Why some (not all) cyclists are arrogant idiots

[Politically Inc]

I live in Canberra (the "cycling capital of Australia", for better or worse) and was recently taking
an evening stroll. As I was walking up a steep hill with my friend, a cyclist approaching from
behind started to ring his bell. A few seconds later, I turned around and saw that the cyclist was
huffing and puffing, struggling to get up that hill. Talk about the arrogance of this idiot! He
rings his bell even though he couldn't even come close to passing me on the ascent! Then the
a***hole, f***wit rings his bell again when he manages to finally huff and puff his way over the
hill. He gives all good cyclists a bad name. What a f**** idiot he is. I bet that afterwards, he got
into his hotrod car and terrorised fellow cyclists and pedestrians. I should have accidentally
bumped into him. But he probably would have organised his gang of cyclists on me.

Now I don't want apologists to say that he had "right of way" (do cyclists ever give right of way to
cars?). Of course, he's entitled to ring his bell if pedestrians are in his way...but really, he has
no right to ring his stupid bell when he can't even come close to passing me!!

Some cyclists are just ****.

 

[Pbwalther]

>I live in Canberra (the "cycling capital of Australia", for better or worse) and was recently
>taking an evening stroll. As I was walking up a steep hill with my friend, a cyclist approaching
>from behind started to ring his bell.

Then the poster goes on a long diatribe against slow cyclists who ring the little bell on their
bicycle and how dreadful they are.

Well shoot, Canberra must be a wonderful place if slow bell ringing cyclists are the principle
irritation. Maybe I should move there? Wonder where I can get a bell for my bicycle?

 

[David Storm]

I always thought that giving pedestrians on a bike trail a jingle when approaching from behind was
a courtesy just as I appreciate a friendly toot sometimes from a motorist who is concerned about
my safety.

"Politically incorrect" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I live in Canberra (the "cycling capital of Australia", for better or worse) and was recently
> taking an evening stroll. As I was walking up a steep hill with my friend, a cyclist approaching
> from behind started to ring his bell. A few seconds later, I turned around and saw that the
> cyclist was huffing and puffing, struggling to get up that hill. Talk about the arrogance of this
> idiot! He rings his bell even though he couldn't even come close to passing me on the ascent! Then
> the a***hole, f***wit rings his bell again when he manages to finally huff and puff his way over
> the hill. He gives all good cyclists a bad name. What a f**** idiot he is. I bet that afterwards,
> he got into his hotrod car and terrorised fellow cyclists and pedestrians. I should have
> accidentally bumped into him. But he probably would have organised his gang of cyclists on me.
>
> Now I don't want apologists to say that he had "right of way" (do cyclists ever give right of way
> to cars?). Of course, he's entitled to ring his bell if pedestrians are in his way...but really,
> he has no right to ring his stupid bell when he can't even come close to passing me!!
>
> Some cyclists are just ****.

 

[D.Putnam]

A terrible attempt at trolling....

 

[Paul Southworth]

In article <[email protected]>, David Storm
<[email protected]> wrote:
>I always thought that giving pedestrians on a bike trail a jingle when approaching from behind was
>a courtesy just as I appreciate a friendly toot sometimes from a motorist who is concerned about
>my safety.

I never appreciate a "toot" no matter what the sentiment. Car horns are pollution much more often
than they serve any useful function. I don't need to be honked at to know a car is there, and they
should pass safely whether or not I know they're there.

The cyclist probably thought he was going to pass the pedestrian (and therefore rang the bell) but
ran out of steam, which is a little funny but doesn't seem like a big deal to me. If I pass a
pedestrian and wish to alert them I usually say hello instead of ringing a bell.

--Paul

 

[Mike S.]

"D.Putnam" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> A terrible attempt at trolling....
>
Yeah, but its working so far...

 

[Tanya Quinn]

It is possible the cyclist was not trying to terrorize you or even expect you to move out of the
way, but simply wanted to let you know that he was there. Its difficult there is only one sound to a
bike bell because it can be used in different circumstances to mean different things - "GET OUT OF
MY WAY", "Just passing by", "Letting you know I'm here", "Watch out!" etc. Much the same way that a
car horn is assumed to mean the driver is impatient and wants you to get out of their way when they
could just be alerting you to their presence.

As far as right of way goes, if someone is riding a bicycle on a sidewalk instead of the roadway, I
believe they should always yield to pedestrians and never expect pedestrians to move out of the way.
If people are walking on a shared used path in such a way you can't pass, a friendly ding seems
acceptable, and moving to the side is something they could expect. While pedestrians in general
always have the right of way due to being the most vulnerable road users, sometimes they are hard to
avoid and ringing to "GET OUT OF MY WAY" seems acceptable - many people underestimate the speed of
cyclists and when you are going 35 km/h on the road and someone steps out to jaywalk only a few feet
in front of you, you can't stop in time.

Tanya

[email protected] (Politically incorrect) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I live in Canberra (the "cycling capital of Australia", for better or worse) and was recently
> taking an evening stroll. As I was walking up a steep hill with my friend, a cyclist approaching
> from behind started to ring his bell. A few seconds later, I turned around and saw that the
> cyclist was huffing and puffing, struggling to get up that hill. Talk about the arrogance of this
> idiot! He rings his bell even though he couldn't even come close to passing me on the ascent! Then
> the a***hole, f***wit rings his bell again when he manages to finally huff and puff his way over
> the hill. He gives all good cyclists a bad name. What a f**** idiot he is. I bet that afterwards,
> he got into his hotrod car and terrorised fellow cyclists and pedestrians. I should have
> accidentally bumped into him. But he probably would have organised his gang of cyclists on me.
>
> Now I don't want apologists to say that he had "right of way" (do cyclists ever give right of way
> to cars?). Of course, he's entitled to ring his bell if pedestrians are in his way...but really,
> he has no right to ring his stupid bell when he can't even come close to passing me!!
>
> Some cyclists are just ****.

 

[Max]

In article [email protected] (Tanya Quinn) wrote:

> It is possible the cyclist was not trying to terrorize you or even expect you to move out of the
> way, but simply wanted to let you know that he was there.

If the vilified cyclist was having as much difficulty with his climb as the OP suggested, it's
_very_ possible he was simply sounding the bell inadvertently as he changed his grip on the
handlebars.

I know that i set off mine <http://www.cambriabike.com/misc/images/incredibell_lg.gif> with
distressing regularity. If the cyclist's bell was of this design,
<http://www.harisoncycles.com/other/other2.jpg>, the effect would be even more pronounced.

I recommend the OP switch to decaf and **** to completion more frequently.

.max

--
the part of <[email protected]> was played by maxwell monningh 8-p

 

[Mark Hickey]

[email protected] (Politically incorrect) wrote:

>Some cyclists are just ****.

And some anonymous pedestrians are obvious trolls.

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles http://www.habcycles.com Home of the $695 ti frame

 

[Dennis P. Harri]

On 18 Feb 2003 02:45:23 -0800 in rec.bicycles.misc, [email protected]
(Politically incorrect) wrote:

> Talk about the arrogance of this idiot!

talk about the arrogance of this troll!

you must have a real problem if some idiot ringing a bell upsets you. but i think you're just
a troll...

 

[Steve McDonald]

I always feel irritated and insulted when someone rings a bell or honks a horn behind me. As though
I couldn't hear them coming. I've observed that those who have bells on their bikes are always very
old or complete nerds. I thought that Canberra (Can-bruh) burned down a few months ago??

Steve McDonald

 

[Jon Isaacs]

>I always feel irritated and insulted when someone rings a bell or honks a horn behind me. As though
>I couldn't hear them coming. I've observed that those who have bells on their bikes are always very
>old or complete nerds. I thought that Canberra (Can-bruh) burned down a few months ago??
>
>Steve McDonald
>

Glad you can hear people coming, that is not always the case.

And of course it is not always the case that they are nerds or old timers either.

A good friend of mine puts a bell on his triathlon bike. This is because he is a rather strong
cyclist (and runner) and once he reached the age of 40, he no longer started with the first wave and
so was in the situation of passing riders continuously. The bell does work for him, the first time
he tried it he finished 4th overall.

Jon Isaacs

 

[Robin Hubert]

"Jon Isaacs" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >I always feel irritated and insulted when someone rings a bell or honks a horn behind me. As
> >though I couldn't hear them coming. I've observed that those who have bells on their bikes
> >are always very old or complete nerds. I thought that Canberra (Can-bruh) burned down a few
> >months ago??
> >
> >Steve McDonald
> >
>
> Glad you can hear people coming, that is not always the case.
>
> And of course it is not always the case that they are nerds or old timers either.
>
> A good friend of mine puts a bell on his triathlon bike. This is because
he is
> a rather strong cyclist (and runner) and once he reached the age of 40, he
no
> longer started with the first wave and so was in the situation of passing riders continuously. The
> bell does work for him, the first time he tried
it he
> finished 4th overall.
>

I've said it before but, what's the point? Cyclists find it irritating when motorists do it, and
motorists don't do it to each other. Why? Because they know to stay to the right and pass on the
left, and to check before occupying the passing lane. Since this is understood, no-one needs to
perform such arcane acts. That's why someone might be annoyed.

Robin Hubert

 

[Isaac Brumer]

[email protected] (Dennis P. Harris) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> On 18 Feb 2003 02:45:23 -0800 in rec.bicycles.misc, [email protected]
> (Politically incorrect) wrote:
>
> > Talk about the arrogance of this idiot!
>
> talk about the arrogance of this troll!
>
> you must have a real problem if some idiot ringing a bell upsets you. but i think you're just a
> troll...

Recognizing the OP as a "troll," I hesitated to comment, but since everyone else has jumped aboard,
oh well...

- This cyclists rang his bell while following a ped uphill, therefore all cyclists suck. I doubt
this story even took place.

- If it did, has it occurred to the OP that the cyclist was ** inexperienced and just bell-happy **
sending a greeting, rather than a warning ** ringing another person entirely, e.g., another
cyclist, a waving child on a porch?

I have a bell on my bike, too, for legal compliance. Period. I never use it for warning. Bells are
too quiet and non-threatening to serve as an emergency warning.

In an emergency, I'm better off using my hands to control steeting and braking then to waste time
with a bell.

Sometimes groups of passing cyclists ring me or my groups and I/we ring back. Kids on bikes ring us
as we pass, we ring back. And we ring our bells to respond to onlookers when on a beneit ride

In "mixed bike-ped traffic" I yield to the ped, even if this means that I have to slow down and
crawl behind. On group rides, we typically pass the ped and signal to the riders behind us that
there's a ped to pass (we do this with hand signal behind our backs.)

Isaac

 

[Crispy]

Around here all trail signs state that a cyclist should signal intent prior to passing.

Keep in mind that bikes are much quieter than cars. OTOH on roads I don't see the need for a car to
honk at a cyclist out of courtesy when passing. I hear cars long before they get close.

OTOH I tend to ring pedestrians regularly because I've been on the receiving end of verbal abuse
from pedestrians who have been overtaken unaware. Throw in a dog on a leash or a toddler into the
equation and it gets far more complicated.

I carry two noise-making devices on my rides. The first is what I call my courtesy bell, the old
"rrrinnngg-rrrinnng" type and is used solely for pedestrian attention. It is unoffensive (to most)
but a required defensive tool on crowded mixed-use trails. The second device is an air horn. This is
a device which is produced for maritime use and puts out a whopping 120db. This is reserved solely
for use on motorists on rare occasions. Granted it's a bit excessive but a necessary evil.

 

[Sparhawk]

On 19 Feb 2003 17:46:09 GMT, [email protected] (Jon Isaacs) wrote:

>>
>>I've said it before but, what's the point? Cyclists find it irritating when motorists do it, and
>>motorists don't do it to each other. Why? Because they know to stay to the right and pass on the
>>left, and to check before occupying the passing lane. Since this is understood, no-one needs to
>>perform such arcane acts. That's why someone might be annoyed.
>>
>> Robin Hubert
>
>1. Being annoyed has to do with one's own mental attitude. A bell might annoy you, it might not.
> That is really your choice. My post may annoy you or it may not, that is also your choice. <g>

Well you are just an annoying type of guy, a know it all and a goody two shoe to boot!

 

[Buck]

"crispy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Around here all trail signs state that a cyclist should signal intent prior to passing.
>
> Keep in mind that bikes are much quieter than cars. OTOH on roads I don't see the need for a car
> to honk at a cyclist out of courtesy when passing. I hear cars long before they get close.
>
> OTOH I tend to ring pedestrians regularly because I've been on the receiving end of verbal abuse
> from pedestrians who have been overtaken unaware. Throw in a dog on a leash or a toddler into the
> equation and it gets far more complicated.
>
> I carry two noise-making devices on my rides. The first is what I call my courtesy bell, the old
> "rrrinnngg-rrrinnng" type and is used solely for pedestrian attention. It is unoffensive (to most)
> but a required defensive tool on crowded mixed-use trails. The second device is an air horn. This
> is a device which is produced for maritime use and puts out a whopping 120db. This is reserved
> solely for use on motorists on rare occasions. Granted it's a bit excessive but a necessary evil.

Sheesh, overkill. If you are frequenting these paths, maybe you just need a playing card
strategically mounted so it slaps your spokes. Plenty of noise to notify pedestrians!

-Buck

 

[Bernie]

> A good scream seems to get peoples attention quite nicely, especially if it an honest scream.
>
> Jon Isaacs

I'll stay legal and friendly with a gentle ringing sequence on my ($2.95 CAD!!!) Merribell. ;-)
Walkers often say "thanks for the warning" in a friendly way - really! Best regards, Bernie

 

[Robin Hubert]

"crispy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Around here all trail signs state that a cyclist should signal intent prior to passing.

Around here, trail rules state that users are supposed to hang to the right side of the trails.

>
> Keep in mind that bikes are much quieter than cars. OTOH on roads I don't see the need for a car
> to honk at a cyclist out of courtesy when passing. I hear cars long before they get close.

This has nothing to do with it.

>
> OTOH I tend to ring pedestrians regularly because I've been on the receiving end of verbal abuse
> from pedestrians who have been overtaken unaware. Throw in a dog on a leash or a toddler into the
> equation and it gets far more complicated.

Yeah, well, there are idiots everywhere. Civility isn't promoted by descending to the least common
denominator. If someone is being antisocial by not observing the rules, you oughtn't reward them
with civility.

>
> I carry two noise-making devices on my rides. The first is what I call my courtesy bell, the old
> "rrrinnngg-rrrinnng" type and is used solely for pedestrian attention. It is unoffensive (to most)
> but a required defensive tool on crowded mixed-use trails. The second device is an air horn. This
> is a device which is produced for maritime use and puts out a whopping 120db. This is reserved
> solely for use on motorists on rare occasions. Granted it's a bit excessive but a necessary evil.

Ah, shock value. I like it!

Robin Hubert

 

[Robin Hubert]

"Jon Isaacs" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >
> >I've said it before but, what's the point? Cyclists find it irritating
when
> >motorists do it, and motorists don't do it to each other. Why? Because they know to stay to the
> >right and pass on the left, and to check before occupying the passing lane. Since this is
> >understood, no-one needs to perform such arcane acts. That's why someone might be annoyed.
> >
> > Robin Hubert
>
> 1. Being annoyed has to do with one's own mental attitude. A bell might
annoy
> you, it might not. That is really your choice. My post may annoy you or
it
> may not, that is also your choice. <g>

Ah, you don't annoy me. On the contrary, I value you for your contributary efforts.

>
> 2. I don't know where you ride but I certainly come upon joggers, riders, pedestrians etc who are
> moving about the road and are clearly unaware of
what
> is going on behind them.

Ah, yes, this is true. I do my best to avoid them. When I can't I like to, um, educate them ("hey,
stick to the right!").

>
> Some people choose to use a bell to wake them up. Car horns are there for
the
> same reason.

True enough.

>
> Personally I don't use a bell or a horn, I use my eyes and voice when it
is
> necessary.

Me too! ;-)

Robin Hubert