it's a good idea to hang a string of jingle bells on your bike - it's a gentle way to let pedestrians and other bikers know you're around.

[mike_c]

10. speaking as a cyclist...

...that's usually unnecessary and will likely be misinterpreted. Good cyclists are aware of motorists so the toot is unnecessary, and all too often people sound their horns to act like asshats who think they own the road, so whenever someone toots at me my first impression is that they're asshats too. Just sayin'. The best course is to simply slow down and yield plenty of safe space, then pass when you can do it safely.

Cyclists listening to music, well. Generally speaking that's a really unsafe thing to do, at least if it interferes with awareness of road sounds. 'Course I live and work in a university town, so it's absolutely common to see kids on bikes with their earbuds in, no helmet or lights, and no regard for traffic regs, stop signs, and so on. Those kinds of riders are just begging to get hurt.

[HappyMe]

12. I thought I was being courteous.

I guess I'll just pass them up.

Asshats are bicyclists that ride 4 across and don't move to single file for a couple of miles. There were at least 10 cars behind mine.

[mike_c]

15. yep, I understand....

If everyone was courteous then no one would misinterpret horn tooting. It can be pretty startling too, even when you're aware of the car behind you.

[Bigmack]

19. I've seen a lot of hot looking...

... cyclists - spandex, fast bikes, colorful jerseys - who don't have mirrors. Definitely NOT aware of cars behind them.

Dumb.

My wife and I both have mirrors. I always have one eye on the road, one eye on my mirror, and one eye on my wife.... wait... Well, you get my drift.

[mike_c]

29. yeah, I ride with a bar end mirror and a helmet mirror

I ride on busy highways a lot and just would not feel safe without rear vision. That said though, my next door neighbor was killed several years ago just short of the exit to my community, on a stretch of four lane with wide, smooth shoulders when someone somehow "drifted" across the rumble strip on a long straight section of road and struck him from behind, a good six feet or more into the shoulder of the road, in the middle of the afternoon. He was an excellent cycle commuter, well equipped and experienced. The driver who killed him escaped charges, despite fleeing the scene. The police and DA evidently botched the investigation or something-- it was clear from witness statements that the driver was impaired and it should have been slam-dunk manslaughter.

[hibbing]

45. mirror

Hey,
I have mirrors on my bikes, I don't know how people ride without them. I'm mostly a trail rider I am always looking at the thing. Not sure why all these cycling threads are showing up all of a sudden, must be because it is spring. Like I've said in other threads, there are idiot drivers and there are idiot bikers.

Peace

[Major Nikon]

56. A much better thing to do is give them as much room as possible

I'm a road biker myself. When I'm passing a cyclist I try to give them the entire lane where possible.

[JDPriestly]

30. They know that you cannot see behind you, and they are trying to warn you that they are there.

Car drivers feel frightened around bikes. A lot of bike-riders are utterly irresponsible. And even those who aren't are unpredictable. It isn't anything personal. Cars and bikes function very differently. Car drivers look around constantly, front, rear, sides. Bike riders don't look around much at all. They don't have rear view mirrors. In an accident, a car or truck is deadly. Conscientious car and truck drivers are very aware of this. It is a frightening responsibility to drive a car next to a bike. You never know what the bike will do.

In the city, bike riders are notorious for ignoring the stop signs, stop lights, riding on the wrong side of the street, not using hand signals. The list goes on and on.

The other day, we were driving down a side street in the city to go home. In front of us was a biker rider twisting in our lane from side to side. I'm sure he was having a great time. But it made us dizzy. If a car driver drove like that, he would be stopped and given a sobriety test.

Sorry, if you are a good, responsible bike rider, that's wonderful. But too many people who ride bikes do not comprehend that they have to be considerate of car drivers and that they are putting themselves in great danger if they aren't.

I rode a bike as a child. It's fun. But back then, we were taught to be very careful and to let cars pass us.

Bike riders today act like they own the road. They don't. Cars do. The roads of today were built for cars.

[tarheelsunc]

33. +1. I have nothing against cyclists, as long as they obey the rules. All too often, they don't. eom

[Major Nikon]

57. Neither do drivers

And the stakes are considerably higher.

[dawg]

34. I can tell the difference between a quick toot to let me know you are there ...

and someone spitefully laying down on the horn. And there is no sense in that. I'm six inches from the shoulder. They could've passed me without even crossing the center line. They just had the attitude that I had no right to even be there. And cars don't own the road, taxpayers do. Of which I am one.

[Fumesucker]

38. That's a fairly broad brush you have there

Most bike riders aren't texting/talking on the cell phone, can't say the same for drivers these days, that's one reason I do in fact have a mirror on my bike as I mentioned in my OP. Unless there's a lot of traffic I can hear cars well before they get to me, cars are noisy, tire noise, wind noise and so on and I always check my mirror when I hear one.

Most adults who ride bikes are also licensed drivers, I have a license and I've driven a great deal in my life although not very much any more.

[JDPriestly]

42. It's great if you are careful, but you have to pay for the many careless bike riders out there.

Be grateful if automobiles and trucks are letting you know they are there. It's not hurting anything but your pride. I appreciate courteous, careful bike riders.

[GoneOffShore]

47. I'm going to turn this around just a little.

Bicyclists feel frightened around cars. A lot of car drivers are utterly irresponsible. And even those who aren't are unpredictable. It isn't anything personal. Cars and bikes function very differently. Conscientious bicyclists look around constantly, front, rear, sides. Car drivers don't look around much at all - they're texting or fiddling with the radio or talking to their passengers or just not paying attention. They don't use their rear view mirrors. In an accident, a car or truck is deadly. Conscientious bicyclists, car and truck drivers are very aware of this. It is frightening to ride a car next to a bike. You never know what the car will do.

See, I fixed it for you.

[Ron Green]

49. ^^THANK YOU^^

I was going to respond to this, but you did a great job. You can tell by the posts who rides and who doesn't. And we all ought to ride.

[GoneOffShore]

53. You're welcome - I wish I still rode

But until I can get a cruiser I'm off the road.

Having ridden bicycles, motorbikes, scooters and driven cars along with being a pedestrian, I'm constantly aware of the particular hazards the operator of each faces.

And yes there are irresponsible operators of all of the above but they're not in the majority.

However there is two classes of road users that we all can hate equally: Skateboarders and unicyclists.

[olddots]

7. they may have had an inner conversation ---an epifany even .

very cool .

[Manifestor_of_Light]

11. interesting spelling of epiphany. I'll have to remember that.

[mike_c]

16. it's marine varnish!

Epifanes.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

17. OK, I didn't know that! Learned something today!!!

Thanks!! I don't own a boat.

But I would love to go sailing sometime.

[Fuddnik]

35. Why would you want to varnish a Marine?

Don't they get pissed?

[tinymontgomery]

37. Best reply in this thread

[Spitfire of ATJ]

39. Not as much as spit and polish.

[SheilaT]

8. While there's no excuse for their behavior,

last night on my way home from work there was a cyclist traveling in the same direction as I was. We have pretty good bike lanes here in Santa Fe, so sharing the road wasn't an issue. However, the cyclist totally blew through a red light, which strikes me as a tad irresponsible.

It's also frustrating as a car driver how invisible cyclists are at night, and how many of them have no lights on the bike and are wearing dark clothing.

[Fumesucker]

21. I have one of these set to aHA! mode on the back of my bike, it's painful bright to look at up close

It's obvious even in direct sunlight and almost too bright at night.

[hedgehog]

25. I've read one theory that the steady light is the best option -

that drivers may get hypnotized by a flashing light.

[Fumesucker]

32. There's no perfect light, the semi random flash/pulse is about as good as you're going to get

There's just so *many* red lights out there, far too easy to blend into the general red light background if it's steady.

I read reviews on about fifty different lights on Amazon when I was shopping, this one had the best reviews and it's fairly reasonably priced.

[hedgehog]

40. That would be my reaction as well - I would guess either a constant flash or steady light would

be ignored while an irregular flash would catch the eye. The most important factor is to have a light that catches the eye and something that identifies the object as a bicycle!

I like this:



I use it even on daylight rides!

[Fumesucker]

43. My bike looks like a UFO at night

I have Schwalbe Big Apples on it and they have a 3M reflective strip on either sidewall so you see two bright rings from the side.

Like this but a lot brighter in full dark..

[hedgehog]

50. That is great! Nothing says bicycle better than two rings of light!

[justiceischeap]

24. Cyclists are supposed to follow the same rules as drivers

so running a red light is technically illegal. Technically, they're supposed to signal turns. Technically, they shouldn't be listening to MP3 players.

[Fumesucker]

44. And technically cars shouldn't exceed the speed limit but they almost all do

And technically drivers shouldn't be texting or talking on the cell but a lot of them do.

[tapermaker]

9. I had the same kind of jerks.

pull that crap with me when i was a freshman in highschool in the mid 70s. They were brothers a couple agrades ahead of me. They had a bright new yellow chev.pu their dad bought the elder brother. They used to come up behind me and almost run me off the road laughing to beat the band. After a few weeks i made a trip down to their home one late evening, and dumped a quart of sugar in the gas tank.Never again did i see that truck move out of thecorner of the property where the tow truck dumped it. problem solved on my end.

[leftynyc]

13. So they were assholes and you

were a criminal. Are you looking for a pat on the back?

[Fumesucker]

14. They were criminals too

What they did was assault.

Just because the police won't do anything about it doesn't mean it's not a crime.

[Shrike47]

41. Not in Oregon.

You've got to have contact for an assault to occur.

[Fumesucker]

46. I didn't realize the poster was in Oregon when the assault happened

Trying to run a bicycle off the road with a car constitutes assault with a deadly weapon in fact.

[leftynyc]

48. Then why didn't

he get their license plate - he certainly could have given a description of the truck. Where does it say he contacted the police at all?

[Fumesucker]

52. It would be a he said-she said situation

Two witnesses say nothing happened and one complainant who said something did happen, no evidence.

The poster already knew who they were, that was clear from his post.

You're not real familiar with small towns and the way cops operate in a lot of them, are you?

[leftynyc]

58. No - I'm not familiar

with small towns at all. I expect the police to press charges when someone tries to run someone off a road - especially if it's a recurring problem. If I felt the cops were doing nothing, I would also tell the local press.

[Ron Green]

18. I've got to share a cycling/redneck story here:

Many years ago about a dozen of us hard-core wheelmen were on a backroads ride in Texas. One of our group lived nearby and had to detour to pick up something from home or some such errand, and we all said No problem, we'll do the big loop and catch up with you over on FM499 or whatever.

After our guy had gone by his house and was heading for the rendezvous, he encountered a serious pair of yahoos in a pickup: The whole bit, with the two rednecks out of the truck surrounding him and threatening him harm, our friend balanced precariously on his cleats and holding a 20-lb. bike in front of him for protection.

At the most opportune moment, of course, our group comes around the corner and immediately see the whole situation. Needless to say the next few minutes were filled with much merriment on the part of a dozen adrenaline-filled cyclists and abject terror and whining by a couple of sorry-ass rednecks. At some point the truck's keys were thrown far, far into the underbrush.

Road cycling in Texas was a risky activity 30 years ago, and I hope it's less so now. But on that day two goons learned a lesson about picking on a lone rider.

[datasuspect]

26. i cut my teeth

competing against myself riding in Houston.

here was my loop (best suited for mid august):

kempwood to hempstead highway

hempstead highway to washington ave.

washington to downtown

variable downtown route to elgin

elgin to westheimer

westheimer all to way out to highway 6

highway 6 to clay road

clay road to gessner

gessner to kempwood

home

helluva ride.

[hedgehog]

20. It may be one of the flatter straighter roads, but is it legal to be

riding on the access road? It's unclear if this is a road for general traffic or an actual on-ramp.

[Fumesucker]

27. If I meant on-ramp that's what I would have said

This is the road that parallels the interstate, there is a fence between it and the limited access highway. It's mostly empty lots, light industrial and a little retail with a 45 mph speed limit.

Did I mention the truck stopped right in front of the Fortune Teller's little shack?

[hedgehog]

31. In that case - you had every right to be there!

[datasuspect]

28. feeders/frontage roads/access roads

if they service an interstate highway facility or a limited access state or US highway, are perfectly legal to ride on.

you just can't ride up the ramp onto the highway itself.

although, i've done it before.

i rode on the shoulder of I-10 back in the late 80s, early 90s

[Aldo Leopold]

23. So that's where your username comes from!

[Common Sense Party]

36. Teens will be teens.

[freshwest]

51. One of these asshats followed me on my racing bike from an exit road at night, honking and swearing.

I knew I wasn't in the way, either but for my own safety I rode into a gas station. In those days I carried a bolt-cutter proof heavy chain with a lock encased inside an innertube going around my neck down my shoulders to my waist on the opposite side.

I hopped off the bike to face him there by the door. Because there were witnesses or he thought I was a wild woman, he took off immediately. I was within my legal rights to ride the road with a reflector and flashing light. He just wanted to prove his manhood. I see you found another road warrior.

Meh...

[freedom fighter jh]

54. Always wondered how you got your username. Now I know.

I bike a lot. I try to avoid traffic but do often feel that I'm sucking in more fumes than I would like.

[Fumesucker]

55. I mostly notice it when cars/trucks pass slowly and then gun it

The fumes are really obvious then.

Even really "clean" cars will emit some noxious stuff for second or two when the accelerator is pressed hard, takes the engine controls out of closed loop mode momentarily.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

59. That could have ended badly for you.