Jim’s Tech Talk
By Jim Langley
The story last week in newsletter #1188 entitled Bike Hater Meets His Match – Will You?, reminded me of a similar tale that had a different outcome. I’m sharing it below. First though, I don’t consider these people “bike” haters. It’s not the bike they hate, it’s us. So “cyclist hater” is what I’d call them.
This resentment and anger towards us is nothing new. In Andrew Ritchie’s seminal history of cycling King of the Road, first published in 1975, he wrote,
“Bicycle technology laid the foundations for the development of motorcycles, cars and aeroplanes. In the bicycle factories of the eighteen-eighties and ‘nineties assembly-line mass-production was intensively applied to the building of a high-quality product. Gradually motorized bicycles and noisy cars became competitors filling the quiet cyclists’ air with dust and fumes, and making them angry. Some of them were killed by cars on the roads, and a battle began which is still being fought. But it was not until after the Second World War that cyclists began to be quite literally driven off the roads, and even then they were there in vast numbers to fight back.”
Not just cyclists
You hear the theory that cyclists bring this hatred upon themselves because some riders break the laws of the road. Maybe that factors in, but why then do pedestrians, runners and even motorcyclists (who sometimes are cyclist haters too [ironically]) also get bullied by drivers?
I speak from personal experience having been dangerously threatened by drivers when I rode a motorcycle, been buzzed and had things thrown at me out of car windows as a long distance runner and been told to “get the he** out of the road!” many times while walking in the country where there are no sidewalks. And I’ve heard endless stories like mine and even worse from friends who bike, run, walk and ride motorcycles.
Apparently, something about being behind a steering wheel affects certain people very badly. And we’re easy targets for someone who thinks they’re anonymous and can’t be caught. Fortunately, that’s not always true. It is possible to do what Ritchie says and fight back – as you’ll see in today’s story.
It was written by my friend and fellow editor at the time at Bicycling Magazine, Geoff Drake. It ran in the April, 1996 issue of the magazine.
Our Day In Court – One Small Victory For Bicyclists
If our roadways were the animal kingdom. Cyclists would be the equivalent of the wingless, vulnerable, and long-extinct dodo bird. Like that hapless creature, which was savagely eradicated by 1681, we are slower than the predators who share our domain – in this case hostile drivers. When struck or assaulted, we have little recourse. We suffer in silence. We go on our way.
Most of the time, anyway. Every once in a while, one of our ranks rises up and strikes a blow for its brethren. Just such a thing happened to the Bicycling Magazine staff on a recent training ride near our Soquel, California, office.
There were 9 of us altogether, including 2 representatives from Campagnolo and Maynard Hershon – a VeloNews columnist and longtime friend of the office. Experienced riders all. On a long, straight stretch of country road, we heard it: a loud truck approaching from the rear, hard on the gas, hell bent. Despite superb visibility and a total absence of traffic, he steered toward us menacingly. Close. And closer still. As I was later to tell the sheriff, it was as if the large side mirror riffled the hair on my arms – it was that close. Homicidal, I told him. Others felt the same way – one of the scariest incidents any of us could remember.
As the truck roared into the distance, we could only wonder: What makes people commit such acts? Where does the hatred come from?
Normally, this would be the end of the story. We go home. We tell our spouses about the terrible injustices on our public roads. Dinner-table conversation. Eventually, we forget about it. We suffer in silence. We go on our way.
But this was different. The assault was so mean-spirited, so purposeful. Technical editor Jim Langley, for one, was not about to let it rest. Jim has been on a campaign as of late, serving on the local traffic safety commission and regularly delivering diatribes against misbehaving motorists. The next day, he enlisted the help of technical services manager Tony Alsberg and positioned the Bicycling van at the scene of the crime, at the same time of day.
Voilà. The offending flatbed truck appears on the horizon. The pair chase him down and confront him. “Yeah,” says the Neanderthal. “What of it? Bikes shouldn’t be on the damn road, anyway?” And he drives away.
Bingo. We have our man. And a license plate number. Office coordinator Laurie Halee makes some calls. Incredibly, the state police won’t assist, claiming that if we weren’t hit, they can’t act on our behalf. (Seems a rather high price to pay, don’t you think?)
Fortunately, the local sheriff is willing to investigate, and guess what he finds: Our rocket scientist has an outstanding warrant for an assault against a cyclist.
In the following days, each one of us gives a statement. The sheriff is true to his word: Just 3 days after the incident, he goes to the man’s residence, slaps the cuffs on him, and puts him in jail.
The court case has yet to be resolved, but due to the vagaries of our justice system, we don’t expect much punitive action. And get this: The suspect has already concocted an alibi, with the aid of a family member, that states he was miles away at the time of the incident. Typical.
No matter: For a while at least, we were bigger, stronger than we have a right to be. We were no longer victims. We took flight.
A few notes
It’s not explained in the story so I want to add that we did not really chase the driver down. We just followed him until he stopped and parked his truck. We then walked up and asked to speak with him, which is when he rolled down his window and we had the conversation where he basically admitted he’d been behind the wheel that day. We wouldn’t have been able to positively identify him otherwise.
That’s the tricky part. There’s a pretty good likelihood that if you go to the same road on the same day of the week and at the same time, the person will drive by in the same vehicle. This makes it easy to “catch” them.
But, even if you manage to record the license plate number, if you can’t identify the driver that was in the car the day you got harassed, there’s no one to hold accountable, which is what these types are counting on. Keep in mind this incident was well before the days when cyclists rode with rear facing cameras, which are game-changers today.
I’m looking forward to a time when all vehicles are auto controlled in such ways that it’s impossible for drivers to harass other road users. It’s coming I believe, but probably not in my lifetime.
Jim Langley is RBR’s Technical Editor. A pro mechanic & cycling writer for more than 40 years, he’s the author of Your Home Bicycle Workshop in the RBR eBookstore. Tune in to Jim’s popular YouTube channel for wheel building & bike repair how-to’s. Jim’s also known for his cycling streak that ended in February 2022 with a total of 10,269 consecutive daily rides (28 years, 1 month and 11 days of never missing a ride). Click to read Jim’s full bio.
I’m kind of curious how many people ride with bike cameras they’re so heavy that I’m torn between using them. I’ve been in a very bad accident but 1 million because I was hurt. I’m about to add a front camera, but is there a really lightweight way to do this? I thought it was a great story and I haven’t had a chance to try the audio from the Garmin cameras yet. Does anybody know if it works? Thanks for your time.
Cycliq makes some bike cameras. There are reviews on the web. No experience myself. Garmin makes a version of their Varia tail light/radar with a camera, and I’ve seen mentions of a front camera too, but haven’t found that on their website.
The Varía radar, taillight, and bike video camera works great so much so i am much more relaxed since i do not have to check my mirror all the time.
I also used the Cycliq cameras, burned through a couple of their terrible mounting hardware, uploaded faithfully the videos we have all had the situations, if not the technology, to capture, and the result? Crickets. Crickets from Cycliq on their garbage hardware, crickets from my local police folks. I also thought, “What use is a video when I am maimed or worse? That will not help anyone, least of all, me.” And no, I did not purchase a gun, I got a Varia taillight so that at least I would have the chance to plan an escape. It has worked like a charm and I am hard pressed to ride without it. It even has high-quality mounting hardware! ;😉
A pair of GoPro Hero7s (for front and rear) weighs less than 3/4 of a pound. Who among us couldn’t lose 3/4 of a pound to make up for the addition of the cameras? If video is important (and I agree that it can be), then run video.
As I see it, the bigger factor is battery charging inconvenience. I get about an hour out of my batteries. For longer rides, if I’m videoing full time, that means changing batteries.
I’m not sure how far your weight concerns go, but mine are primarily safety. I ride with both front and rear cameras – they have integrated lights so they’re doing double-duty and there’s a bit of weight savings there. The front camera clocks in at 151g and the rear is 77g – hardly what I’d consider “heavy” and the tradeoff for what I get in documenting any bad actors on the road it totally worth it.
I’m not sure how far your weight concerns go, but mine are primarily safety. I ride with both front and rear cameras – they have integrated lights so they’re doing double-duty and there’s a bit of weight savings there. The front camera clocks in at 151g and the rear is 77g – hardly what I’d consider “heavy” and the tradeoff for what I get in documenting any bad actors on the road it totally worth it.
Matthew, what brands. Are you cameras
My cameras are Cycliq cameras. Some others have had complaints about the mounting hardware, I have had no issues. My only complaint has been that battery life has consistently been below what is claimed by the manufacturer.
One word: cameras
I have been told by police, lawyers, and judges that a video is the best evidence because it’s an completely unbiased witness. I run front & rear cameras at all times, even on trails. In the case described above, a video would immediately shoot down the alibi (and maybe get the lying family member in trouble too).
Great story! Based on the “Different Take” title, I thought it was headed somewhere else–for instance, to a new way of engaging with dangerous drivers.
My take is that there is nothing that a cyclist can do to win a confrontation with a driver. Either the driver understands their error, in which case there’s no gain to be made, or the driver doesn’t understand their error, and will at best very rarely see the light.
And that’s in response to a calm, cogent conversation. If the cyclist yells angrily or gives the finger, calm will not be the result. As much as an angry response is what I want to do in the moment, I’ve trained myself to not respond in any way (I mostly accomplish this). I frame the potential interaction as “Who likely has more to lose?” if things go sideways.
Almost certainly, I have the most to lose in a confrontation. Even if the driver isn’t armed with a conventional weapon, they are certainly in possession of a motor vehicle that outweighs and outspeeds me by a considerable margin.
So I keep my mouth (and hands!) shut and live to ride another day.
I run Cycliq, rear always – sometimes front. I regularly take video in for the Sheriff. They’ll make phone calls at the least to the offending motorists which is a good wake up call for the offender. Had one guy plead guilty to reckless driving which is quite a serious offense. Sadly the worthless prosecutor let him off with a slap on the wrist.
Cycliq battery life is sketchy. My mounting hardware is bombproof. Lots of good pictures of my mates also.
I am lucky enough to live and ride in western Sonoma County. One of our riders has a rear looking camera and local police love getting the videos. It must be a real asked up when the drivers the call tell him about his new career in the movies.
I know this is an unfair generalization but it sure seems that these yahoos are younger males driving pickup trucks….
I’ve had Cycliq cameras for a number of years. I don’t use them consistently. Here in Ohio, our state legislature, in their wisdom, has done away with front plates. Therefore, a rear facing camera can only record the driver and no plate number. Perhaps the cyclist haters could make some front plates while they’re serving time.
About a decade ago, I was riding through a busy area in the bike lane. A pick-up truck passes me, the passenger sticks his arm out the window, points what looked like a gun toward me and I hear a series of bangs. I thought I was going to die. I heard the guy laugh as he pulled his toy gun with a strip of used paper caps back into the truck and was greatly relieved I wasn’t shot and left to die in the bike lane.
Meanwhile, about 1/2 mile up the road a lawn crew was having problems with their trailer and caused a small traffic jam. In the stoppage I almost caught up to the pick up when I saw a police car, who was there to assist the lawn crew, pull up right behind the truck and stop. I got the policeman’s attention, told him what happened, he immediately put on his flashers and instructed the truck to pull over at the grocery store on the other side of the traffic jam.
He confiscated the toy gun, let them sit in the parking lot under his supervision and gave them a stern talking to before he let them go. In the meantime I hung out with the lawn crew, helped them a bit, but mainly watched what was going on from a distance. There was a police report, so at least there was a record of their misdeed.
Great story Mike, thanks for sharing!
Jim
I’m not going to ride with camera. Camera won’t do much good unless you get a clear shot of the license plate number, where I live we don’t have front license plates, so even a rear facing camera would be useless. We had a cyclist hit and killed where I live, he had a camera, it showed nothing but a blur and the color of the car.
Also where I live we have Amish people who use horse and buggies to get around, they get yelled at too!
An occasional legal victory is encouraging. Thanks for telling us about this, Jim.
But the fact remains: sharing roads with cars is an exercise in radical nonviolence.
Our most effective tool for de-escalating these incidents is tweaking the conscience of the one who gives us a hard time. And it is a difficult tool to use, especially because it hurts to get ones’ conscience tweaked.
Be safe, have fun, keep the faith.
Having bike toured solo/unsupported in over 60 countries from SE Asia, South America, numerous countries in Europe, Africa and Australia, the only country in the entire world I’ve had a problem with drivers has been in my own country the USA. In 2009, I had an encounter with a driver who forced me off a rural road, no shoulder, no traffic. It was numerous encounters on that tour with drivers, rolling coal, etc and I decided then that I’d never spend another dime in the US bike touring. Since then I’ve bike toured through SE Asia during Colorado winters for 11 years, and toured Cairo to Capetown, toured across Europe from Paris to Romania, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Sicily/Italy, Enland/Wales/Scotland, Ireland, Australia, Tasmania and Eastern Europe from Estonia back to Istanbul, And in all the bike touring I’ve done to date, not one time have I had any encounters with drivers outside the US, not a one. So my point is, I can’t figure out why this driver “hate” of cyclists in the US is so different from the rest of the world. The rest of the world is much more at ease with cyclists on the roads.
Thanks Len. I have only ridden a little outside the USA and I too have only had drivers harass me here at home.
Jim