Why are cyclists so angry?

[YoJesse]

lighthearted

It's only Tuesday and already I've had 'get out of the road' and 'wake up you dozy cow' thrown at me. But I should count myself lucky because yesterday a cyclist shouted I'm gonna stab you in the fucking neck' at a bloke he almost ran over!

Shouldn't all the endorphins make them really happy? It's worse than road rage round here.

Moving very soon to somewhere more rural so hoping cyclists will be more your 'call the midwife, big wicker baskets filled with flowers' types than your 'neck stabbing' types.

[originalmavis]

What are you doing to them? It's usually me hurling insults as the buggers try to mow me down on the pavement or pedestrian crossing.

[ApostrophesMatter]

Because they know how ridiculous they look in that get up.

[ToastDemon]

Probably because of all the cars nearly killing them all the time.

[Ellybellyboo]

I cycle to work along our local cycle paths and regularly get shouted at. Usually because I'm not going as fast as they think I should be, and don't immediately leap out of their way.

Lovely, smooth, wide path, plenty of room to cycle round each other if need be but in the last few days I've had

"Get out of the fucking way you silly bitch"
"Move, now""
"Fuck off, you're not a proper cyclist anyway" - presumably because I'm not togged up in Lycra

[acasualobserver]

I'm willing to bet that most of the contributions to this thread won't actually be lighthearted. I'm not sure the OP is actually lighthearted.

[Grumly]

Because their bum cracks are incredibly sweaty

[pictish]

It's all that holding everyone else up for miles with their arse pointed at the traffic...the power goes to their heads.

Seriously though...I fully acknowledge cycling as a responsible, healthy, cool thing to do. I'm all for it in principle.
However, the fact is, when I'm trying to get somewhere and I can't get past one I am hating on them badly.
Sorry cyclists...it's my problem.

[louiseaaa]

As a cyclist I've only shouted at cars/people who have endangered my life. I love cycling but can find it incredibly stressful. There are idiots in cars and on bikes, but cyclists are way more vulnerable than car drivers - Chris Boardman's mother, a vastly experienced cyclist, was killed at the weekend in a road traffic accident.

When cycling I am more alert and more stressed than driving a car especially in urban traffic. Therefore my potty mouth / speak out threshold is lower.

[t4gnut]

You have to assume every car driver is a myopic fuckwit with no concept of highway code or peripheral awareness all the time. And then you have to deal with pedestrians stepping out into the road without looking, or even better not even looking up from their phone.

All on an almost daily basis.

[pictish]

That makes sense.
Years ago i bought a bike and gave cycling a go. I lived in the city, couldn't drive and thought it would be a good way of getting around. It was terrifying though. I felt sooo exposed and likely to be pancaked at any moment. Stress does make us touchy that's for sure.

[EreniTheFrog]

I'm angry because I'd rather be driving, but I can't

[Ifailed]

quite, louiseaaa, very sad about Carol Boardman, and of course the driver didn't stop at the time. Yes, there are some crap cyclists out there, but compared to drivers that's nothing. I find it's safer to assume all drivers are on their phone, blind and drunk. Even them some still manage to surprise me.

[YoJesse]

Maybe it's the hot day/lycra combo.
causual maybe AIBU and 'lighthearted' dont go hand in hand! I'm just having a rant really.

[minatiae]

I think I get more irritated by cyclists than I've seen angry cyclists - the ones who cycle down the very narrow road I take to work where you can't pass safely so end up driving slow for ages behind them, or the ones that ride side by side so cars can't pass

[MotherFuckingChainsaw]

Because we're scared

[acasualobserver]

I dislike the threads that are, essentially, just an invitation to slag off a particular group of people. At least it isn't teachers this time, I suppose.

[pictish]

the ones who cycle down the very narrow road I take to work where you can't pass safely so end up driving slow for ages behind them

I encounter a lot of this where I live you see. As much as it's hats off to cyclists, in the moment it's bloody irritating. Having said that, I'd never take a risk or show my annoyance to the cyclist(s)...and I never have. I just accept it as a hold up and do battle in my head.

[KeemaNaanAndCurryOn]

I cycle. I've never received abuse from other cyclists, but I've nearly been knocked off or injured by drivers on a daily basis.

Yes, if you aren't taking any notice of the person on the bike, so you pull across them, or wander into the cycle lane, or pull out without looking, I'm going to yell at you as you'be scared the crap out of me.

At one point I had to cycle everywhere as I didn't have a car. Now I'm back driving again, I'm very conscious of cyclists around me.

[RevoltingPeasant]

You have to assume every car driver is a myopic fuckwit with no concept of highway code or peripheral awareness all the time.

^^ This.

Yesterday evening I was cycling home down a big hill. A guy in a truck waiting to pull out from a side road. Clocked me. Started to pull out. Stopped. Pulled out veeery sloooooowly, forcing me to haul on brakes.

5 mins later, a bus in a bus stop does exactly the same thing - then when we get to the junction, pulls into the bike box.

I'm in Devon and drivers here are mostly pretty chilled out and decent, but ffs! It's not hard! Cyclists are traffic and you don't make oncoming vehicles brake for you!

[treaclesoda]

I suspect they are passing on the vitriol that they receive from car drivers. Paying it forward to pedestrians.

[scarednoob]

The ones in London are often horrific. Weaving aggressively around all sides of the cars, piling up at the front of the traffic lights so about 2 cars at a time get through, bashing off wing mirrors, sailing through pedestrian crossings - I saw one ignore a pedestrian crossing on Fleet Street the other day and made 2 ladies jump back so quickly they both fell over; he just carried on - swearing and being arrogant. You're not saving the planet love, you're just lengthening the traffic jams all over it.

Outside Central London is like a different world and I've never had a single problem with one!

[scarednoob]

Although I am on the embankment as I type this, and one of the hottest guys I've ever seen in my life has just this second waltzed up alongside my cab, topless, and hopped on a Boris bike. Maybe i need to change my mind...

[Ifailed]

may as well get this out of the way before the usual group of entitled drivers start posting:
Pedestrians, riders and cyclists have a right* to use the highways.

• Drivers do not have a right, they are given permission, via a license, this will be withdrawn if they prove unfit.
  
• There is no such thing as car tax.
  
• Everyone pays towards the upkeep of roads, not just the minority that drive.

[TheNaze73]

YABU. They do my head in, especially on a Sunday but, it's not just cyclists. There are angry idiot motorists as well as pedestrians. I do get your point though

[molyholy]

It's all that holding everyone else up for miles with their arse pointed at the traffic...the power goes to their heads