Rude Cyclists!!

RalleighOke

I'm sorry to do this but I felt a need to get this off my chest!

As some of you may recall (in SA) there was a race called the Riebies. As you also might remember the reviews of this race was not to great.

A friend of mine and his girlfriend did the mix tandems in that race. They had a mechanical breakdown about 10 km's into the race and could not continue. At this stage they have also seen that the race is not going to well (i.e. No Marshalls at busy intersections, cyclists getting lost etc), so they took it upon themselves to SAFELY GUIDE the cyclist through a busy intersection.

They were still dressed in their cycling clothes. As they were doing this they took a heluva lot of abuse from the cyclist crapping them out over the poor race conditions.

I can understand the cyclist point of view but these people were dressed as cyclists and were trying to help. I seriously think that "some" cyclist need to have a look at their attitudes. We do not need these people in our sport. Everyone could see that they were not marshalls but a fellow cyclist trying to help!!!

I apologise to anyone if I might have offended you in any way but I needed to get this matter off my chest.

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"pain is temporary, pride is forever"

ewep

RalleighOke, I must agree. All cyclists in SA must now be VERY honest with him/herself. Do you thank the marshall/traffic official at the intersection? Yes, some intersections might be difficult, but what about flats and D/Hs? How much would it cost you to just shout "thank you marshall" and the bugger off down the road? If the okes on the Comrades can do it, why not us, they RUN 90km!

The second thing that I want to gripe about are the okes that really try to peeve motorists. I am a cyclist myself, I ride next to my buddy as well (Jaco, Goat, Mapara and Vo2 can vouch for that), but I get out of the way if I see a car. I thank a motorist if they try not to steal my energy bar from my shirts' pocket. BUT, now you get cyclists (I nearly BL*KS*MED roughly translated "hit EXTREMELY hard" one) who try to get in the way of motorists. They go out of their way to ride IN the traffic, although the shoulder of the road is open. If you then talk to them about it, the first answer is "you don't know cycling". After pointing out to them that I'm a cyclist as well, the second thing is that I'm not a "REAL" cyclist (although I've made their names a$$hole in more than one ride/race). What a load of BULL!

If you do ever cycle with one of these guys, GET AWAY, they are looking for trouble/road rage/a fist or two/at the worst DEATH. I've tried to speak to them, but whether they listened is debatable.

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Biking or NOTHING!

Lazy legs

Couldn't agree with you more ewep. I drive on the N4 towards Harties every day (including most weekends) and on weekends this is a verry popular stretch of road for cyclists. On numerous ocasions I've passed training groups numbering anything from 2 to 30 people and especially with the larger groups I've found that they think the roads belong to them.
Even though there is a shoulder thats ± 2 meters wide more than half of the cyclist think that the road were actually made for them and not the cars. I passed a group of about 15 one morning and not one of them were in the yellow line and some of them were actually driving in the second lane on a 2 lane freeway. When I hooted to get past I got some "fingers" for my trouble.
Don't always blame the guy in the car, even though most of the time they are to possessive of "their" roads they often get provoked by unconsidering cyclists! :

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Mike

FAILURE
It lies in the perception
Not in the situation.

ouzo

very good thread.

Us cyclists are quick to complain about motorists and motorists are quick to complain about cyclists. I think the big problem comes donw to respect and understanding.

I belong to a motoring forumn as well, and have many times had to stand up on my own for cyclists, but have also critisised other cyclists.

If we respect motorists (those that deserve it) and they respect us (those of us that deserve it) then we will all get along better. Against popular belief, I've found the most curteous drivers to be taxis (and I'm in SA ) . And a simple wave of the hand or a shout out to say thanks is all that is needed.

Also when it comes to marshals, what most dont realise is that these guys are volunteers. I quick thank you goes a long way in helping them deal with the abuse they encounter.

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Passion is everything. without passion cycling is just exercise
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Road Bike : Cannondale
MTB Bike : Giant Boulder se

ewep

Must agree Ouzo, in Alberton the taxis are the people that you can trust. In about 2 yrs of cycling I've only had problems with 1 or 2 taxis. Funny enough, even the big trucks (18 wheelers) give way to me (Bogdans' Transport must get a pat on the back!), BUT BMW, Mercs' and 4x4, stay away. Please don't get me wrong, I've been the hell in with motorists as well, but I've realised that the cyclist is not always right (may be cyclists are right 99.99% of the time )

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Biking or NOTHING!

RalleighOke

Isn't it funny, that is one of the things I also notice. They go out of their way to make space for me but some other drivers just don't give a hoot.

PS: I have noticed on my ride in the mornings that I'm gettting more "hello's" and more "smiles" from fellow cyclists. Must be that fact that their training is starting to pay off and can now enjoy a wave or two instead of a @#% Hill or two

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"pain is temporary, pride is forever"