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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Overly threatening sign on public road

115 replies

Rufusgy · 13/09/2015 17:12

Was just out cycling and came across this. Seems quite threatening to me and as I was on my own I turned back even though I needed to go down it to complete the loop I'd planned.

Overly threatening sign on public road
OP posts:
thornrose · 13/09/2015 22:39

I laughed at 'overly' threatening too, much scarier than plain old 'just' threatening! Grin

Backforthis · 13/09/2015 22:43

I seem to remember another thread recently about a cyclist feeling vulnerable in the middle of the countryside because she was a woman and no one would hear her scream.

LittleLionMansMummy · 13/09/2015 22:46

I've just checked my sleeping ds to make sure the goblins haven't taken him away Grin

Idontseeanytimelords · 13/09/2015 22:54

OP do you know what Wicca actually is? Grin
Hint - it's a religious practice - not attention seeking...
Any Wicca 'stuff' isn't there to scare you or make you feel intimidated, in fact it wasn't put there with you in mind at all Wink
(Not a Wiccan, just your average Pagan who also doesn't put stuff in the road to scare innocent cyclists... Until Samhain!!)

bigsnugglebunny · 13/09/2015 22:55

It never worked for me, no matter how many times I said the words - Lycra clad David Bowie never appeared!

"You remind me of the babe..."

LittleLionMansMummy · 13/09/2015 22:59

"What babe?"

msgrinch · 13/09/2015 23:04

This has made my day. How funny.

TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 13/09/2015 23:05

I have anxiety as well and wouldn't like it. I would know rationally it was a prank / party / kid but it would still make me worried even while knowing I was being silly.

Still, well done those people who mocked the OP after she had explained the reason she feels vulnerable while cycling on public roads. You are all truly awesome people and if only we could be as great as you.

LaNouba · 13/09/2015 23:10

It was leading to the BOG OF ETERNAL STENCH
Parp..........

Goes off to find Labrinth DVD Smile

PoppyPopTart · 13/09/2015 23:12

Me too bigsnuggle Sad. So sad.

Prole · 14/09/2015 03:47

Some Wiccans yesterday.

Note Derek clearly preparing to plunge the sacrificial dagger into a virgin's heart. Sadly said dagger was left in the car. Candida did offer a corkscrew but Derek - ever the traditionalist - preferred to do without. Still... pretty fiendish stuff.

BathshebaDarkstone · 14/09/2015 03:49

It's too small to read on my phone. Sad

BathshebaDarkstone · 14/09/2015 04:01

Is it ok to Wiccan-bash on here now?

steff13 · 14/09/2015 04:19

Do you carry pepper spray or mace with you when you ride your bike? That might make you feel safer.

chrome100 · 14/09/2015 07:04

Lol. YWBU. It's a joke. You were not "vulnerable" just because you were cycling alone.

dolcelatteLover · 14/09/2015 07:18

Where Iive there are quite good few tracks that are rights of way but people put up 'private road' or 'no entry' just because they don't like people coming past their farm.I wonder if it is not one of those situations

GudrunBrangwen · 14/09/2015 07:51

I hope you feel Ok now OP. I hate the way people take the piss on threads like this; you hear so much on here about trusting your instincts and then when someone does it gets ridiculed.

Maybe nothing to do with the sign but if you felt unsettled then you did the right thing to go back.

Sometimes our bodies and minds notice stuff that we're not conscious of.

I daresay it was just low blood sugar or whatever talking but you never know and no one got hurt by your decision.

By the way what's an oubliette - is it a bit like an omelette? Grin

MrsDeVere · 14/09/2015 08:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LaContessaDiPlump · 14/09/2015 09:07

We've got to be allowed to bash someone Bathsheba.

Seriously though op, I think you overreacted massively a little. A moment's uncertainty that morphs into amused dismissal of the sign - normal. Actual retreat - not so normal.

LaContessaDiPlump · 14/09/2015 09:10

Oh and while we're on the subject of overly threatening signs:

I've always thought 'Do not leave your luggage here or it may be destroyed or damaged by security services' was oddly worded. It left me with a mental image of security guards going 'Yargh, ya bastard' and kicking the shit out of an abandoned suitcase for the hell of it.

Original poster
Rufusgy · 14/09/2015 09:17

Thanks for the messages where people understand, I expect the rest live in city's or don't go out cycling alone on country lanes.

Where Iive there are quite good few tracks that are rights of way but people put up 'private road' or 'no entry' just because they don't like people coming past their farm.I wonder if it is not one of those situations

This exactly. Thats what lots of people here try to do if their house or farm is the only one on a public road. They train their dogs to be aggressive to anyone on the public road.

If I had come on here after being attacked by dogs and said about the sign I'd probabaky get most people calling me stupid for ignoring the sign and going down a road I had a bad feeling about.

OP posts:
BerylStreep · 14/09/2015 09:19

But why stop to take a picture of the sign before you turned round? That must have wasted valuable time - stopping, getting your phone out, putting it away again ...

Original poster
Rufusgy · 14/09/2015 09:27

Phone was mounted on bike. Was recording a time lapse video.

OP posts:
Lweji · 14/09/2015 09:28

If you had been attacked by dogs I expect people would advise you to report to the police. Particularly if they belonged to a farm.

FoxesSitOnBoxes · 14/09/2015 09:33

If your OP had said "I was attacked by a pack of dogs on a similar road. Lots of people round here put signs out and train their dogs to attack people who come up roads by their property" it may possibly have received a different response. I donr really believe it will be all that common for people to allow their dogs to do this but it's reasonable to be afraid of dogs after a bad experience.
That's not what your OP said though
I think you were expecting other people to be spooked by the sign. They weren't. It doesn't matter. It's just the Internet

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