[Closed] Nutter blocking the track. -Who's wrong?

You rode into someone deliberately. Your fault, even if he is a nobber. If you were in a car would you do the same or actually slow down/stop?

Sorry, you're in the wrong

You should've slowed down and stopped.

That way you can be more accurate when you punch him in the face.

stop and have a chat?

I think you lost the moral high ground when you said:

In the end I gave up and rode straight at him fast.

he's trying to mug you... otherwise he'd shout whatever information he wanted you to stop for so he could give it to you, or you would have ridden off the edge of the cliff he was warning you about. as you haven't mentioned a cliff or him actually telling you anything i think we can all safely say that he was definitely, without question, a highwayman trying to mug, rape and kill you.

well done for riding on.

i'm glad you're safe

*is glad you're safe*

In seriousness, I think I'd have stopped and asked exactly what his problem was. Unless he looked big and scary.

When confronted with such a strong difference of opinion, I find it's worth walking a mile in their shoes. Then if they get cross they're two miles away and barefoot, so the chances of them catching you are fairly slim.

Hmm, what to do if I did. He was quite threatening, I'm not sure I'd want to stop.

Oh and I slow down for soldiers too. They are normally very civil and friendly - unlike this one.

You should have shouted "speed up" as you went past.

He may however have been in dire need of your assistance with some important matter and sadly you let him down. Maybe the next time you see him will be on the news or lying dead at the side of said path.
Maybe.

As I understand it, the great legal scheme of things is that bikes are at the bottom of the pile in terms of priority (ie must give way).

You be better getting a horse and training it, as, because I understand it it is never the horses fault, therefore if the horse was trained in unarmed combat and did him over you'd be fine. (I also think the same is true of cats, so maybe you could train up a posse.....)

I'd probably find out what he had to say, if he just hates cyclists then maybe ride at him tomorrow

Are you sure he wasn't having an epileptic fit and needed help?

(I also think the same is true of cats, so maybe you could train up a posse.....)

[img] [/img]

I would suggest that you are most definitely wrong..... But I'd do exactly what you did.

Philconsequence makes a good point, actually. You might've had your back doors kicked in and your bike stolen.

"Well, officer, I would have stopped of course, but the gentleman's behaviour gave me cause to fear for my safety. And bottom."

[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

of course i'm correct, he wanted your bottom.

40MPG "Epileptic fit"? He didn't sound very epileptic but I'm no expert. Do epileptics do this? (sidle about to remain directly in front of a rider while waving their arms and shouting)

OK, if he does it again I'll stop. I'm sure he just hates cyclists but that'll prove it.

Please tell me this didn't happen on MOD land in the Aldershot/Ash/Pirbright area. There's enough anti-bike stuff kicking off there currently without randoms* kicking up even more of a fuss.

* he may have been an army bod even.

There is the possibilty he might want to steal your bike you so you did the right thing.

Sadly not so far away. More Fleet side.

I've seen the notices on the trees and I aplaud them, the attiutude is right and the way they are written is sensitive. This guy was taking the piss though

i grew up in fleet. definitely somebody after your bottom.

Not an Army bod. They are quite different.

- I always say hello and slow down for those guys. It gets quite rythmic sometimes when there is a string of them either side hello..hello.. hello. - Quite fun weaving through!

"i grew up in fleet. definitely somebody after your bottom" 😆

That's scary actually, I've had that walking alone in Italy. Didn't know till then that I was cruising though the "red light bushes" near Como.

I had something similar happen to me on a night ride near Woking a while back. I stopped as the chap reckoned he needed help (had to stop as he had blocked the path). When I stopped and tried talking to him, he got very animated and started to get aggressive. I managed to get past him but I should not have stopped, you did the right thing.

Yeah, you did the right thing. Fight nuttiness with increased nuttiness. My spidey-sense would have been tingling big time - sounds like a mugger or bike-nicker.

I had an old nutter leap in front of me brandishing a scythe. He was most upset when i stopped, marking the ground with my tyres. He ranted about not being allowed to ride there and look at the enormous skid i had just done(!)etc, i explained about responsible access and made friends with his dog, he grumbled a bit more, i rode off.

Never thought about the sanctity of my arse!

Last night an old couple just stared at us as we slowed our pace but continued to cycle towards them up a bridal path (tractor width), they were completely put out by us 'just' being there.
I'd have happily talked to them but they made it obvious from there body language, and "no" answer to the "alright?" question, that they weren't about to move aside (both on either side with a dog between them) or be convinced by a polite word.

People, there lots of stupid ones about....

But then I've cycled up trail centre tracks to find idiots just blocking the track, who happily watch you cycle uptowards them, and just stand there looking gormless...

People, there lots of stupid ones about...

haterz gonna hate no point engaging with them IME.

[img] [/img]

Not sure how you were in the wrong here in some people's opinions?

When someone moves 3 times to block your path what should you do? Move a fourth time? At least riding straight let him know you weren't stopping and not letting him bring you to a halt. Even if he was a small bloke they can do a lot of damage with a knife/needle/bottle/rock and could very easily be off with your bike.

I'd have done the same as you and felt perfectly within my rights.

A bloke walking on a cycle trail tried to punch me once, it was only due to my lack of stoping that he missed. I was so shocked I had no response and just cycled on.

I tend to stop and talk to most people who don't like cyclist and just agree with them (especially the ones with riffles), its to confussing for them to comprehend cos I won't argue.

i had similar when i was driving in my motor once ... old woman standing in the middle of the road - figured she was in trouble so i stopped.

she was a 65 year old hitch hiker in the middle of no where in the middle of winter needing to go to grantown on spey .... so i took her to the top of the lecht.

nothing sinister- sorry

People are random, get weird stuff like this round our way sometimes.

Trouble with summer is all the weirdo's like to come out as it's too warm to stay indoors.

14 years ago I was riding along a canal towpath when a man stepped out in front of me. So I stopped thinking he had something important to tell me. He then pulled out a knife and stole my bike.

Ever since then I always ride with my trusty baseball bat and swing at anyone who comes within striking distance. I've had no problems since.

Must be this [url= http://www.gethampshire.co.uk/news/s/2092770_yateley_flasher_efit_released_by_police ]fella[/url] expanding his "theatre of operations"

sounds pretty much like a STW'er wanting to know your user name

think bringing it up on here a mistake - will know what your intended tactic is next time

I bet you can't sleep from your loss of the moral high ground

For future reference, stop well beforehand, check for accomplices hiding in undergrowth, call police and report you have just been assaulted by said idiot then proceed to 'own with bombers'. Or, more sensibly, just repeat what you did last time.

being called MountainCarrot he must be James in real life - there, real name sussed

sounds to me like you did the right thing - im guessing mugging etc if he violently came towards you for no reason what so ever waving you down - could have easily been watching you for a while if its a commute and thought hes an easy target - of course only really applies if it was commuting....either way i would have just kept going too... chances are if its a man on his own, being slightly violent/making an abrubt way to stop you by blocking you (trying to) , he doesnt want to shake your hand does he?!?!? its clear he was on the rob, or derranged/mental....

well done for keeping your speed up and avoiding

maybe he just wanted to know what tyres are best for riding a 4m wide hardpack.

Had a similar thing at a race recently, where some loony showed up and started ripping up tape and posts expounding on how we had no right to close of sections of trail...... oh the irony. I didn't catch up with her or her dog, so both are probably still walking without too much difficulty. However in retrospect, I've decided that the way forward in future is to enquire about their public liability cover. Might be the tack to take on your footpath.

I'd have stopped for a chat, however I'd have suggested my other half rode on if on her own, so I'd say you did the right thing essentially, I just like a good argument and am not overly bothered by confrontation.

So this bloke asks you to slow down. So you don't? And you wonder why he got agitated?

Why not just slow down?

I'm with cougar on this one. Although I would only have to slow down because the recoil from my AK47 is enough to throw me off my bike at anything over 40mph!!!!

Nutter or mugger - I'd have done the same as you and probably hurled a few obscenities as I passed for good measure.

I had one this morning, 4 Metre wide empty hardpack on the flat. MOD land, used by walkers, MTB'ers and regular races. Me spinning along nicely going to work just enjoying it. A single bloke on his own (definitely no dog with this one) going the other way sees me 100M off and starts waving his hands and saying [b]"slow down"[/b].

Ha.

We had that a couple of weeks ago, heading back to the car at the end of a ride. Guy on the path up ahead sees us and he's moved over to one side anyway. As we approach he starts going mental and screaming "SLOW DOWN" at us. We brake and pass him and he's still going mental. As I passed him I glanced backwards...

About 100 yards further on, I notice something by my side. It's the nutter, pedalling furiously on a BSO screaming "F*CKING SLOW DOWN" and he's swiping at me and trying to knock me off 😆 . It's at this point I notice he's a bit of a mad old jakey. Mid 40s, ravaged by booze.

I slam my brakes on and he shoots past me and starts heading after my mate and he starts giving him a torrent of abuse. I catch up and he's going mental. Told him to calm down and that we did brake as we went past him but he was verging on foaming at the mouth.

Well slow down properly then.

Jeez. Did anyone ever consider that they might be being asked to slow down for a reason? Just because you don't see the reason at first glance, doesn't mean it's not there. And even if you can't see the reason yourself it's all subjective.

Well slow down properly then.

Jeez. Did anyone ever consider that they might be being asked to slow down for a reason? Just because you don't see the reason at first glance, doesn't mean it's not there. And even if you can't see the reason yourself [b]it's all subjective.[/b]

And based on my own judgement, we weren't going too fast, so me, you and the random glasgow junky will just have to agree to disagree.

Ever been mugged glen?

Fair enough - I wasn't there. No - I've never been mugged.

Just one of my many high horses. Cyclists don't realise how fast it feels to everyone else. Nor do they (generally) realise just how much other people appreciate it if you stop completely or drop to walking pace.

😯

Sounds like you're the nobber tbh.

It's more often the female variety of non-cyclist who assume we have absolutely no control and are liable to hit anything within ten feet.

According to this apparent discrepancy, I do tend to slow down more for women than men. Call me a Gentleman.

But for someone to step out in front of a fast moving bike and deliberately expose themselves to danger indicates they don't think the cyclist is a danger to them per se, they just don't want anyone to be cycling along perfectly normally actually trying to get somewhere.

Get out the way you nutter !
[img] [/img]

MartinGT you are a little ray of sunshine aren't you 😆

MountainCarrot, what you need is this in your saddle bags