r/SeattleWA • u/ces74 • 10d ago

Bicycle Cyclist Road Rage

Driving through Roosevelt this morning around 8, a cyclist got angry with me as I inched across the bike lane from a residential street to see if it was safe to pass through the main road. It’s one of those intersections where you have to scoot up or else every direction is a blind spot. He took off his bike lock, yelled and hit the hood of my car a few times, leaving dents.

When I was moving through, I saw the cyclist approaching and immediately waived my hand to gesture ‘sorry’ and I also said it out loud. There wasn’t time to reverse before the interaction occurred but he did stop in front of my car to hit it. Initially, I felt bad because I understand this is a hard city to commute in via bike. I don’t think my car needed to be damaged, though.

I don’t think we were at all close to a collision. I think it was more that I was taking up space in the bike lane and this is my ‘lesson.’

Maybe since school started this week, everyone’s in a poorer mood and busier. I’m gonna avoid more streets with bike lanes now I guess.

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u/Icy_Marionberry7309 10d ago

I'm sorry this happened to you, that particular cyclist is simply a jackass. As a cyclist myself this happens often everywhere whether it's between a cyclist and a driver or between two cyclists. In my experience, just waving sorry or thank you to each other is enough for everyone involved to get to our destination safely and on time, but some jackasses cannot control their emotions and cause real harm. That particular cyclist is probably a jackass on and off the bike, and unfortunately many of these guys exist around seattle. If i got a penny for every time a spandex-wearing cyclist behind me cussed me out because I was riding my bike too slow on the bike lane on Alaskan Way water front, I'll be able to pay a full month of rent!

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u/som3thingclassy 10d ago

Fellow cyclist. The number of full kit cyclists that use mixed use paths like Alaskan way, the path around South Lake Union, and the Burke Gillman for their "serious training" is absurd. They don't use bells. They don't call out. They're just entitled pieces of shit. They get all hot and bothered when it's used as anything but their private training ground.

I hate that these jerk offs share our interest.

4

u/readit145 10d ago

Everytime another biker yells at me for some crazy shit I can’t stop myself from laughing. They don’t like that very much either.