General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you Rss Feed  
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2010-03-26 12:00 PM
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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
lisac957 - 2010-03-26 10:38 AM
kagoscuba - 2010-03-26 7:42 AM A church?  Oh, I would have HAD to say something like "Would Jesus Honk?"   


Lol, yeah a church parking lot might be one of the only places I'd actually say something!

When I get buzzed, I often gesture and point with my left hand to "MOVE OVER" and shake my head dramatically. When I get honked at I will grin like an idot and wave "hello" like I know the person - like maybe they were just saying "hi" to me and I'm saying "hi" back (that really pizzes people off for some reason). I usually get flipped off either way.

I'm too scared to say something when I catch up to cars. You never, ever know what's going to happen.



 


haha, I like to do that too.

Most of the time I'm a pretty "assertive" biker, in that I mean I take whats mine.  If I'm entitled to xx part of the road, I take it when I need it.  Rather than give the car the option of squeezing by me and buzzing me, I may just physically not let him pass (i.e. slower congested areas, tight winding roads etc) but never for too long.  I do this a lot near stop signs/red lights and take my spot in line like a car.  Same if I'm at or very near the speed limit, no one should be passing me then, so I take the lane and don't let them.  I'm under the impression that it is legal (at least I was told, I have not done due diligence to confirm) that I can take 3 feet of the ridable road and an entire lane if there are two, and if I'm traveling at a speed not impeeding traffic (i.e. at the speed limit) I can take the lane.  Cars might be pissed if they think they can sqeeze around me, but I feel a whole heck of a lot safer.

Again, not saying I ride recklessly or that I purposefully annoy cars, but when its dangerous, I'll try to ride to make it less dangerous, even if that means taking more than my share of the lane and making a car wait.   I think its much safer for me, and I haven't gotten much backlash from cars, cause 90% of the time this is when I'm flying down a hill and at their speed.  In every other scenerio, I always ride as far to the right as is safe.


2010-03-26 12:36 PM
in reply to: #2750010

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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
My husband has caught up to a few and had a few altercations.  Me, not so much.

When I was biking, I did have one guy go around me and then cut back to the right as close in front of me as he could apparently to try and make a point that I was in his way.  He was driving a POS pick-up and it didn't like to swerve.  He almost lost control, half ended up in a ditch and just barely made it back on the road.  All the while, I'm right behind him laughing as obviously as I can.  When he recovered, I saw him glance in his rear-view mirror and I waved.  Man, was he pissed!

Actually, I figured out as a teen learning to drive in Boston (back in the dark ages) that the fastest way to tick off the jerks is to blow them a kiss.  Man, does that send them into a rage!  It works great on a bike, too. ;-)

Edited by GLC1968 2010-03-26 12:36 PM
2010-03-26 1:27 PM
in reply to: #2750431

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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
lisac957 - 2010-03-26 9:38 AM
kagoscuba - 2010-03-26 7:42 AM A church?  Oh, I would have HAD to say something like "Would Jesus Honk?"   


Lol, yeah a church parking lot might be one of the only places I'd actually say something!

When I get buzzed, I often gesture and point with my left hand to "MOVE OVER" and shake my head dramatically. When I get honked at I will grin like an idot and wave "hello" like I know the person - like maybe they were just saying "hi" to me and I'm saying "hi" back (that really pizzes people off for some reason). I usually get flipped off either way.




 


This is what I do,, just knowing that being nice and friendly will upset them usually makes me laugh
2010-03-26 2:00 PM
in reply to: #2750576

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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
InnerAthlete - 2010-03-26 11:15 AM Sometimes they might regret it: In the last car that buzzed me the people were screaming so loud and driving so fast they lost control, crossed the road in front of me (barely missing me: very SCARY) and they ended up in a roller-over crash. They survived, but I was terrified about a lawsuit for months afterwards, because when I gave my report to the Sheriff, one of the officers kept implying that I had somehow CAUSED the crash.


I would have almost looked forward to a lawsuit - they almost run you over, could have easily overcorrected the other way and crushed YOU, and I would assume that witnessing the crash that close to you was somewhat traumatizing.  Did you start to avoid that stretch of road? Or become more anxious about cars zipping past you?  Those would be potential PTSD symptoms.  Especially if they lasted more than 1 month (less than that is an acute stress disorder - if you experienced significant distress or impairment for at least 2 days but less than 1 month).  For that matter, if it was over 6 months from the accident, you could have delayed onset PTSD - triggered by the flood of memories and recollections brought up by the lawsuit.

I would look at it as being similar to getting a lawsuit from the mugger that holds you up, then gets hurt making his escape.  I would be pretty outraged to get blamed for the actions of others that posed an imminent threat to MY safety.
2010-03-26 2:22 PM
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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
Personally, I try not to react at all. 

Sometimes people try to change lanes around you and cut back in front of you.  You're not really in any danger and you know they aren't trying to scare or hurt you, but sometimes I try to let drivers know that if you're going to change lanes to get around me...just wait till you are completely past me to change back into the lane...you don't need to start chaning back into the lane as you are passing me.

But if a driver purposely tries to be malicious or honks their horn...I completely ignore them.  They want to get a reaction out of you.  If I got to them at a stop light, I would simply stop behind them, make sure they see me staring at their license plate, and carry on.  I don't see how yelling solves the problem.  If anything, it will only intensify it.  And the guy on the 20 lb bike usually loses that fight.
2010-03-26 2:32 PM
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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you

A few months ago my wife and I are on a ride and we get buzzed by a mini van. This is right at the point where the road goes from 2 lanes to 1 lane and there are no other cars on the road. We are a bit shaken since it was so close and we keep riding. I notice the van turn a few blocks ahead. As I get to the place the van turn I see it parking at a hair salon and I proceed to sprint up to it. the driver gets out and is an older lady. I roll up and ask her to pay attention to her driving. She gives me a puzzled look and I tell her she just about hit me and my wife. She acts uninterested and keeps walking. I then get more angry and tell her to pull her head out of her a$$ and pay attention. She then tells me to mind my own business. This sets me off and I really lay into her telling her that my life is my business and ask her if I killed her would it be her business. I then use about every foul word I can think of, include those most offensive to women.

I don't think it even phased her that she about ran two people over...



2010-03-26 2:40 PM
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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
Ha, just last night I nailed a car with a giant wad of spit.  I was out running, and waiting patiently to cross the street (even if there HAD been a crosswalk, these idiots would nail you).  A car was turning left, so oncoming traffic was stopped.  The guy right behind the stopped car was apparently really really important, so he swerves onto the shoulder (where I'm standing) to pass.  Missed me by an inch.  The worst part, is that the two cars behind him saw me, and did the same thing.  The first guy I was just amazed and like "WTF", the second guy got the bird (the third guy saw it too), and the third car... SPLAT.  He knew it too, because his break lights flashed briefly when it hit.  I think it ticked him off, but he realized he really didn't want to f with me.
2010-03-26 2:46 PM
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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you

I just recalled an incident where we caught up to a 'heckler'.

My husband and I were coming back into town after a ride and we were tired.  We were admittedly moving slow coming up this short hill and I remember thinking how pleased I was that the car behind us didn't try and pass us since he couldn't see ahead (neither could we).  When we got to the top it roared past us, honking, yelling something to the effect of 'get off the road' and nearly swiping me.  My H chased him down and caught him at a stop sign where the driver had to wait to turn left.  My H politely knocked on this guys' passenger window and the guy rolled it down.  My H told him that we have every right to be on the road and that yelling, honking and cutting it so close is dangerous and illegal.  Much yelling ensued.  Meanwhile, I'm two cars back from them waiting patiently to make my left turn and praying that my H looked across the street.

There was a cop finishing up a traffic stop across the intersection who stood there and watched.  My H did see him and asked the driver if he would like to go talk to the cop with him so that they could clarify the law.  The guy said 'yeah, lets go see who is right" and when my H biked over to the cop, the guy took off.  We relayed the story to the cop but I seriously doubt anything came of it.

I'm just thankful that there was a lady in this guys' passenger seat so that my H toned down his original planned attack a bit. Wink

2010-03-26 2:51 PM
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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
tri808 - 2010-03-26 2:22 PM
If I got to them at a stop light, I would simply stop behind them, make sure they see me staring at their license plate,


Or make sure they see me pulling out my cell phone and snapping a photo of them and/or their license plate! I have yet to have the time to do this one, but I would not hesitate to.

 
2010-03-26 4:23 PM
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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
I've (mostly) stopped confronting people in their cars.  Before my son was born, I did it all the time, but with my boy around now its just not worth it.

Twice I've been turned in front of by company trucks.  I simply memorize the number on the side of the truck and call the company to relay how their employee was driving a company vehicle.  Both times I've spoken directly to the manager and both times the managers said they've had complaints about the the drivers before.  And that this would be the final complaint. 
2010-03-26 5:02 PM
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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
LostSheep - 2010-03-26 6:14 AM

Let it go. Get a tag number, call it in and ignore it. 


Done this, po po don't give a unless you have been hit. It's rather frustrating as you don't want to be hit (it hurts) and nearly getting hit is almost as bad...

I've chased down a few and left some rather nasty and $$$ marks/dents on their cages too. Never had one person get of their car, living near Seattle I'm surrounded by the most passive aggressive people ever. They simply don't know what to do when actually confronted.

Anyways, I stopped looking for drivers out to kill cyclists and stopped finding most of them. For the few that remain, I get their plate number, do a little research and find their personal details and then start my own campaign of harassment. This includes friendly birthday cards from the cyclist you tried to kill, Christmas cards reminding that Santa puts drives that try to run over cyclists on the naughty list, magazine subscriptions to alternate lifestyle publications (they mostly seem to be rednecks and I'm guess homophobic too), cycling mag subscriptions, literature on bed wetting as an adult and other related subjects, letters from fake girl friends... you get the point.

It's kinda fun.

PS, my wife was run off the road on purpose years ago but one of these drivers and left for dead. Luckily the care behind saw it go down and got them pulled over. They paid $$$ for their hit and run.


2010-03-26 8:42 PM
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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
I'm not proud of this as it does not help cyclists.  At the time, I was just getting over shingles and was on a pain killer.  That may have affected my judgment.

A couple of years ago a car swerved at me and laid on the horn, then took off...only to get stuck at a red light 50 yards up the road. 
As I apporached, the guy on the passenger side rolled down his window and before he could say anything, I started a verbal assault that would make a sailor either blush or fly out of the car ready to have a go.

When the guy turned inward I thought he was reaching for a gun, so I started to go into the window figuring my odds would be better close in than backing away.  It turned out to be a phone.
I was glad I never quite made it in the window.  I was more glad that it was a phone.

A buddy of mine is a martial arts instructor.  I was with him when a similar incident happened.  He had a polite discussion with the driver and no tempers flared.  Much better way to handle things. 
2010-03-26 9:31 PM
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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
Riding on a device that travels on two tires that hold approx. 115 PSI of air, I'm sure you've had the experience of unwittingly running over a pebble at just the right angle so that the pebble became a projectile that shot out from under your tire.

This happened to me once and the pebble boinged off of a passing car. Initially I was worried that the driver was going to stop and give a bad time about it, but either he didn't realize it happened, or he didn't care, since the vehicle was a heap anyway, or maybe he didn't realize that the pebble came from under my bike, or maybe he thought if I'm crazy enough to throw rocks at passing cars it's not worth the trouble to stop.

After that happened, I thought it would be great to have the ability to be able to do that at will, especially at hecklers in passing vehicles.

I have been heckled in the past, but it hasn't happened in a while, and I do my best not to give anybody any reason to heckle me in the first place.
2010-03-26 9:48 PM
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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
Have had numerous encounters with Haters as we all have.

I call them Haters, because when they see me biking/running, as they are driving in their car washing down a Hoho with their Big Gulp wearing pants that are just a bit too tight I remind them of their broken new years resolutions to lose weight and get in shape, therefore they hate on me.  

I feel that is enough of revenge for me, as I secretly laugh inside. Then, I put the plate in my phone and report the car to the police. It may help that my brother is the chief of police.

However, I was riding home from a Ride of Silence and this car changed lanes and almost took me out. Irony.
I did catch up the car at the red light. The driver refused to look at me. I knocked on her window scared the crap out of her. The others drivers in the cars rolled down their window thinking I was going to ream her.
I politely reminded her that I am someones daughter, sister,wife, and friend, and dying was not on the agenda just yet. 
 
 
2010-03-26 11:00 PM
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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
She pulled into a church?  I would have gone in and grabbed the pew seat next to her and when you say prayers for the sick I would have asked everyone to pray for her.
2010-03-27 8:23 AM
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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
I used to have problems with drivers, but not a single one has heckled, swerved, blew their horn, or anything since I started riding this:

Bike with Machine Gun


2010-03-27 6:15 PM
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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
I am a cop so I definetly would mess with them. I would inform them of their stupidity and then carry on. Also I don't suggest people do this, but I am very confrontational and don't put up with bully's. I have ridden up to the driver's door and placed my body against the door. Then I chewed them out. If they tried to get out they would have to push me out of the way, which wasn't going to happen. It wasn't safe but he was being reckless and most people curl up into a ball when they are called out infront of people.
2010-03-27 6:39 PM
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Subject: RE: Catching up to the people that Heckle or buzz you
As mentioned before, I kill them with kindness. Igive them a big old smile and a wave. They love it.
2010-03-27 7:02 PM
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