Abuse from cars...any revenge stories?

el guapo

People usually yell stupid stuff at me when I'm riding home from swing shift in the dark. Most of my trip is on a blessed lit seperated paved cylcling path along a 55 mph road. So it would be hard for me to catch up and do anything back(I have yet to top 29 mph on flat land. So anyway, I figure turn the other cheek. I would rather control my frustration/anger at other people's ignorance of traffic law and general meanness than fire something back at them. I would venture to say that the vast majority of confrontations turn out with no real "winner" and anger decreases your ability to concentrate and enjoy your ride! So enjoy the cooler air of October and fall colors at the more visible pace of your bicyclye, and the great feeling of 20 mph rides along smooth pavement and ignore the idiots.

Glowingrod

Congrats on an admirable and appropriate reaction

werzel

friend riding along the waterfront in sydney was abused by twat in a convertable. caught up 500m down the road at lights, leant in, pulled out his keys, and threw them down a nearby stormwater drain

John Knees

Wahey!! Nice one.

A couple of my clubmates had a similar experience about ten years ago. They were riding past a T junction in Petworth when a Range-Rover came barging out in front of them.

They stopped the florid-faced idiot and tried discuss the error of his ways. That got nowhere - he blethered on about "demned cyclists" and what he would have done if they'd been in his regiment, so in the end Tom did exactly what you did - reached in grabbed the keys, which he then flung over the wall of Petworth Park House (local stately home).

Tom and his mate then went up to the local nick and to report their version of the the incident, just in case.

"You did WHAT?" said the copper on the desk. He turned round - "Here Sarge, come and listen to this". Between the giggles, the desk-copper police wrote the incident in the log, but nothing ever came of it.

blazingpedals

Great stories, everyone. Both of these stories seem pretty tame by comparison. While commuting to work, there was an intersection where I regularly had problems with 'right hooks.' That is, the cars would pull alongside me and then do a right turn, right through me. I finally decided to take control. First, I started taking the lane, starting a half block before the intersection. I also resolved to do what I could to 'take out' the next car to do it. Sure enough, one morning an older woman in a brand new luxury car passed me in the left lane and then right-hooked me. I dutifully put my foot out and pushed off. I still fell, but at least it kept me out from under her tires. As I picked myself up, she stopped long enough to poke her head out the window and ask if I was all right. I had no damage, but she didn't even wait for an answer before driving off - with a meter-wide dent in her rear quarter panel! I still wonder what her hubby had to say when she got home.

I'm not the hot-headed type; I'd rather analyze the situation and economize my reactions. Once a guy deliberately ran me off the road, then was stupid enough to get out of his car and start ranting at me, with his teenage son cowering in the front seat. As I stood there deciding what would be the fastest way to disable this guy - he was 6'2" and had a 60 inch waist - the woman who had been riding with me made the observation, "You're drunk!" That put him on the defensive, and when he tried to deny it she told him, "Well then pull up your pants!" Of course NO pants were going to stay up with a belly like that! He blubbered something unintelligible, then decided he'd better just go home and have another beer. That left me relieved that I didn't have to hurt him, but the closure wasn't there, if ya know what I mean. We had another 15 miles to do after that. By then I was cooled off, but the woman was more steamed than ever! We reported the incident as soon as we got back. The sheriff knew him as a regular, um, problem. He never bothered us again. That's closure enough for me.

Batesy

I knew a couple of guys who were couriers in London. One of their favourite tricks for revenge in heavy traffic was to open the rear door or boot (trunk) of the car that had cut them up. Due to the traffic the car driver would never be able to catch them (certainly not after having to get out and shut the door/boot anyway).

I've had one incident where some lads in a soft top car fired a water pistol at me as I was riding along. The road we were on doubles back on itself and a cycle path cuts through the short part leading to a toucan crossing. I rode through and pressed the button, bringing them to a stop at the red light. I then emptied the contents of one of my bottles all over the occupants and shot off down the cycle path again.

__________________
~Dave~______________
Gratia Dei, sum quod sum.

spacefuzz

i had some kids do a few laps yelling at me and running me off the road. unfortunatly for them i followed them home. they wanted to fight, but once i made it clear i had no qualms about beating them all into the ground they apologized.

another time i was making a left turn, so took the lane. after signaling a guy in a suv floored it around me, his mirror missing me by 2 in. so i caught him 2 blocks later as he was pulling into a parking garage. he didnt take me explanation of being aloud on the road well and did a lot of screaming and swearing at me. so i turned to his 12 year old son in the pasanger seat, who looked very terrified of his angry father. and told him to make sure he never turned out like his dad and rode away.

Chris516

Mark, While I didn't quote you, I can say, you aren't the only one!!!! The first time(2003), someone tried to run me off the road, I chased them for over a mile into, the parking lot of the local mall. I had not noticed that they have 'one-way' arrows for every lane of the parking lot. Well, I noticed one of the arrows at the last minute and, as a result of not turning hard enough, I crashed into a parked car, getting a hair-line fracture in my wrist. I was on a dumb-ole' second-hand Sears 10-Speed at the time. Since then, every driver who has done some offensive and, even illegal deed, I have caught. I have scared every driver I have caught because, they didn't think I could go up to 50mph. The difference has been my http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBk...10080&spid=9358

It is a 24-Speed racing bike.

I live in Duluth, Minnesota(USA) on the state line with Wisconsin, 2hrs. from the USA-Canada border and, on the shores of Lake Superior.

Ryanotokyo

Beautiful story. Heard a similar one a while back about a bloke who was harrassed on his way home only to find the car parked outside his house - it was his daughter's date. Hahaha.

Ryanotokyo

I did a similar thing this evening. Taxi tried to "squeeze" past me on a one way street and turn. I similarly pushed off the car with my foot, falling over in the process but putting a good scratch on his taxi. He stopped and insisted on calling the police, who, when they eventually got there, completely berated the old geyser for wasting their time. It was great.

Wouldn't want to make a habit of it though. Certainly wish my "Danlite" wasn't broken. It really did seem to keep the eejuts a bit further away.

Chris516

I am tempted to try that......the next time some jerk tries something.

Ryanotokyo

Don't. Please don't. Take down the number and report them. It's not as exciting, but you will live to fight on. We need you.

Chris516

Well, There are two 'non-legal' reasons for not doing it:

1. Like someone mentioned when they did that, the momentum of doing that, knocked themselves over.

2. It is so much easier to take the plate # because, it won't make you fall over.

Ryanotokyo

Exactly. I felt wonderfully vindicated and was luckily unhurt, but if you can avoid the impact in the first place, then do so.