Hello, long time reader, very rare poster, but I have a warning to share.
I've had a quite jarring ride home from work tonight. As the title says, I've been commuting in and around central London for over 10 years and generally have no problems beyond the usual inattentiveness from others - certainly no serious run ins beyond the very rare bit of shouting warnings if I'm about to get squashed. I like to think I have reasonable discipline and awareness and don't put anyone in danger.
So, cycling home tonight I get to Putney Hill heading towards Wimbledon. I stop at some red lights and once they've turned green pull away. At this point another cyclist comes by, perhaps not having needed to slow for the lights or perhaps having put in a spurt to get round me. He pulls in front and I match his pace, perhaps a couple of feet back, certainly not dangerously close. He looks like a proper cyclist, wearing lycra shorts, and he's pulling a good pace.
Within literally a couple of seconds he blows his nose straight down, which I can feel hitting my legs. Charming I think, though I give him the benefit of the doubt - perhaps he thought I wasn't there. One second later he blows that idea away by turning round and screaming, "stop tailgating me you F--KING C--T". He stops pedalling at that point and I pull alongside - albeit in the middle of the road as he's clearly a bit, um, vexed.
The next 30 seconds is a bit surreal as he continue screaming, and I mean screaming in a red faced I will tear your throat out sort of way, that: a) he's going to f--king kill me
I'm a f--king c--t c) let's pull to the side of the road so he can f--king kill me and d) I'm going to call the police. All the while with me attempting to say sorry and perhaps he might like to calm down a bit.
d) was a bit surreal to be honest. I wasn't sure if he was planning to call them before or after he killed me. Perhaps he'd let them know where my body was.
When I realised he was quite serious about doing me harm and no reasoning could be done, I sprinted off up the road with him screaming he was going to come and bleeping kill me or somesuch, and I didn't turn round until I hit home a few miles later. I'm very grateful that I was able to leave him behind and that traffic and traffic lights went in my favour - I wouldn't like to have been caught by him.
To be honest this has shaken me quite a bit. You go through life assuming most people are pretty normal, perhaps a few are a bit angry and aggressive, but most are pretty stable. In all my years I have never met someone who exploded like that. He was/is a grade A psycho with a fuse measured in the microseconds.
So, a warning: should anyone who travels that way see a slightly skinny, lycra short wearing guy with a 'tache on a hybrid with handlebars set very high and quite far forward, whatever you do, steer well clear. This guy is quite simply dangerous.
And should he be reading this, which seems unlikely, then I have this to say: I hope you seek medical/anger management help pretty soon. I seriously wonder how you can function in society without it. I wonder what sort of job, friends or family you have who accept the sort of behaviour you showed me tonight.
Apologies for the length of this posting - it was quite cathartic writing it at least. Thanks for reading everyone and watch out!
I've had a quite jarring ride home from work tonight. As the title says, I've been commuting in and around central London for over 10 years and generally have no problems beyond the usual inattentiveness from others - certainly no serious run ins beyond the very rare bit of shouting warnings if I'm about to get squashed. I like to think I have reasonable discipline and awareness and don't put anyone in danger.
So, cycling home tonight I get to Putney Hill heading towards Wimbledon. I stop at some red lights and once they've turned green pull away. At this point another cyclist comes by, perhaps not having needed to slow for the lights or perhaps having put in a spurt to get round me. He pulls in front and I match his pace, perhaps a couple of feet back, certainly not dangerously close. He looks like a proper cyclist, wearing lycra shorts, and he's pulling a good pace.
Within literally a couple of seconds he blows his nose straight down, which I can feel hitting my legs. Charming I think, though I give him the benefit of the doubt - perhaps he thought I wasn't there. One second later he blows that idea away by turning round and screaming, "stop tailgating me you F--KING C--T". He stops pedalling at that point and I pull alongside - albeit in the middle of the road as he's clearly a bit, um, vexed.
The next 30 seconds is a bit surreal as he continue screaming, and I mean screaming in a red faced I will tear your throat out sort of way, that: a) he's going to f--king kill me
I'm a f--king c--t c) let's pull to the side of the road so he can f--king kill me and d) I'm going to call the police. All the while with me attempting to say sorry and perhaps he might like to calm down a bit.d) was a bit surreal to be honest. I wasn't sure if he was planning to call them before or after he killed me. Perhaps he'd let them know where my body was.
When I realised he was quite serious about doing me harm and no reasoning could be done, I sprinted off up the road with him screaming he was going to come and bleeping kill me or somesuch, and I didn't turn round until I hit home a few miles later. I'm very grateful that I was able to leave him behind and that traffic and traffic lights went in my favour - I wouldn't like to have been caught by him.
To be honest this has shaken me quite a bit. You go through life assuming most people are pretty normal, perhaps a few are a bit angry and aggressive, but most are pretty stable. In all my years I have never met someone who exploded like that. He was/is a grade A psycho with a fuse measured in the microseconds.
So, a warning: should anyone who travels that way see a slightly skinny, lycra short wearing guy with a 'tache on a hybrid with handlebars set very high and quite far forward, whatever you do, steer well clear. This guy is quite simply dangerous.
And should he be reading this, which seems unlikely, then I have this to say: I hope you seek medical/anger management help pretty soon. I seriously wonder how you can function in society without it. I wonder what sort of job, friends or family you have who accept the sort of behaviour you showed me tonight.
Apologies for the length of this posting - it was quite cathartic writing it at least. Thanks for reading everyone and watch out!
