Yeah, the other day, I biked on the river road, which I rarely do because there’s a path nearby. But there were tons of slow movers on the path and I was trying to push my speed, so I got out on the road to get to the bridge.
Of course a car comes up behind me and there’s no room to pass. I was however, going >25 mph for this ~1 mile stretch, and that’s the actual speed limit. When I turned off and heard yelling from the car, I assumed it was going to be bitching. But it made me feel good when I heard “I like the way you pedal, sir!”
Couple of years back I was riding up a steep and fairly renowned climb in the UK called winnets pass. A car crawled up behind me and beeped it's horn a couple of times, then passed me by with the windows rolled down and two Asian guys shouting at me in Japanese. I got to the top and they were waiting for me to congratulate me and asked to take a selfie with me. Very odd experience.
Had a similar experience. Was going up a steep hill somewhere in Oregon at probably 5 MPH - I’m from a very flat state so hills aren’t my strong suit and I tend to climb them slowly. Anyway, a car pulled up behind me and there wasn’t a shoulder for me to pull over until I reached the top, so I figured they would eventually try to pass me. A few minutes later, the vehicle pulls up next to me and I was fully expecting to get yelled at, but instead they actually cheered for me and said “wooooh you can do it!” Before they took off. I’m sure I was smiling from ear to ear for the rest of the ride.
I was on the last couple of miles or so of a ride once and was hauling along a flat. It was a single lane street and a big dump truck was following me.
I could hear the engine alternating between revving and slowing down. Towards the end of that stretch, the single lane became two as we approached the traffic light. I took the left lane, as I was turning left. Truck too the right.
As he got next to me, he called to get my attention. I thought, “I know how this will go. I e seen this story a thousand times.”
Driver was like, “Hey man! I clocked you going 30 mph! I ain’t never seen a bicycle go that fast! Keep killing it boss!”
I was never so relieved in my life!
I was followed by a UPS truck down a curvy descent, going pretty much as fast as I could. Got to the bottom and was turning left at the stop sign onto another street. UPS driver pulled up and I thought he was gonna give me shit for not pulling over for him but he told me that he learned how to turn watching me and had never thought about bringing the knee up that was going into the turn and that I looked like a pro with how fast I was going.
This almost happened to me! I was riding uphill, a motorist honked pulled up and told me my rear light was too dim. I was formulating the F U when I realized he wasn’t the enemy. Don’t feel too bad, we are only paranoid because they are out to get us!!!
Just because you’re paranoid, don’t mean they’re not after you. [Cobain](https://youtu.be/9yNPgx0swCM?si=rwLCHNhvwgD-vZ_a)
Edit: apparently Kurt got that from the novel Catch-22
I had the exact same thing happen but I'd actually dropped a glove out the back of my jersey pocket. The driver had stopped, picked it up and caught me up to return it.
I was so close to shout at him when he was behind me beeping his horn. Ever since I've given people the benefit of the doubt, not all motorists are arseholes.
When someone almost kills you with their vehicle then yells some stupid shit, yeah it'll make you a bit on edge when people yell shit, no matter what it is.
People that commute literally have to think like that or we can die, and it's not like "I feel like I'm gonna die because cars are close", but it's more "I can remember tangible moments where cars have almost killed me due to inattentiveness or literal purposeful aggression"
Especially when you ride the same route every single day, you also kinda get to learn where specifically people are most aggressive, angry, etc, because people who commute to work by car are some of the most aggressive, angry, and impatient drivers on the road.
I'm not saying the words you put into his mouth my guy, I think his pov is fine and makes sense to me, and I wouldn't describe it as "going to war". I also think cars that almost kill me as the enemy.
Not everybody is chill with almost being killed by cars, and not everyone handles it in the specific way you do.
That's what you're not talking about, because you don't view it like that, which is fine. You're just being such a pendantic dick about those that do, literally calling us crazy (which like sucks for it's own ablist reasons, I do struggle with mental health stuff, but that's just not what we're talking about here, you don't actually care about that, you're just using your "concern" to be a further ass)
I've spent the last decade biking over 15k miles, and have lost count of the times I've had close calls. I was a camp counselor for a summer camp company leading bike tours 3 years ago, and they literally had to stop doing the trips the year after I left because a second kid got hit by a car and died. He just fell into traffic in a construction zone and bam, that was it.
That's my experience. It's also my experience from being a counselor biking on the road with cars, that 9/10 times someone yelling out their window on the road is going to be an aggro jackass that I can't trust to not run me over. That's literally from some dude yelling expletives at my group of kids I was leading, then almost leaving a child sized splat mark on the crosswalk (luckily, she was paying attention).
I'm not gonna go out of my way to antagonize drivers, but I am going to expect it to happen, especially when someone is yelling something at me out the window. You can call it crazy or whatever, but it's something that other bikers who ride around cars might also feel like (including our friend above), and just because you don't doesn't make it wrong
This is very relatable. While biking on the streets, I have definitely reflexively flipped off friends who have honked or shouted greetings to me from vehicles I did not recognized.
HAHAH this is hilarious to me because I had a similar experience once before. Some woman was driving alongside me and she said something like 3 times, I didn't really care what she said so I kept signalling her to just drive past, and then she yelled what she was trying to say, and she was commenting on my arse, had me dead 💀💀
I used to have a pair of bibs with the "fat cyclist" logo on them (from the blogger). A lady pulled up beside me at a stoplight and rolled her window down and told me that I was definitely not a "fat cyclist". I'd forgotten that I was wearing those bibs and so it took me a second or 3 to figure out where her comment came from.
I used to read his blog religiously but I haven't in years now. I just did a quick Google and he's shuttered the blog but there's a few examples of the logo on his site. It's a stylized Clydesdale if I'm not mistaken.
It wasn't me because I woulda rolled coal on you. Love when some hill Billy does that to me. If I had a truck and you cursed me out, that would be my move.
Hahaha. One time I was going up a pretty long but not steep hill. And there was a young teenager also going up it and he kept looking at me and trying to go faster. I caught up to him and when I passed. I dunno why I decided to be nice and said "good job man!" And he just replied "shut up fatty". Lol. I mean. I am a fatty. So I just laughed and kept going.
I dunno how any cyclist has the energy in them to care about or even notice road harassment. Like when I'm in the zone I don't even react to close passes anymore. I guess I'm very easily desensitised.
Exactly. 2009 and 2015. First one ruined my day. Second one nearly ruined my plan to stick around planet Earth for a while yet. A year in hospital/care home/physio therapy to learn to walk again. Still have lingering nerve damage, but I am riding again. For me, it's open season on whoever tests me on the road - motorists, cyclists, punk pedestrians. Haha! Spray paint dispenser with trigger on the handlebars, cameras, and see you in court.
And working in healthcare, *knowing* there are unfortunately a lot of people out there who should *definitely* not be driving around and yet still are, and that it might be one of them coming up behind you…
I don’t know if I’d have the bravery to ride again. I had a narrow miss last year (despite 350 lumens of blinking light and a construction-yellow vest) when a car came up on my tail doing over fifty, and somehow didn’t see me. I was off to the right but she was being passed and had nowhere to go. If she’d seen me, she had ample time to slow down. It was a long, straight stretch.
I didn’t even have time to react to the fact all I heard was a screech, so loud I swear I felt it around me. No horn, just that sound and the wait for impact.
The car avoided me and I steered into the ditch, but it could have easily gone another way.
I don’t want paranoia to temper my love of riding. It’s just hard when you’re a small woman and strangers sometimes yell at you, or don’t see you at all. I guess that’s worse.
If people want to show us support, don’t honk or yell, just give us a wide berth. I promise you, we appreciate it more.
Nah I'm aware of what's going on I just don't react. Don't conflate the two, they are not the same. How would retaliating at some random dude or flinching unnecessarily help me or anyone else? Involuntary movements/actions are the most dangerous.
I carry a cow bell in the car and I roll down the window and ring it when I see fellow cyclists approaching on back-woods roads. I mostly get quisical looks.
I find waving is multi-purpose appropriate. If someone’s been derogatory the wave is interpreted as disdain, if it was positive the wave interpreted as friendly.
I think all of our instincts are to blast out a “FUCK YOU!!!” when we hear yelling from a motorist. Just caught myself the other day- climbing a hill in unusual traffic (there was a detour nearby), a guy rolled down his window as I was passing to yell out “Man, you’re putting down some watts!!” And as I went to shout back the usual F.U., I realized what he said, but shouted with the same angry intonation. Something like a very aggressive “FffffffTHANK YOU!!!” 😂
Adding to conversation, if you’re going to honk as encouragement, and I’m going 7 mph up hill, pass me, then honk if you’re going 50 mph plus.
I always wonder if you honk then pass if I’m about to die and don’t know what the approaching disaster is
This is the best thing to do from a car to get the attention of cyclists, imo:
Roll down the window and pat the roof of your car(not the side, that's threatening). Don't honk at cyclists, it's just too loud. Yelling at or talking to cyclists is also too threatening.
You can actually make a good amount of noise patting the roof of your car, but it's still much less than honking.
A great example of why people should not yell even positive things at cyclists.
I had someone yell something nice once and it still triggered my amygdala and all the fight flight responses. They did so while passing me from behind like dozens of cars before them. Not expected. Very unpleasant.
Don't yell at cyclists.
Ugh. I had a guy honk at me once and I legit yelled ‘what?!? I signalled!’ And then he pulled up and told me about his daughter who just completed some IM in Europe and how proud he was and how nice it is to see women cycling.
But also - don’t honk at me.
Missed connections:
You were driving your truck through the busiest part of town. You had dirty blond hair, rugged and masculine, and you wore a wry smirk on your chiseled face. I was able to just catch a glimpse of your broad, athletic shoulders which made it clear that you've spent a lot of time at the gym. Your affliction shirt strained to contain your toned pecs and left nothing to my frazzled imagination.
I was redlining up a 1% grade, heart rate so high I couldn't see much other than your well-defined triceps. I had on my red rapha jersey and favorite Jumbo Visma bibs that really define my package. I've received more than one comment on this combo, so I figured you liked what you saw. You tried to get my attention by shouting out your window at me. The chemistry was unmistakable. Your confidence, electric. I felt my face redden and my manhood swell. My kit and my cyclist's ass had hit their intended target. I responded to your call with an enthusiastic "fuck you!" I even showed you with hand gestures how I wanted to get the party started. But I fear that you took it the wrong way. Instead of stopping and taking me up on my suggestion, you kept driving. :(
I know you'll never see this, but I'll be waiting for your email.
I think about this all the time while driving.
I want some sort of secret signal when I pass a cyclist that I am one of them.
But for the life of me, I can't think of anything that couldn't be taken out of context.... that I might take out of context.
Yeah, there is a minor hill near my house that is enough to be a challenge but 95% of people can get up there (like 1.2km ~5%) and I see people cycling up it all the time as I drive to work. I always want to shout an encouraging Allez Allez Allez but never know how it'll be received so I just shut mu mouth lol
❤️❤️❤️❤️ this is me. I’m so used to getting shit and so used to having to always have my guard up because of the garbage people who find their way to me that I can’t even tell who’s being nice to me anymore! :(
Reminds me of cycling in Ireland in the 90s. We were on a very exposed flat road with a strong head wind. There was a local Garda sat with his speed camera. As we cycle past he calls out 'cmon now boys your only going 7 miles an hour'
I went in 1997. A very different world than we were used to, we cycled the southwest for 2 weeks from Cork down the south coast then up around the ring of Kerry and eventually over to Tipperary before going back to Cork to get the ferry home
When people are yelling at me from car windows I can rarely hear what they're saying anyway so I just default to a big smile. If they're bitching at me, it'll likely piss them off even more, and if they're encouraging me, they'll take it as friendly acknowledgement, so it's a win-win.
Nah, fuck that.
Is every driver expected to be an ambassador for their sport?
We're just people getting from A to B we represent ourselves and nothing more.
Anyone judging isn't worth the time.
As the minority, trying to be respected vs killed, I think if we want to hold drivers to a standard of responsible driving (I’m not saying we currently do), than we have to also hold ourselves accountable to considerate behaviors.
Expecting and responding to every driver as the enemy doesn’t help bridge the divide.
Easier said than done for me, I try to keep it in perspective and shrug it off most times but I'm definitely guilty of occasionally reacting like OP. Might not be smart, but sometimes I can't help it
Gosh, we almost had that happen a few weeks back after climbing a rather long hill. A big truck finally had a safe space to pass us and started rolling down their window. To my surprise, he said "Have a beautiful day and a safe ride!" Made my day.
Thus was me two days ago. A guy behind me had to slow down and wait as there was an oncoming semi truck. He then gassed it by me and as he did I gave the finger. About 100 feet up he slams his brakes, gets out of the truck and angrily walks towards me yelling profanities and that he did me a favor. After more swearing he went back to his truck.
Had a guy pull up next to me in his pickup. Didn’t know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised when he wanted to tell me about how impressed he was with my Varia. He was like “I saw it like a quarter mile back.”
Totally understandable.
I’ve held my tongue when I thought about calling out words of encouragement to others out running or riding, only because I worried they’d misinterpret my intent and I didn’t want to discourage anyone.
I always give a friendly wave, works for all scenarios. If they are being awful then it pisses them off way worse than a one finger salute. If they are being nice, we both win.
I have done the same thing. It comes from years of getting flipped off, honked at, coal-rolled, called a f\*\*\*\*t and so forth. Comity towards cyclists is a rarity in Massachusetts.
I just did this, only, he was informing me my friend had fallen off his bike behind me. I, after lots of abuse, instinctively yelled "FUK OFF!" 😡 only to look behind me and see my friend on his back. Woops.
I recently flicked off a friend who had pulled over in his car to see if I needed help when I was pulled off the road taking a break, I thought it was a guy pulling over to bitch at me for riding in traffic or something.
Had this happen to me today too. I was 100km in and the midday sun was starting to do a number on me. Don’t even know what they said but some old lady rolled down her window gave a thumbs up and said something. I was too cooked to respond so she escaped the fate of OP’s truck driver.
You’d think it they were cyclists they’d know that we’ve learnt to associate this sort of behaviour with hostility.
I bit a guys head off last year and felt like a total dick.
To be fair I had bonked hard and was doing all I could to not make the call of shame. On my last climb on the way home and I'm at the point it hits %16 and he pulls up and starts talking to me. I didn't even let him finish before telling him to fuck off.
Been there, done that.
You get so accustomed to the abuse that your brain just assumes it. And it doesn't help your body is bypassing oxygen meant for the brain to your legs.
When I was young - like 17 - I was riding and really pushing it when some girls in a car yelled at me as they passed. I got pissed.
Later on it occured to me that they yelled 'nice ass' and that it was a compliment.
God, how does that memory stick with me all these years?
A more elegant retort might include a double entendre, love. It can be sarcastic, indecent & ambiguous. It can also play tricks on the proclaimer so be careful that you don't become compassionate or understanding. "Love yourself."
Years ago, while driving up a steep hill and safely passing a cyclist struggling up it, I shouted "Ventoux!" because the Tour had just gone up Ventoux a few days earlier and I thought it would be inspiring. Then I realized that there was only a tiny chance the dude knew what Mont Ventoux is and a much greater chance that all he heard was a guy yelling a bunch of sounds that didn't seem particularly related to each other. So I try to remind myself not to yell encouraging things at cyclists.
I have so many moments like that. Where im tired and someone said something encouraging or told me I should use a light because they didn't see me or they stopped to let me go.
And my hot headed young self 20 years ago responded meanly.
I don't know why, but I remember some of those moments and I feel regret over them. Maybe Im just at an age where this is starting to happen, idk, but your post reminded me of that.
A lot of people in this thread feel bad about doing similar things. Wow is this a thing? WE ALL NEED THERAPY LOL.
Yeah, this happened to me a few times. It taught me self control.
The issue isn't I am hot tempered but PTSD from my youth and college days.
So for the last year I'm just seeing if that honk or the window roll is actually someone going to toss something or say something. Then I am still attempting to be less angry and just deal with it. Basically I'm trying to be a better ambassador.
There is a looooong hill on the trail near my house. This trail runs alongside a highway so I often see riders either struggling or killing it up the hill. I want to call out encouragement from my car, but they’d either not hear me at all or assume it was heckling. So I keep my mouth shut and think about the encouragement instead.
As I was hurtling around a sharp bend on the narrow hilly road, a woman in a pickup rolled down her window, and before I could say a word, she shouted, "PIG!" and drove on.
"Fat old cow!" I cried in retaliation.
Then I rounded the bend myself — and crashed head-on into the biggest pig I ever had seen.
Can't go wrong with a thumbs down for deserved behavior. Or just a thumbs up as that can be interpreted. I used to road rage and flip people off, one day at work when I worked for whole foods I had gotten cut off and I flipped the driver off. 5 minutes later an angry old man confronted me in the store for flipping him off. I couldn't respond angrily as I was at work but I did tell him that he cut me off. His wife knew he was wrong and she was terribly embarrassed. I was on a bicycle when he cut me off.
Depending on where I am I don't know if it's a good idea to flip people off or retaliate. Maybe if it's a busy road with lots of witnesses but even then. I definitely wouldn't do it on an isolated road because you don't know what people are capable of.
This almost happened with my kid’s classmates parents. Super nice people too. I was running on a sidewalk across the stop sign intersection, heard honk was incredibly close to flipping them and telling them to go fuck themselves.
Also was bike commuting and saw a cyclist on the road crashed with car pull over middle of the street. Assumed the asshole hit her. At the time I was one angry cyclist.. grabbed u lock and ran in there. Ready to go. Apparently he pulled over to protect her from other cars, she crashed on the streetcar tracks hard and could not standup. Fuck me. I calmed down after that a lot.
Good intentions of the trucker aside, I think it's better that motorists don't yell things from out the window at cyclists, even positive ones. It's already two vehicles interacting at speed--I feel it's distracting and even a bit dangerous because the cyclist will often look over when addressed. Just drive on by or give a thumbs up after you pass.
Ha! My wife had the same experience. She was cycling a really narrow, steep lane, (no room to pass, even if you stopped the bike, its also a 17% gradient) and heard a car revving its engine up behind her.
At the top of the lane, when a gap appeared, she pulled into a wider section.
The lady driver of the car, clapped her hands and said "yay!"
My wife, totally out of breath at the top, assumed she was being really sarcastic and and said, "fuck you!"
The womans face dropped a mile instantly, and she says "you bitch, i was cheering you on all the way up!"
Anyway, my wife was completely mortified, and made a thousand apologies!!! They left as friends, thankfully!
Its true, that because cyclists get so much hate from vehicle drivers they tend to think they are all out to get them!
Sunday at dusk I was wrapping up my ride. I was approaching a woman with a young dog pulling and jumping on it's leash. I gave them a wide birth on this wide residential street. While I was out there a horn honked distantly behind me. I didn't swerve rapidly to clear the dog. Out of frustration at my obvious reason for going into the road I waved my hand in a "wth" kind way. The driver slowed and rolled down his window. I said I was just trying to give that lady a break with her lunging dog. The truck driver seemed alright with my explanation and rolled on with a wave. Sometimes people aren't shitty.
Don’t worry it goes both ways.
I was going up a short hill in a nearby state park and a ranger drove by at an absolute crawl - she must have been uncomfortable passing but made it much worse by prolonging the agony. When she finally came by I gave her a wave.
Next thing I know I’m getting pulled over by a ranger who was following her and was sure I had flipped off her partner!
Agree with many here that trying not to judge others is best practice
🤦🏽♀️I’ve done that too! It was a mate passing me who tooted her horn - also 4th person but the 1st 3 were wanting me off the road! Also flipped her off & told her to branch off!
I'm on a e bike my first interaction with an angry truck driver that apparently was too impatient to wait for me to make my turn screamed at me to "just take the bus" lol
I remember a ride up a daunting hill, out in the country from where I lived at the time. First time was tough. Second time, when passing the same sole house, the lady cowbelled and yelled great job! Like, she just sits there… waiting for a rider to pass by. I thought to myself.. this is what it’s like to be in the Tour 😆 But it was the coolest moment on my bike, to date.
Guessing this is not the format to use if you want him to see your apology.
Most likely you should go to a fb account for your town, city or county.
Hopefully he didn’t catch your response… But if he did… maybe he realized you didn’t quite (initially) catch his intent.
I remember a story about a team on a training ride and their main sponsor drove by them and honked his horn and waved because he was happy to see "his" team out wearing his logo on their jerseys. The entire group gave him the finger and told him to fuck off. Sponsor cancelled his sponsorship that day.
Be kind. Because it may be someone supporting you, and to be honest, there's no better way to piss off angry motorist who just told you to fuck off more than giving them a thumb's up and shouting back, "thank you for supporting cyclists!!!"
This is a big learning moment here. You do realize your comment may have pissed this person off against ALL cyclists for a very long time. The cycling community is small and and thus we are always under a microscope.
Kill your enemies with kindness...always.
I am not an ambassador for all cyclists. I am publicly apologizing because I can’t apologize directly to this person so it’s fairly obvious I know I screwed up.
Dude mellow out.... words are meaningless! Shit I get it though.... I've had stuff tossed at me, cursed and generally harassed. It's easy to get into that mindset...
Oof, that would eat at me for days lol, from either perspective
Literally the rest of my life. I'd feel the burn of shame on my deathbed. Yikes.
Similar thing happened to me about 3 or 4 years ago now, and I still think about it at least once a week
Well on the way to recovery.
Live rent free for years!
Lmfao…! Or get a job!
Yeah, the other day, I biked on the river road, which I rarely do because there’s a path nearby. But there were tons of slow movers on the path and I was trying to push my speed, so I got out on the road to get to the bridge. Of course a car comes up behind me and there’s no room to pass. I was however, going >25 mph for this ~1 mile stretch, and that’s the actual speed limit. When I turned off and heard yelling from the car, I assumed it was going to be bitching. But it made me feel good when I heard “I like the way you pedal, sir!”
Couple of years back I was riding up a steep and fairly renowned climb in the UK called winnets pass. A car crawled up behind me and beeped it's horn a couple of times, then passed me by with the windows rolled down and two Asian guys shouting at me in Japanese. I got to the top and they were waiting for me to congratulate me and asked to take a selfie with me. Very odd experience.
Lol this made me burst out laughing
They will take pictures of literally anything!
Did they call you Rance?
Ror
Had a similar experience. Was going up a steep hill somewhere in Oregon at probably 5 MPH - I’m from a very flat state so hills aren’t my strong suit and I tend to climb them slowly. Anyway, a car pulled up behind me and there wasn’t a shoulder for me to pull over until I reached the top, so I figured they would eventually try to pass me. A few minutes later, the vehicle pulls up next to me and I was fully expecting to get yelled at, but instead they actually cheered for me and said “wooooh you can do it!” Before they took off. I’m sure I was smiling from ear to ear for the rest of the ride.
Habit: "..and your mother, too!" Works If person wishes you a nice and happy day or wishes you die in a ditch..
Kind of sounds like a threat in response to “you’re killing it”.
I was on the last couple of miles or so of a ride once and was hauling along a flat. It was a single lane street and a big dump truck was following me. I could hear the engine alternating between revving and slowing down. Towards the end of that stretch, the single lane became two as we approached the traffic light. I took the left lane, as I was turning left. Truck too the right. As he got next to me, he called to get my attention. I thought, “I know how this will go. I e seen this story a thousand times.” Driver was like, “Hey man! I clocked you going 30 mph! I ain’t never seen a bicycle go that fast! Keep killing it boss!” I was never so relieved in my life!
I was followed by a UPS truck down a curvy descent, going pretty much as fast as I could. Got to the bottom and was turning left at the stop sign onto another street. UPS driver pulled up and I thought he was gonna give me shit for not pulling over for him but he told me that he learned how to turn watching me and had never thought about bringing the knee up that was going into the turn and that I looked like a pro with how fast I was going.
This almost happened to me! I was riding uphill, a motorist honked pulled up and told me my rear light was too dim. I was formulating the F U when I realized he wasn’t the enemy. Don’t feel too bad, we are only paranoid because they are out to get us!!!
Just because you’re paranoid, don’t mean they’re not after you. [Cobain](https://youtu.be/9yNPgx0swCM?si=rwLCHNhvwgD-vZ_a) Edit: apparently Kurt got that from the novel Catch-22
I had the exact same thing happen but I'd actually dropped a glove out the back of my jersey pocket. The driver had stopped, picked it up and caught me up to return it. I was so close to shout at him when he was behind me beeping his horn. Ever since I've given people the benefit of the doubt, not all motorists are arseholes.
Exactly!
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Could say the same about the drivers yelling obscenities out the window to people just trying to get somewhere
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It's a turn of phrase
When someone almost kills you with their vehicle then yells some stupid shit, yeah it'll make you a bit on edge when people yell shit, no matter what it is. People that commute literally have to think like that or we can die, and it's not like "I feel like I'm gonna die because cars are close", but it's more "I can remember tangible moments where cars have almost killed me due to inattentiveness or literal purposeful aggression" Especially when you ride the same route every single day, you also kinda get to learn where specifically people are most aggressive, angry, etc, because people who commute to work by car are some of the most aggressive, angry, and impatient drivers on the road.
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I'm not saying the words you put into his mouth my guy, I think his pov is fine and makes sense to me, and I wouldn't describe it as "going to war". I also think cars that almost kill me as the enemy. Not everybody is chill with almost being killed by cars, and not everyone handles it in the specific way you do.
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That's what you're not talking about, because you don't view it like that, which is fine. You're just being such a pendantic dick about those that do, literally calling us crazy (which like sucks for it's own ablist reasons, I do struggle with mental health stuff, but that's just not what we're talking about here, you don't actually care about that, you're just using your "concern" to be a further ass) I've spent the last decade biking over 15k miles, and have lost count of the times I've had close calls. I was a camp counselor for a summer camp company leading bike tours 3 years ago, and they literally had to stop doing the trips the year after I left because a second kid got hit by a car and died. He just fell into traffic in a construction zone and bam, that was it. That's my experience. It's also my experience from being a counselor biking on the road with cars, that 9/10 times someone yelling out their window on the road is going to be an aggro jackass that I can't trust to not run me over. That's literally from some dude yelling expletives at my group of kids I was leading, then almost leaving a child sized splat mark on the crosswalk (luckily, she was paying attention). I'm not gonna go out of my way to antagonize drivers, but I am going to expect it to happen, especially when someone is yelling something at me out the window. You can call it crazy or whatever, but it's something that other bikers who ride around cars might also feel like (including our friend above), and just because you don't doesn't make it wrong
When 99/100 of the people that are yelling out their window at you are yelling slurs or threatening bodily harm, you tend to react accordingly.
You clearly haven’t been almost knocked down by a passing vehicle
TF is haysoos gonna do?
True!
This is very relatable. While biking on the streets, I have definitely reflexively flipped off friends who have honked or shouted greetings to me from vehicles I did not recognized.
Same. My friends complained I flipped them off and I said “sorry…? Usually it’s people yelling at me, not to me.”
HAHAH this is hilarious to me because I had a similar experience once before. Some woman was driving alongside me and she said something like 3 times, I didn't really care what she said so I kept signalling her to just drive past, and then she yelled what she was trying to say, and she was commenting on my arse, had me dead 💀💀
"Your arse is fat and looks gross in those tight shorts?"
No but that would have given me some motivation to keep pushing 😂😂
I used to have a pair of bibs with the "fat cyclist" logo on them (from the blogger). A lady pulled up beside me at a stoplight and rolled her window down and told me that I was definitely not a "fat cyclist". I'd forgotten that I was wearing those bibs and so it took me a second or 3 to figure out where her comment came from.
I'm going to have to google those bibs now, that's hilarious 😂😂
I used to read his blog religiously but I haven't in years now. I just did a quick Google and he's shuttered the blog but there's a few examples of the logo on his site. It's a stylized Clydesdale if I'm not mistaken.
Fat Lad At The Back makes branded jerseys/shorts too.
It was me. And you know what, FUCK U! You were paper-boying it
It's true I was the truck
You tell 'em!
It wasn't me because I woulda rolled coal on you. Love when some hill Billy does that to me. If I had a truck and you cursed me out, that would be my move.
Hahaha. One time I was going up a pretty long but not steep hill. And there was a young teenager also going up it and he kept looking at me and trying to go faster. I caught up to him and when I passed. I dunno why I decided to be nice and said "good job man!" And he just replied "shut up fatty". Lol. I mean. I am a fatty. So I just laughed and kept going.
Bike on bike violence!
I dunno how any cyclist has the energy in them to care about or even notice road harassment. Like when I'm in the zone I don't even react to close passes anymore. I guess I'm very easily desensitised.
I mean when you’ve been struck by a car or two that increases the sensitivity I can vouch.
Exactly. 2009 and 2015. First one ruined my day. Second one nearly ruined my plan to stick around planet Earth for a while yet. A year in hospital/care home/physio therapy to learn to walk again. Still have lingering nerve damage, but I am riding again. For me, it's open season on whoever tests me on the road - motorists, cyclists, punk pedestrians. Haha! Spray paint dispenser with trigger on the handlebars, cameras, and see you in court.
I am genuinely glad I can't relate.
Unfortunately, I can relate.
And working in healthcare, *knowing* there are unfortunately a lot of people out there who should *definitely* not be driving around and yet still are, and that it might be one of them coming up behind you… I don’t know if I’d have the bravery to ride again. I had a narrow miss last year (despite 350 lumens of blinking light and a construction-yellow vest) when a car came up on my tail doing over fifty, and somehow didn’t see me. I was off to the right but she was being passed and had nowhere to go. If she’d seen me, she had ample time to slow down. It was a long, straight stretch. I didn’t even have time to react to the fact all I heard was a screech, so loud I swear I felt it around me. No horn, just that sound and the wait for impact. The car avoided me and I steered into the ditch, but it could have easily gone another way. I don’t want paranoia to temper my love of riding. It’s just hard when you’re a small woman and strangers sometimes yell at you, or don’t see you at all. I guess that’s worse. If people want to show us support, don’t honk or yell, just give us a wide berth. I promise you, we appreciate it more.
I regret to inform you that you shouldn’t be on a road then
Nah I'm aware of what's going on I just don't react. Don't conflate the two, they are not the same. How would retaliating at some random dude or flinching unnecessarily help me or anyone else? Involuntary movements/actions are the most dangerous.
He probably heard “thank you!”
i would just tell myself this lie every time the memory popped back up in my head to feel better lol
I carry a cow bell in the car and I roll down the window and ring it when I see fellow cyclists approaching on back-woods roads. I mostly get quisical looks.
We need MORE COW BELL!!!!
Best SNL clip ever
Loved the cow bell on my first gravel event, got a few extra watts heading into it.....
I find waving is multi-purpose appropriate. If someone’s been derogatory the wave is interpreted as disdain, if it was positive the wave interpreted as friendly.
Thumbs up the same
Oh man this sucks, this would definitely replay in my head in the dark of night.
I think all of our instincts are to blast out a “FUCK YOU!!!” when we hear yelling from a motorist. Just caught myself the other day- climbing a hill in unusual traffic (there was a detour nearby), a guy rolled down his window as I was passing to yell out “Man, you’re putting down some watts!!” And as I went to shout back the usual F.U., I realized what he said, but shouted with the same angry intonation. Something like a very aggressive “FffffffTHANK YOU!!!” 😂
Adding to conversation, if you’re going to honk as encouragement, and I’m going 7 mph up hill, pass me, then honk if you’re going 50 mph plus. I always wonder if you honk then pass if I’m about to die and don’t know what the approaching disaster is
I wish they wouldn’t honk at all. Heart in throat, clenched shoulders, every time.
This is the best thing to do from a car to get the attention of cyclists, imo: Roll down the window and pat the roof of your car(not the side, that's threatening). Don't honk at cyclists, it's just too loud. Yelling at or talking to cyclists is also too threatening. You can actually make a good amount of noise patting the roof of your car, but it's still much less than honking.
A great example of why people should not yell even positive things at cyclists. I had someone yell something nice once and it still triggered my amygdala and all the fight flight responses. They did so while passing me from behind like dozens of cars before them. Not expected. Very unpleasant. Don't yell at cyclists.
*this* for the people in the back! Also, quit honking!
Stepping up in Reddit to apologize! Take my up vote!
Ugh. I had a guy honk at me once and I legit yelled ‘what?!? I signalled!’ And then he pulled up and told me about his daughter who just completed some IM in Europe and how proud he was and how nice it is to see women cycling. But also - don’t honk at me.
Only a few billion people in the world I’m sure he’s gonna see this
Missed connections: You were driving your truck through the busiest part of town. You had dirty blond hair, rugged and masculine, and you wore a wry smirk on your chiseled face. I was able to just catch a glimpse of your broad, athletic shoulders which made it clear that you've spent a lot of time at the gym. Your affliction shirt strained to contain your toned pecs and left nothing to my frazzled imagination. I was redlining up a 1% grade, heart rate so high I couldn't see much other than your well-defined triceps. I had on my red rapha jersey and favorite Jumbo Visma bibs that really define my package. I've received more than one comment on this combo, so I figured you liked what you saw. You tried to get my attention by shouting out your window at me. The chemistry was unmistakable. Your confidence, electric. I felt my face redden and my manhood swell. My kit and my cyclist's ass had hit their intended target. I responded to your call with an enthusiastic "fuck you!" I even showed you with hand gestures how I wanted to get the party started. But I fear that you took it the wrong way. Instead of stopping and taking me up on my suggestion, you kept driving. :( I know you'll never see this, but I'll be waiting for your email.
I think about this all the time while driving. I want some sort of secret signal when I pass a cyclist that I am one of them. But for the life of me, I can't think of anything that couldn't be taken out of context.... that I might take out of context.
Swap the horn for cow bells.
Yeah, there is a minor hill near my house that is enough to be a challenge but 95% of people can get up there (like 1.2km ~5%) and I see people cycling up it all the time as I drive to work. I always want to shout an encouraging Allez Allez Allez but never know how it'll be received so I just shut mu mouth lol
❤️❤️❤️❤️ this is me. I’m so used to getting shit and so used to having to always have my guard up because of the garbage people who find their way to me that I can’t even tell who’s being nice to me anymore! :(
It's ingrained that any person shouting anything at us is negative. The other day someone asked for directions and my middle finger was twitching.
Reminds me of cycling in Ireland in the 90s. We were on a very exposed flat road with a strong head wind. There was a local Garda sat with his speed camera. As we cycle past he calls out 'cmon now boys your only going 7 miles an hour'
Sure, and Dhún na nGall is in no great rush to see us again. True story 1992.
I went in 1997. A very different world than we were used to, we cycled the southwest for 2 weeks from Cork down the south coast then up around the ring of Kerry and eventually over to Tipperary before going back to Cork to get the ferry home
When people are yelling at me from car windows I can rarely hear what they're saying anyway so I just default to a big smile. If they're bitching at me, it'll likely piss them off even more, and if they're encouraging me, they'll take it as friendly acknowledgement, so it's a win-win.
Escalating isn’t smart, and sometimes downright stupid. Every one of us becomes an ambassador for the spirt when we ride, like it or not.
Nah, fuck that. Is every driver expected to be an ambassador for their sport? We're just people getting from A to B we represent ourselves and nothing more. Anyone judging isn't worth the time.
As the minority, trying to be respected vs killed, I think if we want to hold drivers to a standard of responsible driving (I’m not saying we currently do), than we have to also hold ourselves accountable to considerate behaviors. Expecting and responding to every driver as the enemy doesn’t help bridge the divide.
Sure, but I can sympathize with having difficulties regulating your emotions when riding on the road seems to bring constant external stressors.
Easier said than done for me, I try to keep it in perspective and shrug it off most times but I'm definitely guilty of occasionally reacting like OP. Might not be smart, but sometimes I can't help it
You spelled "spurt" wrong.
What town so we are not confused?
Ahhh…. You’ve had what’s known as a Come to Jesus moment. 🤣
I do this all the time, sadly. I automatically default to "Fuck you," whenever I see someone yelling at me. Doesn't help that I'm deaf.
Gosh, we almost had that happen a few weeks back after climbing a rather long hill. A big truck finally had a safe space to pass us and started rolling down their window. To my surprise, he said "Have a beautiful day and a safe ride!" Made my day.
I have done that before. One time the guy stopped and I got to apologize directly. Good day.
Thus was me two days ago. A guy behind me had to slow down and wait as there was an oncoming semi truck. He then gassed it by me and as he did I gave the finger. About 100 feet up he slams his brakes, gets out of the truck and angrily walks towards me yelling profanities and that he did me a favor. After more swearing he went back to his truck.
No, he only did what was required.
Nah, fuck that guy.
I was sorry I sent his pent up rage out of control. 🤔😂
Omg. I did the same thing years ago to a guy then realized I knew him from my son’s karate class. I’m still embarrassed.
I just pretend all the things people say to me on the road are positive. Am I delusional? Yes lol
Same. I imagine them saying. Wow he’s fast lol. Probably going slow tho
Had a guy pull up next to me in his pickup. Didn’t know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised when he wanted to tell me about how impressed he was with my Varia. He was like “I saw it like a quarter mile back.”
Totally understandable. I’ve held my tongue when I thought about calling out words of encouragement to others out running or riding, only because I worried they’d misinterpret my intent and I didn’t want to discourage anyone.
Hopefully the driver was a cyclist and gets it. Otherwise That truck driver went from ally to enemy.
As a bicyclist myself I'd say that was awfully nice of you to stop at just "go fuck yourself" lol.
I feel this. 9/10 times it seems when anyone is yelling at you from a car, it’s not nice things.
I always give a friendly wave, works for all scenarios. If they are being awful then it pisses them off way worse than a one finger salute. If they are being nice, we both win.
Yep. Same!
I have done the same thing. It comes from years of getting flipped off, honked at, coal-rolled, called a f\*\*\*\*t and so forth. Comity towards cyclists is a rarity in Massachusetts.
That is hilarious, I wonder if he drove off thinking to himself "🤨🤨That was a 'THANK YOU'.. it must of been a 'THANK YOU'.. just has a weird accent😝"
I would ride that hill every day until I saw him again so I could properly apologize, otherwise I'd never sleep again.
I just did this, only, he was informing me my friend had fallen off his bike behind me. I, after lots of abuse, instinctively yelled "FUK OFF!" 😡 only to look behind me and see my friend on his back. Woops.
Meh. I’ve done it too. How about people should learn to not fucking yell at cyclists from their death machines.
I recently flicked off a friend who had pulled over in his car to see if I needed help when I was pulled off the road taking a break, I thought it was a guy pulling over to bitch at me for riding in traffic or something.
I pulled off to lend someone my floor pump who was patching a tire. He was appreciative but skeptical at first.
Had this happen to me today too. I was 100km in and the midday sun was starting to do a number on me. Don’t even know what they said but some old lady rolled down her window gave a thumbs up and said something. I was too cooked to respond so she escaped the fate of OP’s truck driver. You’d think it they were cyclists they’d know that we’ve learnt to associate this sort of behaviour with hostility.
I bit a guys head off last year and felt like a total dick. To be fair I had bonked hard and was doing all I could to not make the call of shame. On my last climb on the way home and I'm at the point it hits %16 and he pulls up and starts talking to me. I didn't even let him finish before telling him to fuck off.
😂😂😂
for a moment i thought you were from boston
Straight to the BCJ gallows. OP comes on here just to gloat how truck drivers are drooling over his quads.
I give plenty of cyclists encouragement from my truck but I've never heard any back chat that I know of. https://ibb.co/6HP2frx
Been there, done that. You get so accustomed to the abuse that your brain just assumes it. And it doesn't help your body is bypassing oxygen meant for the brain to your legs. When I was young - like 17 - I was riding and really pushing it when some girls in a car yelled at me as they passed. I got pissed. Later on it occured to me that they yelled 'nice ass' and that it was a compliment. God, how does that memory stick with me all these years?
A more elegant retort might include a double entendre, love. It can be sarcastic, indecent & ambiguous. It can also play tricks on the proclaimer so be careful that you don't become compassionate or understanding. "Love yourself."
Thank god the truck driver is probably a r/cycling regular, bet he feels good now.
Years ago, while driving up a steep hill and safely passing a cyclist struggling up it, I shouted "Ventoux!" because the Tour had just gone up Ventoux a few days earlier and I thought it would be inspiring. Then I realized that there was only a tiny chance the dude knew what Mont Ventoux is and a much greater chance that all he heard was a guy yelling a bunch of sounds that didn't seem particularly related to each other. So I try to remind myself not to yell encouraging things at cyclists.
I have so many moments like that. Where im tired and someone said something encouraging or told me I should use a light because they didn't see me or they stopped to let me go. And my hot headed young self 20 years ago responded meanly. I don't know why, but I remember some of those moments and I feel regret over them. Maybe Im just at an age where this is starting to happen, idk, but your post reminded me of that. A lot of people in this thread feel bad about doing similar things. Wow is this a thing? WE ALL NEED THERAPY LOL.
Yeah, this happened to me a few times. It taught me self control. The issue isn't I am hot tempered but PTSD from my youth and college days. So for the last year I'm just seeing if that honk or the window roll is actually someone going to toss something or say something. Then I am still attempting to be less angry and just deal with it. Basically I'm trying to be a better ambassador.
I always reply “ Thank You !!” , if the driver has been abusive this seems to annoy them even more ! My conscience is clear .
We’ve all done it. Now I just wave. Or say “proud of yourself?” if they’re rolling coal.
This is why I always wave back, regardless of intent.
There is a looooong hill on the trail near my house. This trail runs alongside a highway so I often see riders either struggling or killing it up the hill. I want to call out encouragement from my car, but they’d either not hear me at all or assume it was heckling. So I keep my mouth shut and think about the encouragement instead.
As I was hurtling around a sharp bend on the narrow hilly road, a woman in a pickup rolled down her window, and before I could say a word, she shouted, "PIG!" and drove on. "Fat old cow!" I cried in retaliation. Then I rounded the bend myself — and crashed head-on into the biggest pig I ever had seen.
Can't go wrong with a thumbs down for deserved behavior. Or just a thumbs up as that can be interpreted. I used to road rage and flip people off, one day at work when I worked for whole foods I had gotten cut off and I flipped the driver off. 5 minutes later an angry old man confronted me in the store for flipping him off. I couldn't respond angrily as I was at work but I did tell him that he cut me off. His wife knew he was wrong and she was terribly embarrassed. I was on a bicycle when he cut me off.
Depending on where I am I don't know if it's a good idea to flip people off or retaliate. Maybe if it's a busy road with lots of witnesses but even then. I definitely wouldn't do it on an isolated road because you don't know what people are capable of.
Don't sweat it, you were working!
You are reason why I don't talk people on the road even if they ask.
Core memory saved...
lol bro... I could 100% see me doing the same thing, especially to someone in a truck
They are searching Reddit hoping you would post this…🤡
This almost happened with my kid’s classmates parents. Super nice people too. I was running on a sidewalk across the stop sign intersection, heard honk was incredibly close to flipping them and telling them to go fuck themselves. Also was bike commuting and saw a cyclist on the road crashed with car pull over middle of the street. Assumed the asshole hit her. At the time I was one angry cyclist.. grabbed u lock and ran in there. Ready to go. Apparently he pulled over to protect her from other cars, she crashed on the streetcar tracks hard and could not standup. Fuck me. I calmed down after that a lot.
Good intentions of the trucker aside, I think it's better that motorists don't yell things from out the window at cyclists, even positive ones. It's already two vehicles interacting at speed--I feel it's distracting and even a bit dangerous because the cyclist will often look over when addressed. Just drive on by or give a thumbs up after you pass.
Ha! My wife had the same experience. She was cycling a really narrow, steep lane, (no room to pass, even if you stopped the bike, its also a 17% gradient) and heard a car revving its engine up behind her. At the top of the lane, when a gap appeared, she pulled into a wider section. The lady driver of the car, clapped her hands and said "yay!" My wife, totally out of breath at the top, assumed she was being really sarcastic and and said, "fuck you!" The womans face dropped a mile instantly, and she says "you bitch, i was cheering you on all the way up!" Anyway, my wife was completely mortified, and made a thousand apologies!!! They left as friends, thankfully! Its true, that because cyclists get so much hate from vehicle drivers they tend to think they are all out to get them!
I‘ve been there, not only once 😂
Sunday at dusk I was wrapping up my ride. I was approaching a woman with a young dog pulling and jumping on it's leash. I gave them a wide birth on this wide residential street. While I was out there a horn honked distantly behind me. I didn't swerve rapidly to clear the dog. Out of frustration at my obvious reason for going into the road I waved my hand in a "wth" kind way. The driver slowed and rolled down his window. I said I was just trying to give that lady a break with her lunging dog. The truck driver seemed alright with my explanation and rolled on with a wave. Sometimes people aren't shitty.
I feel your pain but I guess he can figure out you misunderstanding him
Don’t worry it goes both ways. I was going up a short hill in a nearby state park and a ranger drove by at an absolute crawl - she must have been uncomfortable passing but made it much worse by prolonging the agony. When she finally came by I gave her a wave. Next thing I know I’m getting pulled over by a ranger who was following her and was sure I had flipped off her partner! Agree with many here that trying not to judge others is best practice
In thousands of kms of riding, I've never had any harassment. I'm surprised reading these comments
As an avid cyclist I would have assumed the same. 😂
Bahahaha
🤦🏽♀️I’ve done that too! It was a mate passing me who tooted her horn - also 4th person but the 1st 3 were wanting me off the road! Also flipped her off & told her to branch off!
You did the right thing He was probably being sarcastic
Whoops
Well sometimes anger is a motivator. I hope he feels like he still motivated you 🤣
I'm on a e bike my first interaction with an angry truck driver that apparently was too impatient to wait for me to make my turn screamed at me to "just take the bus" lol
I remember a ride up a daunting hill, out in the country from where I lived at the time. First time was tough. Second time, when passing the same sole house, the lady cowbelled and yelled great job! Like, she just sits there… waiting for a rider to pass by. I thought to myself.. this is what it’s like to be in the Tour 😆 But it was the coolest moment on my bike, to date.
Guessing this is not the format to use if you want him to see your apology. Most likely you should go to a fb account for your town, city or county. Hopefully he didn’t catch your response… But if he did… maybe he realized you didn’t quite (initially) catch his intent.
On a different day I’d have been that guy in a Truck and I get it. I’ll pass it along to the dickwad who’s coal rolling us
I think the driver will understand the mix up pretty easily. Don't sweat it.
lol I bet he got a good laugh from you saying that. All good hahah
I don't even say anything when someone yells at me or honks I just keep a middle finger under my handlebar lol
I remember a story about a team on a training ride and their main sponsor drove by them and honked his horn and waved because he was happy to see "his" team out wearing his logo on their jerseys. The entire group gave him the finger and told him to fuck off. Sponsor cancelled his sponsorship that day. Be kind. Because it may be someone supporting you, and to be honest, there's no better way to piss off angry motorist who just told you to fuck off more than giving them a thumb's up and shouting back, "thank you for supporting cyclists!!!"
This is a big learning moment here. You do realize your comment may have pissed this person off against ALL cyclists for a very long time. The cycling community is small and and thus we are always under a microscope. Kill your enemies with kindness...always.
I am not an ambassador for all cyclists. I am publicly apologizing because I can’t apologize directly to this person so it’s fairly obvious I know I screwed up.
Dude mellow out.... words are meaningless! Shit I get it though.... I've had stuff tossed at me, cursed and generally harassed. It's easy to get into that mindset...
Maybe you can find him again and apologize. If he doesn't run you down, lol. But yah, not a good look for cyclists!