Small midwestern town. Shouted at even in drab!

[Alice Torn]

I ride my bicycles in drab quite often here, and lately, guys have been shouting out of cars and trucks at me, even when i am in the bike path! I realize it is mainly teens, as there is a high school nearby. But, if they are doing that at me in drab, just think of all the noise, if I were strutting my stuff, in a dress, hose, and heels?!! I don't like Holloween, but, I may just try it, then, but better be careful, too.

[Marshchild]

Ugh, I've had that experience too, often while riding a bicycle myself - for some odd reason, the sight of a man on a bike seems to bring out the dickhead in more than a few guys (most of whom I've discovered, just as you have, prefer to scream their abuse from the safety of a fast-moving motor vehicle - courage isn't a quality these lunkheads seem to possess in any great abundance...). I've also had random people (thankfully not too many) insult me, sometimes with homophobic epithets, when I've been dressed "normally". As jarring as incidents like that are, I always try to see the bright side of them by thinking, "Well, if I'm going to still cop crap dressing like everyone else, I've got nothing to lose by dressing like a girl!"

[AKAMichelle]

It depends upon what they are hollering. :D

[Tina P Hose]

Sometimes, If we are not paying attention, we bring on grief to ourselves. I am thinking that is a quote from L. Ron Hubbrad

[eluuzion]

The best strategy is that used with bill collectors...just ignore them...:heehee:

But I can tell you that if you wear all black (with a hat/dark glasses is best), particularly when driving...many of those pesty malfeasants will think you could be a cop, and leave you alone. A few accessories can enhance the role...kinda fun too, just never wear a badge or gun.

stay safe...

[RachelPortugal]

Ugh, I've had that experience too, often while riding a bicycle myself - for some odd reason, the sight of a man on a bike seems to bring out the dickhead in more than a few guys (most of whom I've discovered, just as you have, prefer to scream their abuse from the safety of a fast-moving motor vehicle - courage isn't a quality these lunkheads seem to possess in any great abundance...).

Well that has never happened to me in Europe, not even in the colder weather when I was cycling to work in lycra cycle shorts and brightly coloured lycra leggings.

[Jay Cee]

Teenagers are pretty much the only group that have yelled at me while I've been riding (in drab, so far). The one I found funny was the teen who got cuffed upside the head by his mother after basically screaming in my ear when driving past. Serves you right, boyo!

It is a rude thing to do, and potentially dangerous. Some folks are easily startled, and it could cause an accident.

[Sedona]

It is a terrible thing to do, agreed. I've cycled for many many years (in drab) and find that it's normally the teens, and always in groups. I had a beer bottle thrown at my head (he missed) years ago as I was descending a steep hill in California. I tried like hell to catch the car at the stoplight, but couldn't.

Always wearing a helmet and avoiding high traffic areas has always been my best prevention.

Believe it or not, it really is much better out there for us than it was before Lance Armstrong won all of his races.

[Marshchild]

Well that has never happened to me in Europe, not even in the colder weather when I was cycling to work in lycra cycle shorts and brightly coloured lycra leggings.

From what I've heard, Europeans tend to be a lot more tolerant of stuff that'd have a good chance of inviting rude comments elsewhere (it'd depend on which part of Europe you were in, though, I suppose).


Teenagers are pretty much the only group that have yelled at me while I've been riding (in drab, so far). The one I found funny was the teen who got cuffed upside the head by his mother after basically screaming in my ear when driving past. Serves you right, boyo!

It is a rude thing to do, and potentially dangerous. Some folks are easily startled, and it could cause an accident.

Which these deadheads would no doubt find the height of hilarity! Still, I had to laugh at your story of the yob getting a well-deserved clip around the ear for his moronic behaviour. Serves him right indeed!


It is a terrible thing to do, agreed. I've cycled for many many years (in drab) and find that it's normally the teens, and always in groups. I had a beer bottle thrown at my head (he missed) years ago as I was descending a steep hill in California. I tried like hell to catch the car at the stoplight, but couldn't.

Always wearing a helmet and avoiding high traffic areas has always been my best prevention.

Believe it or not, it really is much better out there for us than it was before Lance Armstrong won all of his races.

Yeah, I've found where I come from that the main offenders tend to be teenagers, usually ones on their P-plates (basically, what you put on your car when you're no longer a learner, but still haven't been driving long enough to get a full driver's licence). You're right too about them usually being in groups; as I said earlier, idiots like them tend not to be noted for their courage...

I really don't know where this apparent stigma concerning men riding bicycles comes from. Judging from some of the moronic comments I've copped myself (a common one being "Real men ride women!" Yeah, hilarious), a lot of these mental midgets evidently consider there to be something effeminate about cycling. Go figure. Oh well, I just take consolation from the realization that natural selection will probably take care of at least some of these nitwits (a not too unlikely scenario given the way they tend to drive...), and that the rest will probably be forlornly putting "For Sale" signs in the windows of their souped-up hot-rods before too long (because they won't be able to afford the repayments on them, as well as all the petrol and tyre rubber they must go through driving like complete imbeciles). Oh yes, and they'll probably all have the hearing of eighty year-olds by the time they're thirty, thanks to the "doof doof" music they have pumping through their vehicles at earsplitting volume, just so everyone else on the road knows what legends in their own minds they are.

[Linda St. John]

That's really annoying Louise : I've ridden an e-bike all over Toronto (in drab)for the last three years and all I get is people asking me about the bike ( how far will it go on a charge ?, how fast ? etc.) But, I don't get it. What on earth is effeminate or silly about riding a bike ? Especially, after Lance Armstrong, as already mentioned....

[Billijo49504]

just never wear a badge or gun.

stay safe...

Well living in the Ill state, you can't get a carry permit. In Michigan we have them, and when I was riding my trike, I carried. The biggest problem was getting chased by pit bulls

[Teri Jean]

Louise do I hear the distant sound of dueling banjos? LOL Kids high on puberty will do some really stange things. Be careful and don't stop your rides. Maybe alternate with another route. It throws them off.

[KarenEdwards]

I, too, ride a bicycle quite a lot...2,500 to 3,000 miles each year here in SC and I've had it happen to me even when not in lycra shorts. I actually got knocked off my bike once by some bozo who hit me with his arm and shoved me into a ditch, and that happened when I was riding to work in long pants and a dress shirt! You are going to find idiots everywhere...

[Butterfly Bill]

That's really annoying Louise : I've ridden an e-bike all over Toronto (in drab)for the last three years and all I get is people asking me about the bike ( how far will it go on a charge ?, how fast ? etc.) But, I don't get it. What on earth is effeminate or silly about riding a bike ? Especially, after Lance Armstrong, as already mentioned....

I don't think it's perceived so much as effeminate as childish. These teenagers might have just gotten off the bikes they used to have to ride instead of being able to drive.

[JulieC]

I was on a large (5000 person) bike ride called the "Hilly Hundred". Along the ride, we came across a sign in someone's front yard that said "f*** you Hilly!". I'm not sure what they were trying to prove. Hopefully the 5000+ people who saw the sign are more mature than the person who placed the sign, or their house I'm sure suffered some consequences.

Another time/place, a friend of mine and his girlfriend were standing in front of a known gay bar just after closing. They were kissing. A pickup with a couple of guys in the back drives be and calls out various homophobic epithets, calling them gay, etc. My friend and his girlfriend cheered, and yelled out "THANK YOU!"

Idiots everywhere.

[CalamityJane]

I have also had a buffoon shout from his car in an attempt to scare me off my bike a couple of times, even though I was in drab and it was late evening, I think it would be harder to find a cyclist that this had not happened to than that is has. It has not put me off riding, after all they are the dimwits ...to quote the late Bruce Lee "If you make an ass out of yourself there will always be someone to ride you"

[Alice Torn]

I never stop riding, and just ignore the young punks. I never have worn those tight spandex outfits, as I don't race. Just regular guy pants and shirts, and a helmet. I think they are just young and wild, but illmannered. If i was strutting my stuff in a short skirt, and heels, there would likely be tons more shouting and whistling, and I my appreciate some of that! Or riding dressed like a nice looking lady. That is expected, but as a guy on a bike? And, to hear some of you have been attacked? Where's the pepper spray?

[Frédérique]

I ride my bicycles in drab quite often here, and lately, guys have been shouting out of cars and trucks at me, even when i am in the bike path! I realize it is mainly teens, as there is a high school nearby. But, if they are doing that at me in drab, just think of all the noise, if I were strutting my stuff, in a dress, hose, and heels?!! I don't like Holloween, but, I may just try it, then, but better be careful, too.

Imagine that – the sight of a man on bicycle is somehow less than masculine, in the eyes of the “cool” teens. It makes you wonder what’s going on, but I know what’s going on. I spend a lot of time complaining about typical male behavior on this site, but I know there are decent males out there somewhere – you just aren’t aware of them, because they aren’t shouting abuse in your direction. I’ve actually been in these groups of rebels without a cause at one time or another, feeling very alienated because I had feelings for the poor person being targeted. To this day I avoid all groups as a result. I’d try Halloween if I were you, Louise, if only to let them know who they’re dealing with. I get the feeling this level of crossdressing is beyond comprehension for the “pack” mentality on display. Please be careful, though…


…prefer to scream their abuse from the safety of a fast-moving motor vehicle - courage isn't a quality these lunkheads seem to possess in any great abundance...

This is a very revealing observation, because we all know that it takes a great deal of courage to crossdress in the first place. THEY don’t know this, but WE are courageous to a fault…:thumbsup:

[Marshchild]

Well living in the Ill state, you can't get a carry permit. In Michigan we have them, and when I was riding my trike, I carried. The biggest problem was getting chased by pit bulls

I remember once being chased by dogs while riding my bike, and it was a truly terrifying experience. I was riding home late one night on a deserted road when this pair of very large, very fast, and very aggressive dogs just appeared out of nowhere and came after me. I've probably never pedalled as fast as I did right then; even so, I only just managed to get away!


That's really annoying Louise : I've ridden an e-bike all over Toronto (in drab)for the last three years and all I get is people asking me about the bike ( how far will it go on a charge ?, how fast ? etc.) But, I don't get it. What on earth is effeminate or silly about riding a bike ? Especially, after Lance Armstrong, as already mentioned....

Actually, I've heard a lot of motorcyclists claim that they cop all sorts of crap from idiots on the road. Maybe one of the reasons a lot of them end up joining outlaw motorcycle clubs, and generally trying to look as hard and scary as they can?


If i was strutting my stuff in a short skirt, and heels, there would likely be tons more shouting and whistling, and I my appreciate some of that!

I've gotta admit that while copping abusive comments while going out dressed pisses me off no end, copping wolf whistles just cracks me up.


This is a very revealing observation, because we all know that it takes a great deal of courage to crossdress in the first place. THEY don’t know this, but WE are courageous to a fault…:thumbsup:

Oh yes. Indeed, on that subject, it always pees me off when some idiot in the media recycles that cliche which equates crossdressing with cowardice. I always feel like saying to them, "Here, let me lend you something nice from my wardrobe, and we can go have lunch somewhere. I mean, if crossdressing is something any old wimp could do, surely it'll be no problem for you to try it yourself!"

On the subject of idiots in cars, though, I had the dubious pleasure of encountering one myself a couple of days ago, while waiting at some traffic lights in the city. He was in a car with one of those stickers on the back window that just screams to the rest of the world, "I'M A DICKHEAD!" (the sticker in question said "Medicares* I don't" - ooh ah wot a hard case!), and my suspicions of his toolish nature were only confirmed when, the moment the lights turned green, he tore off in a screech of smoke and burning tyre rubber, only to have to come to an equally loud halt a few seconds later because the traffic was all backed up on the other side of the intersection! :brolleyes: (Interestingly, while waiting at another set of traffic lights a few minutes earlier, I saw a pair of cyclists having what appeared to be stern words with a driver on his L-plates. I wish I'd been able to find out what that had all been about.)

*Presumably a reference to Medicare - my country's evil socialized health system.

[flatlander_48]

I never stop riding, and just ignore the young punks. I never have worn those tight spandex outfits, as I don't race. Just regular guy pants and shirts, and a helmet. I think they are just young and wild, but illmannered. If i was strutting my stuff in a short skirt, and heels, there would likely be tons more shouting and whistling, and I my appreciate some of that! Or riding dressed like a nice looking lady. That is expected, but as a guy on a bike? And, to hear some of you have been attacked? Where's the pepper spray?

Not necessarily. It is just appropriate clothing. After all, you wouldn't wear a tuxedo to go swimming and you wouldn't wear cutoffs and a Greatful Dead T-shirt to an office meeting. And, in this case, appropriate clothing helps with body cooling, wicking away sweat and the compression can reduce fatigue.

[Alice Torn]

Everybody needs to practice the golden rule, live and let live, cut their fellow humans some slack, unless they are truly cruel, and mean harm.

[Debb]

I live in Minneapolis, a pretty tolerant place for bicyclists (and crossdressers for that matter)... in my 15 years of biking here, I have had beer cans/bottles thrown at me, automobiles weave threateningly at me even though I was in the bike lane ... it takes all kinds, and since you're smaller than the car, you gotta be careful.

... although it IS tempting, just once, to take my tire pump and give their cage a good whack. :-)

to be clear: I entirely agree with Treetop Louise; I try to err on the side of forgiveness if at all possible.

[NathalieX66]

I jog every other day in drab or so on my main street, and I would say that I get people screaming, beeping their horns, whistling & everything else at me. I'm pretty boring looking but I feel like I'm wearing a hot pink Speedo when I'm out running, even though it's really dark navy knee shorts & a T shirt. It happens about once or twice every time I run. Girls like to woot, while guys seem to prefer to sneak up behind a jogger like moi and blow an air horn to scare me. Nothing makes me flinch at this point, I just expect it.

[Cassi3]

I've had this happen to me as well. I still ride my bicycle often, I just ignore them. It has been my experience though, that its often teens who just got their license and they think it fun to heckle those either walking, waiting for the bus or riding a bicycle. But maybe one day, Karma will pay them a visit and they'll be in the same spot.

[JulieC]

Lance Armstrong has a motorcycle riding escort now when he's out training. Too many idiots in the world.

[RikkiHauser]

Lance Armstrong has a motorcycle riding escort now when he's out training. Too many idiots in the world.

My sheriff's department had a cycling team and we had two to three motor officers riding with us (depending on the pack size) to block traffic and one car to bring up the rear. You can bet people didn't pull that kind of stuff on our group. Lots of badges and lots of guns. :) I'd recommend carrying the latter if your state allows it (which it probably does since 80% of the country allows it). You never know what kind of person you will run across.

I've seen all kinds of crazy things happen to cyclers - people leaning out of their window and knocking them off their bike, people reaching out and grabbing their bike as they are riding and then accelerating while still holding on to the bike, all kinds of stuff thrown at them, and the worst are the people that get in front of the cycler and slam on their brakes. Also, in my state, it is a felony to throw stuff that is capable of doing serious bodily harm at a moving vehicle (a bike is a vehicle). There has also been a specific police department that I won't mention here, but it is in the Los Angeles area, that has been known to mistreat cyclers recently (although some of it is well deserved; however, usually given to the wrong person). It's amazing how people have no regard for other people just because they are on a bike and do things to them that could possibly kill them or seriously injure them.

[Rachael]

To put a slightly different twist on this, There's a guy who lives close to me who rides to work every day fully dressed. So as there will be no doubt he is a guy, he sports a full beard. I've only heard one person pass any comment and that was not directly to him. I do, however, question the advisibilty of riding a bike in heels. Not the safest thing to do!

[flatlander_48]

My sheriff's department had a cycling team and we had two to three motor officers riding with us (depending on the pack size) to block traffic and one car to bring up the rear. You can bet people didn't pull that kind of stuff on our group. Lots of badges and lots of guns. :) I'd recommend carrying the latter if your state allows it (which it probably does since 80% of the country allows it). You never know what kind of person you will run across.

I've seen all kinds of crazy things happen to cyclers - people leaning out of their window and knocking them off their bike, people reaching out and grabbing their bike as they are riding and then accelerating while still holding on to the bike, all kinds of stuff thrown at them, and the worst are the people that get in front of the cycler and slam on their brakes. Also, in my state, it is a felony to throw stuff that is capable of doing serious bodily harm at a moving vehicle (a bike is a vehicle). There has also been a specific police department that I won't mention here, but it is in the Los Angeles area, that has been known to mistreat cyclers recently (although some of it is well deserved; however, usually given to the wrong person). It's amazing how people have no regard for other people just because they are on a bike and do things to them that could possibly kill them or seriously injure them.

CYCLIST, please...

[flatlander_48]

Lance Armstrong has a motorcycle riding escort now when he's out training. Too many idiots in the world.

I suspect that is for motor pacing and not protection, but it could be both...

[JulieC]

I suspect that is for motor pacing and not protection, but it could be both...

No, it's specifically to guard him.