Cyclist in the wrong and looses the plot at me...

cookie2015 · 10-07-2015 8:36am #1

I usually cycle to work, but drove today. Coming down Iona Road, Dublin, a cyclist came straight out without even stopping from either Chapelgate or St Joseph's Ave, straight out into the middle of the road and kept cycling in the same direction as me. Thank god I wasn't another few metres ahead or going any faster as he we would have colided. I blew the horn, couldn't believe how stupid this guy was doing that like you don't join another road without at least slowing down to check if anything is coming. There was no break in his speed just straight out infront of me. No helmet but that's his own choice but seriously this guy was looking to be killed. He wasn't happy I had blown the horn and then passed him so mouthed something at me, grand whatever I kept going. When I stopped at the end of the road to turn onto the main road by Quinns pub he mouthed something again so i pulled down my window and said to him how he came straight out in front of me and he was going to get himself killed. He went mental, as in head shaking, syliva flying mental...i was a bit scared. i seriously wish i had it on camera, called me a d!ckhead and everything else under the sun, gave out to me for passing him (i did nothing wrong and am entitled to pass the cyclist as there was nothing coming towards me) told me to f-off his f-ing road and went on an on about his road I was trying to answer back as best I could but was not getting into a shouting match that early in public!! ...serious rant. And no he doesn't own the road, his arguments in his rant were as stupid as he was. As i said I cycle most days so am well aware of the tension between some motorists and cyclists, wish cyclist had number plates though because no one should be subject to that rage. This guy needs to tone it down or sort out his underlying issues. I wouldn't leave an animal with him. Absolute looper. He was 110% in the wrong so struggling to understand why he lost the plot with me!!

smacl · 10-07-2015 8:46am

Just as well he wasn't driving a car, God only knows how many innocents he would have slaughtered :P

Unfortunately, there are plenty of nut jobs on all forms of transport. Best avoided and chalked up to experience after the encounter.

Alanstrainor · 10-07-2015 8:46am

Paragraphs are great things...

But anyway, most of lifes problems are simply explained by realising that a significant portion of the population are just mad. It's not worth the effort trying to talk with these people.

Lumen · 10-07-2015 8:48am

cookie2015 wrote: »

wish cyclist had number plates though because no one should be subject to that rage

So one nutcase rides a bike and we all get subjected to an impractical, expensive and probably unworkable bureaucracy?

galljga1 · 10-07-2015 8:49am

Here we go again....

CramCycle · 10-07-2015 8:55am

cookie2015 wrote: »

No helmet but that's his own choice

MOD VOICE: There is a mega thread for this, not for discussion here

wish cyclist had number plates though

This too can be left alone, it's been discussed to death, if people wish to discuss it search the forum for one of the other threads on it

ThisRegard · 10-07-2015 8:56am

Best thing I learned from around 20 yeas of commuting in and out of Dublin city centre by bus, car and bike is just do nothing and ignore them, no point in getting into a shouting matching. From experience it's all a bit pointless trying to point out the error of other peoples ways, let them have their little wins in their head.

07Lapierre · 10-07-2015 8:57am

If its not on Strava..it didn't happen. :P

Beasty · 10-07-2015 8:58am

galljga1 wrote: »

Here we go again....

Yay! - it's ...

Thread is likely to be locked once Friday is finished mind;)

mathie · 10-07-2015 9:02am

He went mental, as in head shaking, syliva flying mental

I was just drooling at how hot you are.

CramCycle · 10-07-2015 9:04am

What surprises me most is that someone with experience of driving and cycling in Dublin, for presumably at least a couple of months, is shocked by another road user not accepting responsibility for their own stupidity.

Even more someone who presumably lives or spends alot of time in Dublin is surprised that there are lunatics on the streets.

If this is the first time you have seen such stupidity or such a reaction then you can't be paying to much attention.

CramCycle · 10-07-2015 9:05am

mathie wrote: »

I was just drooling at how hot you are.

I thought it was you by the description but wasn't certain.

km991148 · 10-07-2015 9:07am

ye.. there are random nutjob fu(kbags all over the place.. on bikes, in cars, on streets - even in shopping centres and places of work. Thank goodness they haven't made it the internet yet!

op - this one does sound a bit extra special.. but what can you do? aint gonna reverse so many years of bad practice and anger at the side of the road.

cookie2015 · 10-07-2015 9:08am

ok was just so annoyed at the way he shouted at me! Honestly his aggression was scary! Will surly see him again I use that road every day both cycling or driving, will be sure to give him a big salute the next time! Grrrr not! Will leave it go now, ignore in future and enjoy my Friday *and breathe*

cookie2015 · 10-07-2015 9:10am

CramCycle wrote: »

What surprises me most is that someone with experience of driving and cycling in Dublin, for presumably at least a couple of months, is shocked by another road user not accepting responsibility for their own stupidity.

Even more someone who presumably lives or spends alot of time in Dublin is surprised that there are lunatics on the streets.

If this is the first time you have seen such stupidity or such a reaction then you can't be paying to much attention.

I'm new to Dublin!!! Learning quickly thou..... Swear this wouldn't happen at home :P I joke.... there are lunatics everywhere I know! NOt used to being spoken to like this and I shouldn't have to be either!

OldMrBrennan83 · 10-07-2015 9:12am

This post has been deleted.

Redderneck · 10-07-2015 9:13am

If only there was a screening out process which had to be gone through before they'd allow people leave their homes every morning. Bit like a last minute Mammy-check before sending little Johnny out to school.

Bag? Lunch? Homework? Let me look at you. Stand up straight. Teeth brushed? Prove it, breathe. Hands? Fingernails? Fresh underpants?

To which could be simply added:

Being an a******e?

There's an awful lot in modern life we can put down to the falling standards in being a proper Irish Mammy.

ThisRegard · 10-07-2015 9:13am

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Have you read any reply to this OPs post ?

Red Kev · 10-07-2015 9:15am

Dashcam is your only man. An excellent system can be had for €50-80 these days. Got one fitted over a year ago and it got me out of serious trouble once* which meant it's worth every penny.

Seriously consider getting one.

*FWIW I had a guy reverse into me, he claimed I drove into him, rang the Guards, they believed him. By the time I had downloaded the camera footage he was walking around on crutches with a neck brace. I took the video to the Guards and he was off the neckbrace and crutches two days later.

EDIT: One from LIDL for €60 next week http://www.lidl.ie/en/Offers.htm?action=showDetail&id=27358

OldMrBrennan83 · 10-07-2015 9:15am

This post has been deleted.

km991148 · 10-07-2015 9:17am

btw - same sh!t happens to me almost every morning coming though Rathmines - people flying through lights (any colour.. not going there) from Leinster Road into the citybound traffic flow - I suspect some must at least have a small look for oncomming cars but often fail to look for other cyclists, which often means me swerving and/or braking (and swearing to myself) to avoid them..

Doesnt help that the new road markings there forces weird traffic merging situations at the best of times..

km991148 · 10-07-2015 9:21am

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

For what its worth.. point I was making is there are complete morons all over the place - if you want to turn it into a cars v cyclists thing and lumping all car drivers and all cyclists into two homogeneous groups then batter in.. I was keeping it to Non-nutjobs vs nutjobs

CramCycle · 10-07-2015 9:21am

cookie2015 wrote: »

I'm new to Dublin!!! Learning quickly thou..... Swear this wouldn't happen at home :P I joke.... there are lunatics everywhere I know! NOt used to being spoken to like this and I shouldn't have to be either!

Definitely not, you shouldn't have to be. It is unfortunately a typical reaction in Dublin to someone pointing out an error in someones ways.

My recommendation if you feel the need to point things out is to smile, friendly wave, it disarms the other party in most cases. If the person comes to your window (or you to theirs), just say, something civil but clear eg
"Didn't mean to scare you there but I don't think you realise how close you were to being hit, might want to consider slowing up through the junction there"

Anytime I react with a loud voice, it rarely leads to constructive discussion. Most times I use a calm voice, it typically ends up with a no harm done but we know for again style discussion.

Just my opinion.

ThisRegard wrote: »

Have you read any reply to this OPs post ?

Apparently not, I don't think anyone has said the cyclist was in the right or that the behaviour was acceptable but some people have their preconceived notions about what will be said and don't really care whether it happens or not. I imagine the OP was read, and then seeing there was replies (but not reading them) a response was put up.

ThisRegard · 10-07-2015 9:21am

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Eh, the general consensus is that's he's a mentaler.

Redderneck · 10-07-2015 9:28am

Just as well he's not behind the wheel of a car really.

lennymc · 10-07-2015 9:30am

i normally find if you go mentaler than the person going mental they kind of sheepishly bugger off

Eamonnator · 10-07-2015 9:31am

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

But, it is the cycling forum.

ted1 · 10-07-2015 9:31am

cookie2015 wrote: »

Coming down Iona Road, Dublin, a cyclist came straight out without even stopping from either Chapelgate or St Joseph's Ave, straight out into the middle of the road and kept cycling in the same direction as me. Thank god I wasn't another few metres ahead or going any faster as he we would have colided.

We all agree that he is a nutcase and his behaviour is in excusable.
However he probably read the road, saw your speed and saw a space and went for it.

Going on the information you provided he filtered into traffic.

From his point of view, he might not have seen a problem and got startled by the your horn beeping.

did you have to break ? if so how much did you have to adjust your speed by?

ThisRegard · 10-07-2015 9:34am

lennymc wrote: »

i normally find if you go mentaler than the person going mental they kind of sheepishly bugger off

I had a crazed American bloke got really mental at me one day, he was driving a van with the name of the company all over it which made it easy for me to follow up on. When I rang and got put through to a manager, he had a sigh of resignation in his voice which implied oh no, someone else ringing up about this guy again.

But he said the next time he sees me he's going to slit my throat. Not quite sure what kind of levels of mental I would have had to go to at that point to make him look like reasonable. Maybe all Hannibal Lecter ?

Tenzor07 · 10-07-2015 9:36am

Oww my eyes hurt reading that post! Ever heard of a bit of formatting? Paragraph's etc?

endacl · 10-07-2015 9:38am

ThisRegard wrote: »

I had a crazed American bloke got really mental at me one day, he was driving a van with the name of the company all over it which made it easy for me to follow up on. When I rang and got put through to a manager, he had a sigh of resignation in his voice which implied oh no, someone else ringing up about this guy again.

But he said the next time he sees me he's going to slit my throat. Not quite sure what kind of levels of mental I would have had to go to at that point to make him look like reasonable. Maybe all Hannibal Lecter ?

There's nothing for it. You're just going to have to actually slit his throat. Let us know how you get on.

ThisRegard · 10-07-2015 9:40am

I'm pretty sure I still know the name of the company (this happened years ago), I'll go hang around outside the place and see if he's still working there if he hasn't been sent to an institution already. I'll bring a video camera.

lennymc · 10-07-2015 9:41am

ThisRegard wrote: »

But he said the next time he sees me he's going to slit my throat. Not quite sure what kind of levels of mental I would have had to go to at that point to make him look like reasonable. Maybe all Hannibal Lecter ?

I find singing Kylie Minogue "I should be so lucky" as loud as possible is suitably mental for most situation.
Alternatively, a high pitched shriek works wonders. People dont know how to react in a confrontation when people are not confrontational.

A guy in a car (i was in a car at the time) nearly crashed into me one day when preventing me from merging. I rolled down the window and asked him why he wouldn't let me merge, he replied I was in the wrong lane (I wasn't - it was merging lane). He repeated I was in the wrong lane. I said "A horse walked into a bar, the barman said, why the long face". The guy looked confused as hell. I laughed. Maybe you had to have been there.

CramCycle · 10-07-2015 9:50am

ThisRegard wrote: »

But he said the next time he sees me he's going to slit my throat. Not quite sure what kind of levels of mental I would have had to go to at that point to make him look like reasonable. Maybe all Hannibal Lecter ?

Sing.

If the weather is right, Right Said Fred - Deeply Dippy, slowly unzip your jersey/pull off your t shirt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dGYXGnSeBM

If they don't leave, they are either too mental or you are just too good.

buffalo · 10-07-2015 9:50am

cookie2015 wrote: »

I usually cycle to work, but drove today. Coming down Iona Road, Dublin, a cyclist came straight out without even stopping from either Chapelgate or St Joseph's Ave,

...that's where I live. Explains the blank bit in my memory about the first part of my commute today - I must have had one of my rage blackouts.

Lumen · 10-07-2015 9:54am

lennymc wrote: »

i normally find if you go mentaler than the person going mental they kind of sheepishly bugger off

I've tried that before. The problem is that after the sheep leaves you're left with a bunch of shocked bystanders including small children looking at you (with some justification) like you're the actual boogie monster.

buffalo · 10-07-2015 9:55am

CramCycle wrote: »

My recommendation if you feel the need to point things out is to smile, friendly wave, it disarms the other party in most cases.

I did this last night after a punishment pass and a blast of the horn on the way through the Phoenix Park last night. It wasn't the closest overtake I've encountered, but the message/intent was clear.

Shortly after my big smile and wave, I decided that if I caught the driver, I was going to punch them. You're in a park, it's late at night with not much traffic, what the **** goes through someone's mind to think, "let me try and prove a point to this guy by startling him with my horn while I drive my car at him". Thankfully I didn't catch them.

and still ricky villa · 10-07-2015 10:10am

Don't roll down your window when confronted by a mentaler. There is only one solution, Nicholascageface
nic%2Bcage.png

Don't break character and never break eye contact.

smacl · 10-07-2015 10:13am

lennymc wrote: »

I find singing Kylie Minogue "I should be so lucky" as loud as possible is suitably mental for most situation.

You need to be careful with that kind of escalation. On receiving too many evening cold calls from India, my wife took to assembling the kids around the phone, putting it on speaker, and singing 'Oh Danny Boy' loudly to the startled call centre worker at the far end. Rather than solving the issue, the number of calls increased, and at one point we had a couple of Indians joining in from the far end. Not pretty. Not pretty at all. Out mentalling a mentaler is a dangerous game, and my missus is mentaler than most :pac:

omnithanos · 10-07-2015 10:15am

CramCycle wrote: »

you can't be paying to much attention.

too

link_2007 · 10-07-2015 10:18am

km991148 wrote: »

btw - same sh!t happens to me almost every morning coming though Rathmines - people flying through lights (any colour.. not going there) from Leinster Road into the citybound traffic flow - I suspect some must at least have a small look for oncomming cars but often fail to look for other cyclists, which often means me swerving and/or braking (and swearing to myself) to avoid them..

Doesnt help that the new road markings there forces weird traffic merging situations at the best of times..

Have the same problem myself. In the mornings it's the cyclists breaking red lights coming off Leinster Road on to Rathmines Road Lower and then on the way home, its drivers swerving left at the traffic lights outside Copan and cutting across me to get on to Rathmines Road Upper and save themselves the vital 2-3 seconds it would have taken for me to get across the junction and out of their way.

lennymc · 10-07-2015 10:19am

Lumen wrote: »

I've tried that before. The problem is that after the sheep leaves you're left with a bunch of shocked bystanders including small children looking at you (with some justification) like you're the actual boogie monster.

A quick bout of Kylie's 'I'm spinning around' with some dad dance action thrown in will very quickly disperse any crowd, especially if wearing lycra.

I also found I have started Booing RLJ's recently with a long loud BOOOOOOOOOOOO as they go through the lights.

I must be getting old and cranky.

CramCycle · 10-07-2015 10:20am

omnithanos wrote: »

too

You win this round.

CramCycle · 10-07-2015 10:23am

lennymc wrote: »

A quick bout of Kylie's 'I'm spinning around' with some dad dance action thrown in will very quickly disperse any crowd, especially if wearing lycra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_M2AVv5opg

buffalo · 10-07-2015 10:41am

lennymc wrote: »

I also found I have started Booing RLJ's recently with a long loud BOOOOOOOOOOOO as they go through the lights.

I must be getting old and cranky.

:pac::pac: I may take that one up!

el tel · 10-07-2015 10:52am

So after the dick on the bike did his bad manoeuvre, the OP sounded his horn to show his annoyance. That's not what horns are for. What came next was inexcusible but was brought on by the OP himself IMO. The OPs irrationality is evidenced by his call for numberplates on cycles.

Bloggsie · 10-07-2015 11:17am

Lumen wrote: »

I've tried that before. The problem is that after the sheep leaves you're left with a bunch of shocked bystanders including small children looking at you (with some justification) like you're the actual boogie monster.

Boogie Monster, ist that like a scary Disco Stu?

I have heard about the bogeyman but never the Boogie Monster!

tomasrojo · 10-07-2015 11:19am

Bloggsie wrote: »

Boogie Monster, ist that like a scary Disco Stu?

I have heard about the bogeyman but never the Boogie Monster!

Not a fan of Gnarls Barkley then.

Bloggsie · 10-07-2015 11:21am

tomasrojo wrote: »

Not a fan of Gnarls Barkley then.

ah yes Gnarls Barkley, wasnt she in the Dublin City Ramblers?

tomasrojo · 10-07-2015 11:24am

Bloggsie wrote: »

ah yes Gnarls Barkley, wasnt she in the Dublin City Ramblers?

They'll always be the Quare Fellas to me.

Raam · 10-07-2015 12:25pm

Bloggsie wrote: »

ah yes Gnarls Barkley, wasnt she in the Dublin City Ramblers?

No, he played for the Sixers.

Cyclist in the wrong and looses the plot at me...

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