why do macho bicyclists try to get killed?

[ghostjmf]

Whatever purpose does it serve?

A. They're not Lance Armstrong, whatever kinda clothes they wear

B. They have a really idiotic attitude, especially for someone on that vulnerable a machine

I have had them "speed" past me while I'm driving in all kinds of noxiously dangerous manners,
but what happened this morning took the cake:

I'm in my car on a hill, in traffic, stopped, pointing uphill. This is always strenuous for me, as I drive a stick shift, an old, no-longer-peppy stick shift, & as we all know, stick shifts pointing uphill in park roll backward a couple inches when you throw them into gear, even if you attempt to prevent this by gunning the gas. To not roll, you really have to gun it, which hurts the clutch. (Car Talk Guys recommend putting the parking brake on for this, then swiftly disengaging it; I would wipe out my parking brake in about 2 tries.) I therefore hate being tailgated. I usually use "back off" hand signal (open handed back-facing palm, "pushing backwards" out the window), trying to get the car in back of me not to tailgate. I occasionally get out & explain this to them, if the light is long enough.

This time, I was being tailgated by a bicyclist. There is no reason on earth why the bicyclist couldn't just zoom past us all, showing their macho uphillness, in the parking lane. Back when I was biking everywhere, not being very macho or sufficiently strong, I generally got off & walked the bike uphill, often on the sidewalk.

This bicyclist, when I politely got out & explained to them that I didn't want to roll back into them & kill them, told me they were "riding in the driving lane like I'm s'posed to". I told them I wasn't going to move my car at all until they were well past me; they could do it however they wanted to. Bike around me to the right, the left, walk the bike on the sidewalk, whatever.

They went around me to the left, the most dangerous way (veering out into oncoming traffic), cursing me out as they went.

Whatever is with these yoiks.

[sunflower]

After many years as a stick shift driver...I came to the realization that those who learned on and have always driven automatics don't always know about the roll effect. Whereas, I am ultra sensitive to it, having learned on a stick and learning "flat" routes to wherever I needed to go for years!! To this day there are still certain hills I try to avoid because they give me too much anxiety.

Now (sadly) I drive an automatic. I leave plenty of room, even on slight inclines, just to reduce any anxiety of the driver in front of me. You just never know.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

They realize that their DNA isn't worth passing on to another generation?

[christie1111]

After many years as a stick shift driver...I came to the realization that those who learned on and have always driven automatics don't always know about the roll effect. Whereas, I am ultra sensitive to it, having learned on a stick and learning "flat" routes to wherever I needed to go for years!! To this day there are still certain hills I try to avoid because they give me too much anxiety.

Now (sadly) I drive an automatic. I leave plenty of room, even on slight inclines, just to reduce any anxiety of the driver in front of me. You just never know.

I learned on a stick and my first real car of my very own was a Honda Accord Hatchback with a standard transmission.

I remember sitting on a hill at a stoplight in Greenwich CT between a Ferrari and a Rolls and just thinking I was soooooo screwed!

We all made it without a scratch. Whew!

[ghostjmf]

If I'm awake enough (this incident happened in the morning commute, which is probably why I was stopped halfway up the hill at all) to remember to do this, I just these days park at the bottom of the hill & waive (with a wave!) people past me. Then when the coast is clear & light is green, zoom. I sometimes miss a few lights this way, but it reduces my anxiety level.

I should turn on the hazard signals too. I just thought of that, because I am awake enough now!

I once thought of starting a little business selling letters that glow when lights hit them to explain things to the driver behind you, like "I am following the car ahead of me" or "my stick-shift car rolls backward when started uphill". Then when all this electronic stuff came out, I thought "you could just have a permanent display, glowing night or day, in your back window & type the appropriate text into it". The reason I am telling you all this instead of trying to patent & sell my Great Idea (not my only one such!!!) is that the more I thought about it, the more I figured people would just use the display to say very very bad words to the drivers behind them, & I would wind up being sued for it. Oh well.

Its kind of like when I asked a cop if I could aim a bright yellow plastic water rifle out the window & shoot water at evil-doing motorists & the cop said "Don't. Its a gun if it looks like a gun."

[Thousandaire]

I've always figured it was best to get close to a stick-shift car on a hill, because that way they can't build up enough speed sliding backwards to do any real damage.

When you get out and talk to other drivers, do you turn off the engine, put it in gear and set the parking brake?

If another driver gets out of his car in traffic, I assume his intentions are not good. Aren't you afraid someone will react negatively (possibly violently)?

Don't get me started on bicyclists who refuse to ride on the right (no, they do not belong in the driving lane). I'm frequently tempted to run them over.

[ghostjmf]

Thousandaire says:

If another driver gets out of his car in traffic, I assume his intentions are not good. Aren't you afraid someone will react negatively (possibly violently)?

On a hill in Somerville during morning rush-hour completely-stalled hill-traffic, no. Maybe I should be, & I don't do this often because usually people can interpret my "go backwards" or "go around me, please" hand signals.

If I get out of the car, the engine isn't off, but the hazards & parking brake are on. Clutch is in neutral. Maybe the engine should be off, & clutch should be in the opposite direction from the potential roll, but does that really do any good if you're not angled into a curb? But if you turn the engine off, people then think you turned it off to spite them. People around here think that when your car dies in the middle of a flat road in stop-&-go traffic, you really did it to prevent them from getting ahead 2 inches. Its so stupid.