Question for my fellow road riders.

[dodgeman]

The last couple of days I’ve had people pass me where they shouldn’t have, in both cases dump trucks. In both cases I was pedaling like crazy with the bike on turbo to get to the crest of the hill so they could pass me safely. I guess they couldn’t wait the 20 or 30 seconds it would have taken.

 

[ChezCheese:)]

Remember, 99% of the time, everybody is doing the best they can and holds no malice towards you whatever. You are the same. Now, if your 1% crosses paths with their 1%...well, then you might have an altercation.

 

[voidedwarranty]

Yeah, I get that, and it's less of a problem here, but it definitely annoys me when it does.

Slight tangent: I have discovered that I have to be really careful and chill out after a strenuous ride, because while I do get a terrific blast of endorphins, there's some irritability and paranoia that comes with that as well. I've actually had a lively discussion about this with college athletes I work with, and they report similar symptoms.

Sometimes, this is a very real concern, and sometimes it's totally in my head. Last week, I was convinced this truck was following me, and the driver was gonna do something bad as I wound uphill on winding canyon rounds at my usual 8 MPH in ECO and NORM. Because I was revved up and not thinking clearly, I decided to really pour it on. I was very surprised to find that even with my dinky little 40nm mid-drive motor, I could double my speed if I pedaled as hard as I could and then shifted quickly into high-- and I was able to maintain that higher speed with little effort once I got up there. At 16 MPH, the curves in the road are sharp enough that I could outhandle the truck. I pulled away from him. (And I burned a LOT of electrons. Tank was already low, but that was definitely less efficient, back of the envelope, that little sprint cost me a mile or two of range.)

And then realized I was just out of my mind, he wasn't chasing me at all.

A few days earlier, I found myself yelling at a few drivers who did California stops (e.g., only slowed down) at stop signs and then drove right in front of me. What jerks! How dare they! I have a bright front and tail light-- not extreme, but just bright enough for night-riding on trails.

Then, last week, the tables were turned and it happened to me when I was driving-- I didn't see a bike at a stop sign, despite their having perfectly adequate front and rear lights.

I definitely feel pretty silly after those things happen.

The big thing I've seen more and more of lately by me is the coal rolling. Witnessed an innocent cyclist on the sidewalk minding their own business when a truck creeped up on them slowly from behind and proceeded to roll coal. I was driving in the opposite direction and that boiled me up. So it's that kind of thing that sticks in my head when it's me on my bike.

I had another incident after I had created this thread. Mind you this is always in the same stretch of neighborhood because my exercise route is a 10 mile loop from my house connecting multiple neighborhoods. So a car was refusing to pass me, I'm doing 17mph and it's 10pm and dark outside. Now there are 2 more cars stuck behind this car and now they get angry and speed past the slow guy behind me and manuever in front of him as if to cut him off. Now I'm stuck in a danger path all because this guy either was too stupid to just pass me (again think a road as wide as a 3 Lane highway), or "being nice" which put me in more danger.

 

[Catalyzt]

The big thing I've seen more and more of lately by me is the coal rolling. Witnessed an innocent cyclist on the sidewalk minding their own business when a truck creeped up on them slowly from behind and proceeded to roll coal. I was driving in the opposite direction and that boiled me up. So it's that kind of thing that sticks in my head when it's me on my bike.

Yeah, there are a few... choice interventions that I feel would be fair to address coal rolling, though our local LEO might have a different opinion about it. Total scumbags, we had a few in the parking structure near my old AA meeting... by the time I figured out what "coal rolling" was and was ready to confront the individuals, COVID hit and that was the end of that.

Probably for the best. Sorry you have to deal with that. Probably best to blow off your steam here and not on the road. Back when I was younger (but not much) and stupider (by far) I wound up engaging with drivers in some bad situations, though the worst were in cars, not bikes. Suddenly, my blood pressure is pushing 180, I'm nose to nose with some idiot gunning my engine and thinking, "How the hell am I gonna get outta this one? I am so crazy, if the cops roll up, we're both going to jail." On my old road bike in NYC, the worst incidents were with cabs, who I usually heckled in the most colorful terms before blasting the wrong way down a one way street, where I couldn't be followed.

I make a game out of it-- I win if I don't flip off the other person or engage. Use affirmations afterwards to address the horrible feelings of being a pushover that result, unfortunately, from doing the right thing to keep everyone safe. I say things like, "Cool, I'm not going to jail today, and in 1998, I might have," or "Okay, no one died" or "Maybe that guy's daughter has cancer and he's taking it out on the world ever since."

Still sucks that people can get away with this.

As for the passing situation, I got nothing... except maybe just pull over, sit down on the curb, and watch them all make idiots of themselves. But it's tough, because I feel like Batman when the adrenaline and cortisol hit my bloodstream like a nitrous shot.

And I am definitely not Batman.