A long time ago (well, the last couple of weeks actually...) In a town far far away (well this one really...)
There was a bicycle commuter... I've been riding the same route to work at the same time for about 4 or 5 years now and until the first week of Jan I've never seen him before, you know how it is, you get to know who the regulars are, so my guess is it's either a new route/job for him or he's on some kind of new years resolution.
Over the last few weeks I've seen him maybe a dozen times, and in that time his riding has managed to scare me twice (fearful for him not me), anger me at least 3 times, get shouted at by a pedestrian, and got 3 horn beeps off motorists, and at least a few other shaking head and tutting moments.
This morning after seeing him come up behind another cyclist in front on the road, and realising we were approaching another queue for the next set of lights and he wouldn't be able to overtake them he swung left up the dropped kerb of a driveway onto the pavement to overtake the cyclist, swerving round a pedestrian who looked less than impressed at suddenly having him barrelling towards them and then carries on up the pavement scattering a group of school kids a bit further up.
I'm slightly ashamed to say that as I went past him I yelled 'for gods sake you're a grown man get off the pavement!', he may have replied, I don't know.
What's really annoying* me is that there's been a lot of noise in the local press round here about cyclists on pavements, and people riding too quickly on shared paths lately, and there was even a poll in the local paper about banning cyclists from the city centre which is currently buses and cyclists only, and is exactly behaviour like his that is fuelling it.
I'm also a bit concerned after having seen him riding that it's a case of 50% ignorance and 50% tw4ttishness, if he is a new rider then he might not realise he's being so inconsiderate and at times dangerous, so this is the bit I need help with is how to deal with this tactfully.
So Singletrackworlders and Armchair Warriors, Should I**:
A> just ignore it and let him bring shame upon the rest of us and possibly cause himself or someone else an injury?
B> try and approach him and say ...what?!
C> continue to hurl abuse in an angry cyclist manner until he sees the error of his ways?
*yes yes yes, I know I shouldn't get wound up and all that but this is actually a really good place for cycling and I work with a local Cycling related charity, we support Sustrans and CTC and there is so much hard work going on at the moment to promote and develop cycling it just grates with me when I see things like this fuelling the naysayers, and as long as he's not just a pig-headed idiot I would genuinely like to help him ride safer.
**genuine and comedy suggestions welcome!
Shoot him. It's the only way to be sure. There's a thread on here recommending appropriate armament.
As I see it, you have three options
1 - Kill him.
2 - Kill yourself.
3 - Kill [b][u][i]EVERYBODY[/i][/u][/b]
Just ignore him and be happy, life is too short etc
i recommend a course of leeches
D.
Follow him to work and let his tyres down everyday. That will soon get him back in a car.
i recommend a course of leeches
for him or me?
That will soon get him back in a car.
leaving aside that that's exactly what I dont want, If he drives like he rides then that's an even more terrifying prospect.
However, the 10 year old in me finds this appealing...
Follow him to work and let his tyres down everyday
I believe the customary way of showing your disapproval is to film him on a go-pro while you follow him gesticulating and shouting like a loon, then upload it to youtube.
You could always follow him in a Range Rover and take a picture of him at some traffic lights and put it on twitter.
clearly the only action is to have him castrated, he clearly has way too much testosterone <sp?> either that or napalm.
I freely admit to the occasional stupid moment on a bike, including last nights argument with a white freelander blonde who nearly killed me, I purpoosly slid off my bike in the empty space in front of her, left the bike on the road and went to have a quiet discussion with her, not. anyway ...
... if you cant forget him, approach him quietly and say you've seen him on the route and he's missed his vocation in life, he should be a bike courier / stunt man (delete as appropriate) but in the mean time can he stop being an ar$e and endangering himself and others.
it'll never float.
I'd have gone up the kerb too
go a different way.
It sounds to me like he rides a bike
Reading the first few lines I thought this was going to be a 'are you the cyclist I love' thread:),this is much better,i vote for a passing stun gun approach.
Thank **** for that, I was told this morning [b][i]I[/i][/b] was the reason people hated cyclists, by an "experienced driver" too so obviously I was pretty worried he was right and I was the root of all cycle evil. Turns out it could be the OP's idiot. Phew
everytime you see him do something stupid just bellow at the top of your voice "I'm not with that idiot"
Dick and Dom on the TV used to sneak stickers onto unsuspecting people in shopping areas and such, moving up in size. Maybe you could try this. Those green P's that newly qualified drivers have? See if you can get to A3.
Or just ride up behind him and yell 'Bogies!' in his ear.
well I was hoping for some slightly persecutory responses with suggestions on how I tactfully discuss with him that he may benefit from some training, or at least thinking about what he was doing, but these ideas are much more fun 🙂
option A
Give him a copy of the highway code, and suggest we'll all benefit from him reading it?
Next time you see him, do a sick rad overtaking manoeuvre whilst shouting random phrases from the highway code. Make sure you do film it so we can share the joy of your superiority.
On a serious note, I'd probably tell him to stop riding like a bell end.
like drivers nothing you say will make any difference to his riding behaviour IMHO
I got hit by a cyclist with no lights who pulled out on me and i just plowed straight into him
All this was my fault as , despite having lights and right of way, I should have seen and reacted to the unlit person failing to give way and somehow avoided them.
I suspect pointing anything out to them will result in swearing rather an polite debate about the merits of the highway code and how to behave considerately in a shared use space.
a few sticks across the pavement seems the traditional approach to making people see the errors in their cycling ways - if you got a dog you can let off its lead that will help
Sadly I think you are right Junky, this can't be sorted 'on the road' so to speak, too awkward a conversation to have with someone you don't know and expect to go well.
Bum his dog?
Lie in wait as a pedestrian and body check him heavily as he buzzes past you on the pavement. Then fall in a heap like Ronaldo. You can then sue him.
Carry a medieval mace (no, you can't borrow mine), cycle up behind him, tap him on the noggin with it, if he has a helmet on swing a bit harder, [b]ThwaCk![/b], job done, no more Mr Pillock Pants.
forget all the above, use a lightsaber, from a more civilised age.
or go up to him wave your hand across his face and say
"you don't need to use the pavement.."
"these aren't the pavements your looking for..."
"you can go about your business"
"move along, move along"
or just forget all about hokey religions and use a blaster....
may the force be with you.
Nick - Member
Just ignore him and be happy, life is too short etc
+1
Take a photo of him riding how / where he shouldn't. Make posters with a word of your choice (the kind not allowed on STW) and leave a few up along the route...
Just ignore him and be happy, life is too short etc
I know that's the right answer, but it's difficult to ignore when you are involved in the local cycling community and projects and come up against the complaints and attitudes that are caused by people like this...
Direct intervention/confrontation won't help, you'll get abuse for your efforts... and YouTube is full of impotent road rage Vid's, nobody learns from those...
Capture the fella on Helmet-Cam, and rather than posting it up on Youtube do one or both of the following:
A> Pull the best still you can from the footage make up a few posters with it and add a little caption like [I]IS THIS YOU?... IF SO YOU RIDE LIKE A COCK![/I] pop them up on every other lamp post all along his route...
B> (Bit more stalker-ish this one) Follow him to his place of work one day, make a note of the company and track down an email address for someone senior, then send them a politely worded email with the footage of their employee riding like a goon attached, perhaps explain that his conduct reflects on the company as well as the individual...
Ultimately if he carries on riding like a bellend either he will come a cropper, or the Rozzers will pull him over and have a word, but either could take years to happen and He's not helping the cause, how you might actually go about setting him straight is a very tricky question.
TBH I'd probably leave it...
[quote=makecoldplayhistory ]Take a photo of him riding how / where he shouldn't. Make posters with a word of your choice (the kind not allowed on STW) and leave a few up along the route...
We have a winner.
Buy a tandem and give him a lift?