The behaviour of other cyclists on the commute
The behaviour of other cyclists on the commute
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AyBee

Original Poster:

11,319 posts

231 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
quotequote all
Ok, so we're not all perfect, but a specific incident this morning got me slightly irritated:

I was riding at about the same pace as two other cyclists between the lights on the way into the city, happily riding down the bus lane with no traffic whereupon a car decides it wants to pull left across the cycle lane into a side road, pulls slightly into the lane (very slightly) and stops to get a better view (there are lots of cyclists about) and to let cyclists know what the car wants to do, all fine. At this point, one of the guys I'd been riding with decides to lock up his rear wheel to slow down, then pull left (not far) and ride around the front of the car, slowing to hit the wingmirror of the car. Now this guy was never in danger and if he can't anticipate / not get scared by cars, he shouldn't have been riding as quickly as he was. Maybe it's time for a helmet cam, and then I could have shown you all smile

I'm not overly bothered since I wasn't involved in any way, but I just think this kind of behaviour is what leads car drivers to get very annoyed with cyclists for the slightest issue and there was no need for it. I've tapped on a car before but only when it was about to run me off the road and said woman actually stopped to apologise hehe

P.S. If you ride to work in a yellow adidas jacket and black shorts on a Giant road bike, you sir, need to chill the fk out!

Anybody else get irritated by this kind of behaviour?

Rob_T

1,916 posts

280 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
quotequote all
AyBee said:
he shouldn't have been riding as quickly as he was
This is the most important line of your post. Cyclists seem to think they have some sort of God given right to cycle as fast as they wish regardless of conditions (traffic, weather etc).

The simply fact is that in any collision it will always be the cyclist who comes off worst no matter who was right and who was wrong. Therefore assume you are invisible and cycle accordingly. In the same way when you drive a car you adjust according to the conditions, so it should be even more so on a bike.



AyBee

Original Poster:

11,319 posts

231 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
quotequote all
swerni said:
Some cyclists are complete knobbers.

Saw a bloke cycling over London bridge with whistle clamped between his teeth and blowing it at anyone who came near him.

I felt like stepping into the road and ramming it down the tossers throat!
hehe And I imagine the only people who could hear the whistle were other cyclists and pedestrians on the pavement!

Rolls

1,502 posts

206 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
quotequote all
Yeah - seen that sort of thing when i'm riding to/from work... as above, you do see some absolute dicks on the road!

anonymous-user

83 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
quotequote all
shared path grumbles. the only bit that annoys me is where a cyle path mergers with the pavement at a pedestrian crossings. the cyclists just line up side by side and the pedestrians either get mown down or have to wait for the oncoming cyclists to pass by which point the lights are turning from red to flashing amber. sorry its a bit random but its annoying.

the difference in clothing choice and bike maintenance levels never fails to amaze me either. how peopel can ride along with gears crunching and brake pads rubbing i dont know....


okgo

42,123 posts

227 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
quotequote all
Mate you aint seen mental till you see this guy...

the guy that cycles down kings road over putney bridge that I often see is 1000% mental.

He has music coming from his bike, he is about 6,4 and is skinny as hell, he shouts at anything and everything, he is actually quite fast which is funny...

"you where did you get those fking shoes you ? They saw you fking coming at the shop you "
"you don't need to leave a gap do you coz you are a pro right? you bunch of s"
"they're still on the crossing you fking s" - if you dare cross a zebra while someone is even 1cm still on it
"where did you get that bike you ? a fking cracker, they saw you coming you "
"S!!!!!"

He was doing this the other night and you can tell people feel threatened by him, he was brake testing other cyclists too, he did this to me as well, I shouted at him, he gave me a mouthful, I've met him once before, and I've decided that next time if he does it again I'm going to push him of his bike I think, I was thinking about it the other night, a strong shove would see him into the pavement...

Watchman

6,391 posts

274 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
quotequote all
okgo said:
Mate you aint seen mental till you see this guy...

the guy that cycles down kings road over putney bridge that I often see is 1000% mental.

He has music coming from his bike, he is about 6,4 and is skinny as hell, he shouts at anything and everything, he is actually quite fast which is funny...

"you where did you get those fking shoes you ? They saw you fking coming at the shop you "
"you don't need to leave a gap do you coz you are a pro right? you bunch of s"
"they're still on the crossing you fking s" - if you dare cross a zebra while someone is even 1cm still on it
"where did you get that bike you ? a fking cracker, they saw you coming you "
"S!!!!!"

He was doing this the other night and you can tell people feel threatened by him, he was brake testing other cyclists too, he did this to me as well, I shouted at him, he gave me a mouthful, I've met him once before, and I've decided that next time if he does it again I'm going to push him of his bike I think, I was thinking about it the other night, a strong shove would see him into the pavement...
Film it. You just have to. Please. biggrin

AyBee

Original Poster:

11,319 posts

231 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
quotequote all
okgo said:
Mate you aint seen mental till you see this guy...

the guy that cycles down kings road over putney bridge that I often see is 1000% mental.

He has music coming from his bike, he is about 6,4 and is skinny as hell, he shouts at anything and everything, he is actually quite fast which is funny...

"you where did you get those fking shoes you ? They saw you fking coming at the shop you "
"you don't need to leave a gap do you coz you are a pro right? you bunch of s"
"they're still on the crossing you fking s" - if you dare cross a zebra while someone is even 1cm still on it
"where did you get that bike you ? a fking cracker, they saw you coming you "
"S!!!!!"

He was doing this the other night and you can tell people feel threatened by him, he was brake testing other cyclists too, he did this to me as well, I shouted at him, he gave me a mouthful, I've met him once before, and I've decided that next time if he does it again I'm going to push him of his bike I think, I was thinking about it the other night, a strong shove would see him into the pavement...
What did you do to upset him? wink

okgo

42,123 posts

227 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
quotequote all
It wasn't me, it was anyone that went near him or past him, which as you can imagine on Kings Road at rush hour is a LOT of people lol

Fluffsri

3,410 posts

225 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
quotequote all
aaaaahhhhh I love living in the country LOL. From next month Ill be commuting to work, 10 miles on country lanes. I rode it Tuesday night and saw 4 cars! Bliss!

dougc

8,241 posts

294 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
quotequote all
okgo said:
Mate you aint seen mental till you see this guy...

the guy that cycles down kings road over putney bridge that I often see is 1000% mental.

He has music coming from his bike, he is about 6,4 and is skinny as hell, he shouts at anything and everything, he is actually quite fast which is funny...

"you where did you get those fking shoes you ? They saw you fking coming at the shop you "
"you don't need to leave a gap do you coz you are a pro right? you bunch of s"
"they're still on the crossing you fking s" - if you dare cross a zebra while someone is even 1cm still on it
"where did you get that bike you ? a fking cracker, they saw you coming you "
"S!!!!!"

He was doing this the other night and you can tell people feel threatened by him, he was brake testing other cyclists too, he did this to me as well, I shouted at him, he gave me a mouthful, I've met him once before, and I've decided that next time if he does it again I'm going to push him of his bike I think, I was thinking about it the other night, a strong shove would see him into the pavement...

Wooderson

413 posts

252 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
quotequote all
okgo said:
Mate you aint seen mental till you see this guy...

the guy that cycles down kings road over putney bridge that I often see is 1000% mental.

He has music coming from his bike, he is about 6,4 and is skinny as hell, he shouts at anything and everything, he is actually quite fast which is funny...

"you where did you get those fking shoes you ? They saw you fking coming at the shop you "
"you don't need to leave a gap do you coz you are a pro right? you bunch of s"
"they're still on the crossing you fking s" - if you dare cross a zebra while someone is even 1cm still on it
"where did you get that bike you ? a fking cracker, they saw you coming you "
"S!!!!!"

He was doing this the other night and you can tell people feel threatened by him, he was brake testing other cyclists too, he did this to me as well, I shouted at him, he gave me a mouthful, I've met him once before, and I've decided that next time if he does it again I'm going to push him of his bike I think, I was thinking about it the other night, a strong shove would see him into the pavement...
hehe

I think I've seen the same bloke at the lights outside Putney Station giving HELL to some poor sod on a hybrid Ridgeback. He's definitely, as you say, 1000% mental!

okgo

42,123 posts

227 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
quotequote all
I said to a guy at the lights the other day that he was known for it, and the guy said he was glad there were people around, he obviously felt quite threatened. I was laughing at him as he was giving out all this aggro but had fking Will Young playing from his speaker on his bike rofl

AyBee

Original Poster:

11,319 posts

231 months

Thursday 12th January 2012
quotequote all
Might change my route to work, need to see this guy hehe

Carlton Banks

3,676 posts

265 months

Friday 13th January 2012
quotequote all
okgo said:
Mate you aint seen mental till you see this guy...

the guy that cycles down kings road over putney bridge that I often see is 1000% mental.

He has music coming from his bike, he is about 6,4 and is skinny as hell, he shouts at anything and everything, he is actually quite fast which is funny...

"you where did you get those fking shoes you ? They saw you fking coming at the shop you "
"you don't need to leave a gap do you coz you are a pro right? you bunch of s"
"they're still on the crossing you fking s" - if you dare cross a zebra while someone is even 1cm still on it
"where did you get that bike you ? a fking cracker, they saw you coming you "
"S!!!!!"

He was doing this the other night and you can tell people feel threatened by him, he was brake testing other cyclists too, he did this to me as well, I shouted at him, he gave me a mouthful, I've met him once before, and I've decided that next time if he does it again I'm going to push him of his bike I think, I was thinking about it the other night, a strong shove would see him into the pavement...
I know this particular bellend, surprised he hasn't been either knocked off his bike. beaten up or just arrested for being a bellend.


Carlton Banks

3,676 posts

265 months

Friday 13th January 2012
quotequote all
On another note, the one item that p1sses me off about some cyclists, particularly london ones is their inability to stop at lights.

It is always nice when you are cycling along and you stop at lights with other fellow 'law abiding' or just sensible cyclists. You will then see a myriad of cyclists who are just too arrogant to obey the law.


smegma

38 posts

179 months

Saturday 14th January 2012
quotequote all
People who arrive at a red light (obeying it) or junction after me, then try to get ahead, despite the fact that they're not normally particularly fast and often obstruct me. I treat it as a queue - I stay behind the person who got there first and if they are slower than I want to go, I overtake.

HereBeMonsters

14,180 posts

211 months

Sunday 22nd January 2012
quotequote all
Having been doing the commute for about 9 months now, I'm pretty fit over short distances - my route to the station is 2 miles each way - so I tend to overtake most other cyclists. Including the mid-life crisis my-bike-should-be-as-expensive-as-my-car lycra-types.
They do not like being overtaken by an overweight git in jeans on a very upright mountain bike with flat pedals. Sometimes they like to draft me. I can generally drop them by going very quickly over some bumps. One guy tried to follow me over a speed bump at around 25mph last week, until he bottled it at the last minute. I heard the screech of brakes and some swearing.

My favourites are the ones with all the expensive clobber, but have literally no idea how to ride a bike. They're standing up on the pedals up a very steep hill in entirely the wrong gear, or spinning along at about 120rpm on the flat trying to get their expensive integrated shifters to work.

BliarOut

72,863 posts

268 months

Sunday 22nd January 2012
quotequote all
swerni said:
HereBeMonsters said:
Having been doing the commute for about 9 months now, I'm pretty fit over short distances - my route to the station is 2 miles each way - so I tend to overtake most other cyclists. Including the mid-life crisis my-bike-should-be-as-expensive-as-my-car lycra-types.
They do not like being overtaken by an overweight git in jeans on a very upright mountain bike with flat pedals. Sometimes they like to draft me. I can generally drop them by going very quickly over some bumps. One guy tried to follow me over a speed bump at around 25mph last week, until he bottled it at the last minute. I heard the screech of brakes and some swearing.

My favourites are the ones with all the expensive clobber, but have literally no idea how to ride a bike. They're standing up on the pedals up a very steep hill in entirely the wrong gear, or spinning along at about 120rpm on the flat trying to get their expensive integrated shifters to work.
Cool story bro wink
He does 25MPH on an MTB in traffic on the flat, I think he's probably signed up for team GB...

HereBeMonsters

14,180 posts

211 months

Sunday 22nd January 2012
quotequote all
BliarOut said:
He does 25MPH on an MTB in traffic on the flat, I think he's probably signed up for team GB...
I am very powerfully built biggrin

(There's very little traffic the route I go)