someone should get little versions of they stickers they put on car windows that are hard to get off – keep some in your bike pocket and quitly or forcefully slap them on a car that has cut you up saying – something like You nearly killed me – from a cyclist or someone better wordsmith may come up with a better phrase.

it would make em think about looking for cyclists if they couldn’t even see them put a sticker on their car…

I did martial arts for 9yrs. Doesnt mean squat. A hard kid could drop a blackbelt very quickly and exact a savage-beating. Why do you think the undercover SAS disengaged themselves from potential hand-to-hand confrontation with locals in Northern Ireland? I’ve known a couple of lads in Hudds who were ‘friends’ from my youth who have done time for going crackers in fights.
Factor in knives and a incident becomes something else. Escalation.

ChristoGinger = Genius.

Hora; you’d need more than a Cat-O-Nine-Tails, you ponce. Besides, you’d probably take yerself out with it…

Christo; a mate recently suggested a Jif lemon squeezy filled with brake fluid. Tempting, but wrong…

In that case rudeboy, I agree – wow!

No, we are the people who go and confront them.

Agreed, also.

But you would attack someones property rather than them. Why not pull up alongside them and ask them to get out of the car? No, a kick or pull the mirror off then cycle on your way through traffic hey? Next cyclist who comes past the same driver some other time gets a share of the agro back.

I’d better be careful if I visit a trail or trail centre. I might be attacked for getting in someones way huh?

snowslave – Do you think if you didn’t have the kung fu skills and you had seen the size of the guy you would still have done that?

Hard to say. In all honesty I was afraid. His demeanour and his body language told me he was comfortable and ready to fight. He just wanted me to make the first move.
Training in any sort of combat sport gets you used to “the feeling” of fighting so the idea of a physical confrontation is not so terrifying. You also learn through sparring with larger guys that size alone doesnt render the result of a confrontation inevitable but I was still inwardly edgy, he seemed pretty calm.

The thing which muddies the waters in terms of my thinking on the subject is the fact that I was armed. I didnt want to smash his skull in (which is what I would have ended up doing) so I was even more reluctant to engage.

I’ll say …. I probably wouldn’t have stood my ground, had I not had experience in combat sports/self defence. Had I not being carrying a weapon, things might have panned out differently as I would have needed to close the distance slightly to engage effectively…….it’s very hard to say.

hora – Member
I did martial arts for 9yrs. Doesnt mean squat. A hard kid could drop a blackbelt very quickly and exact a savage-beating. Why do you think the undercover SAS disengaged themselves from potential hand-to-hand confrontation with locals in Northern Ireland? I’ve known a couple of lads in Hudds who were ‘friends’ from my youth who have done time for going crackers in fights.
Factor in knives and a incident becomes something else. Escalation.

All depends on the style of martial art. TMA, not worth a damn. MMA, cross training – lethal, practical and brutal. When you’re training to strike to the eyes, kness, balls thoat, take people to the ground, break limbs etc it does make a difference. Not as effective as running away mind you.

There was this big lad who tried to get me every day on the way home from school. Finally I decided to sort it, bought a bottle of fairy liquid on the way to school that day. Poured a smidge out and topped it with water. That evening instead of my usual sprint and a dive through a hedge to get away from the geezer, I stood my ground, squeezy bottle at the ready. He walked up, preparing to give me a biffing. I warned him I was armed with soapy water, which ok was probably a slight mis-representation of reality. Nevertheless, as he came to hit me, I let him have it in the eyes. Seemed to have the desired effect so I booted him in the nuts a few times and ran off. Fairy liquid. It’s the future…

Well it isn’t – I got in serious bother for nearly blinding him as well as booting his procreational gear into the next century, but he never bothered me again to be fair.

Ermmmmm, stickers seem a much better option

In that case rudeboy, I agree – wow!

(Faints)

(Regains conciousness, reads comment again)

In that case rudeboy, I agree – wow!

(Faints again)

I’d better have a little lie down…

At School I thought I’d pick on a lad who was vastly more developed than the rest of us. He was muscular and growing facial/body hair young. So I couldnt help myself and kicked off with him in the playing fields. He chucked me over his shoulder and I broke my wrist. I think its safe to say he won by a country-mile!

Hora, are you suggesting it’s better to inflict physical violence on someone, than merely damaging some piece of machinery?

No. I think if you will lash out, lashing out on their car is far less ‘orrible. And it costs them money.Which might, just might, make them think a bit…

Definitely or take a breath and put it down to experience.

Hora, not sure the attack-parrot would work against that poor soul whose dog ate his neighbour’s parrot on here the other week… Just a thought!

Every Parrot has its nemesis. Hopefully me and Eric will never comes across this dog.

Someone’s already come up with the sticker idea, although it was actually a magnetic sign:

Personally I don’t think it’s strongly worded enough to live up to some people on here’s hard man image of themselves. 🙄

Mr Agreeable –

Personally I don’t think it’s strongly worded enough to live up to some people on here’s hard man image of themselves.

Someone almost kills you, so you put a patronising and loftily worded sticker on their car?

“It serves to warn you?” Warn you of what exactly? That cyclists are sheepish subhumans?

I’d rather rip my own testicles off and throw them at the windscreen of the offending motorist than lower myself to such cowardly tactics*

*Actually I wouldnt, I just typed that to try and appear tough.

Could also blow a whistle and deliver the yellow a la gay referee?

Personally I don’t think it’s strongly worded enough to live up to some people on here’s hard man image of themselves

I cant think of anyone who wouldnt LAUGH at that yellow card, other than maybe a vicar. Plus making up magnetic stickers is pricey! And where do you carry them, in a side pocket – how fast can you get one out and lob it?

And it would scratch paintwork with road grime on it.

It’s pretty silly. But no more so than this sort of thing:

Wunundred…

They finally came out of the woodwork then.

Thing is, it’s just like that “did I do the right thing” thread the other week. No-one else is in your situation, they can’t judge the way you behave on the spur of the moment when you have a neat miss/accident/(whatever) with a motorist.
Fact is it makes you (sorry ME) f*cking angry – WHEN it is down to stupidity/arrogance/(whatever) on the driver’s part and I react accordingly. Nearly every time.
If it’s a small mistake, doesn’t put me in danger and the DRIVER APOLOGISES, I don’t react the same way. It’s down to individual circumstances and the only person who is WRONG is the one who tries to tell you you are wrong to react the way you do.
Night night.

Edit- As for sticking a sticker on the car – how the f***??? Like the one who pulled out of his parking space nearly side-swiping me yesterday – looked in his mirror and accelerated away. “Hang on! Wait! I’ve got a STICKER!!!”

Couple of months ago approaching Deansgate (Castlefield direction) a JCB driver decided to use his bucket to ‘guide me’ closer to the kerb as he thought I was taking up too much of the lane so he could then squeeze past. Triggered the survival mode in me and I blocked his way at the lights and asked him to get down and make a man of himself. He stood in his cab and said ‘you were riding like you were pissed mate’ but he wouldnt get down. TBH in a normal situation he would have belted me up and down in a bar brawl but at that moment I was willing to gouge into his eye sockets, punch him in the throat and bite his face/ears off. Took me a while to calm down and afterwards I thought its either time I stop commuting by bike or I grow up/take stock. That was the closet I got to full red mist on a ride.

You should’ve stuck a sticker on his bucket.

And it costs them money.Which might, just might, make them think a bit…

Yeah, it’ll make them think ‘frigging cyclists, they think they own the place, I hate them all’ which won’t do anyone any favours.

People need to think of cyclists as people; having reasoned words with a driver might help that, screaming abuse won’t.

As I was pulling into work the other day – making a right turn – someone was coming up the road in a BMW really fast, but I was at the junction first so I raised a big STOP hand in front of me and made my turn, making him brake a bit (although I was clearly safe). I was angry at this – he was doing a good 50 in a 30 past a school and busy work junction – and I made a **** sign.. I pretty much regretted this but ok. Anyway, the car followed me into work and as I stopped at the bike park he stopped and hurled abuse at me, then he got out and wanted to start a fight. Turns out, it was someone I work with (a tester, I’m a developer). So I acquiesced, being a non violent type but I was really upset nonetheless. Later that morning I went over and apologised, fortunately he seemed just as ashamed of his actions as I was of mine, which was ok.

There are two points here. 1) You never know who’s gonna be in the car but more importantly 2) OTHER people do irrational and wild things when they are annoyed as well as cyclists.

The moral – anger and attitude are never good. I have calmed down a lot since then.

hora – at that moment I was willing to gouge into his eye sockets, punch him in the throat and bite his face/ears off.

I dont understand why you’d let him off so lightly.

molgrips –
As I was pulling into work the other day – making a right turn – someone was coming up the road in a BMW really fast, but I was at the junction first so I raised a big STOP hand in front of me and made my turn, making him brake a bit (although I was clearly safe). I was angry at this – he was doing a good 50 in a 30 past a school and busy work junction – and I made a **** sign.. I pretty much regretted this but ok. Anyway, the car followed me into work and as I stopped at the bike park he stopped and hurled abuse at me, then he got out and wanted to start a fight. Turns out, it was someone I work with (a tester, I’m a developer). So I acquiesced, being a non violent type but I was really upset nonetheless. Later that morning I went over and apologised, fortunately he seemed just as ashamed of his actions as I was of mine, which was ok.

There are two points here. 1) You never know who’s gonna be in the car but more importantly 2) OTHER people do irrational and wild things when they are annoyed as well as cyclists.

The moral – anger and attitude are never good. I have calmed down a lot since then.

He was acting like a dick. You let him away with it. Therfore he f***ed you in the ass. Metaphorically. In the future try gouging his eyes out…….with your penis. It’ll make you feel, and look like the big man. Be sure to do it in the canteen for maximum effect.

Just walk up his desk and say, hey buddy you heard of me? (to which he might look a bit confused and sheepish). Then say this – ” I give skull f**king a bad name motherf**ker. Throw him to the ground, unzip and start penetrating his eyeballs. You might find it hard at first to get good penetration, in this event use a pencil, pen, your fingers, a spoon or a smaller mans penis to pierce his eyeball then carry on. Dont stop till you you’re done. Twice.

Exactly my point molgrips. You (and he) reacted according to the situation at the time. When I’m on my bike and feel like someone’s put me in danger I don’t have time to stop and think about what I should do, I react.
You and your tester friend then sorted things out afterwards. No harm done (lucky for the useless driving geek) 😉

…or you could always threaten to bum them. It would scare me if a bloke was making gyrating-hip actions against the side of my car and pointing to me then his nipples.

LOL @ GNARGNAR

Just imagining what one of the developers here would do if I “gestured” at them on my bike. 😆

Hora- you have a fear of being bummed, don’t you?

Not sure if Gnargnar’s course of action is one that should be followed… 😯

I have mellowed since my own wing-mirror smashing days, but it is only fair to say that I have never either felt in serious danger or had the slightest urge to rough someone up or abuse them while riding the Big Dummy. It is a curiosity, it has a huge road-presence and it makes you ride in a careful, calm and stately fashion. Much to be said for it!

Just to add…because my commute is relatively at the sametime/same other road users I tend to say ‘thank you’ as much as possible with long hand ‘thanks’ etc. I don’t know if it sinks into to other road users but if a cyclist did this to me I’d get a warm-glow inside 🙂

I can’t beleive you let FlexGirl say what I have dangling between my legs does not occur to me when someones nearly tried to kill me without asking what SHE has dangling between her legs?

Pics!?!

Hopefully invisible golden balls in times of intended hurt towards m’body!

Binners has been very quiet. Has his stormy-thunder passed?

Not read all 100-odd replies but I would’ve deprived him of at least one wing mirror.

A flip side to the story is, cycling home a couple of weeks ago I get cut up by a VW Golf in a dodgy area of Edinburgh. For once I decide not to loose it and carry on my leisurely way. Catch up with the car at the next junction to hear some shouting followed by 3 guys jumping out of the car, opening the boot, each extracting a metal baseball bat to chase some poor sod up the street. The followed him into a shop and beat the sh*t out of everything in their path.

Lucky escape for me, you just never know ……

stevemcnalls, Stretford (where I live). Following a minor traffic altercation, family followed home by three men in a car. Chased into their house and two put in intensive care. Hard lads on here would have had them though.

GnarGnar, you dear boy have issues, that or your 13, either way they need checking out.

Some people are just wired up a bit tight, and are naturally aggressive. One of the positive aspects of being like that, is that some people can also be very good ‘under fire’, and do things when ‘thinking about it’ would be detrimental. IE, running into a burning building or something. It’s because this type of mind possibly shuts off the ‘consequences’ section, and just runs on instinct, to do what is necessary.

ROFLMAO.

Just to add…because my commute is relatively at the sametime/same other road users I tend to say ‘thank you’ as much as possible with long hand ‘thanks’ etc. I don’t know if it sinks into to other road users but if a cyclist did this to me I’d get a warm-glow inside [:)]

+1

i try and give a “thanks” hand when a driver has pulled back from a junction or given me more room.

although i had an incident yesterday involving a car turning in on me and me running into a curb at full pelt. now have a slighty damaged rim looking a little better after some hammer surgery.

i must say the standard of driving in germany is much better and people are more aware of cyclists, but they will get pissed if you are on the road when there is a cycle path provided.

have had to slap a few cars whilst i’ve been here and given the “depp” sign to a few (a wave of out stretched hand in front of forehead).

J