I have good days and I have bad days.

Today I had at least two people who just didn't give a flying [blank] about me despite me doing everything I should. Somedays I really wonder whether I'm going to make it back in one piece. I know I'm not paranoid, but it seems like somedays people really are out to get you. Thing is, the fastest, cheapest, easiest way to get from home to work is by bike. It's not a lack of confidence or ability, I know where I should be on the road and how to 'look after myself ' (as a cyclist I mean, I'd be useless in a fist fight)

It just gets me down I guess, all I want to do is get from A to B without feeling like the next aggressive, impatient nutjob is going to try and put me in hospital.

I know I'm ranting, but it's been preying on my mind for a while now. Has anyone else had enough of getting bullied by traffic and will now only ride off road ?

It keeps my blood warm, and shouting and ripping wing mirrors off is a great anger reliever I find…..

Some days I feel exactly the same. However much I try to think ahead, think for them, 'claim my lane', ride high, keep good observations, keep calm etc etc, every single day sees a number of motorists (particularly bus drivers, minicabs and taxi drivers) who are deliberately aggressive and bullying to the point of being dangerous.

If I've shouted "AM I FU55ING INVISIBLE OR SOMETHING?" once I've shouted it a thousand times.

The alternative is car and train. Bad for the environment, bad for my pocket, bad for me.

Oh don't start me on that one 👿 Keep it going the good days make up for the bad and as the older you get you remember it less 🙂

I know where I should be on the road and how to 'look after myself '

have you had training? some people i know are adamant they know what they are doing but really bring it on themselves!

Ride more 'aggressively', own your lane.

Or try a blonde wig?

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/24362/Want-to-be-bike-safe-Don-a-wig-not-a-lid

We all have days where just getting to work in one piece is an acheivement.
For me, yesterday was bad (bus drivers), today was really nice.

Skills day, all the rage atm 😮
Seriously, you may think you know how to ride on the road but if you are having so many problems then maybe you need to re-assess your riding style.
Up here we have a Cycling Scotland Scheme which is as much for adult cyclist as it is for kids cycling prof. The English version I believe is Bikeability.
It is OK reading the Franklin book but like all things may need some pointers out on the road from someone who has been trained in the "skill"

Having said that I nearly got T-boned at a mini roundabout last week, but I anticipated it and missed the car by inches whilst giving the driver the verbals through his open window 👿
In over 30yrs commuting, morning, noon and night I only have 3 or 4 near misses a year.

Sorry, you asked for suggestions and all I did was emphathise.

Suggestion. I have been thinking about

a) getting an airzound because when people sound their horn at each other, the hornee (?) gets a bit embarrassed 'cos everyone looks

b) getting a helmet cam – proper evidence of what has happened

c) keeping some kind of incident diary and

d) trying to get the CTC, LCC, Boris and other interested groups together with a view to an ad campaign highlighting the need for courtesy to other road users – particularly vulnerable ones.

Seems to me that car drivers feel they have "earned" a right to be on the road and drive how they want because the buy "car tax". Myth on two counts, firstly it goes into general taxation and roads are paid for by general taxation (so cyclists on their way to work are paying into the same tax account) and second, I do pay bloody road tax – on a car I am not using very much, so by their reckoning surely I have more right than them when on my bike? (I don't believe this, just turning their argument round on them)

I felt the same way, even started to catch the bus to work for a week.

Soon changed my mind after watching cyclist zip past the bus stuck in traffic & getting to work late and grumpy!

trailofdestruction – have you got option on the route to take in?

I find varying the route in helps if you can.

Can you change your route slightly?

My current commute is probably about the slowest cycling route that could be devised between my home and my office, but contains only 2 spots where I am remotely likely to irritate anyone simply by being on the road. This cuts down the hassle and is still quicker than any other means of transport.

Also, you don't say how far your trip is, but my near-misses happen when I'm lycra'ed up and going fast. They never happen when I'm pootling along in my street clothes, even if I'm taking the rash and provocative step of wearing a helmet. 🙂

I'd echo the above – change your route? Are you really riding as well as you can in traffic?

Where is the commute & how long?

thomthumb , no I havn't, and you are right that I can't really say that I know what I'm doing if I havn't done a proper course, BUT, I ride defensively, claim my lane, wear high viz, look over my shoulder, keep my awareness high, etc. Ok, I havn't read cycle craft cover to cover, but regardless, it seems that somedays, the folks in cars really don't care.

This morning, I was coming up to a blind left hand corner, a car was approaching from the rear, with plenty of distance between me and the oncoming car, I pulled into the middle of the road (quiet country road) to claim my space. Instead of slowing down and waiting for, oh 10 seconds, the driver HAD to get past me, pull in sharply, brake rapidly and go round the corner far too quick still on the wrong side of the road. If they had waited for 10 seconds they could have got past me on the nice long, straight bit round the corner. WTF ???

A week ago, I got home drank an entire bottle of wine, and was ready to strip the commuter into bits and put it on classifieds. I'm only carrying on cause I'm doing Keilder (gulp) and need to put the miles in.

I find the positives outweigh the downsides. I do however commute in at 6am of a morning so the roads are quiet and my home leg is back from Solihull station where I have to say the drivers seem to be very thoughtful to the point that you feel like waving them to overtake you as they crawl along.

Panniers on a drop bared bike, I now get 10x the room drivers used to give me.

Must be like the women getting more room thing. Diddery old men on tourers get it too.

There used to be some cycling jerseys with “support your local Police” printed on them, the lettering of "police" being about 20 times larger than the rest of the print. It seems that having police printed on the shirts in big letters, kept motorists at a safe distance.

Happens regularly but I just anticipate that situation by listen to the engine noise and adjusting my position and speed accordingly thereby preventing a possible near miss.
Had a 4X4 skid to a halt one day when he thought he could squeeze between me and a traffic island, do`nt think he realised I was doing +20mph 🙄 which when on a road bike is probably the biggest problem a car driver has, assessing our speed 😯

Stick with and as others^^^^^have said change your route, change your style a bit maybe.

im with you on this. after a few incidents a couple of bumps, and a bike destroying take out on a major roundabout, i now wont commute by bike on the roads in winter.

(not to say i dont occasionally hop in by bmx on the pavements)

just wasnt worth it to me, id spend all weekend riding and trying to stay smooth/unijured only to get mullered by an old dear 'who hadnt seen me' or beeped at/pressured by the usual bmw driving nobs.

summer, spring and autumn i'll bike, but winter is jogging for me!

Sticking a kiddy trailer on the back of your commuter might help too.

There is a guy I see on my commute who has a high vis top with "POLITE" on the back, makes me giggle every time I see him 😉

every commute the odds on you getting killed increase…..if you believe that sort of thing

lol – like this:

Ranting is good to get it out of your system. I only ride in a few times a week and I'm lucky I have mainly country routes + canal towpath to work. That said I ride in WAAYY out of my way as the most direct route is a narrowish country road and I often see a rider (high vis, panniers, lights etc) getting stupidly buzzed for all the usual (can't be bothered to wait, can't judge the width of my car… blah blah) reasons.

All good advice above so maybe just reflect a bit, perhaps intersperse bike with other modes of travel for a while. Also there's no one mood to deal with it is there? Some days I'm giving it large to drivers who think it's fine to push me into the hedge, other days I stay chilled knowing I'm actually having a great ride and even their attempts to kill me are not going to spoil that. Stay with it. 🙂

Change your route or leave at a different time.
I once found there was a pattern in the traffic and how many confrontations i had depending on the time i was riding.

change your style a bit maybe.

What, like this ?

Might get more space on roundabouts 😀

lol ski, that is good. It would wind em up more when they pass you though!

I know where the OP is coming from. I use every cycle lane I can (shared with pedestrians) because it's just more relaxing.

MTFU is nothing to do with it. MTFU off road cos it's all in your hands, on the road even a pink micra convertible could kill you up.

liking the kiddy trailer idea. harder to park at destination mind you

I'd look at my route, if there's an easy way to get off busier roads or onto roads with bike paths then take it. I know it sounds like giving in but the way the situation is at the moment it's perhaps not a bad option (plus you get to extend your ride and get fitter for your race….

I'm very lucky where I commute, I have completely separated bike path for 80% of my 17km run and a city (Antwerp) full of people who, while sometimes impatient, more often than not show some empathy to cyclists, I think because so many of them ride bikes themselves. I used to commute in Beijing, which by that measure should be better … but it wasn't.

Drivers are badly educated. This morning, I had two incidents where the drivers hadn't looked up the road far enough and had to pull in in front of me – one was a bus driver approaching a bus stop (FFS).

Advice I'd give?

– Always wear a helmet, just in case the worst happens
– Accept that drivers are numpties and assume they're going to do exactly what you don't want them to do
– Report near misses to the highway authority (so they can gather statistics on dangerous areas and they might engineer us a solution)
– Consider getting the registation and reporting really dangerous occurances to the police (via the non-emergency number)

I like the panniers idea, I'm going to try that. Also might get an airhorn, just because.

Thanks for the replies, glad it's not just me that's peed off.

I am going to look at changing routes to see if I can find anything that avoids the worst/busiest bits. I'm 6'1 and 13 st and don't flinch easily, but getting passed by wagons on A roads at 50 mph is getting really old. There is a canal path which is a bog in winter, but fine in summer. It's a longer route, but more miles won't kill me. What tyres for… 😈

I always wear a helmet, just feels wrong without one, plus plenty of high viz and light when needed.

Yes, a proper road skills training course might well be a good idea, I'll look into it.

It's just the attitude of some folk amazes me. It's like they think we don't matter. I could rant at great length and use some real choice words, but…. is anybody really going to listen.

Stuff like this doesn't really make me anymore assured that the situation is changing.

I'll be 33 next month, it'd be nice to make it to 34.

Stick with it.

True, you might get hurt riding on the roads, but if you give up bike commuting part of your soul will surely die.

leave at a different time.

i find this makes a huge difference – there are a lot of angry people 15 minutes from the city centre at 12 minutes too 😉

i generally turn up for work at before 8:30 or after 9:15. when i get in 'on time' the driving is definately worse.

I'll be 33 next month, it'd be nice to make it to 34

The way things is going I don't know.

Tell me why are we so blind to see.
That the one's we hurt are you and me

Anyone know where I can get a POLITE hivis from?

rOcKeTdOg – Member

every commute the odds on you getting killed increase…..if you believe that sort of thing

Rubbish – Thats not how probability works

My advice – chill.
Ok so some dickhead nearly wiped you out? – laugh at him and his incompetence. " you got a driving license" Where from – a cereal packet?"
Someone got angry with you? Smile and ride on by. Wave to the angry ones that force thier way past you as you pass them and 30 other cars at the next jam. Refer to them as lemmings in boxes.

I don't always manage to do this but it does take a lot of the stress away if you can.

Some good insults – "hope yer next crap is a pineapple" is my fave thing to shout at idiots in cars.

~chill – laugh at them and their stupidity, anger and incompetence

I went out yesterday evening on my road bike and from the centre of Guildford to Sutton Green where I was meeting the others (2-3 miles tops) had three near misses – not bad considering that most of the road I took has a cycle lane!!! The low sun seems to confuse motorists; one of whom nearly rear ended one of us despite us all having rear lights flashing.
I am also convinced that riding a road bike in lycra, hi viz kit, wearing a helmet and riding at a reasonable speed places you in more danger (wasn't there a research project to back that up?). My anecdotal evidence is based on a bloke I see riding from Aldershot to Guildford every day at 2 miles an hour, wearing black ordinary clothes, no helmet, with fag power lights during the winter months etc etc and cars always slow down to pass him and give him a wide berth. Full-on roadies I see on the same journey all seem to be passed closely by cars at speed. Weird!!! Thisisnotaspoon's panniers idea also seems to be bourne out as there is a female commuter I see occasionally who has huge panniers (not a euphamism) and motorists always slow down and give her a lot of room.

I think part of driving training and testing for any vehicles should include a few hours on a bike in heavy traffic, might make drivers a bit more appreciative and aware of what it's like on 2 wheels then? And, if you can't ride a bike then you have to learn! … I think there's a lot of drivers out there that probably haven't been on a bike for years before getting a car so they have no idea!

~chill – laugh at them and their stupidity, anger and incompetence

Well great, but that doesn't make it any safer.
A driver is in a very different frame of mind to a cyclist at 20mph. It's often not even personal to them, you're just an obstacle.

It doesn't make it any safer – but then its not actually dangerous anyway. chilling out and laughing at idiots in cars does remove some of the stress and angst that the OP is feeling

I'm loving commuting at the moment, and the odd idiot will not ruin it for me. I feel your pain, I have one dodgy 50mph junction to negotiate that I detest and can't make safer without actually stopping and becoming a pedestrian. I leave before 7 and come home after 6 most days, so I simply don't see the traffic as much. I also have off road options if I take an MTB, ride home last night was **** brilliant 🙂

Keep going, and pity the idiots getting angry in their expensive tin cans rather than yourself.

never wanted a hi vis before now… awesome.

Oh dear! I recognised Sue Archer from that photo! I'm doomed! 😕

Probability, I love it but it's hard to get your head around.

If something is given as a 1 in 7 chance (to make the example easy) it doesn't mean that you can ride your bike for 6 days and get squashed on the seventh. It means that every day there is a 1 in 7 chance.

Likewise, if you get squashed on Monday, there is still a 1 in 7 chance that you will get squashed on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday etc etc.