Being harassed while riding the roads
 

I’ve been riding my neighborhood roads(30mph speed limit and not much traffic at all) for the last month. My street even has the bicycle symbol painted along the street....so I know riding the roads is perfectly legal. I ride just inside the white line....so I’m def not hogging the lane. I’m VERY visible and use hand signals etc and ride safely.


I’ve been harassed on multiple occasions already. One old man pulled up next to me screaming that I should be riding on the shoulder(which is paved, but lots of glass etc) of the road.....so I I yelled back to him to eff off and that it was perfectly legal to ride the road.

Yesterday a big truck PURPOSELY just missed me with his mirror!!!! Missed my head by 6 inches! I couldn’t get his plate....but it had a HUGE AR-15 decal across the back window.....so when I find him, it’s not going to be pretty.

In a bicycle-motor vehicle confrontation...the motor vehicle is going to win. And the operator of the bicycle is also at the mercy of the motor vehicle, and its operator. The chance of having a bicycle-sympathetic operator behind the steering wheel of the motor vehicle is a bet, likely with bad odds, for the bicycle operator. It’s probably worse (i.e. pi$$e$ the driver off even more) when there is a shoulder that the bicycle COULD be using but apparently refuses to. Although bicycles may be permitted to use the extreme side of the lane (left of the white line)...personally I would be well onto the shoulder (right of the white line)...or seek a completely different route altogether. Also, if you feel you need to carry a sidearm on this route, in this situation...that also may be an indicator that this isn’t a good bicycling route.

Dan

No gun talk on Bike Forums.

oh ok...would’ve figured that people carrying while riding wasn’t a rarity.

Do most people ride the shoulder of the roads? Here in NYS the roads suck and the shoulders are in disrepair and/or littered with glass and other debris that cars tires push off the road

"Hey Lance, get on the sidewalk" is my favorite thing I hear at times.

Drivers forget they need to share the road. And usually the ones with pick'em up trucks with a tattered giant flag on the back are the most vocal.

Not much you can do.

Hope you fell better venting.

Tell me about it... try riding on Long Island. Sand, glass, salt, sticks, trash and everything else is on the side of the road. At least in Syracuse once you get a few miles out of the city you can find some country roads. My daughter wend to SU and my daughter-in-law is from Livingston so I know the area.

Sorry for your loss... Go Orange.

Thankfully such stuff is a rarity for me. But if this happens regularly for you, then you need to go down when you are calm and collected and talk to your police chief or local sheriff. You don't necessarily have to fill out a complaint on someone, but it will give you an opportunity to air your gripes and then see whether you feel like they take cyclists seriously or not.

And don't give up your right to ride in the traffic lane. Shoulders are not for moving vehicles. It also might help to talk to your Mayor if you have one. Our Mayor is a very avid longtime cyclist and he gets things done for cyclists when issues are brought to his attention.

While I agree with the suggestion to ride as far right as it is a clean, safe shoulder, I think you may not be riding in a position far enough in the lane to 'take the lane'. When you leave the judgment of passing up to the motorist, you will find that they misjudge passing distance. Consequently, they simply think they have enough room to pass and likely do not know the 3 foot rule or the feeling to the cyclist when passing very close.

If you haven't done it already, I would go online and review some youtubes about taking the lane. If you are already aware of this technique, my comment is just my best guess of something that might improve your safety. Given your gun comment, the other person as well.

Most of the time I Ride where the right auto tire line would be.
But not here:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...cc4ed4b8af.jpg

Your urge to retaliate is common but don't do it. It only emboldens bad drivers with an excuse that it was the cyclist's fault.

This is the kind of thing that convinced me to get a camera. Now I have two. One on my helmet and a rear-facing camera. From my own experience, I feel that drivers are more courteous and tolerant when they know they being recorded. YMMV.

Video recordings can go to the police (who may do nothing) or more importantly, to your elected city official, who may request for strengthened traffic enforcement. If you are in your bike lane did exactly as you were expected and nothing wrong, then the video will show that.

^^^^^^^
THIS

When i ride through the 1/4 mile stretch of town, i ride down the middle of the lane. The speed limit is 25mph, it's one lane each way, cars parked on both sides so if you ride to the right you have a good chance of a car door opening or pulling out. If you don't take the lane, cars will try to pass. And even if you take the lane, they'll cross a double yellow line to pass... only to get to the stop light a few hundred feet past. I regularly get tot he light while they're a few cars from the front and make sure they see me pass them.

There's a cross walk in the middle of town and once has a car pass me on the other side and almost hit someone crossing the street. I gave them a few choice words at the stop light.

I recommend thicker skin.

I started using transit in Portland about 3 years ago. Riding in an urban train, I observe up close and personal that some percentage of the population has mental health issues. Mostly, they are harmless.

Taking that observation, looking at the behavior of the motorists, I realize the same is true of them. They may be isolated in their vehicles, and in fact high functioning enough to own a motor vehicle, but I think a similar percentage has mental health issues. Again, mostly they are harmless, but they do have the means to cause harm, and are allowed to do so with impunity.

Thicker skin is a good idea when a car forces you off the road and you slide for 30 feet before coming to a stop.

There's a huge difference between getting yelled at and a 4000+ pound vehicle used as a weapon.

I've been hit by mirrors 3 times. Luckily never knocked off my bike.

I'm a daily urban commuter in an environment where 50mph is common on surface streets. I stand by my earlier statement.

I don't disagree, but I stand by my statement there's there's a difference between being yelled at and being assaulted.

Seems like a good fit for A&S https://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-safety/ :foo:

Lets be logical here. Someone yelling at you doesnt hurt you at all. They are just being rude. These days too many people are worried about what people say.

That close pass tho was unforgiveable. The only advise I can offer is pick less traveled roads and streets if possible. I never ride on heavily use arterials.

I'm not a bicycle commuter so I can choose my routes. I live in a rural area just off a 65 mph US highway. I avoid the highway if I can. There are many back road routes where I see one or two vehicles in a two hour ride. I'm sorry for those who don't have such a choice.

LIke others, I refocused on biking when I stopped going to the gym last March. When I do ride on highways and streets, I'm pleasantly surprised by the number of vehicles that pass wide. I would have expected otherwise as this is a very conservative area and rife with jacked up pickup trucks.

Not much.

Legally for it to be assault you only have to believe you were being threatened with bodily harm. The perpetrator doesn't even have to touch you or even take a swing at you.


But thick skin helps with any situation. Particularly with verbal rage and times you skid on the asphalt after a wreck.

good words and 33 armadillos or gators can pretty much handle the trashy shoulders, enjoy:)

If I was the original poster I think I would look into the camera option which Daniel4 suggested. Provides a means to have material for lobbying and material for evidence, and likely as a
deterrent. I was once riding with my headlight on my helmet during the day, headlight was off, and a construction crew asked if it was a camera. They were up on a roof, long ways from me. I say that to note that guys will pick up on a camera head real quick.
I personally don't use a camera, but it's because folks here are pretty good around bikes.

R
 

Being yelled at is annoying, but certainly didn’t hurt my feelings. LOL. I would’ve been happy to stop and “talk” to him. I treat everyone with respect.....until they show me that they don’t deserve any.

I have been yelled at and it is disturbing . The hardest thing for me happened about two years ago. I was making a left turn at a fairly busy intersection with full signals and I was in the left turn lane with a flashing light helmet with turn signals waiting for the light to change . A large pick up truck 4x4 with lift kit and huge tires came up behind me and kept honking the horn in long blasts . I think he was pissed that I was in the turning block even though I was on the right side leaving plenty of room for traffic.It was all I could do to keep from reacting to this idiot but I kept it together. It would’ve gotten much worse if I had done anything.

A mirror from a Dually is what left my friend in a wheel chair and almost a vegetable. Wear a go pro and record your rides.