I was just cycling home from a nice day's climbing indoors. I slowed down for a motorist who was doing a rather strange turn in the road. I had no particular beef with the girl, she had chosen a silly place to a do a turn in the road and she was a bit slow with the gears, but I was in no particular rush and there wasn't much traffic around. I slowed down so that she could complete the manouvre before I got to where she was. As she drove off her boyfriend leaned out of the window and told me that I was currently fornicating and that my I was born before my parents were married (both untrue as it happens).

As luck had it, the car pulled up at the shop which is just a few doors down from my house which was my destination for that journey. I signalled, pulled over and asked the guy what he shouted at me and if it was important. It wasn't important he said, and repeated what he said before. He said a few other things too, all of which were rude and not very nice.

I'm not going to waste any more time with that very rude and agressive person, but I just wanted somewhere to vent my anger at having to share a world with people like him.

I'm even more annoyed because I clearly slowed down to give the girl some room to complete her rather clumsy manouvre. If anything was shouted then it should have been thanks, or at least a wave to say 'thanks for waiting mate'.

So, now my rant is out of the way... any similar stories?

(Shame I can't change the typo in the thread title. Can a mod remove the word 'motorists' if they get chance please)

it sounds like you were the scapegoat for her rubbish driving ,he couldnt shout at her so he took it out on you .hard luck mukka

You're more restrained than me. If someone was that horrible to me for being polite then I'd have rode the pushbike 'very close to the wing mirrors indeed' while they were in the shop, knowing I wouldn't be able to be traced ;)

Sounds like she may have been drunk actually, did you report them to the police?

From what I have learnt, it is a CRIMINAL OFFENCE to 'lean out and/or shout from a moving vehicle without due attention' -and that apparently includes trains-; it's in the Road Traffic Act of as far back as 1990. However, people are rarely prosecuted, and any prosecution generally is on grounds of 'Reckless Driving' and therefore probably only work if the shouter is the driver; I recall reporting the registration of a driver back in 1991 for this in London.
Loads of times since, though, I've seen schoolkids shouting to friends/'enemies' from buses, and drunken gangs of 30-something slappers on office-parties rolling down the window of a stretchlimo to shout their inebriated chat at complete strangers after midnight...

If you don't like being shouted at from vehicles, AVOID going to Scandinavia; apparently it's a national pastime in most towns in Norway, Sweden, finland and Iceland.

In some US States such as Kentucky, where some years ago a man was shot dead by police whom he shouted at in an offensive manner, they take a very strict line on it, with short gaol sentences/walking through town with a placard around your neck, etc. etc...:mad:

I could tell numerous similar stories, Ptigga. It is most likely due to the hatred yet another thoroughly incompetent motorist has for cyclists, brought on by their embarrassment about their poor manoeuvre. I get abuse all the time as a cyclist, from the saucy "Ooo, I wish I was that saddle!" (NB I am female), to strings of swear words, despite riding respectfully at all times. People riding bikes is just something some motorists will never get over, I'm afraid, and they feel the need to verbally abuse them. Suspect it is actually based on jealousy of our freedom and pert behinds ;)

Many a time when I have been cycling has an idiot shouted at me, one time a guy in a black vw golf as he overtook me shouted 'pedal faster you c**t' causing me to nearly fall. I havent seen the idiot again but if I do I won't hesitate to strike him in the jaw.

I've had that experience many times ptigga. I am and always have been fat and every now and again I come across some intellectual who thinks its a jolly good laugh to shout his observations about my weight (correct) and parentage (wrong) as he drives by. Once upon a time it used to hurt my feelings but I've long come to the conclusion that the people doing it are more worthy of my pity than anything else.

The worst case of this I had whilst I was working in Manchester. A collection of such morons used to drive by (usually speeding) in their company van while I was waiting for my bus home from work. They'd beep their horn, flash their lights, make hand signals and scream abuse as they sped past. They did this every day for 2 weeks until I finally lost my patience. I came prepared the next day and I snapped a photo of them as they went by, capturing their contorted faces, license plate and the company number and address perfectly. I promptly sent this to the managing director of the company with a letter informing him that if it happened again I'd be passing the issue onto the police.

Never saw them again.

From what I have learnt, it is a CRIMINAL OFFENCE to 'lean out and/or shout from a moving vehicle without due attention' -and that apparently includes trains-; it's in the Road Traffic Act of as far back as 1990. However, people are rarely prosecuted, and any prosecution generally is on grounds of 'Reckless Driving' and therefore probably only work if the shouter is the driver; I recall reporting the registration of a driver back in 1991 for this in London.

Yeah, I'm aware of that. It's come up a few times when I've reported people to the police for driving dangerously and the police have said "Well, it was jsut a near miss, they didn't actually knock you off your bike so we can't do anything about that but if they said a swearword then we can do them for that." I told the officer that I'm not willing to play along with that game and that they should be able to bring people in for dangerous driving (especially as they have the names and addresses of witnesses). But that's a whole different ball game.

You can also complain to the police if a stranger verbally abuses you even with no motor vehicles involved.

I'm not going to report this guy to the police because he's not worth it. It'll just be a waste of everyone's time.

Can you reveal the name of the company Fgibbon :P? I've got to admit I have a very short patience for cyclists it seems totally illogical but they frustrate me for some reason. I think it's because of past experiences with what seems to be the majority of obstructing, ignorant ahems that seem hell bent on being squished by buses but I do at the same time have a lot of respect for cyclists and do try my hardest to be patient. :)

Suspect it is actually based on jealousy of our freedom and pert behinds ;)

I dunno.

In 18 months, I've never been verbally abused when cycling, and obeying road traffic laws isn't too high on my list of priorities when riding a bike :)

And I've been reliably informed I have a nice bum too (but not when cycling) :o

When motoring, I have shouted at cyclists... but only strong words of encouragement when they're cycling up a big hill :D

Can you reveal the name of the company Fgibbon :P?

Sorry that happened about 8 years ago and I can't remember it now.

Ahh, ahh well good to hear you got your own back! :thumbsup:
Just sounded like someone from my work :hihi:!

I dunno.

In 18 months, I've never been verbally abused when cycling, and obeying road traffic laws isn't too high on my list of priorities when riding a bike :)

Guess you're bigger and scarier than me :D

I was just cycling home from a nice day's climbing indoors. I slowed down for a motorist who was doing a rather strange turn in the road. I had no particular beef with the girl, she had chosen a silly place to a do a turn in the road and she was a bit slow with the gears, but I was in no particular rush and there wasn't much traffic around. I slowed down so that she could complete the manouvre before I got to where she was. As she drove off her boyfriend leaned out of the window and told me that I was currently fornicating and that my I was born before my parents were married (both untrue as it happens).

As luck had it, the car pulled up at the shop which is just a few doors down from my house which was my destination for that journey. I signalled, pulled over and asked the guy what he shouted at me and if it was important. It wasn't important he said, and repeated what he said before. He said a few other things too, all of which were rude and not very nice.

I'm not going to waste any more time with that very rude and agressive person, but I just wanted somewhere to vent my anger at having to share a world with people like him.

I'm even more annoyed because I clearly slowed down to give the girl some room to complete her rather clumsy manouvre. If anything was shouted then it should have been thanks, or at least a wave to say 'thanks for waiting mate'.So, now my rant is out of the way... any similar stories?


How inconsiderate of these ill mannered vagabonds. I'll wager he was wearing a burberry baseball thingy and lots of that blink around his scraggy neck :rant:

When I used to ride a bike (in a considerate law-abiding fashion, I may add), I never had any problems when cycling round other places, but as soon as I moved to Sheffield, I got abuse shouted at me, spat at, and one git even tried to push me off as he drove past (the passenger did, that is). Maybe it's just a local phenomenon.

Erm, you have your revenge already. It was just him who was causing problems not her. I have a vague feeling he is probably totally dumped now.

Guess you're bigger and scarier than me :D

Alternatively, if you cycle like a psychopath, drivers will assume you are one and give you a wide berth :)

I slowed down for a motorist who was doing a rather strange turn in the road. I had no particular beef with the girl, she had chosen a silly place to a do a turn in the road and she was a bit slow with the gears, but I was in no particular rush and there wasn't much traffic around. I slowed down so that she could complete the manouvre before I got to where she was.

Clearly, the passenger decided you were to blame for the lack of motoring skills shown by the driver :loopy:

Erm, you have your revenge already. It was just him who was causing problems not her. I have a vague feeling he is probably totally dumped now.

One can only hope...

Cyclists are a menace on the roads.

Erm, you have your revenge already. It was just him who was causing problems not her. I have a vague feeling he is probably totally dumped now.


Good on her if she has dumped him. If that was my boyfriend my fist in his mouth would have interupted his vile language. Not that I want to encourage violence. :D But I hate impatient rude passenger seat drivers.

I was just cycling home from a nice day's climbing indoors. I slowed down for a motorist who was doing a rather strange turn in the road. I had no particular beef with the girl, she had chosen a silly place to a do a turn in the road and she was a bit slow with the gears, but I was in no particular rush and there wasn't much traffic around. I slowed down so that she could complete the manouvre before I got to where she was. As she drove off her boyfriend leaned out of the window and told me that I was currently fornicating and that my I was born before my parents were married (both untrue as it happens).

As luck had it, the car pulled up at the shop which is just a few doors down from my house which was my destination for that journey. I signalled, pulled over and asked the guy what he shouted at me and if it was important. It wasn't important he said, and repeated what he said before. He said a few other things too, all of which were rude and not very nice.

I'm not going to waste any more time with that very rude and agressive person, but I just wanted somewhere to vent my anger at having to share a world with people like him.

I'm even more annoyed because I clearly slowed down to give the girl some room to complete her rather clumsy manouvre. If anything was shouted then it should have been thanks, or at least a wave to say 'thanks for waiting mate'.

So, now my rant is out of the way... any similar stories?

Cheer up sleepy Jean,
oh waht can it mean,
to a daydream believer,
and a home-comming queen.
:thumbsup:

It's not just an anti-cyclist thing - I was once held up in Asda car park by a woman trying (and failing) to reverse park into a parking space. I had no choice but to wait for her as I couldn't get past or turn around, and gave her an extremely wide berth so as not to try and put her off or get in the way. I was in no rush so wasn't at all bothered by having to wait. In the end she gave up and drove off past me - as she did so, her OH put his window down and starting shouting and gesticulating at me! WTF???

You also have to remember that certain members of our society believe they have a devine right, to be able to perform three point turns in the middle of the road , whilst still holding a mobile phone to their ear throughout and needing almost a minute to complete the manoeuvre, and to be able to abuse any motorists kept waiting in such a manner, before they drive off erratically - causing a bus drivers to brake in an incident I recently witnessed.

Are the police interested?
No.

Cyclists are a menace on the roads.

That old chestnut. Got news for you mate, car drivers are also a menace on the roads.

I was just cycling home from a nice day's climbing indoors. I slowed down for a motorist who was doing a rather strange turn in the road. I had no particular beef with the girl, she had chosen a silly place to a do a turn in the road and she was a bit slow with the gears, but I was in no particular rush and there wasn't much traffic around. I slowed down so that she could complete the manouvre before I got to where she was. As she drove off her boyfriend leaned out of the window and told me that I was currently fornicating and that my I was born before my parents were married (both untrue as it happens).

As luck had it, the car pulled up at the shop which is just a few doors down from my house which was my destination for that journey. I signalled, pulled over and asked the guy what he shouted at me and if it was important. It wasn't important he said, and repeated what he said before. He said a few other things too, all of which were rude and not very nice.

I'm not going to waste any more time with that very rude and agressive person, but I just wanted somewhere to vent my anger at having to share a world with people like him.

I'm even more annoyed because I clearly slowed down to give the girl some room to complete her rather clumsy manouvre. If anything was shouted then it should have been thanks, or at least a wave to say 'thanks for waiting mate'.

So, now my rant is out of the way... any similar stories?

You wait, you get abused. You don't wait, you get abused. There is no winning sometimes.

No doubt he's just a angry man and will shout abuse at random people whenever he gets the chance....he probably also has a very small penis, which explains why he is very angry.

Cyclists are a menace on the roads.

Ha ha, yes we are.

Cyclists speeding at a whole 15 miles an hour and taking up a massive 5% of the road space. They're lethal.

I'm scrapping my evil bike and going right out and buying me a nice big 4 x 4, 'Bull Bars' a must. Then the world will be a safer place :hihi:

Many a time when I have been cycling has an idiot shouted at me, one time a guy in a black vw golf as he overtook me shouted 'pedal faster you c**t' causing me to nearly fall. I havent seen the idiot again but if I do I won't hesitate to strike him in the jaw.

I know someone who drives a black Golf...and would probably do something like that