Stuff that makes other people disproportionately cross

A weird encounter yesterday. Out on the road in middle of the day, overcast but clear conditions. Black tights, black top.

heading home through a village close to home and a ‘gentleman’ pulled up alongside me, wound down his window and started berating me about my lack of high vis. I stopped and we had a spirited conversation about the rights and responsibilities of car drivers and cyclists. he was adamant I was utterly irresponsible for not wearing high-vis. I disagreed.

We parted without resolution after I suggested if he couldn’t see me in these conditions he should have an eye test. He followed alongside me for another 100yds or so shouting out his window. He didn’t shout at the dog walkers that we passed not wearing high-vis…

What colour was his car* and were his lights on. We need to know before we cast judgment upon you!

*Oh, and make too!

Black tights, black top.

no skirt on…. walk of shame?

It’s a polite way of telling you to get the fudge off of the road so you don’t inconvenience them.
It’s either based on a) wanting to protect themselves due to ocular issues, low attention span (or both), so therefore a perceived possibility of hitting you; or b) they just don’t believe they have to share the road with cyclists.

*Nice thread title spin, btw.

no skirt on…. walk of shame?

maybe I misheard, it wasn’t hi-vis he thought I should be wearing..

I’m pretty sure that the available evidence is that high vis makes no difference, however if you’re not wearing it, the courts are willing to accept it as contributory negligence.

It’s not his place to berate you but my own thinking these days is why not give yourself the best chance of being seen? I see many road cyclists in all black and it’s hard to deny, in certain situations, they’re harder to see. Many contributing factors, but I don’t have an anti-cycling bias; just why wouldn’t you?

Lights are a better option, in my opinion. No excuses from motorists then. Green/yellow hi-viz can blend into a hedgerow in certain light; flashing lights aren’t easy to miss. Not wilfully, anyhow.

Personally I would wear something that makes me easier to see.

Not hi-viz as such but not something that blends in with the tarmac.

I also use small leds even during the day.

I’m pretty sure that the available evidence is that high vis makes no difference

Sauce?

I was required to and wore hi-viz at work, it certainly makes a difference on a busy, dynamic work site.

I think the evidence is limited. IME though on rural roads I often spot a group of cyclists well ahead because one of them is wearing bright colours. So I’ll ease off the gas a bit earlier. If I know the road I’ll already be thinking about overtaking chances up ahead. But seeing cyclists from 400 yards rather than 100 yards may not make any difference to cyclist safety.
There is a reason Hi Vis is required in many work situations. For cycling my best guess is a very marginal difference but if it improves my safety by anything at all then why not. It doesn’t cost and more or weigh any more.
Cycling UK though reviewed the research and found next to no difference.
https://www.cyclinguk.org/sites/default/files/document/2023/08/21-03_ca_hi-vis_brf_1.pdf

As a driver the stuff that annoys me is cyclists dressed in black at night with no lights or reflectors.

Years ago a pedestrian  was killed near my house. Rural road. No pavement. Walking in the middle of the lane facing away from approaching traffic. Dressed in black suit after being at a town hall function.

I think he would still be alive if either he had been wearing bright/reflective  clothing or if that 1 mile unlit stretch joining two towns had had a pavement built on the grass verge the council already own.

Cycling UK though reviewed the research and found next to no difference.

So it does make a difference in that you are seen earlier.

However, a knob driving like a knob, will still drive like a knob.

I don’t think it should be made compulsory but I will try and make myself conspicuous.

Not sure how it could be made compulsory anyway, unenforceable and very difficult to define the requirements.

Angry people are just angry people.

Every time something like this happens to me, I just imagine them going about their shitty, miserable lives and think about how great my life is in comparison.

I bought a Garmin Varia last year and now use it on every road and gravel ride, regardless of the time of day or brightness so that it’s an additional tool to be seen. I’ve also bought one of those Apidura hi-viz vests too recently for low-light/night rides. It weighs next to nothing and it’s a good fit.

Whether it makes a difference or not, I don’t know but the fact that it could be the difference between being seen or not, is enough for me.

Me, I seem to be a magnet for shitty driving and arseholes.

I do wear high-vis though. A yellow gillet, or club kit (pretty bright colours) on propper rides. And when commuting my backpack is a high Vis yellow altura dry-bag style one, my commuting softshell is yellow, the bike has a full compliment of reflectors on wheels/pedals/frame, and reflective wrist bands at night. And still get shit.

Ignore them and consider how shit their lives must be to feel the need to shout at people in the street.

When do we start berating over car drivers for choosing a grey/black/silver car…? I need advance warning to prepare for how much time and energy that’s going to cost me. Not least because our car is dark metallic grey.

I see many road cyclists in all black and it’s hard to deny, in certain situations, they’re harder to see. Many contributing factors, but I don’t have an anti-cycling bias; just why wouldn’t you?

Because black is so slimming and some of us need all the help we can get…

I saw a black man dressed in black on a black bike at dusk from 1/4 of a mile away on my commute home the other day.

I bet you don’t even pay road tax, do you? DO YOU? You monster.

Lights are a better option, in my opinion.

With people like the one mentioned in the OP, you cannot win because the unspoken reason that they’ve really stopped to have a go at you is because they resent your mere existence. If he’d had lights they’d have been too bright / not bright enough / blinky and distracting / the wrong shade of red / where are your reflectors?

These are the same silly bastards who are in such a hurry that they will lose their minds because you’ve inconvenienced them by about three seconds, yet have ten minutes to spare to start a kerbside argument. You’re never going to change their minds regardless of what you do because fundamentally they simply hate you and no amount of ‘logic’ is going to rectify that, in the remote chance that they do start to have an inkling of doubt then they’ll just get angrier. (Cf. something something brexit something…)

The car user in the OP’s post sounds like a dick. However driving and cycling through the Peak district it’s amazing the number of cyclists that seem to go for ninja black outfits and no lights. On the open moorland it’s not too bad, depending on weather, but for more covered arease e.g. the climb up from Froggatt or the road from Baslow to Calber they’re not the easiest to see amongst the tree shadows.

I don’t tend to wear all black myself when cycling, but when I’m on the road I have a couple of blinky lights just to help motorists see me. Doesn’t stop the close passes but hey-ho.

Edit:

When do we start berating over car drivers for choosing a grey/black/silver car…? I need advance warning to prepare for how much time and energy that’s going to cost me. Not least because our car is dark metallic grey.

Semi valid point but if you’re in a car you have a lot more protection around you. I had a black car many moons ago and the number of people that didn’t see you was crazy. Ended up turning my sidelights on for every journey. Also most cars build since 2011 require DRLs.

There’s then a further argument to be had about then requiring bigger flashier lights when on a bike or motorbike to stand out in the sea of DRLs on cars.

Maybe we need to go back to a chap walking in front of cars waving a red flag.

@gobuchul

So it does make a difference in that you are seen earlier.

Which is irrelevant if the problem isn’t that they don’t see us.

My understanding is that apart from in relatively limited circumstances (cutting down the inside of vehicles that are about to turn left), most cyclist injuries are caused because the driver just didn’t care?

just why wouldn’t you?

Not wear black? Some of my cycle clothing is dark colours, some of it is bright colours, depends on what I can afford, and what is clean, and what is suitable for the weather conditions. I do use lights.

Stuff that makes other people disproportionately cross

I was waiting at a red light in my van at some lights in town.

A cyclist came down the outside of me and very deliberately came into the middle of the cyclist box right in front of me, clearly making some sort of point, though I’m unsure what, as I was well behind the line.

No worries, thought I.

The lights changed to green, he picked up and started to move off. I gave him a mo and then went to move off too.

The SECOND he heard my engine note raise slightly, he stops and turns round and starts effin and blindin and gesturing at me.

I was a bit clueless as to what exactly I’d done to be honest.

He starts off again, absolutely apoplectic, still swearing and shouting at me, while he darts off left at the junction (without signalling) and heads off up the road while I calmly carry on forward, completely perplexed to be honest.

As a cyclist, I guess I’ve been in that sort of rage from just riding across a town where things stack up and the slightest thing can set you off, but yeah, I didn’t do anything to upset anyone in my eyes.

Meh.
I bet he didn’t even pay road tax.

Yeah, but was he wearing hi-vis…

A cyclist came down the outside of me and very deliberately came into the middle of the cyclist box right in front of me, clearly making some sort of point, though I’m unsure what, as I was well behind the line.

I do this sometimes. Reason being that if I don’t, 90% of the time the car (or van) behind then squeezes past the second the lights change unless I’m actually blocking the way.

for more covered arease e.g. the climb up from Froggatt or the road from Baslow to Calber they’re not the easiest to see amongst the tree shadows

Slow down if you can’t see what’s coming up at the speed you’re driving. Or turn your lights on.

very deliberately came into the middle of the cyclist box right in front of me

What do you think the advance box is for?

Sauce?

Red for bacon, brown for sausage

Stokes chilli ketchup beats both red and brown for me.

What do you think the advance box is for?

Unless I misunderstood the post, I suspect you missed the point there.

flashing lights aren’t easy to miss

Make sure it flashes once every seven seconds, and with the power of an angry red sun.

The SECOND he heard my engine note raise slightly, he stops and turns round and starts effin and blindin and gesturing at me.

At least he didn’t get off the bike, walk to your window and start berating you there. If he had, there appears to be a simple solution…

very deliberately came into the middle of the cyclist box right in front of me

What do you think the advance box is for?

I think it’s for cyclists. I’m a cyclist. Not sure what you’re getting at?
I wasn’t in the box, I was behind it where I was supposed to be in a motor vehicle.

There’s a guy who drives through Girton, Cambridgeshire, at lunchtimes who leans on his car horn when he sees cyclists travelling in the opposite direction and gesticulates manically at the path beside the road.

I was behind a cyclist the other day.

Flashing red light, black bike, black jacket, black gloves, not very well lit urban road.

He indicated to turn right and I did not see his arm until he pulled it back and turned right.

I wear a pink visible gilet over my black road jacket with black gloves. After seeing that, I’ll be getting some much brighter gloves.

I’m on the he have been shouting at you for any other unreasonable reason if it wasn’t for wearing black it would be something else.

‘well you saw me alright didn’t you mate’

AND I don’t even care about the way my wife loads the dishwasher!

Online help and contact pages that are so specific that they have multiple layers that never answer the problem you are having and don’t actually allow contact anyone to describe the problem you are experiencing.

I’m sure I’ve read that reflective tape is better than a yellow jacket.. Kind of makes sense..

Especially reflective detailing on your gloves so that headlights catch it for signaling intention to turn, etc.

But if it’s not dark enough for the headlights to catch your signaling then the driver is obviously visually impaired and shouldn’t be behind the wheel anyway.

Either that, or as above, they just resent the fact you exist.

Also, in the spirit of the thread title.. pointing out to a white Karen in a Chelsea tank that ‘we drive on the left in this country’ after they had totally cut a corner on the local tescos car park and almost crashing into me,  is evidently a good way to induce apocalyptic levels of self-entitled middle class rage!

The user interface on my mill DRO.

Say I want to drill a hole 1/5 way down a plate. I edge find both ends. I now need to subtract the diameter of the edge finder to get the length and divide by 5. Easy – it’s got a built in calculator. First give the calculator the length. Easy – if it’s the x axis press x. Now do the calculation. Easy again just use like a normal calculator. But how to transfer back to the x reading? Press the up arrow then the press x. Because up arrow obviously means “upload” I guess, if you’ve read the badly translated manual.

Honda make a paint for pensioners that is exactly the colour of fog. Couple that with “saving the battery” and you have the Ultimate_Stealth_Death_Hybrid,

do you know how wide your plate is or not? if you do, find one edge, subtract 1/2 the diameter of your edge finder, zero your DRO and then move to the centre. your method involves you knowing what the backlash is on your movement axis and taking that in to account.