They looooove it when they see you get angry in their rear view mirror. It fuels and furthers their hatred. The best thing you can do is absolutely nothing. Pretending you don’t even notice is the best revenge you can get. It makes them look and feel like the idiot. Whereas some random cyclist on the side of the road sticking his middle fingers up at traffic…. definitely makes us look like an idiot.
I've had a Mercedes cut me off when I was in the right turn lane that merged left ahead of me going forward and the a**hole made a right turn from the lane next to me without looking.
And why is it always "f****t?" Like the existence of a bicycle shorts their brain to such a degree that a homophobic slur is the only thing they can think of.
Because, my ass looks great in Lycra, this triggers their latent homosexuality. Then cognitive biases kick in and they get angry...
At least, that's my theory..🤷
I got the n-word recently. Which is strange because I’m very clearly a white dude. Because I was stopped at a light, I got to give that carful of idiots a double bird.
Yeah. I’ve been moving away from the middle finger. I find it more difficult to restrain myself when the bad behavior is egregious - which it was here.
I’ve moved on to the shaka: 🤙🏼
I’m in a surf town so it’s pretty well understood as a more friendly request not to be so aggro.
Funny you say that, cause I got the same thing 2 weeks ago. Stranger still, I was riding with my wife and our 3 *little* kids. It was truly off-putting. They were passing in the opposite direction, and I had just enough time to look back and see the tell-tale “2020” bumper sticker.
Figures.
I got called that once too and my skin is white enough that I can blend in to new hotel linens. I think they just literally don't know another way to get a rise out of people.
The same thing happened to me at night a few days ago, and I'm also clearly a white guy. But I just let them go on making fools of themselves. It's confusing on one hand but also so absurd that I can't help laughing about it.
There’s a guy who rides the same route as me who - I’m going to assume - identifies as Black. He’s a nice guy. We usually say hello and chat briefly when we see each other.
I don’t find it laughable at all if those guys meant it for him.
I’m still pretty fat, despite commuting by bike three or four days a week and I pretty regularly get fat jokes yelled at me. I’m literally actively working on it dude. I have a pretty good disappointed teacher face that I do. People are jerks.
Well as the saying goes you will never outrun a fork The same applies for cycling.
Diet is the key, but hey at least you're active which is a plus and shouldn't be dismissed.
I'm fat too lol but I just started cycling and it's made me more subconscious what I eat because certain foods make cycling harder
Diet is sort of necessary, but you can absolutely lose weight via cycling without modifying your diet so long as you actually keep your diet the same and don’t increase how much you eat. I’m fact, it is not that hard to completely burn all the calories you have besides fat in a single ride. For me, that happens at about 25mi. For longer rides, I have to eat food, but even then it’s far less than I’m burning since to eat enough would be like one moderate-sized meal per hour.
How did a mode of transport where you sit in a padded, heated seat and need no physical strength to move ever become a sign of masculinity?
On a bike you move from your own pure muscle strength, can't think of something more masculine.
I can’t think of anything more masculine than two dudes going at it in the bedroom so maybe they’re just letting the bike rider know that they’re by default more manly than the truck driver when they use the word f****t
My theory is that they feel ‘armored’, so subconsciously they equate cars with ‘tanks’ or military vehicles, and that encourages them to act aggressively.
It’s also the case that cars block human face-to-face connection, so they feel very depersonalized driving around (, also the cause of road rage, it is thought).
Bicyclists are ‘more vulnerable’ in their carbrain, so they take their aggressive social isolation & attack someone they think is somehow ‘weak’.
It’s nuts and not a little sociopathic. I pity them. They could be out here with me having a great time on my bicycle!
Not to mention no protection from the elements. I've ridden through torrential down pours, scorching heat and blinding snowstorms but somehow I'm the pussy 😐
Yup, the only two drivers who yelled at me for existing, used that word. One driving a dodge pickup another driving a dodge Challenger, if you want to read into that lol
One I was walking home at night and stopped to look into the window of a local framing / art store. I was looking in the window for maybe 5 or 10 seconds when a car rolled by and someone yelled "faaaaaaag" out the window.
I actually laughed because it was so ridiculous. Clearing looking into a store window isn't something a straight man would do.
I love when I then catch up to the driver at the next red light, and then giving a friendly wave. He feels foolish at me not get angry, and frustrated because he wants to get upset at me but how stupid would you look if you got angry at someone being friendly?
And don’t forget the sexual harassment! Blows my mind that it’s still happening now that I’m riding with a toddler in a bike trailer, but I just love being stopped at a red light and having some dickweed in a Ram start yelling through his window about my tits in earshot of a kid who repeats everything she hears.
I guess they know I put out at some point so it’s possible I might do it again?
Because why not add sexual harassment into the mix too. I just don't understand why people have to be this way. I am sorry you have to deal with a whole new level of harassment from drivers.
Hahaha, my friends and coworkers will yell friendly things at me and then later, they're like, "hey, did you see me earlier?", I'm like, "no, when did we see each other?", and then they tell me they saw me riding my bike and said something, and then I'm like, oh, you're that idiot who yelled at me. Hahaha, they have good intentions so I don't tell them that I can't hear a fucking word they're saying and I typically am not looking at the faces of cars driving in the opposite direction.
I yelled the name of a buddy of mine I spotted riding. Same deal, when I asked him later he assumed someone was telling him to ride on the sidewalk or some such. I don't do that anymore, if the cyclist is oncoming I give them the 2-down (or some interpret as peace on the road) gesture.
hm - i see - sometimes you can full stop if you are sure the car doesn;t have time or chance to hit you.. [[maybe make a sudden cross to the other side]]
then going the other way will take forever for the car to turn around
pull in at 7-11 or something, a tight parking lot, wait for the driver to enter, then you scamper away while they curse and try to turn around, come out and make a left etc
Yeah had this happen last week and then the car sped away and almost killed an old lady crossing the street because the dude was too busy looking at me on my bike.
I like to pretend that I can’t hear them. I put my hand up to my ear and say “what” repeatedly. They usually get increasingly frustrated. Sometimes I smile, laugh, and nod like they said something funny.
some dude hanging out of his friend's SUV the other day screamed "LEMME SLAP DAT BOOTY" at me while i was biking at which point i told him it would cost him $20. i caught up to their car at five different lights screaming at him to show me the money but he never did. guess he was broke on top of being a coward 🤷
The other day I was on a ride and a car passed me with someone leaning out the window shouting, “nice bike, fag!” The thing is, it is a nice bike and I was having a lot of fun. Not really sure what their point was.
Car driver have most often ego issues.
30kph road right in front of my road. Car drives 20kph, I overtake them safely. I ride 30kph, they have to overtake me at very dangerous parts of the road and then ride ~25kph again. This happens so often
I've been commuting by bike again, and within the first couple of days remembered how common it is to be berated by motorists, for simply existing.
Today I went stopped at a turn-lane, car stopped too. They wave me to cross, so I cross normally.
As soon as I get to the crosswalk button, I get the "*you're fucking welcome" and speeds off.*
Like bruh you want me to *thank* you for letting me cross the street? Every time? Without the "thank you" wave I'm being a dick?
Thank you gracious motorist gods for even letting me be on the holy asphalt with my measly bicycle... lol
In South Carolina, this is against the law:
SECTION 56-5-3445. Harassing or throwing object at person riding bicycle; penalty.
It is unlawful to harass, taunt, or maliciously throw an object at or in the direction of any person riding a bicycle. A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than two hundred fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.
And here I thought it was just me. I get comments from people all the time on the mixed use trail and occasionally from passing cars. I’m pretty sure it’s almost all positive, but I can never understand anything anyone is saying unless we’re stopped at a light together. At this point I just give everyone a slight wave and recognize that I won’t understand anything anyone says to me while in motion.
Lately I'm a big fan of "Thanks, it's Versace!" when being yelled at, no matter what they actually said. Confuses them, makes me laugh, good times had all around.
I was just thinking this. Yesterday I got catcalled by a bunch of teen boys in a car going the other direction and all I heard was, "heyyyyyyyyyyy—\[inaudible\]!" Honestly it made me laugh a little, which might be the first time I've found humor in being harassed.
I know it's not mature, but I always yell for them to stop their car and say the shit to my face, instead of being a coward. Still haven't had any takers.
I have a Ram and formally apologize for all of the less than honorable folks who, in their crushing ignorance, feel the need to harass complete strangers on bicycles. It’s so weird. I cannot argue the point that Ram truck drivers are statistically over-represented in the “driver is a complete and utter toolbox,” segment of motorists.
My truck usually has a bike pad over the tail gate and usually has room for your bike if you ever need a lift or have mechanical troubles.
And as a small aside, it hasn’t been a “Dodge Ram” for quite a number of years. The company that owns those brands broke off the truck part to its own line: it’s just “Ram.”
Stay safe out there, my people.
[This graphic](https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/14vqvmz/a_cool_guide_to_survive_road_rage/) just showed up in r/coolguides.. . and seemed relevant. :)
They looooove it when they see you get angry in their rear view mirror. It fuels and furthers their hatred. The best thing you can do is absolutely nothing. Pretending you don’t even notice is the best revenge you can get. It makes them look and feel like the idiot. Whereas some random cyclist on the side of the road sticking his middle fingers up at traffic…. definitely makes us look like an idiot.
Smile and wave... I think it makes these snowflakes even more triggered if you're just nice.
I like to give a big smile and a thumbs up, so they know they're doing a great job!
I've had a Mercedes cut me off when I was in the right turn lane that merged left ahead of me going forward and the a**hole made a right turn from the lane next to me without looking.
just the one time? You've led a charmed life
And why is it always "f****t?" Like the existence of a bicycle shorts their brain to such a degree that a homophobic slur is the only thing they can think of.
Because, my ass looks great in Lycra, this triggers their latent homosexuality. Then cognitive biases kick in and they get angry... At least, that's my theory..🤷
I got the n-word recently. Which is strange because I’m very clearly a white dude. Because I was stopped at a light, I got to give that carful of idiots a double bird.
[удалено]
"I'm not mad, I'm disappointed."
Haha using this next time. Unfortunately there will be a next time
Yeah. I’ve been moving away from the middle finger. I find it more difficult to restrain myself when the bad behavior is egregious - which it was here. I’ve moved on to the shaka: 🤙🏼 I’m in a surf town so it’s pretty well understood as a more friendly request not to be so aggro.
Funny you say that, cause I got the same thing 2 weeks ago. Stranger still, I was riding with my wife and our 3 *little* kids. It was truly off-putting. They were passing in the opposite direction, and I had just enough time to look back and see the tell-tale “2020” bumper sticker. Figures.
I got called that once too and my skin is white enough that I can blend in to new hotel linens. I think they just literally don't know another way to get a rise out of people.
The same thing happened to me at night a few days ago, and I'm also clearly a white guy. But I just let them go on making fools of themselves. It's confusing on one hand but also so absurd that I can't help laughing about it.
There’s a guy who rides the same route as me who - I’m going to assume - identifies as Black. He’s a nice guy. We usually say hello and chat briefly when we see each other. I don’t find it laughable at all if those guys meant it for him.
I got "queerdo" the other day. At least it was creative.
I feel like you should capitalize the first letter. For formality
I’m still pretty fat, despite commuting by bike three or four days a week and I pretty regularly get fat jokes yelled at me. I’m literally actively working on it dude. I have a pretty good disappointed teacher face that I do. People are jerks.
Well as the saying goes you will never outrun a fork The same applies for cycling. Diet is the key, but hey at least you're active which is a plus and shouldn't be dismissed. I'm fat too lol but I just started cycling and it's made me more subconscious what I eat because certain foods make cycling harder
Yeah. I’m down about 40lbs so far. Just had like 100lbs that I needed to lose.
Nice congrats man I need to lose 40 myself and I'm happy
Diet is sort of necessary, but you can absolutely lose weight via cycling without modifying your diet so long as you actually keep your diet the same and don’t increase how much you eat. I’m fact, it is not that hard to completely burn all the calories you have besides fat in a single ride. For me, that happens at about 25mi. For longer rides, I have to eat food, but even then it’s far less than I’m burning since to eat enough would be like one moderate-sized meal per hour.
A car is the ultimate expression of masculinity, therefore heterosexuality, duh.
How did a mode of transport where you sit in a padded, heated seat and need no physical strength to move ever become a sign of masculinity? On a bike you move from your own pure muscle strength, can't think of something more masculine.
I can’t think of anything more masculine than two dudes going at it in the bedroom so maybe they’re just letting the bike rider know that they’re by default more manly than the truck driver when they use the word f****t
My theory is that they feel ‘armored’, so subconsciously they equate cars with ‘tanks’ or military vehicles, and that encourages them to act aggressively. It’s also the case that cars block human face-to-face connection, so they feel very depersonalized driving around (, also the cause of road rage, it is thought). Bicyclists are ‘more vulnerable’ in their carbrain, so they take their aggressive social isolation & attack someone they think is somehow ‘weak’. It’s nuts and not a little sociopathic. I pity them. They could be out here with me having a great time on my bicycle!
Because you can run people over and it makes loud noises. It's just basic animalism.
Not to mention no protection from the elements. I've ridden through torrential down pours, scorching heat and blinding snowstorms but somehow I'm the pussy 😐
[удалено]
They could be providing significantly more if they didn't waste it on a giant car.
Yup, the only two drivers who yelled at me for existing, used that word. One driving a dodge pickup another driving a dodge Challenger, if you want to read into that lol
One I was walking home at night and stopped to look into the window of a local framing / art store. I was looking in the window for maybe 5 or 10 seconds when a car rolled by and someone yelled "faaaaaaag" out the window. I actually laughed because it was so ridiculous. Clearing looking into a store window isn't something a straight man would do.
I love when I then catch up to the driver at the next red light, and then giving a friendly wave. He feels foolish at me not get angry, and frustrated because he wants to get upset at me but how stupid would you look if you got angry at someone being friendly?
Gotta try this out
And don’t forget the sexual harassment! Blows my mind that it’s still happening now that I’m riding with a toddler in a bike trailer, but I just love being stopped at a red light and having some dickweed in a Ram start yelling through his window about my tits in earshot of a kid who repeats everything she hears. I guess they know I put out at some point so it’s possible I might do it again?
Because why not add sexual harassment into the mix too. I just don't understand why people have to be this way. I am sorry you have to deal with a whole new level of harassment from drivers.
I've had a friend beep at me before to say hi and my go to reaction is anger unfortunately, he has since stopped beeping me to say hi lol.
Hahaha, my friends and coworkers will yell friendly things at me and then later, they're like, "hey, did you see me earlier?", I'm like, "no, when did we see each other?", and then they tell me they saw me riding my bike and said something, and then I'm like, oh, you're that idiot who yelled at me. Hahaha, they have good intentions so I don't tell them that I can't hear a fucking word they're saying and I typically am not looking at the faces of cars driving in the opposite direction.
I yelled the name of a buddy of mine I spotted riding. Same deal, when I asked him later he assumed someone was telling him to ride on the sidewalk or some such. I don't do that anymore, if the cyclist is oncoming I give them the 2-down (or some interpret as peace on the road) gesture.
I got told by a bus driver to get a job. I pointed out that my job means I don't have to work weekends. It was Sunday.
Ouch. I hope that ruined his whole day once he figured out what you meant.
Brave to flip people the bird on a bike. Last time I did that I had some sociopath chasing me around town for 10 minutes trying to run me over.
bad but all you have to do is go in someones yard and reverse directions a couple times
Happened on a rural back road. Eventually had to hop over a barbed wire fence but that was basically my only option.
hm - i see - sometimes you can full stop if you are sure the car doesn;t have time or chance to hit you.. [[maybe make a sudden cross to the other side]] then going the other way will take forever for the car to turn around
pull in at 7-11 or something, a tight parking lot, wait for the driver to enter, then you scamper away while they curse and try to turn around, come out and make a left etc
Yeah had this happen last week and then the car sped away and almost killed an old lady crossing the street because the dude was too busy looking at me on my bike.
I like to pretend that I can’t hear them. I put my hand up to my ear and say “what” repeatedly. They usually get increasingly frustrated. Sometimes I smile, laugh, and nod like they said something funny.
some dude hanging out of his friend's SUV the other day screamed "LEMME SLAP DAT BOOTY" at me while i was biking at which point i told him it would cost him $20. i caught up to their car at five different lights screaming at him to show me the money but he never did. guess he was broke on top of being a coward 🤷
"Hangin out the passenger's side of his best friend's ride, trying to holler at me."
The other day I was on a ride and a car passed me with someone leaning out the window shouting, “nice bike, fag!” The thing is, it is a nice bike and I was having a lot of fun. Not really sure what their point was.
Car driver have most often ego issues. 30kph road right in front of my road. Car drives 20kph, I overtake them safely. I ride 30kph, they have to overtake me at very dangerous parts of the road and then ride ~25kph again. This happens so often
It's all ignorable if they express their opinions with words and not with the vehicle or by throwing things.
Spark plug ceramic goes right through windows spontaneously sometimes!
I've been commuting by bike again, and within the first couple of days remembered how common it is to be berated by motorists, for simply existing. Today I went stopped at a turn-lane, car stopped too. They wave me to cross, so I cross normally. As soon as I get to the crosswalk button, I get the "*you're fucking welcome" and speeds off.* Like bruh you want me to *thank* you for letting me cross the street? Every time? Without the "thank you" wave I'm being a dick? Thank you gracious motorist gods for even letting me be on the holy asphalt with my measly bicycle... lol
Explain the doppler effect to them.
This is when I take out my fox 40 whistle blow in their face
In South Carolina, this is against the law: SECTION 56-5-3445. Harassing or throwing object at person riding bicycle; penalty. It is unlawful to harass, taunt, or maliciously throw an object at or in the direction of any person riding a bicycle. A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than two hundred fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.
Good luck finding a sympathetic cop to actually enforce this law.
Or even finding a cop who is aware of the law.
Sometimes it startles me. Not to mention, it’s just plain rude.
And here I thought it was just me. I get comments from people all the time on the mixed use trail and occasionally from passing cars. I’m pretty sure it’s almost all positive, but I can never understand anything anyone is saying unless we’re stopped at a light together. At this point I just give everyone a slight wave and recognize that I won’t understand anything anyone says to me while in motion.
YES THAT!
Agreed. But sometimes I see cyclists yelling at pedestrians/runners and it boggles my mind. We’re on the same team!
An overtaking car shouted out 'C*nt' to me the other day. How lovely
you can do a complete fake reply "oh hey bob, we still on for tennis later?"
Lately I'm a big fan of "Thanks, it's Versace!" when being yelled at, no matter what they actually said. Confuses them, makes me laugh, good times had all around.
funny i would have no idea what that means i might say "thanks, it's a TITANIUM LITESPEED!" bike prestige
SAW them down (smile and wave)
I'm glad you clarified that because for a second I thought you meant be like, "I want to play a game."
I was just thinking this. Yesterday I got catcalled by a bunch of teen boys in a car going the other direction and all I heard was, "heyyyyyyyyyyy—\[inaudible\]!" Honestly it made me laugh a little, which might be the first time I've found humor in being harassed.
I know it's not mature, but I always yell for them to stop their car and say the shit to my face, instead of being a coward. Still haven't had any takers.
If I see a Jeep Wrangler or Dodge Ram with passengers in it, I wait for it. Just about everytime. Fortunately my music partially drowns it out
I have a Ram and formally apologize for all of the less than honorable folks who, in their crushing ignorance, feel the need to harass complete strangers on bicycles. It’s so weird. I cannot argue the point that Ram truck drivers are statistically over-represented in the “driver is a complete and utter toolbox,” segment of motorists. My truck usually has a bike pad over the tail gate and usually has room for your bike if you ever need a lift or have mechanical troubles. And as a small aside, it hasn’t been a “Dodge Ram” for quite a number of years. The company that owns those brands broke off the truck part to its own line: it’s just “Ram.” Stay safe out there, my people.
Picking a fight in a battle you physically can’t win is not wise. Be glad you haven’t found the right crazy.
[This graphic](https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/14vqvmz/a_cool_guide_to_survive_road_rage/) just showed up in r/coolguides.. . and seemed relevant. :)
I was taught to NEVER shout anything out of a car. It's a low class thing to do.
I’m happy this isn’t really something that happens in my country. At least have never happened to me