Showed some concern for cyclist's safety => negative response

[yoshirider]

I was waiting at a left turn light on my commute home and a cyclist on a road bike with a backpack comes up in front of me but parks himself at the right edge of the left turn lane. It's already dark and the street lights are doing a mediocre job at helping with visibility. The bike has a tiny tail light (a knog?) and was completely in the lane, but his body was leaning towards the right. The light for the cars going straight turns green, but left turn light still red. The speed limit on this road is 50mph so you can expect people to be going 55mph. At this point, I'm worried about the guy getting clipped by distracted drivers and I wish he would just come towards the middle of the lane a little more. I've seen cars do stupid things at this intersection. Left turn light changes to green and the cyclist pedals off. He gets 20 ft in front and then all of sudden slows down suddenly because he couldn't clip his right foot in. He's still in the left turn lane at this point. Finally, he gets into the bike lane and I drive ahead and stop at the next light. It's red and he pulls up next to me. I roll down my window and tell him that I was worried back there that he was going to get clipped. His response to me was "this the lane of travel for bikes" and told me to stay in my lane. I immediately try to explain to him that I'm a cyclist too and that the cars going straight were going fast and they could have clipped him. He tells me to worry about myself instead. Wow I was just showing some concern for his safety. I would have been grateful if someone showed me the same concern. What a jerk!

[ultraman6970]

It depends a lot of what is the perception the other dude has, if you think over it looks like the dude had the situation under control?

[vqdriver]

we've all met these riders, whether in cars or on our own bikes. it happens. just like some (not all) drivers consider cyclists to be a nuisance, some riders are equally combative whenever someone in a car says anything other than "nice bike". it sucks but it's real. you tried.

[yoshirider]

Maybe in his head he's riding according to the law and he should be safe. However, we all know the law won't keep us safe every time and I didn't feel he rode defensively at all. Not once did I see him look around or back at the cars. If I were turning in the left turn lane I would've darted straight for the bike lane. His unexpected slowdown from not being able to clip could have caused him to get hit. I definitely braked for that and I wasn't even following him closely.

[Dead Man]

I'd bet he was just caught off guard and assumed you were coming at him as an irritated ignorant motorist sharing your irritation, not just a fellow cyclist trying to help a bro out. I seem to get hassled often enough that I can guarantee you someone trying to talk to me about my riding style from a car is just automatically going to get met with an intellectual brick wall. I might think about it and re-assess again later, but that's just the automatic response in the moment.

[CheshireCat]

most people who ride a lot are used to everything coming out of a car driver's mouth to be the product of a human sized sphinter ani externus.

I wouldn't put too much into it. I just don't like people talking to me whether I'm in my car or on my bike or motorcycle and tend to try to cut interactions as short as possible. It's easy to be immediately put off and defensive when you see a vehicle rolling down their window.

Most often when I see that I brace for having something thrown at me, or reach for whatever self defense method I am legally allowed to carry in that jurisdiction, if it applies to the situation.

You likely just spooked the poor guy. SoCal was not a friendly place to ride, in my memory. People tend to be short and slightly rude when they suspect they might be in danger of intentional bodily harm.

[rustychisel]

Originally Posted by CheshireCat

most people who ride a lot are used to everything coming out of a car driver's mouth to be the product of a human sized sphinter ani externus.

I wouldn't put too much into it. I just don't like people talking to me whether I'm in my car or on my bike or motorcycle and tend to try to cut interactions as short as possible. It's easy to be immediately put off and defensive when you see a vehicle rolling down their window.

Most often when I see that I brace for having something thrown at me, or reach for whatever self defense method I am legally allowed to carry in that jurisdiction, if it applies to the situation.

You likely just spooked the poor guy. SoCal was not a friendly place to ride, in my memory. People tend to be short and slightly rude when they suspect they might be in danger of intentional bodily harm.

+ 1

It doesn't mean much. I tell my friends if they honk the car horn when they see me cycling in the city in all likelyhood they'll get the finger.

[rcnute]

It sounds like you were well-intentioned but not a surprising response to unsolicited advice.

Ryan

[gdw]

And some us wonder why the general public thinks cyclists are a------s....

[tumbler]

Originally Posted by The B

I'd bet he was just caught off guard and assumed you were coming at him as an irritated ignorant motorist sharing your irritation, not just a fellow cyclist trying to help a bro out. I seem to get hassled often enough that I can guarantee you someone trying to talk to me about my riding style from a car is just automatically going to get met with an intellectual brick wall. I might think about it and re-assess again later, but that's just the automatic response in the moment.

My thoughts exactly.

[rustychisel]

Originally Posted by gdw

And some us wonder why the general public thinks cyclists are a------s....

no, that's an unfair characterisation. We were offering an explicable reason, not the truth. It's understandable, doesn't make it right.

Don't read more than that into it.

[eddief]

in many different forms. Feel lucky you got to drive off without having him take his pump to your hood. Carma works in mysterious ways. Stick with being caring and some will appreciate it, some will get whacked at 50 mph.

[callt5]

You did a good thing.

If someone offers unwanted advise to me while riding, and it's not confrontational, I will respond with a short, non sarcastic "Thanks!" and leave it at that. Definitely no need to be an A-hole.

Like others said, hopefully he will get it when he thinks about it later.

[fogrider]

Yeah, I always give helpful advice to other cyclist on the road doing dangerous things on the road, but they always seem to a be a$$holes too. they should be thanking me!!!

[Dead Man]

I don't know, man. There's just something special about getting unsolicited advice from a completely un-vetted source in the middle of a given activity, especially when you feel very competent, experienced, and possibly even superior to most others around you participating. Even if it's another cyclist on a bike I'm probably not going to be just immediately receptive to any advice or constructive criticism. New to a particular organized event, I've taken some well-verbalized pointers from other dudes on bikes, sure. Out on the velodrome this summer I felt like a total noob and probably acted like one... I took pretty much all advice offered to me. But out on the roads, you probably can't tell me jack ····, unless I know and respect you.

And if I'm really being honest with myself, I know why: I know that I'm a better rider than most people out there; and I have to admit that deep down, I kind of feel like most everyone else out there are kind of idiots. So until I know for a fact that you have the requisite experience, sense, and bike-handling skills to be offering mighty-me any advice, I'm just going to assume you're a choad.

Again... this is just me being very candid here... I'm not trying to sound like an arrogant prick, I just think this is how our heads work. Off the cuff, anyway.