PlumzRichard

They believe we are fair game and that there will be no consiquences. Had you not damaged the car and gave the pr1ck a reason to back off! what would have happend?

Then again maybe you should have calmly let him run you off the road to let him see that cyclist are good people, by attacking a defenceless car all you do is escalate the problem, genius!!!

Kaesae,(and I'm not saying that things are your fault here) have you thought about maybe looking into some cycle training?, at least to get a second opinion on things you could do better (most of us are doing something less than perfectly)
I cycle a fair bit in Edinburgh and honestly dont find other road users to be bad there at all- quite the reverse, I tend to chill out once past Barnton.

west kipper

Hey. I don't find it happening all the time, but it did happen a fair bit when I used to cycle a lot. I've only been out cycling for a week and one day and some driver coming out of asda pulled out almost right into me. Didn't seem to see me at all, luckily I have incorporated and perfected the wave with one hand and whistle no hander, how's that for riding skills.

These incidents are fairly rare, however they are becoming more common.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1930961.stm

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/comment/vince-yearley-why-does-the-uk-rack-up-so-many-bike-accidents-453549.html

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&source=hp&q=cycling+accidents+in+britain&meta=&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=4df61cf27fc448d4

This thread is about losing the rag at drivers that try to bully you on the roads.

When I was younger I was a bit of a do unto others as they rider. Maybe the next time something happens I will be less agro and simply let the motorist in question get away with it and believe doing it is fine.

Maybe not though as I believe it would be a bad idea to capitulate to inconsiderate or beligerent behaviour that is dangerous to cyclists.

As for improving my riding skills. How exactly will improving my riding skills change the mentality of drivers in this country and enable them to be more considerate of cyclists

Same question I asked earlier on really, if they have nothing to lose and there are no consiquences for their actions? why would they change thier behaviour and what is to stop them acting in a reckless or dangerous way towards cyclists?

Well, changing things like say, your road positioning can make a massive difference to the way other road users react to you, for instance, not riding in the very edge of the road can mean the driver sees you earlier. Stuff like that.
Aye, you still get the odd choob doing something daft, but very few drivers are actually malicious, and doing a bit of pre-emptive thinking for them helps avoid incidents in the first place.

Yeah good points. A lot of people in Edinburgh are cool. A lot more @ssholes than there where 5 or even 3 years ago though.

There are also quite a few malicious drivers about, even driving my car I see loads of them. Bus and taxi drivers can be real scum bags.

I guess well just have to wait and see what other road users have experienced. Like I said the incidents aren't every ride but they do seem to occur more than I would like!

And it does really piss me of when they look right at you and pull out laughing or smirking. Maybe it's just the odd helmets and shinies I tend to ware and the fact that they don't realize under the gear is an actual person!

Or maybe their too distracted by my appearance to consider the fact that if they pull out right infront of me expecting me to stop, I might just not as said armour/outfit will after all protect me!

I will think about it later on, however for now I still think that if they look right at you and pull straight out in front of you intentionally, it's upto you if you stop or not!

wrong forum?

Scaredypants – post of the week !

Kaesae – I used to get annoyed at drivers when I started road cycling, but would get to work really stressed etc etc. Many years of playing in the traffic have learned me some defensive manouevres, and to accept the fact that they are in two tons on metal and you are in about 500gm of lycra, which protects you about as much as righteous indignation.

Keep calm and assume they are all trying to kill you, it really helps.

Hey. I am reasonably calm to be honest. On top of that I have the unique ability to alter my state of consciousness. I simply leave all the crap behind me when I walk away from it.

Don't carry arguments about and tend to laugh at most things. But in the moments when people pull sh1t like that, I tend to always be looking to teach them a lesson. I'm very giving that way.

I do however bear the fact in mind that they have a car and it can be used as an effective weapon!

Looking back over the last 13 years of cycling and asking if I could respond differently would I have.

Not a Fu King chance, had it coming and recieved it in full.

That said I am a responsible business person, so I would probably give people a little bit extra leeway if it happend today!

ridefree!

Kaesae – did I interview you for a job once ?? The job needed a disclosure form and the applicant hands his over. It had an assault listed so I had to ask – it was for smashing up a car while out on the bike !!

I accept that drivers, and in fact all humans, make mistakes, lose concentration etc. Fair enough. I make mistakes when I drive too.

What bothers me is the deliberate bad driving of bus and taxi drivers. It IS deliberate, they drive past you and pull in to a stop on top of you. That's really annoying because it's bullying. When I pull them on it, they just shrug their shoulders – they know exactly what they've done. I complain about it and get the same reply "We have spoken to the driver and have decided to take no further action". Are they going to wait until a cyclist gets killed? Will they "take further action" then I wonder?

Having said that, I've never damaged anyone's car – I have offered the driver out once or twice tho…

Oh yes nearly forgot, it's not just cyclists – drivers in London cut each other up too. No one here has time to live, every nano-second is precious, every inch of road must be fought and won, every day.

I got run off the road by a white van man when I was living in Plymouth. Was with a large group who caught up with him when he weaved to try and knock another off to which one guy retaliated by denting the back panel. He spat in one guys face to which another mate somehow got hold of his keys and threw them in a field. Worst experience for me really as left quite shaken up and didn't enjoy what was planned to be an awesome ride.

Had episodes in Portsmouth where cars have been very close to hitting me on a work commute but to be fair moat have apologised but some of the back roads I have to ride on are very narrow and busy

hels

Smashed a few idiots in my time but never been charged with smashing a car. To be honest I didn't think you could get charged with assault on a car?

Karinofnine

The london underground rail network when you see people crammed in, very scary!

I ride a lot in Edinburgh every day too, and have never had any issues like those you speak of.

Do you drive too? I find doing both helps in that you can anticipate moves the driver will make.

Part of me thinks you're partly to blame and should consider the way you ride, how you position yourself and so on. Be assertive but not aggressive, aggression will get you nowhere other than hospital. I'm surprised that after your supposed criminal damage to cars that someone hasn't decked you yet, personally I think you'd deserve it if you maliciously damaged a car because your skewed world view makes you think that everyone is out to get you.

Did the driver have a dog with its head out the window that just happened to look like it was going to bite you too? 😛

don`t you just love the middle class 😆

You may be right, but if someone looks right at me we lock eyes and then they decide to pull out in front of me, giving me two options hit them or brake/swerve. I tend to go for hit them.

Or at least I have in the past, as for people being out to get me! we have heard quite a few stories on here about people being deliberately hit or harrased are we to believe that in Edinburgh this kind of thing doesn't happen at all? and that in 13 years of cycling in the city the possibility of me coming across it and being effected by it are impossible?

I see your point but I still disagree, on several occasions people have intentionally used their cars to try and intimidate me, I'm not a novice cyclist or paranoid if I say something unlike most people it is because I believe it. Not everyone I meet tries it on, as I have said the incidents are few considering how many times I've been out on my bike riding. But they do still happen on a regular basis and a lot of cyclist get injured or worse each year due to the attitude of a lot of drivers.

Way out North there was this fella… fella I wanna tell ya about. Fella by the name of Kasaeaeaee. At least that was the handle his loving parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. Mr. Kasaeaeaee, he called himself "The Dude". Now, "Dude" – that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place so darned interestin'.

…I only mention it because sometimes there's a man… I won't say a hero, 'cause, what's a hero? But sometimes, there's a man. And I'm talkin' about the Dude here. Sometimes, there's a man, well, he's the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. And that's the Dude, in Scotchland. … But sometimes there's a man, sometimes, there's a man. Aw. I lost my train of thought here. But… aw, hell. I've done introduced him enough.

It can be difficult to know if someone really has seen you though.

I don't ride on the road much, used to ride bikes of the motor variety though. Sometimes you would think someone was looking right at you as they were about to pull out. Then they would pull out, having been looking straight through you without seeing..

Got very good at reading people's faces, quite a few near misses like that.

kevevs
not sure if I should thank you! or tell you to **** off. So I won't say anything, except what I just did.

As for the rest of you, are you saying that although reckless endangerment, occurs in every major city in the country it does not occur in Edinburgh. Even if it did occur in this city it would not and could not occur in my presence and therefore I must be paraniod that everyone is out to get me!

Considering that every major and well known crime occurs in this city.

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&q=cyclist+attacked+edinburgh&meta=&aq=&aqi=&aql=&oq=cyclist+attacked+edinburgh&gs_rfai=&fp=bf68c2089a1e444a

Hard to believe that reckless endangerment doesn't or that it's impossible for it to occur when I'm about.

So in summation, you should turn the other cheek, whilst wildly jesticulating with your fingers. Hopefully not spraining them in the process.

However you should not under any circumstances give @ssholes some of their own medicine and confront them, as not being a victim is bad because you will become part of a viscious cycle that will eventually destroy the planet. OK a bit much, you will however have to fight in the street to the death, considering all the hand bag swingers on this site, that I would like to see. Or alternatively take medicine for paranoia because. THERE ARE NO @SSHOLES WHO OWN CARS IN EDINBURGH? Drug dealers, rapists, murderers, and god only knows what else. BUT NO @SSHOLES?

If you think there are you're mad and even if their where the best course of action would be to sign f@ck you and then cycle of presenting the perfect target and opportunity for said @ HOLES to decorate their bonnet with your dumb finger gesticulating @ss!

Does that about sum your evaluation of the situation up?

…I only mention it because sometimes there's a man… I won't say a hero, 'cause, what's a hero? But sometimes, there's a man. And I'm talkin' about the Dude here. Sometimes, there's a man, well, he's the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. And that's the Dude, in Scotchland. … But sometimes there's a man, sometimes, there's a man. Aw. I lost my train of thought here. But… aw, hell. I've done introduced him enough.

Amen to that.

Kaesaeeeeee rocks.

He's keepin' the Forum alive.

Allow it.

kenneththecurtain

Yeah but when you lock eyes with someone you know. You can see the recognition in their eyes. A lot of drivers have that vacant look when they are day dreaming and you always have to look out for it.

The look they give when they're trying it on is different, there is a calculation to it.