Zero_Enigma

Holy flying mackeral. It's like the same as last year. Once the temps start getting warmer the attitudes of the cagers just goes from not bothering you to frigging harassing/cat-calling.

I was out for a little training ride to ease up and I for the last 2 months have not had ~2-3 issues really on the road. Now today I get 4 cagers with a mouth. Perhaps its my area being mostly all the cars on a main artery road but I manged to catch up to one cager tonight as they're stuck at a red light behind some cars waiting to turn. These guys kept annoying the crap out of my till I took out my flashlight and read out thier licence plate, car desc., and occupants then the laughing and annoying calls stopped as they gave me a look like I was relaying info via the phone. I'm sure it'll be something that keeps them awake tonight and to rethink what they did.

I think all riders should at the least have some audio recording device ready and quick access and simple to activate to record events while riding. Video would be better but not everyone can afford it and an audio recorder can be had cheap now a days. I'm starting to find that cagers are quickly change thier attitudes when you appear to be recording thier info and they seem to play nice then assuming you're relaying info live to someone else.

BTW becareful of buses that rush by you. A day ago a bus almost clipped my mirror as it flew by me. It was that close that the rushing air almost knocked me off the bike. The guy was going so fast that I didn't really notice them coming like other buses that will wait for you to move forward. This bus just buzzed me and cut short at the lights to pick up people. Gezzz... I mean you're 8-10 meters to the stop and it's a red light buddy can't you just slow down and wait? Grrr...

skanking biker

I have it worse 'cause my commute is cafarckled due to road construction--so the detour is through the residential neighborhood--25 mph--stop signs every intersection. I dont know what drives them more nuts--having to stop at every intersection ro the fact that everytime they pass me i pass them right back until the next stop sign.

Zero_Enigma

Well I'm lucky my area has wider roads. I mean WTFF is up with the cagers when you have the wider roads with some sections in 3 lanes yet they can't frigging share the road or move around into the other lane slightly to pass then always trying to edge and almost push you into the cracks of the roads. ARGGHHHH!!

dereksticks

Now today I get 4 cagers with a mouth.

Open car windows. Normally you can't hear them because the windows are closed. A** holes are a**holes all of the time. they don't just come out for nice weather.

Buglady

Yours too eh? The city of Calgary, in its infinite wisdom has decided to remove ALL pedestrian/bike bridges from Glenmore Trail while it gets rebuilt. Until September 2008 I have to use a level pedestrian crossing, which FOUR cars completely ignored and turned right without looking yesterday. (On the way north I can take the lane and go through as a vehicle, but southbound there's 2 lights in short succession and a right-turn-only lane that makes it impossible to safely get across and into the through lane; the ped crossing is marginally better).

Nobody's yelled at me yet but I think one or two of the drivers I've met were scared of me; the consensus around here is that anyone who rides int he rain is probably dangerously insane

Banzai

The other day, two cagers in a pickup truck were cruising by opposite direction. The passenger pantomimed shooting me with a rifle, and then slapped his buddy on the arm and they both laughed uproariously.

Funny. Ha. Ha.

chephy

One regular commuter I know actually said the attitudes are improving. She's comparing with last year anyway. She says she now takes the lane on a street she previously avoided due to constant harrassment. But this year she says people aren't bothering her about it at all. Who knows, maybe all the talk about gas prices and global warming is making biking more prominent on the collective radar and it's being perceived as more legitimate? Not that any of our anecdotal observations are statistically meaningful...

Artkansas 

No difference in attitude, but when they have to roll their window down, they have gone by you before they can get it down. These days the windows are already down.

Artkansas 

Maybe cyclists are in season.




I'm laughing with the pain here. I've been shot with a pellet gun at close range by an auto passenger.

Zero_Enigma

Perhaps it's a different enviroment here. Up in the subarbs it's really different I find. Downtown the bikes are more common and all around that I find 90% of all cagers will give you the space as they seem to have come to understand that downtown is full of bikes. While up in the suburbs here (you really should ride in my area and you'll know what I mean ) cars hardly give you much leway when you signal. At least downtown they're used tot he bikes so a signal of any kind they seem to understand. Up here it's like race track straight away stretches in some parts of where I am.

Zero_Enigma

Another reason to have an immediate voice recording device that's simple to use right away in a situation like that to get as much car detail. Up here in Canada we're regulated to 495FPS (500FPS or less airguns can be owned without a firearms lic.) but most people think airguns are just the small .177/4.5mm and .22/5.5mm cal BB/pellets. Hell no. Having researched these guns for a while airguns are no way your 1950's image of the Daisy Red Ryder BB gun. They have .177/.22/.308 aka 7.62mm/.355 aka 9mm/.44/.45/.50/.56 cal airguns now. Hell some of the new air shotgun/rifle combos can huck lead at 1600FPS. Your riding glasses would not protect you can those speeds if you got shot in the eyes. The polycarbonate lenses will protect from the small BB gun as most are ~200-300FPS anyways. Not that I'm going to be asked what I want to be shot with.

Seriously tho...audio voice recorders I think are very useful for daily riders. Once you get the cagers info they seem to fear you no as you have thier info. At least it seems in what I've noticed last night.

newbojeff

Feign like you're taking a picture of their license and faces with your cell phone.

chephy

Yep, I know. Suburbs are awful in just about every way. Being cycling-unfriendly is one way.

n4zou

Helmet cams are not that expensive. Basic system is $159. You can spend considerably more for pedals, cleats, and shoes if your clip less. A friend rides with one on his motorcycle and wont ride without it. He tells me an Insurance company was not going to cover an accident until he let the adjuster view the video.
https://www.bulletcam.com/

I had a run in with a JAM this morning. The idiot tries to pass me 25 feet from a stop sign. Needless to say he gets caught at the stop sign halfway in the apposing lane with traffic trying to get through. He starts yelling at me to get off the road so I just pull my Zeffel Double Shot frame pump and tell him to get out of his oil pit and try something with me. What was really funny was the nice policeman seeing this and pulling him over and giving him a $600 reckless driving ticket, which I promised the officer to attend as a witness with him at court if he tries to fight it.

Frankenbiker

I've had the same issue with drivers at stop signs who try to pass me when I have taken the lane only to have to stop in the oncoming traffic lane. Its usually an 80s beater with cracked windshield being driven by a high-schooler or college student and it usually turns right, going around me at the stopsign when I have the right-of-way.

I also ride the school bus route near the elementary school and frequently get buzzed by school busses. Sometimes the bus will buzz past me and immediately stop to pick up kids. Most annoying. I especially hate the "stealth" school busses with the engine in the rear that can sneak up on you without notice.

Maybe its time for a helmetcam.

Falkon 

You should have pantomimed back beating their ass with a U-lock.

Zero_Enigma

Forgot to mention the .177's and up can huck lead at 1000FPS and more. I've seen hunting images of a 9mm taking out a 200lb deer. 9mm and up can be man killers. Nuff said if that was a human or more a cyclist.

Anyways $159 (assuming USD) is a bit much for some peoples budgets. Voice recorders can be had for like $25 CDN I think for a cheapie unit that records like 60 seconds max. I think I've seen them at Radio Shack up here. Yah video would be nice but the price is a bit high IMHO and the imaging is not that good in low light from what I've seen so far. Ideally I would like a 2-4x zoom on the camera with a some LCD overlay that can be used while having your riding glasses/sunglasses on and still allow a normal zoomed out view so when you're riding you can see near peripherial vision. Tho I've not seen any yet unless something new has come out or I did not search long enough. If that's the case then if someone can drop the link it would help.

Daily Commute

I've noticed that drivers become much, much more courteous during the first couple days of a bad weather spell. I guess it works in reverse, too.

bsut

When I find I'm getting passed too closely, I move farther to the left in my lane. That way they don't think I'm inviting them to pass in the same lane, or by straddling the stripe halfway into the other lane. It's much more obvious that to pass me, they need to execute a full lane change.

Daily Commute

Next time, report the bus driver. It may not be too late to report the last incident. Give as much information as possible. They might be able to ID the driver just from the location and time.

Also, I don't share the lane with a bus on an urban street. I watch in my mirror. If a bus is coming, I make sure I am far enough to the left that the driver won't be tempted to pass without changing lanes. If the bus doesn't have the time and space to change lanes, pass safely, and change lanes back before stopping for passengers, it doesn't have the time and space to pass.

Finally, if you see that a stopped bus has its left turn signal on, slow down and let it go in front of you. That's courtesy everywhere, and some places it's the law.

Zero_Enigma

I do always let the bus go forward first if I'm driving or biking when I am behind the bus or below 50% of the bus when I'm on it's side. Yah I have the bus number. The time is a ballpark as I was cheezed off by the bus. That air current is NOT fun but thankfully traffic as very spare at that time. I did at the redlight go intot he right turn lane on the right of the bus then turned my helmet light to high and looked at the driver aimed at his head. We exchanged a glance and I let out a "WTF" look with the mouth then the lights turned green and I let the bus go first. That has to be one of my most dangerous situations before as I hardly saw the bus coming as I checked my mirror before. One second the bus is not there then about 2 seconds later the bus is point blank aft-six.

Other times if a cagers turning left/right at least your you can react even if you have almost little reaction time but when dangers come from behind fast you've almost no reaction time.

I'm not sure how serious the local transit takes complaints like this. This is a first time for me and the driver didn't mouth off to me and we did exchange glances so the driver knos I'm there. I use two superflashes. One on the seat post aimed at SUV/car mid level on steady mode and a flash mode on the bag so it's kind of hard not to notice a superflash at that intensity of brightness and eye level location. I think I'll let this one go this time but if it happens again I'll most likely take action.

bsut

I've been surprised by busses too. I think it's because their engine is in back, way behind me. The front end has the wind but none of the noise.

JSChance

Now I'm a pretty tolerant person, but if someone pretends to shoot at me, there'll be a 911 call placed as soon as I can get stopped and retrieve my cell phone from the pack. I would take that as pretty threatening behavior, and in today's world, who knows, next time it might be for real. Same thing with being shot with a pellet gun, it's still considered a deadly weapon, and they've just committed a felony.

fordfasterr

*uck the cagers.


Zero tolerance.

chephy

Pellet gun, definitely. But I wouldn't be too concerned about the idiotic empty-handed gestures. If I figured that idiocy even merited a response, I might get both hands off the bars in response and pretend to be shooting a machine gun back.

Not that I'm against calling 911 if you have the time and inclination and believe they'll take your call seriously. I've got nothing against putting a little bit of fear into jackassez.