Was I right to blow my top?

My Saturday morning ride ended in a bit of road rage today.
Did I do the right thing?

Towards the end of a forty mile ride I was travelling
downhill in a thirty mph zone about 150 yards from the left
hand turn into the estate where I
live. I was coasting at about 24mph and noticed a four
wheel drive land cruiser type vehicle coming the
other way. The next thing I am aware of is an SUV
type vehicle coming from behind and squeezing me off
the road. I swerved to avoid the SUV and managed to
brake without hitting the kerb.

I guy I know happened to be standing on the pavement and
shouted over "thats shocking" but I just flew after the SUV
knowing he would have to slow down at a tight bend a couple
of hundred yards further on. I was shouting and swearing (
and I almost never swear) and eventually he stopped about a
hundred yards beyond the tight bend. I then started shouting
and swearing (again) trying to get him to understand what he
had just done and I got worse when he said he was nowhere
near me and anyway I was cycling in the middle of the road
blocking his way. A bit of a scene ensued which got the
attention of passers by and I was about to leave when he got
out of his vehicle and made noises as if he wanted to fight,
but he quickly changed his mind.

I was so mad I didn't have the presence of mind to get his
registration number but both him and his passenger are
locals, as I recognised their faces, but I am not convinced,
even with an independent witness, the police would be
interested in a nearly accident so I probably won't pursue
it. His passenger was reluctant to back him up in the
argument and I got the impression he understood how close it
had been and though the driver was totally unrepentant he
may have said something in a quieter moment to make my
outburst worthwhile.

The thing is when I got home I was angry with myself for
losing my rag and thinking that cycling (much as I love it )
isn't worth it. I have been thinking along these lines quite
a lot recently as I have become a bit paranoid about the
"normal" near misses.

Was I right or I have I so enraged this guy he'll make sure
he hits the next cyclist.

Wavering wrote:

> [he said] I was cycling in the middle of the road blocking
> his way.

The question is: would he have forced a motorcyclist or
another car to swerve in order for him to save a few
seconds? Of course not. 24mph downhill in a 30 limit isn't
an unreasonable speed, it's a shame that more people don't
realise this.

<Snippity>

> Was I right or I have I so enraged this guy he'll make
> sure he hits the next cyclist.

The guy is now totally embarrassed - not only did other
locals witness his humiliation but so did a good friend. To
add to his humiliation is was his (lack of) driving skills
that caused this humiliation. He also wimped out of hitting
you, which is another dent to his ego. He will give every
cyclist he meets a wide berth now, particularly you, as he
knows how big you are. Nice one
:-)

This dumb f*** now realizes that what he thought of as 'normal' driving is actually very dangerous. Hopefully you've made him not just realize this but also act on it. If someone's driving badly and you get the chance to tell him about it, take it. You've done the right thing.

__________________
tempus eundi

On Sat, 6 Mar 2004 19:32:08 -0000, "Wavering" <None> wrote:

>My Saturday morning ride ended in a bit of road rage today.
>Did I do the right thing?
>
>Was I right or I have I so enraged this guy he'll make sure
>he hits the next cyclist.

Let it go. You're not going to change his mind or his
driving so what's the point in winding yourself up and
ruining your ride even more?
--
"We take these risks, not to escape from life, but to
prevent life escaping from us." http://www.bensales.com

Wavering wrote:

> The thing is when I got home I was angry with myself for
> losing my rag and thinking that cycling (much as I love it
> ) isn't worth it. I have been thinking along these lines
> quite a lot recently as I have become a bit paranoid about
> the "normal" near misses.

You did the right thing by letting him know he was in
the wrong. It's always annoying when you lose your rag,
play it cool next time, but confront them all the same
-- much more fun.

And never think that cycling isn't worth it. The way I see
it, you can kick the bucket in a thousand different ways at
any time, and if you happen to be cycling at that moment;
you're doing something that you love.

Simon

"Wavering" <None> wrote in message
news:404a2689_2@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com...

> My Saturday morning ride ended in a bit of road rage
> today. Did I do the right thing?
>
> Towards the end of a forty mile ride I was travelling
> downhill in a thirty mph zone about 150 yards from the
> left hand turn into the estate where I
> live. I was coasting at about 24mph and noticed a four
> wheel drive land cruiser type vehicle coming the
> other way. The next thing I am aware of is an SUV
> type vehicle coming from behind and squeezing me
> off the road.....

I sometimes get this type of behaviour, but generally I get
enough warning from the engine note to tell if the vehicle
is trying to squeeze past or hold back, and if it's obvious
they are trying to squeeze past there is no point in trying
to outrace it as once it has started to squeeze past it's
best to just let it continue past, rather than "duelling"
with it (or banging its roof) like I have seen some
cyclists do.

It's like the other day I was cycling along a town centre
road with a cycle lane, which I avoid as it has a brick
surface and I stay on the tarmacked traffic lane, and I was
doing 15mph keeping pace right behind another vehicle, and
I'm aware of the front of this blue car about 2 foot from my
right side, like it's overtaking me because it does not like
to see a cyclist who's not using the brick surface.

I could have stood my ground, but thought it's not worth it
so I slow down and let the car past and regain my position
behind it.

Adrian Boliston wrote:

> I could have stood my ground, but thought it's not worth
> it so I slow down and let the car past and regain my
> position behind it.

Ah. But by doing that are you not reinforcing the flase
notion that you shouldn't be on the road in the first place?
By passively moving aside you are acknowledging that you
should be on the (****ty) brick cycle lane.

Simon

On Sat, 6 Mar 2004 20:47:12 -0000, "Adrian Boliston"
<adrian@boliston.co.uk> wrote in message
<c2ddcg$1r4h17$1@ID-111900.news.uni-berlin.de>:

>I could have stood my ground, but thought it's not worth it
>so I slow down and let the car past and regain my position
>behind it.

Never give in to bullies. And that's exactly what that
driver was.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://chapmancentral.demon.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Wavering wrote: Snipped..

> his way. A bit of a scene ensued which got the attention
> of passers by and I was about to leave when he got out of
> his vehicle and made noises as if he wanted to fight, but
> he quickly changed his mind.
>

Does anyone else get that feeling of having extraordinarily
intimidating physical presence over driver's when they get
out of their cars or are immobile.

I'm a big bloke, but don't normally feel like it as I was a
skinny wimp with glasses as a kid, but if a driver starts
shouting at me, they usually shut up once its person to
person instead of car to bike.

In these situations I feel very aware that I am already
warmed up and far more ready for a scrap than them.

I'm really not a violent person honest.

--
Andy Morris

AndyAtJinkasDotFreeserve.Co.UK

Love this:
Put an end to Outlook Express's messy quotes
http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/

"AndyMorris" <AndyMorris@DeadSpam.com> wrote in news:c2doac$jhi$4
@news6.svr.pol.co.uk:

> Does anyone else get that feeling of having
> extraordinarily intimidating physical presence over
> driver's when they get out of their cars or are immobile.

Probably because they feel invulnerable in their cars
surrounded by all that metal. They feel all tough and ready
to "have a go" then they step out of their cocoon, loose
their protection and realise they're going up against
someone who is more likely fitter than them and has
adrenaline coarsing through their system due to riding in
traffic. Most sane people will subconsciously pick up on the
"I'm the dominant one here" signals and back down quickly.

Of course there's always the situation where the guy that
gets out of the car is a psycho who's built like a tank. In
that case you're f*cked :-/

I try to avoid confrontations such as these as the outcome
can be very unpredictable, but at times everyone has to
respond in a way that they need to at the time.

Graeme

Graeme wrote:
> "AndyMorris" <AndyMorris@DeadSpam.com> wrote in
> news:c2doac$jhi$4 @news6.svr.pol.co.uk:
>
>> Does anyone else get that feeling of having
>> extraordinarily intimidating physical presence over
>> driver's when they get out of their cars or are immobile.
>
> Probably because they feel invulnerable in their cars
> surrounded by all that metal. They feel all tough and
> ready to "have a go" then they step out of their cocoon,
> loose their protection and realise they're going up
> against someone who is more likely fitter than them and
> has adrenaline coarsing through their system due to riding
> in traffic. Most sane people will subconsciously pick up
> on the "I'm the dominant one here" signals and back down
> quickly.
>
> Of course there's always the situation where the guy that
> gets out of the car is a psycho who's built like a tank.
> In that case you're f*cked :-/
>

Thats the one I worry about.

--
Andy Morris

AndyAtJinkasDotFreeserve.Co.UK

Love this:
Put an end to Outlook Express's messy quotes
http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/

On Sun, 07 Mar 2004 00:56:38 GMT, Graeme
<graeme@gpdods.removethis.com> wrote:

>Of course there's always the situation where the guy that
>gets out of the car is a psycho who's built like a tank. In
>that case you're f*cked :-/

It's this mistake that can land you deep in the sh*t

Be aware that the dangerous part of your description is
psycho not tank, and that it's more likely the psycho
getting out of his car will look very ordinary.

If you're not prepared to deal with nutters who have a
pretty serious attitude towards violence, you're better off
avoiding this kind of situation altogether. But then that's
just common sense, heh.
--

"Bob"

'The people have spoken, the bastards'

Email address is spam trapped.
To reply directly remove the beverage.

Call me Bob <usenet@COFFEEtoomanypenguins.co.uk> wrote in
news88l40d5v94cri91s18os8iskb6cqlnjag@4ax.com:

> Be aware that the dangerous part of your description is
> psycho not tank, and that it's more likely the psycho
> getting out of his car will look very ordinary.

Yep, they don't all have the Norman Bates intense stare. The
most dangerous disturbed people are often the most "normal"
looking ones, probably because when they do flip people
aren't expecting it.

Graeme

Wavering wrote:
> My Saturday morning ride ended in a bit of road rage
> today. Did I do the right thing?
>

Not in my opinion, blowing ones top shows a lack of control.