Angry guy on W&OD

[baiskeli]

@jnva 37760 wrote:

Had a short chat with angry dude tonight on way home in falls church. I was riding behind him for about 20 seconds waiting for a safe place to pass when he slows down and yells at me for riding behind him because my light was bothering him and making it difficult to see. I tried to explain that I wasn’t doing it on purpose so no reason to be rude. The conversation ended with him telling me to “f*** off!”

Now, I always shield my light when there are cyclists coming towards me and I hate when people draft me so I don’t do that either, but I’ve never heard anyone complain about this.
Angry dude, if your reading this, chill out bro.

This belongs on the Missed Connections thread, that thread that a) I started, and b) is the longest thread ever on this forum. Hey, I have to have something in my life to be proud of.

[jnva]

Oh yeah right should have put it there!

Wasn’t a completely missed connection, because I attempted to talk to angry guy but failed…

[Rod Smith]

Are you the SOB who dared to approach me from behind while I was just riding along minding my own business? If this is an apology, I accept it. If this happens again I can’t be held responsible for what happens. Be forewarned. 😡

Seriously though. your light and the shadows it casts can make it difficult for riders you overtake and dimming, redirecting downward or turning it off while following might make sense in some situations.

[rcannon100]

It wasnt me

That said, yes, when someone has a high beam behind me, I tend to slow to make them pass – it can cause a tremendous amount of visual noise and I would just assume have it pass me. A high beam is bad news for just about everyone, but the person who has it on their bike. Think of it this way…. if you are driving your car, and you have your high beams on, and you drive up behind another car… do you cut off your high beams and go to regular headlights? When driving a car, normal etiquette is to turn off your high beams when they are pointed at anyone else.

[jnva]

Yes I agree about the high beams, But i didn’t have them on. This is why I am baffled, I couldn’t have done anything different other than pass him faster but that would have been unsafe on that section. Dude was just angry I almost think he thought I was ELITE because he kept saying “f– off faster faster!”

[Dirt]

There are tons of people out there with really big chips on their shoulders. Give them a little extra room and perhaps a coupon for a discount massage… or laxative… or both. Sometimes people just had a bad day and take it out on you. I’ve had apologies days later for peoples’ reactions when they could have been nicer.

Perhaps you met my old friend F&#* man.

[Arlingtonrider]

This is a helpful thread. I always try to make sure to dim or cover a bright light for oncoming riders, but I never thought about the effect it might have on someone riding in the same direction ahead of me. Thanks for the explanations.

[Arlingtonrider]

p.s. That is not to imply that angry guy was justified. Sounds like he just had it out for someone on a bad day. Thankfully, most aren’t like that.

[rcannon100]

Ah!!! Then I concur with Dirt. Never discount (a) that some people are just having a miserable day or (b) that there are some people out there that are irrational jerks. There are some people out there on the trail who are out there because they desperately need solitude – and you are bumming their back-to-nature high. If anything, just keep putting as must distance between you and the hater as possible.

Ya gotta be like Jeter playing in Boston… and just not let things effect you.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Dang…the only time I’ve yelled at, or even said anything to, someone on the trail was when I got run off due to two teenage douchebags bombing down the MVT taking up both sides of the trail and unaware that they were riding right into my path. I kinda yelled as they were passing, but that was more a “oh crap” + “wtf are you doing” type of thing and not like I chased them down or anything. If somebody said something rude to me, I’d probably just furrow my brow and say “mmmmkay, sure thing.” I’m anti-confrontational to a fault, but I also don’t really get truly bothered by much of anything. I try to ride responsibly, safely, and courteously, but I kinda live by the motto “rubbin’ is racin'” meaning you gotta expect that sh*t’s gonna happen and it’s part of being out there and dealing with a wide array of people with vastly differing levels of self-awareness.

[DaveK]

I yelled at a few people today on the W&OD and MVT for using strobe lights tonight… I’ve gotten so sick of being blinded that I really have no patience anymore. If I were more zen I’d slow down, turn around, ride alongside them and ask them nicely. Unfortunately I’m not lately.

There were two guys I noticed while passing the Water Pollution Control plant on the W&OD drafting but neither one had adequate lighting. I remember thinking it was a massive accident waiting to happen.

Also, if any of you were the person I yelled at on 14th St bridge because their light “gave me epilepsy”… I meant every word of it. Knock off the strobe light crap.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@DaveK 37784 wrote:

I yelled at a few people today on the W&OD and MVT for using strobe lights tonight… I’ve gotten so sick of being blinded that I really have no patience anymore. If I were more zen I’d slow down, turn around, ride alongside them and ask them nicely. Unfortunately I’m not lately.

There were two guys I noticed while passing the Water Pollution Control plant on the W&OD drafting but neither one had adequate lighting. I remember thinking it was a massive accident waiting to happen.

Also, if any of you were the person I yelled at on 14th St bridge because their light “gave me epilepsy”… I meant every word of it. Knock off the strobe light crap.

I’ll admit I leave my 1W blinkies on when I transition from road to trail, since I’m on the trail for all of about 5 minutes, then I’m back on the street. I’m not bothered by folks that have these, regardless of whether I’m using them as well or not. But I’m guessing you mean the real high-powered strobes, in which case I’m totally with you. I see this on the W&OD a lot and I really don’t understand it. In super high traffic areas, I’ll use my 300L light on blinky mode, but it annoys the crap out of me and I feel like I’m going to have a seizure, so I don’t know how people can ride on a dark trail with a bright blinky going.

[ShawnoftheDread]

I had two people comment on the brightness of my light as I came up behind them. The first was by Jefferson just as I came off 15th St and still had the flash on. It wasn’t DaveK (he didn’t yell at me). The second was on the MVT with my steady light on. And I don’t have even close to the brightest light out there,

[KLizotte]

I guess you can’t please everyone. I’ve had people thank me for riding behind them and providing light so they can see better (this especially happens with CaBi riders and newbies with crappy lights along the MVT). One guy even went out of his way to thank me because his light had died. I’ve never minded lights coming up behind me and try to be respectful of oncoming bikers. It also seems like more and more pedestrians on the MVT are using lights/reflective gear but I think that’s because the only people crazy enough to be out at this time of the year on the trail are the hard-core users.

[dcv]

I’ve yelled at people in the past, not proud but it usually happens when someone does something unsafe around my son while we’re on a ride. (setting a terrible example for my son)

Actually being on this forum makes me think twice about misbehaving on the bike. I wouldn’t want to be called out on the missed connections thread.

[Author]

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