# jealous drivers??



## z ken (Dec 30, 2006)

as i rode my bike to work today, some driver passed me and threw couple eggs at me ( back/shoulder ) i was mad and stunned. i stopped right away and used some explicted language as that SOB driver sped up over 60 MPH in the 35 MPH zone. have anyone experience this misfortune?? by the way i was riding Trek Madone/404. in my neighborhood, East san jose, there're 95% poor. so i guess some people get jealous. by the way that person was driving an old wagon/black. i don't belive some can't stand seeing other people having better things than them. my boss/co-workers told me i was lucky it wasn't rocks or other dangerous objects. so next time when you're in the east san jose ( white/mckee ) watchout for the jealous drivers.


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## Number9 (Nov 28, 2004)

Sorry to hear about the incident, but I'm glad you're OK. I live just up the road from there on Mt. Hamilton and pass by White/McKee on my (auto) commute and its very busy and the drivers are, on the average, pretty awful. Is there an alternate path you can take, say Mabury Rd to head west?


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## Francis Cebedo (Aug 1, 2001)

I don't think they're jealous. I might guess they're bored, they hate you for using the road, think you're not manly in lycra. Or there's peer pressure if there's more than one of them in the car.

I've never had anything thrown at me, thank gawd. My friend in Tennessee gave up road biking cause he said something got pelted at him every month! The final straw was a Coke liter bottle hit him on the chest!!

francois


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

They are probably just bored teenagers. Next up for them is mailbox baseball. I don't think they're jealous of your bike...if that was the case they'd be egging much more expensive cars, right?


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## Bianchiguy (Sep 8, 2005)

Talk about a JRA experience! I don't know what posses some people to think they have the right to physically assault another person for absolutely no reason. Try not to let it spoil your day.


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## z ken (Dec 30, 2006)

thanks for the encourage words. i was mad at first but quickly realized it's some SOB jealous or just plain stupid. glad it's eggs not coke bottle?? how could someone in the right mind threw a bottle at rider riding 20 mph?? could've kill a person. tomorrow on i'll be no longer traveling white/mckee. may be Capitol road ( i live in Evergreen and work in Milpita ) no jealousy?? my boss' new Toyota Seinna was got scratched intentionally while was parked at the mall. they used either screw driver or other key-like objects. costing my boss money and couple of " angry " working days.


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## SilasCL (Jun 14, 2004)

A friend of mine once had a big soda cup (think 48 oz big gulp) which was full of ice, thrown at his back. He was pretty pissed, but maybe they thought he just looked sweaty?


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## genejockey (Apr 11, 2007)

I was out walking the dogs with my son one night, and was just coming home when a carload of teens zooms past, and two eggs go flying by at least 6 feet from my face.

I turned to my son, and said: Son, there are two lessons here. First, when you're moving and your target is stationary, you aim BEHIND the target. And second, how dumb do you have to be to throw things at a guy carrying a bag of dog crap?


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## mytorelli (Dec 19, 2004)

Ive always read these horror stories about getting stuff thrown at riders... scares me. I always am nervous about riding by this public high school when school gets out....

Ive been yelled at but never had stuff thrown at me... hopefully never will..

Also I HATE how aggressive cars are... Its funny though, today I was riding through montclair (small town/district in oakland) and a car comes out from a side street in a T-intersection, they have a stop sign, and I don't. They try and challenge me by trying to pass me and cut me off, but i didn't allow it... then they pulled behind me at the stoplight, and when It turned green, they passed me in the intersection (finally hope they are happy) and then they get stuck behind a car turning left, and I just cruise on by giggling to myself..


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## z ken (Dec 30, 2006)

mytorelli: proud of you. guess that last laugh is always the loudest one. recent survey says New Jersey have the worst drivers in the U.S?? err have they check the california?? i don't mean all the Californians are bad drivers but i've encounter alot of bad experiences afterall i was hit by a car last summer ( broken left leg and right hand, fractured right knee and both ankles. i'm ok now and was on the wheelchair for two and half months and hours of hours in a rehab. of course my $ 3K bike was totally destroy when 40 MPH cars crashed ACROSS the street and swept cross the street and hit me on the left side TKOed me unconscious. i thought i was a goner when the car ititially hit me. whew!! always get me a chill recalling that tragedy day, July, 12th, AKA the name of my new bike ) before that i crashed in to the car that suddenly exited the road before i can stopped ( just fractured left ring finger ) not to mention was some SOB left a piece of steel pipe on the corner of street. thanks god i also have bruised knees.


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## mytorelli (Dec 19, 2004)

z ken said:


> mytorelli: proud of you. guess that last laugh is always the loudest one. recent survey says New Jersey have the worst drivers in the U.S?? err have they check the california?? i don't mean all the Californians are bad drivers but i've encounter alot of bad experiences afterall i was hit by a car last summer ( broken left leg and right hand, fractured right knee and both ankles. i'm ok now and was on the wheelchair for two and half months and hours of hours in a rehab. of course my $ 3K bike was totally destroy when 40 MPH cars crashed ACROSS the street and swept cross the street and hit me on the left side TKOed me unconscious. i thought i was a goner when the car ititially hit me. whew!! always get me a chill recalling that tragedy day, July, 12th, AKA the name of my new bike ) before that i crashed in to the car that suddenly exited the road before i can stopped ( just fractured left ring finger ) not to mention was some SOB left a piece of steel pipe on the corner of street. thanks god i also have bruised knees.


Yeah.. i think im getting better about holding my emotions/ fellings inside of me, except when something bigger happends... the only time I was hit by a car was when a guy opened his door and hit my handlebar, luckily I kept my balance and road away


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## togaman (May 16, 2007)

> Ive always read these horror stories about getting stuff thrown at riders... scares me. I always am nervous about riding by this public high school when school gets out....
> 
> Ive been yelled at but never had stuff thrown at me... hopefully never will..
> 
> Also I HATE how aggressive cars are... Its funny though, today I was riding through montclair (small town/district in oakland) and a car comes out from a side street in a T-intersection, they have a stop sign, and I don't. They try and challenge me by trying to pass me and cut me off, but i didn't allow it... then they pulled behind me at the stoplight, and when It turned green, they passed me in the intersection (finally hope they are happy) and then they get stuck behind a car turning left, and I just cruise on by giggling to myself..



This is the reason why most drivers today have a bad impression for roadies. They think we're all the same. so if one of us forefully cuts off a car (even tho we have the right of way) it will piss em off and change their perception for the next roadie they see. yes i have had plenty of things thrown at me, ive been hit by a car, but face it -the fact is drivers are almost completly indistructable compared to us roadies. people arent jealous of our fancy $4,000 bikes or our very defined legs, we're just easy targets and when they pick on us they think they are sooooo cool. if you like the sport enough, you'll put up with it.


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## z ken (Dec 30, 2006)

togaman: man, it sound like you went through alot. yeah california gotta have the worst drivers in the whole universal specially Asian drivers ( women ) yeah i'll keep riding on afterall i survived car crashed, couple nasty falls and countless of screaming and honking drivers.


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## wipeout (Jun 6, 2005)

z ken said:


> togaman: man, it sound like you went through alot. yeah california gotta have the worst drivers in the whole universal specially Asian drivers ( women ) yeah i'll keep riding on afterall i survived car crashed, couple nasty falls and countless of screaming and honking drivers.


I disagree. California Drivers beat anything I met in Texas, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, or Missouri. I commute ever day from San Jose to Mountain View and back and find the drivers to be great. 

Perhaps you are the problem?


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## z ken (Dec 30, 2006)

may be you should try White road and Mckee. err may be not i don't want you to get objects thrown at. i rode couple time from san jose to palo alto and yes the drivers seem to be " nicer ". guess everyone experienced a " bad " riding day.


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## pavedroad (May 3, 2004)

I think the OP is on to something when he implies that it may have something to do with the rider, whether it be that the rider in question is a good target for harassment or is just overly sensitive. I've ridden lots all over California and I've never had any big problems with drivers. Of course I don't ride like I own the road, which many cyclists do, often completely unaware that they're doing it. Even after I point out that they're riding in the middle of a nice wide lane, they look at me like, "Huh?" and ignore the line of cars behind. I always tell people to be nice to cars because in car vs cyclist, car always wins. If homeboy wants to turn right, move out of his way. If someone really wants to pass on that narrow-ass mountain road, stop on the dirt.



> Also I HATE how aggressive cars are... Its funny though, today I was riding through montclair (small town/district in oakland) and a car comes out from a side street in a T-intersection, they have a stop sign, and I don't. They try and challenge me by trying to pass me and cut me off, but i didn't allow it... then they pulled behind me at the stoplight, and when It turned green, they passed me in the intersection (finally hope they are happy) and then they get stuck behind a car turning left, and I just cruise on by giggling to myself..


I know exactly which intersection you're talking about. Next time, if you really want to show them, just lay out in front of the car as it begins zooming off. The car will go right over you and the driver will end up in jail or lose his license or something and then who has the last laugh? HAH! Oh wait...




> yeah california gotta have the worst drivers in the whole universal specially Asian drivers ( women )


You want to see bad asian women drivers? Go down to Monterey Park. I tell all visiting cyclists to stay far far away because it's suicide riding down there. You see examples of all types of driving failures in Monterey Park.


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## California L33 (Jan 20, 2006)

Last year I was considering getting one of those micro video recorders and putting it under my seat, or on my helmet, facing backwards. I've never had anything thrown at me, but I have had at least two swerves towards me, numerous horn honks and shouts, and many years ago I had a swerve towards me where the passenger door was opened, though I don't think there was an actual attempt to hit me. I'd love to see these SOBs carted away in handcuffs for some of this crud. But it appears to be cyclical. In the past 6 months I've only had a single horn honk, so I count myself lucky. 

edit: I have encountered other aggressive behavior though- road hog stuff, not an attack on me because of the bike, but because they were ever so slightly inconvenienced- almost all failure to yield or failure to overtake and pass safely, but I would have run into that driving a car as well. It's more dangerous when one of the vehicles is a bike because there's no such thing as a fender bender with a bike- it's an ER visit, at the least. 

And to z ken- anybody who does this kind of stuff doesn't know your Madone from a Huffy. People who know bikes don't throw things at cyclists.


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## wchane (Aug 8, 2006)

i doubt it's because they're poor, or have bicycle envy. us here in saratoga get organic eggs purchased at whole foods thrown at our custom parlee's with lightweights. it absolutely ruins our new assos kits and limited sidi shoes. the first time is shocking but it's always the same black ferrari with a chip in it's right taillight and a slight case of curb rash on it's right rear hre wheel. that ferrari, definitely has bicycle envy. i'm sure of it. 

jokes aside, cyclists get stuff thrown at them all the time. fingers crossed and with high hopes, i've never had anything tossed in my direction and hopefully never will. however i've been shouted at and i actually live in cupertino (but i did grow up in evergreen), i'm absolutely sure that evergreen is easier to cycle through then cupertino. i'm forced to deal with 'welding mask' wearing asian mothers in their shiney new (but very parking ding'd) up mercedes e-classes and the ever so rare porsche cayenne soccer mom.

you're likely more a random victem then a selected target. probably some kids bored out of their minds on summer vacation thinking...'hey let's go egg a cyclist' unfortunately it was you they chose, your shiny madone 5.2 and zipp404's must of been selected for a reason, but don't blame the 'ghetto' as you put it. 

fwiw i've cycled through evergreen/piedmont/milpitas and never felt totally out of place. i've cycled down from los gatos through bascom to santana row...now that's a change of scenery. yet...no one shouted or threw anything at me besides smiles and hand gestures telling me to pass.


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