Except the OP specifically asked about yelling BACK.


Hence the distinction.

Almost every ride and every run some FOOL does something stupid. When I am ZEN I am calm and just let it go but lots of times a YELL at cars that cut me off while riding and people on electric scooter going the wrong way on a path when running. If you don't let them know they are doing something STUPID they will continue, Levels of hostility a variable depending level of infraction.

Your only human!

I've never been in a yelling match where I was stopped toe to toe with someone.

Things that have happened:
-The typical "fuck you" to a car doing something illegal and intentionally aggressive

-Being cussed at after stating very plainly and flatly "could you please use a leash for your dog on the trail?" Entitled dog owner culture drives me freaking nuts, and we are dog owners.

-Being cussed at by a runner who I asked why they were running literally 2 feet off the center yellow line on a road in the middle.........I think I asked if they were "ok" also because they seemed really off. Just don't approach crazy I guess.

-Calling the cops on some kids of trash parents who allowed them to use their moto dirtbikes on the local greenway. I waited like 5 min then rode my bike to the town homes I guessed the lived at. Sure enough, parked right out front. Had pics of it running on the greenway and at the house. Never saw/heard of that one again.

-No raised voices and no yelling, but I told a private company student driver car to stop using our cul-de-sac about 30 times a day as a training ground. We have kids playing out there and that shit was disrespectful and annoying. I told him it was excessive since it wasn't once or twice a day once per week, but more like 10, 20, 30x a day every day. It mostly stopped, been much better.

Nice.... I'll use this some time in the future.

How often does this stuff come up with y’all?


I know you had specifically asked NOT for info on Motorist Ugly Incidents, but really that's all I have.

There is the usual annoying idiocy of motorists - almost on every ride.

But about I would say ounce or two a year, and I've been riding for about 30 years now, there is the full-on melt-down, loose their complete brains ugly incident with a motorist.

This past summer, while on a club ride ( we ALWAYS ride in a tight 2-up pace line), A motorist swerved abruptly in front of us and slammed the brakes on. Thankfully none of the riders were hurt, but the woman in the car was completely beside herself - about us "blocking" the road. She was absolutly freaking out! Our club has a policy & protocol to NOT escalate and have just one person calmly deal with the motorist. I know that can be hard to do, to stay calm - but it is the best thing to do. I've been on rides not with my club but with random riders where something similar happened at it got REALLY ugly, really fast. Driver out of the car, making physical threats. Other riders pounding on the car or kicking it with their cycling shoes and leaving permanent marks!

You have to understand that the whole of the SYSTEM is biased towards supporting the motorist, and against the cyclist, so ANY offensive actions you take, whatever they are, may come back to haunt you, and YOU, the cyclist may end up getting charged with something - even though the driver was a complete idiot and may have even driven illegally!

Bottom line - stay calm. Get is much info as you can. Secure witnesses. Take pictures videos. and then submit a report to the local police.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I try very hard to not escalate and try to always walk away from confrontation. My philosophy is to avoid escalation from people who have less to lose than I do. There are many people out there who have no problem serving 30 days if they feel their honor is challenged or they feel disrespected.

guessing ... Warden Avenue, somewhere N of Elgin Mills, S of Ravenshoe?

guessing ... Warden Avenue, somewhere N of Elgin Mills, S of Ravenshoe?

Bingo! :-)

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I'll bite.

The following stats are for the US.

About 900 people per day get medical treatment for a dog bite, and about 16 of them are hospitalized.

About 200 people per day receive a non-fatal injury from a firearm

Over an 18-year period, there were 433 dog bite fatalities, about one death every 15 days.

In 2017, there were 40 firearm homicides per day, or about 600 deaths every 15 days.

https://www.dogsbite.org/dog-bite-statistics-fatalities.php

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States

Not that any of the above relates to the chance of being bitten or shot while riding in the US. But in my n=1 experience, I never thought about having a dog attack me, much less having someone pull a gun on me, during the 14 years I was riding and running in the UK and Germany. The farm/ranch dogs I deal with in rural NM like to chase, but I haven't been bitten (knock on wood) yet. AFAIK, no one has pulled a gun on me here, but I have seen threads here in ST where folks talk about what handgun to carry and where to carry it during their rides/runs. Certainly a different culture.

Back to talking about the clowns we have to deal with in the pool

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

So, I don't have as much experience as most around here. I have had 2 incidents that ended with me actually face to face with the other driver. I handled both very differently. The first I got buzzed really getting passed on a single lane bridge right before a school zone. It turns out the driver was going to attend a cross country meet and had parked to go to the school as I was passing. He started yelling at me for "riding in the road" instead of going passed the school and continuing on my ride. I started yelling back about 3 feet and rules of the road. It didn't accomplish anything. He was an ignorant old man that really didn't want anyone slowing him down in his corvette. I was pissed but I wasn't harmed. I probably wouldn't have started yelling back if he was still in his car or there weren't a million witnesses. I felt a little safer from him trying to do something stupid like pull a gun with a lot of people around.

The second incident happened relatively close to my home. I got buzzed again, the passenger mirror actually brushed my shoulder. The car then immediately turned in the neighborhood adjacent to mine. I followed him and stopped at the edge of the driveway. He didn't get out of his car. His wife walked out and I calmly and politely asked that she inform her husband to allow cyclists 3 feet when passing and that it was the law. I never stepped foot on his property or yelled or raised my voice. I hope this interaction would leave a more positive impression, but honestly I don't know. I figured it couldn't have been any less productive than the first.

I don't necessarily think you need any anger management. Maybe just think about what you actually want to accomplish. That might be enough to make the difference. Don't look at it as "you are the problem." Look at it from the point of view "are you the solution."

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/23685202

I think most of the folks on the thread who indicate they don't or haven't had confrontations is because you don't weigh more than a buck fifty and know you'll get your a$$ handed to you if things turn physical....

I think you're missing the vital distinction. You are dog owners. But they are owned by their dogs. Huge numbers of people are under involuntary servitude to their canines these days -- and you dare not offend their delicate sensibilities.

Surely you don't think deescalating hostilities is weakness?

I'm a buck 52...than you very much!

Yeah, because those types of people are usually very introspective and receptive to criticism by random strangers.

I guess we could debate "serious harm", but here in northern TN (with its fair share of gun-toting rednecks), I've been bitten three times and crashed twice by five different dogs in four different areas within a 4 year time frame.

I have yet to experience any kind of injury from a human... Even the stupid, inattentive ones. On the other hand, I've been bitten by unrestrained dogs twice.

The best non confrontational way I saw someone dealing with a swimmer in the fast lane was Jonny Caron. An older lady gets in the fast lane and starts to breast stroke down the lane while Jonny is doing 100m repeats. After each repeat he just calmly says “ your in the wrong lane” then leaves for his next repeat. It only took 3 times before she moved LMAO.

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"Be your best cheerleader , not your worst critic.”

Sometimes even when I think I am in the "right" I say I am sorry just to diffuse the situation and enjoy my workout. It all comes down to being happy at whatever it takes, even swallowing pride.

I can assure you, this happens at every pool I've swum at in Melbourne Australia, and that would be upwards of 20.

I put it down to ignorance, i.e. non swimmers who don't know/have etiquette.
Doesn't make it less frustrating though.

Not me. But, first thought is shoes. Bike shoes are terrible for fighting. I’d have to go barefoot versus a rubber soled opponent. Kicks are out, so a ringer headshot or clinch to body shots is the only real moves here. I hate concrete. You knock someone down on it and they can bang their head and get seriously injured and you could get manslaughter. I’ve been trained to fight and most people haven’t, putting a great limitation on others. Sometimes a consequence of throwing a serious strike is the guy stabs you next. You never know what you’re going to encounter on the road or with random people so I usually back off. But, in 2019, I definitely would have fought at least 2 drivers after their behavior on the road and complete disregard for the safety of everyone around.

I got clipped hard (open door) last year and the guy was such a douche about it that I had to fully restrain myself from taking a nice body shot for him to carry with him in his day as I was bleeding and he didn’t give a a shit.

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Also, last year a pedestrian was messing with me in a steep descent with a bike lane and pedestrian lane. It wasn’t funny and it was dangerous as he was acting like he was walking into my lane, blocking me completely.

I was so pissed about his disregard for safety that on the way back (I was doing bridge repeats) I made him get down and do 10 push-ups to avoid a fight. He was with this girl (they were 22 ish) and he asked her ‘what should I do’ and she said ‘get down and do the pushups’. So he did them. I feel I must discipline (or at least reprimand) those who toy with safety and cross a line. I have had talks with people, sure.

In general, I don’t think many people/drivers realize how dangerous cycling is, especially with the modern driver and distractions.

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Not once. I've people yell stuff from cars, but really just idiot kids.

I am generally pretty chill about most things including bad etiquette, but any physical threat or assault (even implied- such as swerving into me) sets me off bigtime: i get VERY confrontational and hope to aggravate the guy into taking a swing at me, so i can then punch his lights out. I am not proud of this - when i calm down, i cringe at this.

I've always had a short fuse and have learned to control it since my late teens. I've been in situations where people have gotten in my face and have never contributed to escalation - I guess it helps that I can see the situation brewing and so am able to keep a grip on things. But sudden unexpected aggression catches me by surprise and i flip before i can control it.

I am trying my best to control that, however, and it is nice to hear some of the more measured, calm responses here. Respect to all of you!

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Those who are slower than me suck.
Those who are faster than me dope

GreatScott wrote:

If you run into an asshole once and awhile, you’ve just run into an asshole. If you run into assholes all the time, you are the asshole.

Where I live, there are drivers break the law in ways that endanger pedestrians and cyclists every day - over and over again. I could stand next any of many intersections I cross each day and watch drivers bully their way through pedestrians' right of way almost every light cycle. They are the assholes. Really. They're in giant metal boxes, taking up space and threatening people.


I think it'd be totally legit to scream and yell at every one of the these drivers. It could be a full-time job at many intersections. I don't do it because I've to other things to do, but I think it would not reflect on me or anyone being an asshole if we did this.


Here is video of someone taking action - I think he's heroic, not assholic.
https://vimeo.com/158135821

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http://www.jt10000.com/