This morning I'm turning up viewforth fromthe Montpelier cycle cut through, and stop at the pedestrian crossing because there are some schoolkids about to cross. Probably Craiglockhart (ortollcross?) kids coming to use to the Bruntsfield pool. teacher starts chivvying them across, and then as they wander aimlessly along, gives the car waiting to go downhill a big cheesy wave and 'thanks''. Me? she ignores me totally.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Commuting
sometimes the littlest things are the most aggravating
(27 posts)-
Posted 12 years ago #
-
But then, the car is far more dangerous :-(
Posted 12 years ago # -
I find that sort of thing really aggravating too. It happens a lot if I wave a motorist out of a junction or parking space or something. They never thank me. Never ever. Do it in a car though and it is waves and smiles from the majority of drivers.
I think it is something to do with the expectation. If you are on a bike then you are expected to get out of everyones way and give way to everyone. It is your duty as pure scum. If you are in a car you are endowing them with the grace of your presence and everyone should be grateful when you choose to be courteous to them.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I always get a thank you from buses if I let them out.
Posted 12 years ago # -
and the irony is, that it took more effort for me to stop and restart up hill, than the stupid car going downhill
Posted 12 years ago # -
"I always get a thank you from buses if I let them out"
Well LB ones anyway!
Posted 12 years ago # -
"it took more effort for me to stop and restart up hill, than the stupid car going downhill"
That really is something non-cycling drivers don't understand/think about.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Yes LB usually thank me. Joe or Joeina car driver don't bother. Makes me wonder why I do.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I've found my self much less courteous to other drivers when I'm in the car based on how little courtesy I get on the bike.
If I've got priority due to the cars parked on the "other" side of the road I almost never let the car coming the other way out owing to the fact when I have priority on the bike the car on "wrong" side often comes out any way and pushes past me. Even when I do stop and wave them on, as above, a thanks seems to be too much effort.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I get more waves from car drivers I 'let' out of or into turnings than I do from Lothian Buses these days.
I do sometimes wonder if the waves are directed at the car behind me (as thanks for not steaming past me when I slow down) rather than me.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Min: "...if I wave a motorist out of a junction or parking space or something. They never thank me. Never ever."
+1 here. Concede right of way to another road user I get waves of thanks when I drive, I'm ignored on the bike.
Posted 12 years ago # -
i've takenn to yelling 'you're welcome' sarcastically at them. not that they can hear. but it makes me feel better. a little.
Posted 12 years ago # -
i've takenn to yelling 'you're welcome' sarcastically at them. not that they can hear. but it makes me feel better. a little.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I got a wave of thanks from a driver this very morning. And a verbal sorry/thank you from a pedestrian.
I'd say 90% of the time on bike and in the car I'll get thanks.
Just a flipside.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Everyone having a bad day today then?
Yes, it's all about status.
Motorist = Mr Toad = Grovelling "Thank ee kindly sire!"
Cyclist = Untouchable = Pretend this unpleasantness does not exist
Posted 12 years ago # -
"i've takenn to yelling 'you're welcome' sarcastically at them."
I've just taken to yelling. I think I'm developing Cycling Tourette's Syndrome, in fact.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Funny thing is one wave of thanks or some one letting me through when they have priority generally cheers me up and puts the world back in a form of balance.
Posted 12 years ago # -
@cc - so that's what I'm suffering from...
Posted 12 years ago # -
I can't remember where I read it (could it possibly have been Cyclecraft?) but the best way to deal with something that's ticked you off on the bike is to pay it forward by being extravagantly nice to someone else - like stopping for a pedestrian or waving someone through or just smiling and saying something nice to someone. All the bitterness and resentment gets magically turned into feeling good about yourself AND you've created another happy road user to boot. Sometimes I even remember to do it... it's actually quite effective (and at least as effective as cycling Tourettes)
Posted 12 years ago # -
Problem is, the annoyance that is being caused in this situation is because you have just done that and been blanked for your efforts.
Otherwise, good idea!
Posted 12 years ago # -
oh yes, good point. Double or quits?
Posted 12 years ago # -
Just imagine how it would have been if you'd been less than courteous... Speeding lucrative louts etc. Etc.
Posted 12 years ago # -
There's definitely a significant breed of moton that will consider it well beneath them to acknowledge a cyclist's courtesy.
Occasionally i even receive a passive aggressive exaggerated taken aback gesture for my trouble, and its clearly not meant as a gesture of camaraderie.
They're more to be pitied than scolded...
Posted 12 years ago # -
Good days you stop, cheery grins and acknowledgements all round. bad days you get blanked.
on Saturday there was a guy in a giraffe suit in st Andrews square park. he was sitting at a little card table and there was a seat opposite him. On the card table he had a bag of oatcakes and little carrots etc. he had a little chalk board and on one side it said Have Lunch With A Giraffe. My two youngest children were not wanting to do it. The teenager was shopping with her mum, she might have gone for it as she can do quirky (just not me turning up at parent's night in cycling gear). The younger two felt you could see his face and he was not a giraffe. This felt harsh to me. on the other side of the chalkboard there was a short list of other nice things the chap / giraffe had done eg tidying up middle meadow walk.
I am not sure that he had any ulterior motive or reason for doing these nice things, I think he was in fact just trying to be nice
Posted 12 years ago # -
@gembo
that guy in the giraffe suit fairly gets about.
i saw him on the forth road bridge last thursday.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I always give a gesture of thanks if a motorist waits for me. Yet incredibly, it's rarely acknowledged. Today's school run Mum sat looking dead ahead, stonefaced, while I cycled past with a cheery smile.
If I wait for a car driver, I almost never get an acknowledgement. Min's right, I think people tend to think cyclists are the scum of the Earth.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I quite often get a cheery wave from a car driver when I'm on my bike and they've pulled in to let me get through a narrow gap.
Maybe it's because I'm dressed more like them? Jeans, blue jacket, and when it rains a tweed bunnet too.
I think h*-v*z and h*lm*ts seem to discourage politeness from drivers somehow.
Or maybe it's my slow and upright kind of cycling. Who knows. Whatever it is, it works for me.Posted 12 years ago # -
I make a point of acknowledging other road users - waving, thumbs up, nod depending on circumstances. Helps grease the wheels to make contact. I think I usually get some acknowledgement back.
This may be a different experience than that on a morning commute, where people's brains tend not to be working properly. I suspect that, for much the same reasons that the breakfast table tends not to be place for scintillating conversation, people in cars on the way to work tend to be in their own little world...
Posted 12 years ago #
Reply
You must log in to post.
posts
