A Most Gratifying Experience

setanta159

Did first decent cycle in a while this morning but on way home had one of those experiences that I’m sure is shared by many on here. A boy racer flew by me in his crap white 1998 spoiler clad Mitsubishi nearly knocking me off the bike as he was so close and oblivious to me or more likely couldn’t give a toss one way or other. I responded with the usual tirade of expletives and a finger gesture which I’m sure went unnoticed or was possibly a source of amusement for the driver.


I continued on my way and didn’t think too much more about the incident as such close encounters are hardly uncommon. Some 5 minutes or so later I see the car stopped on the opposite side of the road with a Garda at the driver’s window issuing the scumbag with a ticket, an unmarked Garda car behind. I’m pretty sure they did him for speeding. I slowed down looked directly at the young chap getting the ticket, smiled broadly, gave him a thumbs up and continued on my way. I know it’s ridiculous but this made my day. Anyone got any similar anecdotes to cheer us up during this cold weather?

moby2101

I enjoyed reading that..I would've had a word with the garda as well about your earlier experience with the little toerag!

DirkVoodoo

I probably would have told the Gardai about your near miss while I was there, the driver could have found you a few miles down the road and done the same again, or worse.

Like Moby said!

Roadtoad

Stood and watched them (50x) for a few minutes, had a drink and a bite, then we departed. Serene.

My most ungratifying experience came a short few miles later as I contemplated the domestic/ commercial litter in the bog hedge-row between Edenderry and Rathangan. Bummer.

Jawgap

Tuesday mid-morning - 20 or so kilometres of hills between Bellewstown and the Naul - didn't meet a solitary soul - no cars, tractors etc for the guts of an hour.

dave.obrien

I had a nice experience with a driver of a BMW a few years ago who was driving in a bus lane illegally, and beeping excessively as well as accelerating at me to try to scare me out of the way. As we passed the next junction, a garda car approaching the junction saw, flared the horn and issued him a ticket. Very satisfying!

Field of Llamas? Where?

kumate_champ07

Dublin City - Kildare last Summer on my first fixed gear build, made a wrong turn up Bohernabreena! In my 8 yrs of previous casual cycling the most I ever did was 30km so this was an achievement. pretty scary going down those mountains when your not used to spinning and youve no helmet, actually the scary thing is I didnt think about how dangerous it was

calerbass

setanta159 wrote: »

Did first decent cycle in a while this morning but on way home had one of those experiences that I’m sure is shared by many on here. A boy racer flew by me in his crap white 1998 spoiler clad Mitsubishi nearly knocking me off the bike as he was so close and oblivious to me or more likely couldn’t give a toss one way or other. I responded with the usual tirade of expletives and a finger gesture which I’m sure went unnoticed or was possibly a source of amusement for the driver.


I continued on my way and didn’t think too much more about the incident as such close encounters are hardly uncommon. Some 5 minutes or so later I see the car stopped on the opposite side of the road with a Garda at the driver’s window issuing the scumbag with a ticket, an unmarked Garda car behind. I’m pretty sure they did him for speeding. I slowed down looked directly at the young chap getting the ticket, smiled broadly, gave him a thumbs up and continued on my way. I know it’s ridiculous but this made my day. Anyone got any similar anecdotes to cheer us up during this cold weather?

he got his come uppance there and their 's no shortage of toe rags like that on the road..........few years back i was out on my own on the bike when this guy coming towards me on a country road opened his driver door fully,swerved for me and tried to hit me with the door, i remember he had two girls with him who i could see laughing their heads off as he done this,i was left quite shaken by it i can tell you, but what the driver did nt know is i recognised him and that he lived a few miles back. I turned around,cycled back, took off one of my cycling shoes and with the shoe i put in his windscreen and back windscreen, put on my shoe and rode off into the sunset.never heard a word about it.........but i felt good i can tell you. I ve had lots of incidents over the years on the road but that would have to be the worst,.

One thing i would advise against though is responding to tits on the road by waving or sticking your fingers, they could come back and do you in on the side of the road, my advice is to memorize the registration but it can be futile going to the garda too. I think a helmet cam is the job, turn it on when you need it.

Junior

calerbass wrote: »

he got his come uppance there and their 's no shortage of toe rags like that on the road..........few years back i was out on my own on the bike when this guy coming towards me on a country road opened his driver door fully,swerved for me and tried to hit me with the door, i remember he had two girls with him who i could see laughing their heads off as he done this,i was left quite shaken by it i can tell you, but what the driver did nt know is i recognised him and that he lived a few miles back. I turned around,cycled back, took off one of my cycling shoes and with the shoe i put in his windscreen and back windscreen, put on my shoe and rode off into the sunset.never heard a word about it.........but i felt good i can tell you. I ve had lots of incidents over the years on the road but that would have to be the worst,.

One thing i would advise against though is responding to tits on the road by waving or sticking your fingers, they could come back and do you in on the side of the road, my advice is to memorize the registration but it can be futile going to the garda too. I think a helmet cam is the job, turn it on when you need it.

<snip> ?

calerbass

Junior wrote: »

<snip>?

thanks for the personal attack,

feck sake lads

many moons ago i was on a training spin with a ras winner ;)we covered around 60 miles without any hassle ,but about 10 miles to go for home this car pulled along side a proceeded to give my buddy a right mouthful then driving off fingers waving calling us all the names of the day,but when we rounded the next bend ,there he was surrounded by about 100 sheep ,he could not belive we caught him so quick,
well i can safely say he will never abuse another cyclist .:D:D

calerbass

Junior wrote: »

<snip>?

I find no difference between that comment/you and the guy that tried to kill me on the road...........hope you dont claim to be a cyclist

Captain Havoc

Personal abuse will not be tolerated.

dave.obrien

calerbass wrote: »

I find no difference between that comment/you and the guy that tried to kill me on the road...........hope you dont claim to be a cyclist

I'm pretty sure what Junior meant is a sentiment that would probably be echoed by almost everyone here. What happened to you was terrible, but your response was, if not worse, then just as bad, and really, what did it achieve? All you've done is made one bad driver angry. Great, we need more angry, aggressive drivers, and even if he's not going to blame a cyclist for what happened, his opinion of them seems pretty low already. In my opinion, what happened to you was cr*p, but equally what you did was really sh!tty.

Just because of what el capitan has just posted, I am referring to your actions, not necessarily you.

Junior

calerbass wrote: »

thanks for the personal attack,

Would you prefer if I snuck round to your house put the windows in and then sneaked off ?

Seriously what sort of person thinks it's a smart idea to go smash someone's windows ? If you had any sense you could have reported him to the cops, called round to his parents and bollicked them out of, a hundred and one things you could have done, but you are as bad as him..

calerbass

Junior wrote: »

Would you prefer if I snuck round to your house put the windows in and then sneaked off ?

Seriously what sort of person thinks it's a smart idea to go smash someone's windows ? If you had any sense you could have reported him to the cops, called round to his parents and bollicked them out of, a hundred and one things you could have done, but you are as bad as him..

its not a smart idea to try and kill someone by opening their door and swerving for them, i ve had reported incidents before to the guards and its a waste of time, what would have been the out come if he had hit me and knocked me out heh? id do it again a hundred times over. The location was newtown kilmacthomas, know it? attacked another day out with comeragh cc, by lager louts on paddy browns road but you never have an ash plant when you want it.........me think your into cars more then bicycles:D

Tonyandthewhale

Calerbass, I wouldn't have done what you did, it probably wasn't the smartests thing to do and in a way it probably didn't solve anything and I wouldn't encourage anyone to emulate your actions. All the same, good on you, at least he got his comeupance.

calerbass

dave.obrien wrote: »

I'm pretty sure what Junior meant is a sentiment that would probably be echoed by almost everyone here. What happened to you was terrible, but your response was, if not worse, then just as bad, and really, what did it achieve? All you've done is made one bad driver angry. Great, we need more angry, aggressive drivers, and even if he's not going to blame a cyclist for what happened, his opinion of them seems pretty low already. In my opinion, what happened to you was cr*p, but equally what you did was really sh!tty.

Just because of what el capitan has just posted, I am referring to your actions, not necessarily you.

Thanks for a very intelligent reply. But it was a small price for him to pay as opposed to me being in a wheel chair.

calerbass

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

Calerbass, I wouldn't have done what you did, it probably wasn't the smartests thing to do and in a way it probably didn't solve anything and I wouldn't encourage anyone to emulate your actions. All the same, good on you, at least he got his comeupance.

Thanks. Id do it again.theirs no law in this country for thugs like those.

dave.obrien

calerbass wrote: »

Thanks for a very intelligent reply. But it was a small price for him to pay as opposed to me being in a wheel chair.

But you aren't in a wheelchair, and if you were, windscreens wouldn't come near to "making it even". You can't respond to a criminal act with a criminal act, it'll get you nowhere. If you knew where he lived, and he was a young fella, telling his parents what had happened and informing the local police would have been the worst punishment possible. What you did made him, in his innocent and loving parents eyes, an innocent victim in a mindless attack. If you had gone about it an a different way, they would/could have been much more effective in their punishment than you were. I've had thoughts like what you did, but never followed through. I can't believe that you did and then act surprised when another person (never mind if Junior's a cyclist, motorist or spaceman) remarks on how out of line your response was. When people complain about bad drivers, it's mostly because the bad driver broke the law and affected another person in a negative way, which is exactly what you did; why do you expect to be treated differently?

Daniel S

dave.obrien wrote: »

But you aren't in a wheelchair, and if you were, windscreens wouldn't come near to "making it even". You can't respond to a criminal act with a criminal act, it'll get you nowhere. If you knew where he lived, and he was a young fella, telling his parents what had happened and informing the local police would have been the worst punishment possible. What you did made him, in his innocent and loving parents eyes, an innocent victim in a mindless attack.

+1 Like mammy always told ya, "Two wrongs don't make a right".

calerbass

dave.obrien wrote: »

But you aren't in a wheelchair, and if you were, windscreens wouldn't come near to "making it even". You can't respond to a criminal act with a criminal act, it'll get you nowhere. If you knew where he lived, and he was a young fella, telling his parents what had happened and informing the local police would have been the worst punishment possible. What you did made him, in his innocent and loving parents eyes, an innocent victim in a mindless attack. If you had gone about it an a different way, they would/could have been much more effective in their punishment than you were. I've had thoughts like what you did, but never followed through. I can't believe that you did and then act surprised when another person (never mind if Junior's a cyclist, motorist or spaceman) remarks on how out of line your response was. When people complain about bad drivers, it's mostly because the bad driver broke the law and affected another person in a negative way, which is exactly what you did; why do you expect to be treated differently?

Ha whats this.........am i on trial? go away:D

dave.obrien

calerbass wrote: »

Ha whats this.........am i on trial? go away:D

Go away?! Ouch...

calerbass

dave.obrien wrote: »

Go away?! Ouch...

:eek:

Daniel S

uberwolf

locked.