Negative reactions from motirists

[Ipsiain]

I was riding my usual Saturday commute, which includes a 40 meter stretch on a narrow single track street. ( one way road, steep incline with no space to pass.) 

the car behind me on this particular day was driving so close behind me revving its engine trying to intimidate me. I just kept calm and continued riding up to my junction, made my turn and the guy shouts out the window something along the lines of, i shouldn’t be on the road. To say i was angry would be an understatement.

Except from this one incident ive only experienced the clasic “ wanker “ hand jestures coming out car windows which i find quite funny and makes me smile. 

What are your negative experiences from other rode users? 

[Biped Phil]

Pedestrians, when they traverse the 40m, do it how?

[DanCar]

Which EUC do you have?  Would it help if you had a faster one?  Are the laws clear in your state or city?  Might be helpful to get involved and get a relevant law passed.  In my city there was a proposed law that if you came with in a foot of a bicyclist you would be cited.  Don't know what became of that proposal.  Do you have the license plate?  Might be helpful to talk to the police to get their opinion.  Could have the police monitoring there in the future.

[Ipsiain]

there are two narrow sidewalks for pedestrians with kerbs and bumpy transitions. It would be easier and quicker walking whilst carrying the wheel than trying to ride the pavement. It’s a slow road. When driving in my car 20mph is plenty fast. There’s  a tight bend at the bottom leading to the hill so you can’t carry any speed on your wheel. So your accelerating from about 5mph uphill. Ive not had any issues before, there have been times my speed has been restricted by the vehicle infront. It’s the guy’s reaction, revving your engine behind someone just because you want to go faster. I mean who does that. 

Gotway acm 84v ( non-tesla motor ) 

[Kristof Willen]

Yeah, I had the same experience a few weeks ago, where road workers broke up the bike lane every 100 meters.  I gave up at a certain point and decided to use the road.  Normally very few traffic there, but of course at that moment quite busy.  The big white jeep after me wasn't amused and treated me to a honking concert.  Some people are just dicks, I guess. I just gave up and decided to search an alternate route during the road works for the next days.  Found a really nice one through the woods which I'm enjoying now much more !

 

OTOH, I realised sometimes other people might be in a hurry, and it can be normal this leads to irritation by a slow weird vehicle moving at 10-20 mph.  When I hear a car behind me where it's difficult to overtake, I now always pull over and let the car pass by. Less enervating for the both of us...

[LanghamP]

While I've not had problems on my EUC, I've had many on my bicycle. A small but significant portion of drivers detest men on bicycles and will punish them as best as they can. Women and children not so much.

You can mitigate this by avoiding all roads that can bunch cars behind you. Note that if you don't take the lane you'll eventually be pushed and crash in the gutter.

What most often happens is the enraged driver passes you, and you pass them back on the next red light. 

 

[Hermes]

5 hours ago, Kristof Willen said:

When I hear a car behind me where it's difficult to overtake, I now always pull over and let the car pass by. Less enervating for the both of us...

I agree that this is a sensible strategy.  Though I acknowledge that it’s not always possible, I try to do this instead of stubbornly trying to hold my ground. Cars always win the physical battle. The key is to not lose the emotional one!