yelling at cyclists

I don't mean cars yelling. Do you ever yell at cyclists doing stupid things? I was out for a ride the other day, riding in the bike lane, and another biker was coming towards me. He was riding against the traffic. He almost made me crash, since it looked like he was going to take the inside, but then moved to take the outside. I started yelling at him to ride on the right side of the road.

I've also seen cyclists cut drivers off, blow lights and cause cars to slam on the brakes, etc.

A few weeks ago I almost turned into a cyclist. It was dark out. I was stopped at a light about to turn right. The light is right around a curve. I checked to make sure it was clear, start to make a turn, and around the corner comes a cyclist flying between cars and the curb. He blew right past the light.

-Matt

 

It is rare, but I confess that I do sometimes yell at cyclists when I see them doing stupid stuff. The other day I saw a cyclist taking up a whole traffic lane down a 40-50 mph 4-lane thoroughfare with no helmet, no light and the bikepath in full view. It's idiot bikers like that guy that give cyclists a bad name.

And speaking of people coming down the wrong side of the street, it's one of my major pet peeves when joggers do this. Not because I don't think they should, but because they invariably maintain the outside edge, making me go around them to my left and thus exposing myself to passing traffic. Since they are the one that can see the traffic as it's coming up behind me, shouldn't they be the one to take the inside lane and "stay to the right"?

 

I don't discriminate. I yell at everyone!
I'd have to agree though that there are plenty of cyclists who appear to be from planet 'Numptyhead.' Especially the ones who scare the living beejesuses out of me by passing within a half inch at mach 6 without saying anything.

 

They are just dumb people. Not dumb clyclists explicitly...just dumb people. Yes. I have have yelled at dumb people on bikes. Last week this 30 something hot thing on one of our highly traveled farm roads pulled over on the right side of the road taking up about 6 ft of it to answer her phone! Right in front of me. She did'nt even know I was coming up on her. I thought, now this is subjective, what kind of arrogance is this on her part to take up a lane to talk on the phone. As I rode past I said "Get off the road dumbass!" I'm single too. Oh well. I would'nt want to go out with someone who behaved that way anyway. It's like parking in the firelane at the grocery store to run in to get a Starbuck's.

 

I often yell at the boys in my cycling team(there only like 14 or 15 years old), But they do stupid things like riding in a group with no hands etc. Oh and worry about a chocolate bar... the bar fell on to the road and i was about 100 yards behind him so he had time to stop anf get off his bike walk back to the chocolate bar. Well just as i was about to pass he made it sound like he dropped something important(like a cellphone). So i swerved to miss it. Almost getting hit by a horse trailer.

And then i was in a race once. It was a schools race and the road were open. In New Zealand we ride on the left hand side of the road. Well some of the girls where trying to over take on the right hand side(the worng side). So being a good girl i yelled at them to get back to the left.

Marie

 

I love it when I get the chance to yell ...!

I got a pretty LOUD voice - I should measure in DB. I make people jumo out of their way or freeze. Specially pedestrians jaywalking. I yell a Good Morning!and they react instantly!

Since I can also squeal like the little girl in War of the Worlds. The puzzled look on people's face is priceless when they see me coming.

 

I'm like shannons dad, I yell at everybody. A couple of months ago, I yelled at two cyclists who were riding side-by-side on a fairly long and steep ascent. They were creeping up the hill -- with four cars lined up behind them. As I passed them, I yelled, "Car back, a##holes!"

A few days later, I met a group of about 30 people riding in a bunch and blocking the entire lane. That wouldn't have been so bad, except a truck that had probably been following them for a long distance took that opportunity to pass them. I had nowhere to go but the ditch... Needless to say, I was yelling at everybody -- the cyclists for blocking the road, the truck driver for passing, the state highway department for not mowing the weeds...

 

My biggest is folks who are out riding with their kids and one of two things is happening:

1) The kids have no helmets or helmets pushed way up on their forehead (the farmer position as we call it...like farmers wear their John Deere hats!)

2) The kids are wearing helmets correctly but the parent(s) aren't wearing them at all. I guess they don't want to see the kids skull split open but it is ok for the kids to see theirs!

 

I commute by bike a lot and I see other cyclists doing stupid things all of the time. Generally I don't yell at them. I used to but over the years I've found that it's not worth the effort. Occasionally if I see someone doing something particularly stupid or if I'm in a bad mood I'll yell at someone.

Just the other day on my way home I was stopped at a four-way stop light in the lane of traffic waiting for the green (to go straight across a very busy highway). While I was sitting there, (almost simultaneously) a rider came up from behind me and cut left across the oncoming lane so he could get up on the sidewalk to press the pedestrain X-ing button (even though there were plenty of cars there to trip the light) while a second rider coming up the intersecting highway from my right (against traffic on the wrong side of the highway) crossed right in front of me to join the other guy up on the curb in the pedestrian crossing area. When the second rider went by me, he looked at me as though I was the one doing something wrong. When the light turned green the first rider went about half-way through the cross-walk on the wrong side of the road and came zipping through oncoming traffic (to a chorus of horns) to get back over to my side while the second rider simply went straight through the cross-walk and continued down the wrong side of the road against traffic. Two idiots at the same time! I was embarassed to be there with them representing cyclists. It's riders like these that give motorists the bad impression of cyclists!

 

A couple in our neighborhood rides with their 3 kids some evenings: A girl - 13, a boy - 8 and a toddler that rides in a seat behind his dad. The Mom and Dad have cup holders mounted on their handlebars and ride with beer bottles (yes - glass bottles). None of them wear helmets. It drives me nuts because one of them is going to get hurt and it will probably be one of the kids and not the more deserving adults.

Here's my real pet peeve: Runners in the bike lane running against traffic and ignoring the wide open sidewalk 3 feet away. You're riding towards them and trying to look behind you to see if you can swerve out into the street and they just smile and wave. Yelling might be the cure for them.

 

Why invite stress. Its not your problem.

 

I refuse to yell....I favor the Darwinistic approach - survival of the fittest...if the idiocy continues and they tangle with a car, the car will win and then there's one less dumbass iritating me

 

the many opportunities to give strangers a piece of my mind is what drew me to cycling in the first place. however, i tend to reserve the yelling for the complete idiots. for your average idiot, i get more satisfaction from berating them.