A few of my "friends" hate cyclists and regularly try and get a bite from me. You'll never, ever win an irrational argument. Sounds more to me like your colleagues are baiting you to start an argument to be honest.
Find something he likes and hate that.
[i]I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.[/i]
George Bernard Shaw
Be super-nice to him. Help him out whenever you can, make sure he can see what a lovely, wonderful person you are. Don't rise to any cyclist baiting, let it slide. Be as perfect as you can around him. Then after a good long while, a few months at least, make sure he knows you're one of those dreaded 'cyclists' he hates so much.
Perhaps the stupid shite will begin to question his imbecilic views if he realises that 'cyclists' are in fact usually just normal, nice people who happen to be on a bicycle.
A bloke here (lovely sweet chap) just asked me if I cycle on road as well as off. When I said yes, he said I'd gone down in his estimation because some cyclists on the A31 doing a time trial are a bit reckless.
However I did point out the idiocy of this statement and he did relent. But still - pillock.
To the OP - don't be a dick to him, you'll just reinforce his idea that cyclists are dicks.
Well, it's hardly slanderous.
(-:
Hoof him in the slats, wee in his shoes and don't let him have any pudding
I think that's all of them that were left after bombers were posted.
guy at worked joked a few times that he'd run me down if he saw me....i joked that I'd do unspeakables to his wife if I ever saw her. he hasn't said it since.
LOL@..... Is he fat? Point this out.
in the cycle lane as he has paid tax for that section of road whereas cyclists don't (even though he [s]has been[/s] is stubbornly disinclined to be educated on what motorists pay road tax for, emmissions)
FTFY
A certain brand of entitled bigot is invested in ongoing ignorance. Education threatens their worldview/makes them look at the limp-argument/angry dick that is them.
I vote ignore the douchebaggery yet still smile sweetly. Or buy him a nice cake. Your choice.
Just be incredibly nice and civil to him, the rest of the staff will take note and you'll have the moral high ground.
'Buy him a nice cake' gets my vote, just make sure it's lovingly presented on a pretty napkin that you've wiped round your chamois first 😆
Very curious what is the base of his hatred?
Because as we ALL know ALL the cyclist are crystal-clear in using public roads and are always adhering to Highway Code 😕
Cheers!
I.
Not much productive you can do.
Challenges are likely to lead to an unpleasant workplace that would be deemed your fault. Ignore him til he over steps the line. Then escalate to internal management or the Police as appropriate.
Totally agree with Jamie about arguing with fools.
Very curious what is the base of his hatred?
Probably the same as me wishing to kill all motorists because a driver ran a red light one time.
First I would make sure that the people at work aren't just winding you up knowing that you cycle . If he really does "hate cyclists" I would just carry on as normal with him but be ready to attack his views if he ever expresses them in your company .
'Buy him a nice cake' gets my vote, just make sure it's lovingly presented on a pretty napkin that you've wiped round your chamois first
Mint and chocolate cake.
sign him up for all the cycling emails you can think of, fabricate an email from management saying cycling to work will get you a bonus each month.
I feel sorry for people who fall prey to their anger and ignorant prejudice, no-one like that is happy.
I would be super polite and professional and ignore the obvious provocation. I'd also be tempted to email him Binners' quote from George Bernard Shaw, but without any reference to anything else. He'll know what you're getting at but he'll say nothing as it means him admitting he's an angry idiot:-)
Meet his hatred with love and compassion.
And stick one of those 'cyclists, stay awesome' stickers on the back of his car and see how long he takes to notice.
If you want to unsettle him, do as my colleague did and turn up in your new fancy lycra shorts and spend five mins complaining that an Italian L is really and S while pointing to the pinching bits and stretching. Nearly put me off cycling.
And stick one of those 'cyclists, stay awesome' stickers on the back of his car and see how long he takes to notice
Awesome idea, but also on the back of his chair or monitor could be a good shout.
For what it's worth, it's probably mostly flannel on his part and thinks he's bigging himself up somehow. Some people are just weird like that.
If he doesn't effect you when out on the bike, why bother falling out with a work colleague over it? You say you get on with him so why rock the boat.
If he is out purposely trying to run cyclists down then you'll need proof. If h'e driving in cycle lanes, he'll be caught and fined.
Taking the piss or playing along with his view (only taking it to the extremes) would be my solution. Not talking or ignoring someone who seems a decent chappie just because they don't have the same hobbies as you is a bit odd. And what's with all the 'challenge his views' crap from some posters? Even if he does hate cyclists (which i doubt), he's completely allowed to. In fact, reading some of the nonsense on here, i'm starting to unlike cyclists myself.
When somebody was like that at a party I just looked them in the eye and asked how they would feel if they killed me? There is no connection between road users and humans.
Oh and you are not stuck in traffic you are traffic works well.
People who use the "cyclists don't pay road tax" are dumb as ****.
There are plenty of cars nowadays that pay no to little roadtax. (zero and low emmission emitting cars)
What's this guy going to do, ram those cars off the road because they pay no road tax?
Sounds like a proper bell end. I'd love to meet him to say hello.
Many of my friends (?) hate cyclists. Their reasons are largely irrational but the kind of stuff that gets said by cyclists (see previous pages) and the behaviour of a minority of them only fuels their irrational hatred.
Good start - behave as we would like them to behave, not the other way round
I've a couple of numpties at work who make a point of telling me every time a 'bloody cyclist' has held them up/overtaken them as if they expect me to be a spokesman for anyone that rides a bike. This is despite my responses generally being one word answers such as "and?" or "so?".
Yesterday's rant was because some b*tch overtook a long queue of cars leading up to some temporary traffic lights so was at the front and through them 3 changes before the Mokka driving twunt was able to. Or something.
Sad really, but it's generally best to simply ignore them.
Depends
If they are dangerous or they may listen to reason it might be worth engaging
otherwise it is pointless.
I used to largely take the piss
I got held up by this bloody cyclists
Reply: so the roads were clear of all other road users and no one else held you up then?
How many seconds longer was todays journey then?
Wow and yet here you are at work on time.
I should be able to use the cycle lanes in my car
Reply:I agree and that is why cyclists should use the pavement as rules are there to be ignored
ETC.
Sad really, but it's generally best to simply ignore them.
Or respond in such a way that they think twice about raising the subject in the future.
There's about as much point in challenging dicks like this as there is arguing with Youtube commenters.
Just ignore him and if he makes an anti-cycling comment to you personally, challenge him (to a fight in the car park, probably 😆 ). Although I'd just settle for calling someone an idiot.
A manager who left here a couple of years ago made a comment about cyclists getting in the way that I didn't challenge and it still bugs me to this day!
People who use the "cyclists don't pay road tax" are dumb as ****.There are plenty of cars nowadays that pay no to little roadtax. (zero and low emmission emitting cars)
What's this guy going to do, ram those cars off the road because they pay no road tax?
The correct response is nobody pays road tax as road tax hasn't existed since Winston Churchill removed it in 1937 and replaced it with vehicle excise duty.
You pay a duty on the vehicle, not the road. General taxes cover the roads so you pay "road tax" whether using a car or not.
How would you react to him if his hatred was against female/black/gay/whatever people? That would be my starting point.
To the road tax thing, we're going to be facing a real onslaught on that once road tax is reintroduced... of course, it's not actually "all roads tax", it's just "some roads tax" but that won't stop the muppets really thinking they've got justification for their hatred of freeloading cyclists...
The correct response is nobody pays road tax as road tax hasn't existed since Winston Churchill removed it in 1937 and replaced it with vehicle excise duty.You pay a duty on the vehicle, not the road.
And when they respond pointing out they can own and run as many cars as they want but only have to pay VED to use a car on the public roads, so its a road tax in all but name, how do you respond?
Anyone starting the nobody pays Road tax has lost the argument already by being a pedant.
You respond that the car tax doesn't pay for roads, not even close even if it was hypothecated...
Not to mention that statistically, a cyclist is more likely to own a car than a non-cyclist so they will almost certainly be paying car tax anyway.
the road tax argument will only be good until 2017 🙁
Find out something he is keen on - golf, crown green bowls, whatever, and come up with some bizarre irrational reason for hating participants in those pastimes. Argue loudly.
Maybe the answer to that would be:
"I do pay road tax, commensurate with the pollution I cause"
Since VED or "road tax" is based on that.
Unfortunately they will probably move on to "you aren't insured" or similar
Since VED or "road tax" is based on that.
As above, unfortunately that will be changing...
On the insurance, the answer is that most people have it on their home insurance. A little weak since not everyone has that but it's there and typically they won't accept that the facts back up that damage caused by cyclists is tiny in comparison to that caused by cars.
the road tax argument will only be good until 2017
[s]it's still not road tax.
there is an infinite number of imaginary taxes that i don't pay, 'road tax' is up there with 'pavement tax', or 'toenail tax'.[/s]
hang on, what?!?!?!
(i knew they were pissing about with the boundaries, but blimey...)
yep... It will be road tax. OK, actually 'some road tax' but road tax nonetheless.
@nemesis The Road tax will only apply to vehicles registered from 2017 onwards.
Looking around and according to the Daily Fail (sorry I'll flog myself at dinner time for visiting their site) currently around 25% of vehicles are exempt from VED/road tax which as a figure really surprised me.
Didn't know about the registered after 2017 bit but regardless, it'll still be used against us, especially as more cars are included over the years.
If you have a car though then the argument is still moot as you will be paying just as much tax as him.
If they put the 'road tax' on fuel then it would be true that cyclists weren't paying as much.
