Road jerks

[mimitabby]

bike - bike slow!
me fast - me very important!
bike bad - me good - must pass really fast and close to teach bike a lesson!
bike will learn to stay off road - road belong to cars!

Oh, Eden, you're good!!!

I also admit to taking some pleasure out of baiting some people to speed... there are several places that I can consistently do the speed limit and I try to see just how many people still feel the need to "teach me a lesson" about how slow bikes are...

Oh Eden, you are REALLY good!!!

[mimitabby]

this morning on my ride to work, i was on the road that leads into the plant i work at. Speed limit is 15mph. Our company's nickname is "the lazy b" and there are hundreds of company owned vehicles moving from place to place all day long. They are used to the speed limit... i thought
So I was in the center of the lane leading into the plant when a company vehicle blasted around me, crossing the line. Not 5 minutes later, I caught up to him getting out of his vehicle. "boy, you were sure in a hurry" I said to him.
He yelled back "You don't ride in the center of the road"
and idiotically i responded "Yes I do!!"
I could have educated him but all i did was smart off. OWELL.

[Geonz]

Do you have his phone or email?

I got buzzed by a co-worker (but this is a pretty big place) and sent him a carefully crafted educational email, especially since I really don't believe he had any intention to be buzzing me... any of the four times he did.

He got on the phone right away to apologize (welp, *and* to sort of scold me for sending an *email* instead of talking to him face to face - but from what my office mate says about his ego, he needed to be able to save a little of his own face, too).

He hasn't passed me at all so I can't swear he's been educated, but I hope so.

I had done the same thing with a faculty member from whom I received no response, but the next time he passed me he gave me lots of room. That's what I care about.

And it also means that there aren't as many jerks out t here ... ignorami, yes, but a few fewer arrogant blurgebutts than I might have been tempted to think.

[mimitabby]

no I don't. there's only 80,000 of us
but he's distinctive enough that i might see him again.

[Melalvai]

He yelled back "You don't ride in the center of the road"
and idiotically i responded "Yes I do!!"
I could have educated him but all i did was smart off. OWELL.

I think that was a great response. I mean, he was stating an obvious falsehood. He had seen with his own eyes that you, in fact, DO ride in the center of the road. Your response was the only logical one to make.

Seriously, though, he was trying to tell you that it is inappropriate to ride in the center of the road, and your response was simply that it is appropriate to ride in the center of the road. I know it's not quite as simple as that--we as cyclists feel it is only appropriate to ride in the center in some situations, not all the time everywhere--but it would be useless to try to explain the complexities to him.

[mimitabby]

I think that was a great response. I mean, he was stating an obvious falsehood. He had seen with his own eyes that you, in fact, DO ride in the center of the road. Your response was the only logical one to make.

Seriously, though, he was trying to tell you that it is inappropriate to ride in the center of the road, and your response was simply that it is appropriate to ride in the center of the road. I know it's not quite as simple as that--we as cyclists feel it is only appropriate to ride in the center in some situations, not all the time everywhere--but it would be useless to try to explain the complexities to him.

i like your logic, thanks