Girls on bikes

[Dan_K]

My other half has just got herself a Specialized Dolce road bike and we've started heading out together on the roads.
When we're out together, she doesn't get any hassle but when she goes out on her own, she said that she gets loads of grief from passing blokes in cars. Vans driving too close, shouting out of the window, leering etc.
While the shouting and stuff doesn't bother her, it can be really off-putting and yesterday, she said a van was close to having her off as they were so close to her, just so the passenger could leer out of the window.
Is this the normal sort of behaviour that women riders experience?

I said to her to make a note of any registration numbers of anything particularly dangerous as I hope by reporting instances to the police may make these idiots think twice in future.

[Lucyap]

It's happened to me a few times, but not that much I have to say (guess that's telling me something!) I don't ride on road a lot on my own, mostly with groups. On my own I would do a few midweek laps round Richmond Park, never have any hassle there. I did get shouted at and got hassle from a couple of cars at one triathlon, but there usually so early in the morning that all the w*ankers are still asleep.
Does she feel confident on the road?
I would always try to ride defensively. Sorry not much help!

Lucy.

[Dan_K]

She's pretty confident but has got a lot to learn with positioning on the road and stuff so she always asks me to show her things when we ride together.
Maybe i'm just being a bit overprotective.

[Phil H]

There's a blog that a woman has started (google "101 w*nkers" - ideally from home) detailing the hassle she gets commuting in London. Really quite shocking. I did read a story of a woman cyclist who had her backside grabbed. She reported the guy to the police and now he's on the sex offenders register.

Sorry Dan, that probably doesn't make you feel much better.

I'm sure it's rarer in civilised Surrey than in South East London.

[Dan_K]

Er thanks Phil.

I'll have a look at that site when I get home, although if it's some kind of trick to get me to look at men m@sturbating, i'm going to be very upset.


EDIT: In fact, Phil what were you hoping to get when you first stumbled across the site??!!

[Phil H]

Dan, I've (almost completely) grown out of tricking people into looking at unpleasant pictures on the internet.

I found it from a link on another cycling site. Can't remember which one. Google will tell.

But yeah, report them. All of them. And if it's a builder's firm you could give them a ring a point out that you work somewhere that engages a lot of builders (guessing) but wont be using them.

[Amy]

Maybe I'm just used to it but I don't get leered and letched at too much (get more of that in the club that I notice...) and yes, I get idiots who cut me up with the stupidity of their driving.

In fact the last driver who leered at my @rse (that I know of) told me what a nice one it was

Like Lucy, I ride quite defensively and make sure I own my bit of the road (most of the time) - most people actually dont want to kill cyclists no matter how much they appear to hate them and making sure there isn't enough room for drivers not to squeeze by at certain places normally works - if it doesn't it means I haven't moved out enough and they're even stupider than normal. Eye contact is vital - sorry, looking at the driver is vital but it's amazing how some will look anywhere but at you...

As for getting number plates etc, well good luck, especially when you're on your own. However I do know of at least one occasion when the Midweek Wayfarers reported one particular driver that they had got the details for and the police said 'thank you very much, we've been wanting something on him for ages'. One time I managed to get to speak to a driver who'd decided I needed a shave and ask him to give cyclists a bit more room next time he overtook them, all I got was 'you had plenty of room' - as I could see the car practically under my arm pit I was somewhat gobsmacked at the twerp's response and then the lights changed.


Not much use again - though like Phil's 'friend' I try to make it clear what I think of them (one of these days I'm sure it'll get me in trouble but I don't think they even notice - I'm not even sure at times if they've even seen me...)

[LeeS]

I can't see what all the fuss is about. A scaffolder shouted at my wife ' lucky saddle' which in her words made her fly like sh1t off a shovel.

[Amy]

I think the problem isn't so much letching or appreciation of the female figure* but the fact that, while some of it is meant in an appreciative way, it can also be seen as a form of intimidation along with the driving up close. And yes, I do think that some drivers do try to intimidate me into giving way because I'm not only a cyclist but a female cyclist.

There is also a whole of lot of study that says that motorists see cyclists wearing the right gear and/or helmets as 'safer' and consequently pass closer.

*being told you have a nice @rse when you're nearly 40 does give you a bit of a glow even if it comes from a fat ageing tw@t in - what do they call those things that look like an offspring of a monster-truck with a 4x4 and say Animal or Warrior on the sides..