The Beacon Message Board

Had a fun moment on the way home today...

While cruising home on the 16kg mtb commuter with panniers a roadie pasted me a red light and blew through it. Charming I thought! Started chasing him along... then another light comes along and woom he goes through again. I give chase and catch up again. The race begins!

Through Harbourne we charge and I get right up behind him as we go along the wider roads and he eventually starts to pull away from me. I catch him in Woodgate having stopped at a red light, which he then cruises on through. Enough is enough and I shout 'red light!' at him.

So he turns around and beckons me over and out comes various words from him telling me it's none of my business and me telling him he's riding like a twat. He then says I'm grumpy 'cos of I couldn't keep up with him! No sugar sherlock, on my mtb which weighs twice as much as his with fat tyres! I laugh this off and he then says 'you couldn't look any worse than you do' ... apparently 'cos I'm wearing baggies and a loose top.

At this point I burst into laughter, told him to pull his seatpost out of his backside and started to pootle off up the hill.

Totally reminded me of all those mickey take videos on Youtube of roadies who take it too seriously and look down their nose at others.

Must have sank in thought 'cos he flipped a mental switch and went all friendly after I explained just 'cos drivers cut him up doesn't make it ok for him to blow lights, etc.

Thought I'd share -- it amused me!

I see other cyclists going through red lights quite often on my commute. It is annoying.

I see this increasingly often as well on my commute - dangerous as well as annoying. Trouble is no-one notices the cyclist who stops for lights, waves someone through a gap etc - they only notice the lights-jumper, and the image of the rest of us is tarnished.

Big heads, they are a common breed

Of course it's your business (and everyone else's business) if he's riding like a dickhead on a public road! He's annoying/inconveniencing and maybe even endangering other road users. He's feeding the negative perception that many non-cyclists have of us. And he's adding another pebble on the increasingly substantial cultural belief that the rules of the road don't matter and cool guys ignore them -- a belief that costs cyclists' lives.

That said, I'm dubious about what can be achieved by getting dragged into a row on the street.