Second day on the road - complete nutter experience

[Gimpymoo]

Happily tootling along at 40mph, in "position 2".

I see a car waiting at a side road junction to get onto the road I am on, they have noticed me, all good. I then notice a car coming up behind them but they do not stop behind, they swing round and enter the road regardless cutting me up.

I end up being infront of him but am a little shook up/annoyed at this point so flip him the finger. He then starts trying to intimidate me by tailgating me, so I flip him another fresh finger.

He then overtakes me at a roundabout. He then slows down infront of me so I drive alongside reminding him he could have wiped me out, he then turns his car so is almost diagonal in the lane, while I am in "position 3" trying to use his car to wipe me out.

He then stops at lights and gets out his car, I sit there thinking "here we go", he moans to the car infront "Am going to knock him off that ******* bike" or something to that effect, but then gets back in his own car, weirdo.

Complete and utter moron.

I admit, flipping the bird was not a smart move on my behalf, I should have been more composed. Obviously, that triggered the idiot even more but what was he thinking the second time when I had to emergency stop to avoid getting knocked off?

Lessons learnt:

Move on and get away from idiots as quickly as possible, high chance they will be more idiot
Do not drive alongside said idiots
Hurry up and get a camera
Be thankful nothing happened and get on with your day

Is it worth reporting to the police with no evidence? A van stopped to ask me if I was OK as he saw what happened which was nice of him but I forgot to ask for his details.

Have a great day all.

 

[Gimpymoo]

I knew when he was using his car as a weapon I had messed up but it all felt "personal" if that makes sense? Not saying "it was ok" to do what I did, it put myself in more danger.

Lesson learned.

 

[Gimpymoo]

That's an unnerving start to you riding life ! I've got my CBT coming up and now I'm not sure if 2 wheels is a safe format with all the nutters around with 4 wheels.

I am not letting that nutter make me miss out on all the fun.

Lesson learnt, if I didn't give him the finger, however much he deserved it, things may have been different.

Been riding for three days now, I love an excuse to ride.

Commuting is fun. Driving is just yuk in comparison.

 

[Gimpymoo]

Thanks @tom_e I've been itching to get on 2 wheels for years so good to hear this

It was a lesson learnt for me, stay chill. If you are tense while riding, I have noticed it affects how I ride.

 

[Gimpymoo]

Exactly this.
Don’t talk the talk if you can’t walk the walk.
I watch loads of biking YouTube channels and it looks pathetic when the biker skulks off after the car driver confronts him.

I have no problem telling someone what I think BUT you are saying it is OK to run over someone in your car?

In my instance, I sulked off nowhere, I sat there waiting, he got in his car and drove off.

 

[Gimpymoo]

Don't think that's what he's saying at all, he's saying if you're going to react in a confrontational manor then you've got to accept that you may be dealing with a nutter who will escalate it beyond where you're comfortable with going.

Definitely not comfortable with being left without limbs because they decide to use their car as a weapon

Kind of like bringing a gun to a knife fight.

This was only my second day on the road but was a lesson learnt. You do not know if the "idiot" who nearly killed you is then likely to try and finish the job if you challenge them.

As a motorcyclist, you have to learn to let them get as far away as possible leaving you to get on with your day with all your limbs.

For any new riders, do not watch the videos on Youtube and think that is how to behave, it is not good for many reasons.