Let me guess, Harley rider?

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--Chris

Yep.. Loud ass, leather vest with no shirt on. Fucking hate those idiots.

Lots of motorcycle groups where Pam and I ride. Never had an issue with them. Now, guys driving diesel pick ups with giant pipes sticking out the back are another issue

Yes. That's a daily issue around here. Whether it's riding, walking the dogs or running. I'm in redneck hell.

      
Yes, I did back in 2003, it was my last long ride over the coast highway and back up on Mullholland on Saturday morning before I was to leave the following Tuesday for Ironman Canada. I was coming up to a sweeping bend when a jerk coming down on his motor cycle came around the corner lost control and swerved right over into my lane almost hitting me head on he was going around 60 mph plus, mind you it felt like a 100mph with him missing me by inches

As he went past me I gave him the finger, my mistake as a couple of minutes later he came back up to me riding alongside swearing and cursing me out, I guess he was hyped up from him almost losing control and killing both of us, anyway his motor cycle never looked so big right next to me, he told me a few choice words and then turned his bike into me and knocked me off cursing me out.

I went flying as you can imagine, I guess he thought he could ride off but a couple of cars came around the corner as he was part way through his U turn and he had to stop, they got his license plate number. I got up thought wow I escaped that one pretty good, so off I rode home noticing my hip was very sore, got home then called the wife who was at work to come and take me to the ER as I could hardly walk. Turns out I had a broken pelvis, so that ended my IMC trip the following week.
Police found the guy they didn’t prosecute him though as there was no proof he did it on purpose. I was not able to sue him as he had nothing, but I did get $10k from his insurance as that was the full amount of his policy, good job I wasn’t really injured.

After a couple of months when I got back to riding I was coming up Mullholland one Saturday morning I think it was the first time coming back up there and guess who was waiting by the side of the road yes mister jerk, he tried to intimidate me then road off, it happened a couple of weeks later but this time I got off my bike and walked towards him as I was sick of this but he drove off, I told my attorney about it and the police were informed, not sure if anything was ever said to him but I thought enough of this as nothing good could come of it so from that day on I never road Mullholland on a Saturday I would use other canyon roads to come back home from the coast. So, as you can imagine I don’t have much regard for motor cyclists after those encounters. He was on a sports bike and obviously liked to ride the canyons too fast, hope he got what he deserved one of those days, Cheers LA Rob

I've never understood that mentality from people on motorcycles. I pass the signs all the time that say something along the lines of "Look twice, save a life...motorcycles are everywhere" and always think that two wheels are two wheels. We should be in it together!

I agree. Around here there to busy acting like tuff guys while they ride around with 10 other guy's. Mouthing off to a motorist or just acting like general assholes.

Yep, on weekend afternoons, I now and then encounter likely intoxicated Easy Rider Wannabees (no chance in hell there are real ones where I live) who think it is funny to either buzz cyclists or silently coast up to them and then hit the gas....

I collect their plate numbers, as there is a chance that at some point I might see them parked in front of one of the Hipster places in Town.

This...however, recently Prius/Leaf/Tesla drivers have been the biggest offenders. I'll be at a red-light on the right side of the lane (which goes straight and right - not just to the right), and then all of the sudden, there's a car on my left side cutting very close to me to turn right on red.

Has anyone noticed that Prius drivers are the worst? I'm not saying this because I hate the Prius (I do), but Prius drivers either give plenty of room when passing, or stomp on the gas to buzz past, giving 3 inches instead of 3 feet/1m. Nameste, motherf*cker.

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

But they're saving the environment....

"Save a tree, kill a cyclist."

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

The issue with the Prius is twofold: first, they have terrible visibility and second is that they are really quiet so you don't get the auditory warning that you do with traditional cars.

Got trolled pretty well by a Harley-ed up biker gang once. I was at a mountaintop cross with a group of cyclists - also a war memorial. And we were joking around, doing our group photo. And this gang of like 7-8 big, gnarly guys walks up, and 300lbish guy one starts sticking his finger in our faces, "YOU F***** NEED TO SHOW SOME RESPECT TO OUR VETERANS. SOME PEOPLE COME HERE TO PAY RESPECT AND YOU GUYS ARE PRANCING AROUND MAKING NOISE LIKE IT'S A PARTY." He goes on for a while. Most of us are looking for escape routes.

But then he stops, and was like "Just kidding! Your heard how much noise our bikes make? And apparently one guy among us was buddies with him and probably set up the joke, and they start joking around. Ended with "Have a safe ride, guys!"

Once I also got into it with some more cafe-racer type guys on another mountaintop - they'd buzzed us pretty close. We were going nose-to-nose, then he looked down at my Sidis. Then looked at his own Sidis. And it just defused the whole thing. Brotherhood through overly-expensive Italian bike gear.

Since I have been riding motorcycles for 67 years, and bicycles for about the same amount of time(actually started on triathlon bikes 35 years ago, completing my 384th triathlon yesterday) I have a simple reply to your encounter: don't give a moto rider the "finger"! Other note: I am also a Harley rider and I acknowledge the "tough" guy angle, not to be confused with the 1 per center angle, but we use the local Flatlander Hog club(10 riders to be exact) for the Ironman 70.3 Buffalo Springs Lake triathlon, and for 28 years they have been a dependable, safe and reliable transporter of race officials. So, please don't think we are all bad! Safe and happy riding in the future to you!!

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Mike Greer

What's interesting is that when you look at Harley demos, they tend to be dentists, lawyers, well-off retirees (eg, union), etc. However, there are still rednecks among them, not to mention what riding a Harley does to dentists...;)

Most of the a-holes on nice motorcycles, "off-road" trucks, etc. that I run into tend to be younger and usually living at home or with several roommates because they spend all of their money on their motorcycle/truck.

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"Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps"
Blog = http://extrememomentum.com|Photos = http://wheelgoodphotos.com

I agree with you. My uncle has a Harley. Very nice guy. Those dentists, etc. are probably all very nice people. There's just something about dressing up like a pirate and riding around on a motorcycle that turns the majority of them into a holes.

Really just like there's triathletes vs roadies on bikes it's the same on motorcycles. Harley guys will wave to other Harley guys but never a sport bike and vice versa. If the Harley guys and sport bike guys don't even associate with each other forget about them caring about you on your road bike, two wheels be damned.

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--Chris

When I was still training pretty heavy for tris I encountered a chapter of the Cossacks gang about 1-2x per week. You can imagine what happened when they encountered a chick on a tri bike in goofy spandex, huffing & puffing along. Every time these guys would pass me...they'd slow down, move over, & do that low one- hand in the air acknowledgement. Maybe ten, maybe thirty, didn't matter how many riders there were. They all did this, every time.
On the flip- side, it got so bad with the small cars my mantra got to be " the smaller they are the closer they are." More small cars passing way too close than I can count. You just never know who/ what is a danger anymore when you're out riding.

 
I almost always get friendly greetings and waves from motorcyclists when I'm riding. Many of them clearly think we are kindred spirits, allied in a world dominated by dangerous 4-wheel vehicles. So, as much as I detest the obnoxious noise they make, I return the friendly greetings.

To echo others, I seem to have problems with Prii. I don't want to get too political here, but my closest encounters have all been with lefty cars with lefty bumper stickers, Volvos, Subarus, etc. There's a Volvo +Bernie sticker on Old La Honda road that has nearly run me off the road multiple times. I don't know why they have it out for me. I didn't vote for Donald.

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My latest book: "Out of the Melting Pot, Into the Fire" is on sale on Amazon and at other online and local booksellers

Yes the terrible visibility was one reason we got rid of our Prius

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

I've posted on here (I think) and FB about motorcycle riders being the issue more than cars. It's so bad I'm starting to get an attitude toward them when I'm in a car. They want car drivers to be aware yet don't give us the same consideration. They always buzz close and think it's cool to make their bike backfire as they pass. I've been to a local groups FB page and read them bitching about cyclists on the road yet in the same post bitch about cars not giving them space. I've pointed out the hypocrisy but they just lost their mind...then I was banned. It's be easier getting a Bernie Sanders supporter to endorse Trump.

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

Same here. It might be luck, but I have liked every motorcyclist that I have encountered while riding because they see the roads as 2 wheels vs 4 instead of motorized vs nonmotorized. I have even had a couple warn me that there was bad gravel on switchbacks ahead or if there was a storm in the direction I was heading. Black pickups who "roll coal" or worse, ATV riders on country roads, are a completely different matter.

I've had motorcycle riders give me their point down signal they give to other motor cycle guys. A lot of my friends that ride bikes also have motorcycles too.

I've (proudly) never driven one. I have no desire. I do my part for the enviro, but I believe it's far more enviro-friendly to keep my 17-year old ranger and use E-85 rather than buy a brand new car with such a large environmental impact from a manufacturing/battery standpoint.

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"The person on top of the mountain didn't fall there." - unkown

also rule 5

E-85? Don't make me laugh.