Sorry for this, I am VERY annoyed!

[Matthew_T]

Just travelling through town earlier on today and doing a bit of filtering as there was a lot of traffic today. I went past a blue Lotus Elise and thought "That's a nice car". I slotted in the traffic a few cars ahead and stayed there until I got to a set of traffic lights.
After the lights, I was heading up the bridge and into Rhyl town centre. I got to the top of the bridge and all of a sudden, the Lotus came speeding past me, fitting underneath my handlebars!

I thought that this was a driver who needed to be educated (not abusively) and told about what you should do. Apologies for my swearing but it really aggitated me and I got so angry I nearly had the urge to hit him (I didnt).

The following conversation occured:
Me: Do you really want to risk the insurance on that with going into me?
Him: You shouldnt be riding in the middle of the f*cking road.
Me: I was going over a bridge.
Him: You should be on the left.
Me: I was in the middle to stop you overtaking, what you did was stupid and dangerous.
Him: Oh f*ck off.
(He drove off and gave me the w*nker sign. We got to the next set of traffic lights)
Me: I've got you on camera and you can find your numberplate on YouTube.
Him: Ha ha ha, you sad f*ck.
Me: (couldnt get my words out) Why did you feel it...why did you...you shouldnt have...
Him: (Laughing his head off at my expense) egh...egh...egh...F*ck off you little sh*t.
(He drove off)
Me: Go f*ck yourself, arseh*le.
(He got caught up behind a van who was letting someone park so I filter past everyone)
Me: Bye d*ckhead!

I then went left at the end of the road where he went right and I had some time to relax and calm down.

Once again I apoligise for my swearing and if I have affended anyone on here. I don't want to give cyclists a bad name but this incident got me so angry I nearly lost it completely.

The video will be up soon.

 

[gaz]

It seriously isn't worth your while talking to these idiots.
You got the whole thing on video, just breath in, breath out, forget about it and continue your ride.

 

[400bhp]

It seriously isn't worth your while talking to these idiots.
You got the whole thing on video, just breath in, breath out, forget about it and continue your ride.

Completely agree. What are you hoping to achieve?

 

[Fish on a bike]

Just think if you didn't ride a bike you wouldn't have these interesting interactions lol. Seriously it goes with the territory, you can't take on every car, taxi, truck, bus etc driver or dozy pedestrian. It's war on the roads you just have duck and dive to reach the next level :-)

 

[Matthew_T]

I was hoping that as he drove a nice car, he would take a bit more care in operating it. I was clearly wrong and just got a score of abuse from him. I didn't expect him to be up his own arse about everything.

 

[Matthew_T]

Just think if you didn't ride a bike you wouldn't have these interesting interactions lol. Seriously it goes with the territory, you can't take on every car, taxi, truck, bus etc driver or dozy pedestrian. It's war on the roads you just have duck and dive to reach the next level :-)

Or you get knocked off by someone who doesnt like you playing that game and you end up in hospital, stressed out by having to fill in lots of forms to get half the amount oc compensation you actually deserve for all your efforts.

 

[ianrauk]

Listen to your Uncle Gaz and what he suggest above.
You nearly got clumped in one of your vids when you chased a driver down, haven't you learned from that? It could happen again.
Calm yourself down. You have his misdemeanour's on camera, so put it on you tube and let him be damned.

 

[BSRU]

If their too stupid to notice a camera stuck on your helmet then I would not bother telling them about it.

There is generally no point trying to have a conversation with them as they have already shown they do not care.

 

[DCLane]

Matthew - you seem to get into more arguments than the rest of us put together.

My daily commute usually has at least one near-miss since I'm always on busy dual-carriageways. If I chased down and argued with everyone who came close I'd never get to work!

Can I suggest two things:

1. You let some of these go. Life's not worth it and the vast majority won't learn. They often don't care and arguing will never solve that. We tend not to listen when an argument is happening.

2. Calm down. One one of your videos where the lady was laughing it struck me that she didn't find it funny. She was scared by you. One of the involuntary subconscious reactions that people have to fear is laughter. Your own riding may not be questionable, but your behaviour in the videos sometimes is.

 

[Hip Priest]

It seems he deliberately passed you aggressively then swore at you, so I'd say you were well within your rights to give him a mouthful back. Though caution should be advised, 'cause one day you might meet a nutter.

 

[Origamist]

These types of negative interactions with other road users are seemingly preying on your mind, Matt (even taking into account the cathartic nature of posting in commuting). I'd recommend taking a deep breath and not engaging with people who have driven poorly, even if they have endangered you. This is certainly easier said than done, but if you are going to let these incidents spoil your ride and detract from your enjoyment of cycling in general, you have to find a way to detach yourself from the inevitable poor behaviour that you will have to deal with on the roads. This might mean inuring yourself to a higher base level of road user incompetence, finding solace in silence (even when people are shouting and swearing at you) or by trying to find ways of accentuating the positive when you ride.

This does not mean that you should not report egregiously bad driving to the police or the company concerned - just deal with it when your heart-rate and adrenalin levels have lowered.

 

[Matthew_T]

 

[Matthew_T]

I am getting the message that I shouldnt go up to every driver who passes me dangerously or too close, but there are a few which I cannot let lie sometimes.
I apologise if I have annoyed anyone with what I did and I dont want to come over as an agressive, anti-cyclist cyclist, but I was in a lovely happy mood before he did this.

Earlier on today, I helped and elderly couple find their way from a cycle track to St Asaph. This really cheered me up for the day but it is amazing how your mood changes with one silly overtake.

I understand that I need to calm down and I admit that, but sometime my anger just takes over. I do apologise for my actions.

 

[BSRU]

I am getting the message that I shouldnt go up to every driver who passes me dangerously or too close, but there are a few which I cannot let lie sometimes.
I apologise if I have annoyed anyone with what I did and I dont want to come over as an agressive, anti-cyclist cyclist, but I was in a lovely happy mood before he did this.

Earlier on today, I helped and elderly couple find their way from a cycle track to St Asaph. This really cheered me up for the day but it is amazing how your mood changes with one silly overtake.

I understand that I need to calm down and I admit that, but sometime my anger just takes over. I do apologise for my actions.

Most will understand you getting annoyed or angry at dangerous driving but you should always remember the driver is in a large metal box but you're not and there are some right nutters out there.

 

[Dan_h]

A few thoughts come to mind...

1) While I applaud your attempts to single handedly make the roads safer I really think you are on a loser. The people you are talking to are unlikely to care, if they did they would drive more patiently in the first place.

2) Taking primary position has a couple of purposes, one is to try to prevent the dodgy overtake if possible, the second is to give yourself somewhere to go if drivers decide to force their way through anyway. This is a definite case of someone forcing their way through.

3) I would have been a bit angry about the overtake as well, but by confronting the driver you are only ever going to feel better if you get an apology. Most times you won't get the apology so you will just end up more wound up. Let the irritation at the bad pass go and get on with your ride.