BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Nice!

I've done nearly all of those! that "slow clap," looks very appealing. can't wait to try it.

slow clap!

They are all good choices but I don't have the skill to ride and clap at the same time. I have enough trouble trying to signal a turn without faceplanting.

Flash them? Haha

Related (with link!):

I really LIKE this! I'd be great at getting a song stuck in their head...something really annoying, like "Party in the USA" or "Seasons in the Sun" or "Billy Don't Be A Hero"

Apologies to those who may now have those songs rattling around for the rest of the day.

ajbooth, you are so lucky my version of Billy Don't be A Hero is from Priscilla Queen of the Desert, or I'd be really irked.

party in the usa was one of the name-that-tune songs at trivia last night and it's still stuck in my head. and i've been listening to sebadoh all morning.

We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun, but the hills that we climbed were just seasons of out time...

You can just HEAR it, can't you?

I should warn you, by the way, that my side job is a wedding DJ, and I've been one for 32 years. So I have ALL kinds of annoying songs to share.

Note to self: No road trips with ajbooth.

most annoying song ever goes to ... I'm not sure who sang it, but it was a dance song popular in Mali 10 years ago. The words, the only words, repeated literally ad nauseum, translate to:

Peanutbutter Sauce is Yummy! (Tigadigana Kadi)

When I hate myself, I sing that song. For some masochistic reason it always cheers me up. I can't find it on the interwebs, which surprises me. But if you sang it here at people, they wouldn't get it. If you sang it in Mali, they'd sing along with you. Then again, they're mostly pedestrians or cyclists.

i should also note that the version of seasons in the sun i know is sung by chester in sifl and olly, so that song will never annoy me.

sidenote: this post and the "something for mouthy folks to consider" post is pretty well-timed for me...while riding home from work yesterday a man in a truck was honking and yelling a car or two back. I wasn't even sure he was yelling at me until we turned left and he yelled some pretty nasty stuff peppered with the usual "GET YER BIKE OFF THE ROAD" type things. He was yelling at me like I had just fired him from a job or blew up his house. There would be no singing to this guy. It was the first time that I thought: this guy would probably run me over/off the road if he had the chance. I turned on my bike, gave a little wave and kept pedaling. I felt a little scared, and then pissed that I let some jerk affect me like that. But damn, his behavior stuck with me for the rest of the evening.

argylepile, your userid reminded me of another earworm I often get: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIseNLGKaY4

got to see Andy Stewart in condert last weekend, good stuff.

crazy that guy seemed to have issues with you a car or two back... but it's nice that the cars inbetween didn't join in his lunacy. I'd try and remember their courtesy, though it's hard to hear the quiet politeness over the din of dunces.

Would it be useful to have a "driver yelling incident map" that you could enter driver description, vehicle description, and some kind of "aggression level rating", see if there are patterns?

ejwme, yeah...at first i really didn't think he was honking at me. I was first in line at a red light, 5pm traffic at Braddock & Penn so he wasn't exactly patient with me I suppose. Honestly, I feel sorry for people like him...who get all worked up for nothing. But you're right, the car behind me was way courteous and that's what I should hold onto more than the angry bearded man.

I keep track, the best I can. I also track vehicle and driver types.

I keep track, the best I can. I also track vehicle and driver types.

I keep a little mental checklist of driver types too. The verbally aggressive ones(in my experience) are usually older men, most of them overweight. The silent-but-deadly ones(again, in my experience) have been women, middle-aged and usually distracted by their phone or make-up application.

ArgylePile "GET YER BIKE OFF THE ROAD"

I sometimes shout back:

"ONE OF US SHOULDN'T BE ON THE ROAD"

And if there is time (but there never has been) "the one who doesn't know the traffic rules."

Oh believe me. In the moment I wanted to stop and yell at him for not understanding the actual rules of the road. But his aggression really startled me and I didn't want to add fuel to the fire.

I really wish that drivers ed training would implement a stronger section on bicycle safety as well. With more and more two-wheelers on the road, drivers need to take responsibility of knowing the laws as well. But that seems unlikely, considering most drivers nowadays translate a yellow light to mean "hurry up" not "slow down."

The bulk of the people that have come the closest have been Prius drivers. Next up are young males in crappy vehicles and older males in the few-years-old German car category.

I am waiting for the day I can kick off someones mirror.

On Monday, a woman tailed me through Mt. Lebanon, honked twice, and pulled up next to me at the light in front of St Bernards Church. She said, very loudly, "Get off the f%&@ing road!" I called her a potty mouth, and said she should be ashamed to talk like that in front of a church. She gunned it at the light, and I didn't see her again until just before the Liberty Tubes. I gave her a big goofy smile, and a thumbs up as I filtered past her. Then forgot all about it, until I read this thread...

@orion I've noticed the same about Prius drivers. They are also the most fun to piss off.

If you have the 45 of "Seasons in the Sun", flip it over and play "Put the Bone In". Machinists will also enjoy this video, even with the sound off.

As to what to do/say, I usually don't ever get the opportunity, but smiling and waving seems to have the best effect.

Prius drivers are mad because their cars way slower than a bicycle. The jeopardy song is a tune you just can't get out of your head.