Oh no I touched a car!

[CatherineB]

I was filtering to the left of some stationary traffic but I got to the point where I couldn't go any further so I put my foot down. The road was a bit slippery so I lost my balance, just a little. I put my hand out and very gently touched the Beemer SUV next to me to steady myself and immediately the driver jumped on his horn like I'd come at it with an icepick. It startled the hell out of me and made me jump a mile. I whipped around to see what was going on and his face was a contorted mask of rage and he was screaming something, but I couldn't make it out over the sound of the horn. So I smacked the side of the thing as hard as I could, stuck out my tongue at him, hopped off my bike, pushed it up the pavement about ten feet to the next little street on the left, and hopped back on to take a detour. I didn't look back, but I wish I had just to see the look on his big stupid red face.

Yes, I was immature and probably put my (5'3" female) self at risk, but seriously, what the f**k??? It just made me so angry. I BARELY touched his car with my gloved hand to keep myself from sprawling all over the kerb and the pavement and the street (and probably scratching up his car with my bike in the process). If we were both pedestrians and I tripped and touched his arm to keep myself from falling, would he have screamed obscenities at me? Of course not. I would apologise, he would say it's OK, and we would have gone on with our lives. But since he's protected by a car, he thinks it's fine to scare the shoot out of me and call me everything but a Christian. Stupid big-faced ugly-tie-wearing jerk.

 

[swee'pea99]

Yay for Catherine B! Good on yer girl!

 

[PBancroft]

My name is Kaipaith and I approve of this message.

 

[GrasB]

The only thing really to say is sometimes even a light knock on the side of a car can sound like someone's hit it with a baseball bat inside.

 

[CatherineB]

Well then it must have sounded like a gunshot when I whacked it!

 

[Bollo]

The driver was probably afraid he might catch cycling.

 

[jonny jeez]

So I smacked the side of the thing as hard as I could, stuck out my tongue at him, .

perect repsonce. well played

I only hope he realises what a dick he was a little later on.

 

[gaz]

i fell on a black cab once, the driver was cool about it.

Has anyone seen the youtube video of the cyclist that keeps putting his hand on the bonnet of a car at red lights?

 

[jonny jeez]

The driver was probably afraid he might catch cycling.

it is contagious

 

[ianrauk]

No... link?

i fell on a black cab once, the driver was cool about it.

Has anyone seen the youtube video of the cyclist that keeps putting his hand on the bonnet of a car at red lights?

 

[XmisterIS]

Sounds like a super-stressed out jerk. I would have grinned and nodded at him and given him the finger.

 

[magnatom]

The guy in the beemer was certainly an idiot, but...and I'll probably get flamed for doing this...why were you filtering on the left? It sounds like space was tight and filtering on the left is a bit dangerous at the best of times (left hooks, doors opening etc).

 

[Cab]

Some people are outlandishly defensive of their cars. Don't think of it as being his car that you fondled...

 

[Bollo]

I'm not excusing matey in the bimmer, but we can be precious about our bikes as well. I've known people get very very upset when there's been some shuffling in the racks to get bikes off and on trains in particular. I'm pretty chilled, but I once had to draw the line when I came back to my bike locked outside the local leisure centre and found a gentleman sitting on the rack reading his paper.

 

[magnatom]

I regularly filter between lanes of slow or non-moving traffic, which means that there are cars on the right as well as the left.

Ah but there is a big difference there. For a car to move from the right lane to the left, they have to negotiate with the lane next to them, so unless they want a bashed car, they have to look before moving. It is also far less likely for a door to fly open when there is a risk of the door being taken off by a car in the left lane (and exiting passenger being squashed by a car!).

I did plenty of filtering down the middle of two lanes this morning. It is very satisfying!