I guess this was overdue, since I do a lot of my biking on isolated country roads here in Central TX, but I’ve really had no incidents other than horn honking and yells, etc. Today, though; had two separate incidents that really have me scratching my head about the mentality that some have towards bikers.
The first one happened out on a county road in the middle of nowhere, friend and I biking along and enjoying the TX heat (welcome back to real TX summer weather). No traffic of any kind, a pickup comes by and the next thing we know a Coors Tall Boy can is winging by our head. Since it appeared to be full when thrown, and at the speed they were going, I’m sure it could have done some damage had it hit one of us. We weren’t blocking the road or doing anything else I can think of that would have provoked them. Then again, these were bubbas in a pickup that were already hitting the beer at 11 am…
Then, just a half hour later or so, we are riding along and a passenger in a car on the other side of the road sticks his arm out of the window, high in the air, and holds up his middle finger as they drive by. This one surprised me a bit more than the first, as they were on the other side of the road and I don’t see how we would be bothering them in the slightest.
I’ve seen these type of incidents reported here numerous times, so I can’t say as I’m totally shocked. It’s just sad that people can be so selfish, arrogant, and bitter; that they can see a couple people riding along on a bike and decide that they have to injure them and/or show them how much they hate you for riding a bike.
The number one reason is that while you were behaving yourself and being nice cyclists, there are still a large number of our cycling bretheran that are real jerks out on the road - running red lights, cutting cars off, running stop signs, giving just about every car driver the finger, using foul lagnuage etc . . What you recived was payback for the many other misbehaving cyclists out there.
You held them up on the road for 5 seconds. Try this the next time you are at a stop light. wait five seconds before moving forward - 80%+ of drivers who are right behind you will go absolutly ballistic. It must be tough being on such a tight schedule that 5 seconds can be life and death
You looked like you were having more fun than the guys in the truck. Face it - how many adults actually get out and play - like you did when you were a kid. Very few. Most/many adults have lost the ability to play. It’s unfortunate because it really is good for the soul.
Bubba never learned to ride as a kid and it still bothers him
Water bottle holders won’t hold tall boysBubba’s butt is one of the top ten things that should never be viewed in spandex, and he knows it.Sweating is not allowed by the Church of Nascar™Bubba thought your ass was hot, until he saw your beardYou being athletic reminds Bubba he got winded climbing into the truckAnd the lord declared “Let There Be Nascar™” not le tour.Bubba’s beer aggravated roids hurt just looking at a bike seatBubba’s second wife left him for a cyclistAnd finally, “if it doesn’t use gas, it don’t touch Bubba’s Ass”
I have no answers - ride long enough and you will be a target - but I know what I do - I have spent years building over 150 miles of safe city roads (at least on Sunday) in the Metroplex and away from country roads and junkyard dogs. Seems backwards but it works plus there is always a convenience store near for some cold fluid. I always like it when people post pics of their pretty rides and someday I am going to document my favorite “unpretty” 100 mile route - airplanes, gas wells, industrial parks, empty shopping centers, etc. But it works for me. Be safe out there.
Maybe what you need to do is get yourself a Coors bike jersey (or whatever is the beer of choice in your area). I’ve found that since I started wearing a Fat Tire beer jersey the Bubba incidents have almost vanished.
I think here in Colorado they do. It’s sold almost everywhere. I think I even saw it sold in a 3.2% alcohol version.
In your area get a jersey of the beer most of the Bubbas drink. There has to be Bud, Coors, Miller, or even Pabst jerseys for sale somewhere. If not, there’s a market waiting to be tapped.
People in the South are heavier and less fit and less likely to engage in endurance sports than those in the north (ok, the last thing I’m guessing, the first two are factual). Nothing turns off a red blooded, bbq eating 'neck like a guy who’s dressed in spandex and rides a flimsy bike instead of driving a truck.
OK, stereotypes aside: I trained in the South last summer and some b**tch opened her window to talk to me one time about something silly and then several other times I was honked at. Oh and another time some girls stopped me to ask me if I was the guy (I wasn’t) who biked along that road a lot and pissed people off somehow (I think he’d give them the finger for almost running him over). I’ve been in Western NY training all this summer and not a single incident. I really feel cars here are more used to cyclists, and of course they are; I see far more of them. I see people running and cycling outside. Go out on a Saturday morning and the roads are full of cyclists. In the South in a similarly populated city I didn’t see them often at all. People are stuck inside with their coors and college football. Actually, come to think of it I was honked at once so far this year but I think just the one time and most cars give a wide berth.
I have no answers - ride long enough and you will be a target
Indeed, even when you are being nice you get harrassed. Even when you give up your right-of-way to a car driver, they give you the finger. Even when they nearly run you over or off the road, and clearly, they are at fault or in the wrong, it’s your fault!
Not sure what it is, but there is a palpable level of stress and tension out there amongst car drivers - at least that’s what I sense. Not making excuses for them, just that they are right at the boiling point most or all of the time and then here’s this yo-yo cyclist who looks like he/she is having way to good a time and they are holding me up for a few seconds and the car driver is over the edge!
I am always letting people in when I drive my car, to the point that I get honked at from the car behind because I let someone in and held them uo for a few seconds. It must be hard living with that level of rage and frustration all the time!
I think the guys have it far rougher out there than the ladies do in terms of Bubbas. The last time I drew Bubba attention on the road, it was one one of those zillion degree summer days when the nice guys in the landscaping company pick-up rolled down a window at a stop sign to ask me if I had enough water for the rest of my ride.
I’ve gotten the usual bad behavior from jerks out on the road over the years, but I do my best to forget those and remember the moments of kindness from stangers instead.
I’ve gotten the usual bad behavior from jerks out on the road over the years, but I do my best to forget those and remember the moments of kindness from stangers instead.
That’s a great outlook, and I need to work on this. My outlook has always been that agressive dogs need a kick in the jaw, and aggresive bubbas need to put up or shut up has worked so far. But I need to work harder on letting that stuff go. Maybe go back 30 years and channel my junior high days ;-o
It is a really simple explanation, no need for a write-up in the New England Journal of Medicine.
I grew up with these kind of people, some of them are blood relatives. They pretty much like to dick with anyone different than they are. When you are a white trash loser, that is the only way you can feel good about yourself.
1/2 the time the Bubba is pissed to discover that the spandex clad hot chick with the shaven legs they have been admiring as they overtake is a dude. This brings forward their inner doubts about their own sexuality…they instinctively lash out…
There seems to be a higher correlation, from my experience, between intolerance and driving a truck.
Pls note I didn’t say everyone driving a truck is an a** hole, but I have noticed that people that drive trucks tend to be much less considerate of other people on the road.
I grew up with these kind of people, some of them are blood relatives. They pretty much like to dick with anyone different than they are. When you are a white trash loser, that is the only way you can feel good about yourself.
That sums it up perfectly. I teach high school and have seen a huge number of kids (who become adults in a few short years) even though the vast majority of them are great who grow up to be great people, there is a percentage (yes, mostly the white trash assholes) who just like to f*ck with people who are different than them. No reason, they’re just assholes. Let it go and don’t worry about it. Remember the 400 cars that pass you on a long ride who don’t bother anyone.
