Yet Another Cycling Forum

General Category => On The Road => Topic started by: Nienke on 17 July, 2008, 02:51:45 pm

Title: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Nienke on 17 July, 2008, 02:51:45 pm
1. A few years back, someone threw an egg at me from an upstairs window in a not-so-bad bit of Hackney. They missed.

2. Last week, some woman on the passenger seat of a humongous ugly gleaming black beast of a car kept throwing stuff at me that felt like bits of crumpled paper, when we were all waiting for the traffic light in shoreditch where Kingsland Road meets Hackney Road. She giggled.

3. Last night, something whiteish the size of a tennisball smashed to pieces on the tarmac about three inches away from my front wheel. I didn’t stop to look what it was. Must have come out of an upstairs window as well. This was somewhere in Islington.

Isn't London a lovely place.  ::-)

This was all when cycling home after a night out, so it was dark and quiet (except in shoreditch, where it was dark and busy). I can think of no way in which I stand out as a target for these things except by being a cyclist, although the idea of people throwing stuff specifically at cyclists seems absolutely ridiculous as well.

Hence the question: has anyone else had stuff thrown at them? Is this a growing trend, or have I just been unlucky?
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Deano on 17 July, 2008, 02:57:17 pm
It's crap, isn't it?  When someone chucks something at you from a car, it's simply bullying, as there's no way you can retaliate.

I once had a golf ball thrown at me from a moving car - it caught me on the back of my arm, and stung like a bitch.  The little gits chose the bottom of a big bank to do it, so I had no chance of catching them up.

On the plus side, when I was in Stockton a few years ago, someone in a pickup hoyed an empty can out of the passenger window.  I caught it and threw it into the back of his truck :)
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Basil on 17 July, 2008, 03:00:39 pm
Bag of chips.  >:(

I picked up the paper bit (the chips had dispersed all over the road) and chased after the car with the intention of smearing greasy chip fat all over the windowscreen.
Never caught him.

Probably just as well.  Aging stick insects should try to avoid confrontational situations, really.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Charlotte on 17 July, 2008, 03:01:01 pm
Stuffs that I have had lobbed at me whilst en velo:

A hot cup of tea
Lit cigarette
Coke can
Assorted detritus

I've also been slapped on the backside by the passenger of a moving vehicle.  Thanks to some top work by the likes of Wowbagger, he got cautioned by the police.

An oik threw an egg at Liz from a moving car one evening not so long ago.  It made me wonder - was he on the way home from the shops with some eggs? In which case, did the recipe only call for five?  Or did he keep eggs in the car "just in case"?
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: saturn on 17 July, 2008, 03:01:09 pm
Just an old tennis ball, great throw from a young lad, about 25 yards bounced once and hit my bottom bracket, I was duly impressed and hoped he plays cricket. If it had actually hit me I might have returned it though.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: PaulR on 17 July, 2008, 03:08:06 pm
Yes.  Many years ago, a bag of rubbish was hurled at me as I cycled down a quiet street in Brixton.  A bit startling but no harm done.  I've had conkers and fireworks miss me.

Then on Wednesday night a bunch of kids at the front of a block of flats on the Old Kent Road were launching water bombs at passing cyclists and they managed to hit the side of my face.  Blimmin' painful, a slightly cut and swollen lip and quite a shock, but I managed to stay upright.  I stayed cross for about 3 hours but fortunately didn't give in to the temptation to go back and try and kill them.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: spindrift on 17 July, 2008, 03:08:49 pm
A bottle, on the regents Canal.

A fag and gum from an Ideal Scaffolding lorry on Hackney Road, the owner hung up when I called him. They're based in Woolwich.

Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Chris S on 17 July, 2008, 03:10:33 pm
Plenty of dirty looks.

Also:

A soiled nappy was lobbed out of a car that was passing me - but I don't think they were aiming at me (if they were - they were a laughable shot) but it was disgusting nevertheless. What kind of waste-of-skin scum changes their brat in the car and then throws the dirty nappy out of the car?

Some people are just hateful  :-\

On the other hand:

A really lovely looking gurl blew me a kiss once  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Wobbly John on 17 July, 2008, 03:13:21 pm
Lots of lit cigarettes (not all at once though)  :P
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Greenbank on 17 July, 2008, 03:13:33 pm
An apple whilst going down Danebury Avenue on my way to Richmond Park. Missed my front wheel by inches.

I left the little turd in a crumpled winded heap with the threat that if I saw him bother anyone else again I'd be back to snap part of him.

I've seen him a few times again as I've cycled past. One time his mates pointed at me, then pointed at him and burst out laughing whilst he looked very sheepish.

Not big or clever I grant you...
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: tatanab on 17 July, 2008, 03:16:17 pm
Usual stuff.  Eggs, balled paper, and probably worst of all a bottle.

It is very seldom though.  Serious stuff, one egg and one bottle in 40 years.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Mr Larrington on 17 July, 2008, 03:16:34 pm
A half-brick.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Wascally Weasel on 17 July, 2008, 03:21:10 pm
Only admiring glances.*


*Statement may contain lies.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Tiger on 17 July, 2008, 03:29:13 pm
Recumbents attract this so much that I reckon to get something chucked my way most times I am out on a long ride that includes any 'rough' areas.  So far I have not been injured but it has certainly come close.
The worst was a full can of Stella launched from an oncoming white van at speed - burst just at the side of me and would have been very nasty if had hit. No end of fruit, fags, rolled up bits of paper, and a could of paper cups of coffee/tea. Got tomatoed in Sheperds Bush last month en route to FNRttc.
The most dangerous thing of all is night audax through provincial towns where there are drunks with bottlesand one is not in a bunch. I won't do the Kent invicta rides again because of that. Maidstone is a sump.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: spindrift on 17 July, 2008, 03:32:36 pm
I've also had vans who have changed their windscreen sprays to shoot out sideways.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Andrij on 17 July, 2008, 03:35:01 pm
On the other hand:

A really lovely looking gurl blew me a kiss once  :thumbsup:

Resisting temptation to edit above statement...
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: spindrift on 17 July, 2008, 03:36:59 pm
The most random encounter was on CM, a man outside a pub bellowed:

You don't stop at red lights!

At me.

As I sat.

Waiting.

On a red light.

Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Gattopardo on 17 July, 2008, 03:41:19 pm
general ditritus out of vehicle windows - fag buts, drinks can and bottles but doubt any were aimed.  Just people being inconsiderate.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: ian on 17 July, 2008, 03:43:30 pm
Cigarette butts seem the most popular - though to be fair, I don't think they're aimed, it's just the usual casual, thoughtless disposal via window. Bits of food and wrappers also seem to take the same route. Evidently it's common to confuse the open side window with a bin. Ah, if I had a grenade, I'd be more than happy to reverse the process.

I suspect I've been lucky, the only thing purposely thrown is abuse. It's open window season. And not just cyclist-specific, shouting abuse at random pedestrians seems popular. I got called 'speccy' the other week, for which I suspect there is no comeback, as I was in fact wearing glasses. I say it loud and I say it proud, but I do suffer from myopia and I don't care who knows. A very astute observation from a Saxo driver. Someone also complemented my wife's breasts as we walked home the other evening. Or it may have been expressing the fact that he was "driving like a tit". I'm not sure of the attraction of shouting random abuse out of a car window, but then I have a mental age in double digits.

Schoolkids stepping in front of me is ever popular too.

Probably the most stupid incident I saw was someone throwing a full coke can out of a car window. It went straight into the windscreen of the car behind, cracking it severely and nearly causing them to lose control. The can also exploded fairly spectacularly. Some people are so stupid as to defy rational belief.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: spindrift on 17 July, 2008, 03:45:17 pm
I posted a Starbucks cup back through a black cabbie's window on London Wall, and that's not racist.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: TheLurker on 17 July, 2008, 03:46:43 pm
Only the once.  In Swindon (Stratton St. Margaret) 7 or 8 years ago. Got a face full of fizzy drink.  I think the idiot had seen a fragment of TdF mountain stage at some point in his sad little life. 

Of course I've now alerted the missile goblins to my presence I'll probably get flour bombed on the way home tonight.  :)
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: ian on 17 July, 2008, 03:52:59 pm
The most random encounter was on CM, a man outside a pub bellowed:

You don't stop at red lights!

At me.

As I sat.

Waiting.

On a red light.



Exactly the same thing happened to me the other day. Voice by my side rants about cyclists not stopping at red lights. As I sat waiting at a red light. This was Peckham (the Dodge City of south London) and he was desperately clutching a can of Special Brew (which isn't renowned as an aid to keen judgement).

As an aside, but another glimpse of Peckham's fauna - someone once also fell right over my back wheel while I waited at the lights. Obviously distressed by this turn of events he proceeded to start a fight with the bodywork of the car next to me. I confess I may have then taken the opportunity to RLJ at that point. Lager, the fuel for rationality.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: spindrift on 17 July, 2008, 03:54:09 pm
Obviously distressed by this turn of events he proceeded to start a fight with the bodywork of the car next to me.


Guffaw.


Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: spindrift on 17 July, 2008, 03:57:52 pm
City Road, queueing for the ATM, standing next to my bike, chap behind pipes up:

"You shouldn't cycle on the pavement"!


I gave him a laser death stare.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: peliroja on 17 July, 2008, 04:06:16 pm
I had a full can of coke lobbed at me once. It bruised my leg and broke a spoke. And then a security guard shouted at me for crying next to his 'luxury development'.  >:(
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Nienke on 17 July, 2008, 04:17:22 pm
 :o

And there was me thinking I'd been unlucky. Incredible stuff.

An oik threw an egg at Liz from a moving car one evening not so long ago.  It made me wonder - was he on the way home from the shops with some eggs? In which case, did the recipe only call for five?  Or did he keep eggs in the car "just in case"?

Yeah I wondered about that one. Do the egg throwing people buy eggs specifically for this purpose? And what is going through their mind when they do? Are they bought separately, or together with the rest of the shopping?

"Dear, could you pick up some eggs on your way home? I can feel a strong urge coming on to sit by the window and throw them at passing cyclists."
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Deano on 17 July, 2008, 04:23:55 pm
IME it's very rare to have stuff thrown at me - but it tends to stick in the memory. 

...I've also been slapped on the backside by the passenger of a moving vehicle...

I was riding, fully loaded, uphill, into a tailwind, and came to a halt at a pub - a passenger of a car which had passed me earlier commented that she had been tempted to reach out and give me a push up the bank.  Naturally, I said she should have done :D
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: spindrift on 17 July, 2008, 04:27:14 pm
she had been tempted to reach out and give me a push up the bank.

Filth.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Valiant on 17 July, 2008, 04:28:20 pm
Lit fags, cans, water. Only ever in London though. Which means they can't usually get away. I do one of three things.

1. Go and look at them right up in their face. "Sorry I didn't see you", you must be fucking blind. Whack the wing mirror very very very hard as I go past. Look back and say Oops sorry I didn't see that.

2. Swear at them and then take a photo of their numberplate

3. A Spen, go around the outside and at the lights take out keys from the ignition and throw it somewhere.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Valiant on 17 July, 2008, 04:29:11 pm
I had a full can of coke lobbed at me once. It bruised my leg and broke a spoke. And then a security guard shouted at me for crying next to his 'luxury development'.  >:(

Poor lass :(
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: spindrift on 17 July, 2008, 04:29:28 pm
You do Hackney Road / Mare St Sam?

You see some fruity madness down there sometimes.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Deano on 17 July, 2008, 04:29:41 pm
she had been tempted to reach out and give me a push up the bank.

Filth.

It takes a sick mind to spot innuendo in there ;)
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Valiant on 17 July, 2008, 04:33:26 pm
You do Hackney Road / Mare St Sam?

You see some fruity madness down there sometimes.

Aye but I only get crap when I'm in the "nicer" areas of London lol, never really had issues in Tower Hamlets or Hackney.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Gattopardo on 17 July, 2008, 04:34:20 pm
You do Hackney Road / Mare St Sam?

You see some fruity madness down there sometimes.

Aye but I only get crap when I'm in the "nicer" areas of London lol, never really had issues in Tower Hamlets or Hackney.

Not even on a late night in wells street.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: spindrift on 17 July, 2008, 04:34:41 pm
The driving in Chelsea is shocking, maybe richer drivers look down more on cyclists, I dunno.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: teethgrinder on 17 July, 2008, 09:32:05 pm
The driving in Chelsea is shocking, maybe richer drivers look down more on cyclists, I dunno.

I think that wealthy drivers tend to be worse. Berkshire, Surrey and parts of Buckinghamshire are very affluent ares and I see a lot of bad and often threatening driving from people in big posh cars.

I call this area, "Tampon Country*" and avoid it.




*Cos they're stuck up c*nts

I don't think it's just cyclists. Pedestrians get it too.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: rower40 on 17 July, 2008, 09:46:48 pm
A banger.  (aka firecracker, not sausage or b0rked motor vehicle)

It landed and exploded.  In my ear.  Ouch.

An hour or two of total deafness in that ear ensued.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: redshift on 17 July, 2008, 09:47:30 pm
The usual:  Being spat on, insults, eggs, bottles, stones.  Last week two kids were lurking by the side of the road, and one threw a stone at me - no hope of hitting me, as I was well aware of what they were up to before he even drew his arm back.  Fortunately, about 100yds further up the road, there was a Police van waiting at the lights.  I flagged him down and had a little chat with him about them, and he proceeded to go and give the little buggers a talking to.  It may not have made any impression, but I must say I haven't seen them lurking since.

Otherwise, the only major incident was the airgun pellet in the leg a few years ago.  Insults and the like pale into insignificance compared to that.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Pete on 17 July, 2008, 09:48:09 pm
Glasses of water (well, I hope it's water), fags, crisp packets, that sort of stuff of course.  Once, years ago, I had a burst of 'silly string', that rather sticky confetti stuff that clings to whatever it hits, but luckily it didn't get in my eyes.  Don't think it was a party popper as I didn't hear any bang.  Now: letting a party-popper off at a road user - I'd class that as criminal assault likely to endanger life, or worse...

But most of the time I've not had problems with this sort of thing.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: alan on 17 July, 2008, 09:55:08 pm
A comment thrown at me while waiting at a red light.
"Nice ar*e "
from a young female passenger in a ragtop XR3 with the hood down which drew alongside.The female driver winked.
 ;D
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: MSeries on 17 July, 2008, 09:57:47 pm
plastic glass of lager in Elland and of course nice arse comments.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: teethgrinder on 17 July, 2008, 10:05:08 pm
plastic glass of lager in Elland and of course nice arse comments.

I got wolf whistled by some young lad in a car in Warwick last year. He looked embarrased when I turned around and saw him. I did consider asking him for a kiss, as a joke. But decided not to in case he took me up on the offer. I still don't know if he thought I was a woman, was taking the piss or was gay.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Valiant on 18 July, 2008, 03:33:13 am
You do Hackney Road / Mare St Sam?

You see some fruity madness down there sometimes.

Aye but I only get crap when I'm in the "nicer" areas of London lol, never really had issues in Tower Hamlets or Hackney.

Not even on a late night in wells street.

Nope, but then again with a super bright front light in strobe they probably all think I'm a copper lol.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: αdαmsκι on 18 July, 2008, 10:35:01 am
Eggs were thrown at some of us on the May FNRttC.


1. A few years back, someone threw an egg at me from an upstairs window in a not-so-bad bit of Hackney. They missed.

2. Last week, some woman on the passenger seat of a humongous ugly gleaming black beast of a car kept throwing stuff at me that felt like bits of crumpled paper, when we were all waiting for the traffic light in shoreditch where Kingsland Road meets Hackney Road. She giggled.

3. Last night, something whiteish the size of a tennisball smashed to pieces on the tarmac about three inches away from my front wheel. I didn’t stop to look what it was. Must have come out of an upstairs window as well. This was somewhere in Islington.

You've forgotten about:

4. Us having an egg thrown at us when we were cycling along Clemont Road (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=clermont+road+e9+&sll=51.538381,-0.052335&sspn=0.005539,0.013304&ie=UTF8&ll=51.539689,-0.052185&spn=0.011077,0.026608&z=15&iwloc=addr) on night earlier this year. 

5. I recall people throwing something at you when we were cycling along the canal to Mile End climbing wall a couple of years ago. 
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: spindrift on 18 July, 2008, 10:51:30 am
Regents Canal used to have quite a reputation for this.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Mr Larrington on 18 July, 2008, 11:02:40 am
I once had a Fairy Visitation outside Chancery Lane tube station, so pulled off to change the tube.  While I was so doing I got a right ear-bashing from a newspaper vendor.  "Sorry", I said, "I'll make sure the next time I have a p+nct+r+ I'm nowhere near you, you pissweasel fuckpuppettm"
Title: brolly revenge
Post by: aglet on 18 July, 2008, 11:17:18 am
The other day I was cycling down the Regent's Canal towpath.  There are some newish chicanes, and a bunch of teenagers sitting on them, being teenagers.  Which was fine, plenty of room to nip through, no need for conflict.  Until one girl stuck her umbrella out into my path.  I was unamused.

So I grabbed the brolly on my way through.  And cycled off with it.  Then I was very amused indeed, there was all kinds of effing and blinding, whachufinkyerdoin and so on.  I dropped it in the verge half a mile or so down the path.

She was lucky I didn't chuck it in the canal.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: dkahn400 on 18 July, 2008, 11:21:39 am

Yeah I wondered about that one. Do the egg throwing people buy eggs specifically for this purpose? And what is going through their mind when they do? Are they bought separately, or together with the rest of the shopping?


I'm sure they do, and then they look for soft targets. Cyclists are an obvious one but pedestrians can come under fire too, as can oncoming motor vehicles such as buses. I've been hit by eggs several times, and on a couple of occasions there have been more burst eggs further up the road.

I've also been pushed and slapped from passing cars. I've been hit in the face by a snowball with a stone inside it, and I've had a bottle kicked at me by a drunken thug waiting at a bus stop. The bottle was on the floor in front of him, he took deliberate aim as I passed, and the bottle went between my wheels and smashed on the kerb.

All town centres are places to be avoided late on Friday and Saturday nights and on into the early hours of the next morning. Ask Maladict about Worksop. Luckily it was quieter than usual when we went through there the other day.  ;)
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: ABlipInContinuity on 18 July, 2008, 11:21:48 am
Stuffs that I have had lobbed at me whilst en velo:

A hot cup of tea
Lit cigarette
Coke can
Assorted detritus

I've also been slapped on the backside by the passenger of a moving vehicle.  Thanks to some top work by the likes of Wowbagger, he got cautioned by the police.

An oik threw an egg at Liz from a moving car one evening not so long ago.  It made me wonder - was he on the way home from the shops with some eggs? In which case, did the recipe only call for five?  Or did he keep eggs in the car "just in case"?

A few lit cigarettes - most of these thoughtlessly discarded whilst I have been filtering.
Also an attempt to throw milk over me.
A coke bottle.

And Wednesday night as we cycled to sale, passenger of a builders pickup after it has passed me gestured as if to slap Maffie's derriere. That truck was far too close.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: ABlipInContinuity on 18 July, 2008, 11:23:39 am
A half-brick.

Oh forgot that one.

I had my head glued together after being struck on the bonce by one. Lobbed out of a vehicled travelling in the opposite direction on the other side of a dual carriageway.

As if one keeps half a brick in their car for just such occasions...
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Pete on 18 July, 2008, 11:39:47 am
A few lit cigarettes - most of these thoughtlessly discarded whilst I have been filtering.
Moreover, aside from endangering road users, lit cigarettes can start fires.  Over the years there have been several instances of serious forest/heathland fires in Ashdown Forest (a particularly vulnerable and sensitive area), suspected of being down to fags thrown from cars (the busy A22 and A275 cross the Forest).

I would like to see such behaviour treated as arson, even if it doesn't start a fire.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: spindrift on 18 July, 2008, 11:53:32 am
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Humber | Man loses sight after egg attack (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/humber/4360506.stm)
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: clarion on 18 July, 2008, 11:56:53 am
>:(
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Captain Zep on 18 July, 2008, 08:16:31 pm
I pass through one of the less salubrious areas of town on my commute.

I've had Primary School age children run to the kerb to spit on me as I pass - with their parents baying with laughter at little Johnny's wit.

One winter two boys age 10-ish threw a rugby ball at me.  By fluke, I was on my slicked up MTB winter commuter and the ball landed right in front of my wheel whilst I was doing 20mph-ish.  The ball burst with an amazing bang and I hardly even lost any speed and only had a slight wobble.  ;D

Noodley was hit by a large fish (trout?) a couple of months back, he was OK, but the poor soul they attacked after him wasn't so lucky.  It's in the hands of Tayside Police now I believe - they picked on the wrong people with the Noodleys  :demon:

RJMcB
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Charlotte on 18 July, 2008, 10:05:25 pm
I once had a Fairy Visitation outside Chancery Lane tube station, so pulled off to change the tube.  While I was so doing I got a right ear-bashing from a newspaper vendor.  "Sorry", I said, "I'll make sure the next time I have a p+nct+r+ I'm nowhere near you, you pissweasel fuckpuppettm"

I know that this is supposed to be a serious thread. Some horrible things have happened to people.

Nevertheless, I feel the need to nominate Mr Larrington for a Nobel Prize :D
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Gandalf on 19 July, 2008, 07:14:49 am
I once had a Fairy Visitation outside Chancery Lane tube station, so pulled off to change the tube.  While I was so doing I got a right ear-bashing from a newspaper vendor.  "Sorry", I said, "I'll make sure the next time I have a p+nct+r+ I'm nowhere near you, you pissweasel fuckpuppettm"

I know that this is supposed to be a serious thread. Some horrible things have happened to people.

Nevertheless, I feel the need to nominate Mr Larrington for a Nobel Prize :D
+1 

The term 'pissweasel fuckpuppet' is indeed sheer poetry.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Julian on 19 July, 2008, 11:47:00 am
A few lit cigarettes - most of these thoughtlessly discarded whilst I have been filtering.
Moreover, aside from endangering road users, lit cigarettes can start fires.  Over the years there have been several instances of serious forest/heathland fires in Ashdown Forest (a particularly vulnerable and sensitive area), suspected of being down to fags thrown from cars (the busy A22 and A275 cross the Forest).

I would like to see such behaviour treated as arson, even if it doesn't start a fire.

The law is just so behind the times, isn't it?

I'd like to see common assault treated as murder, even if it doesn't kill the victim.

And attempted entry to a shop by a teenager should always be treated as shoplifting.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: hellymedic on 19 July, 2008, 12:57:33 pm
:o

And there was me thinking I'd been unlucky. Incredible stuff.

An oik threw an egg at Liz from a moving car one evening not so long ago.  It made me wonder - was he on the way home from the shops with some eggs? In which case, did the recipe only call for five?  Or did he keep eggs in the car "just in case"?

Yeah I wondered about that one. Do the egg throwing people buy eggs specifically for this purpose? And what is going through their mind when they do? Are they bought separately, or together with the rest of the shopping?

"Dear, could you pick up some eggs on your way home? I can feel a strong urge coming on to sit by the window and throw them at passing cyclists."

I believe ASDA once sold eggs for that purpose; it might have been around Halloween.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: vince on 19 July, 2008, 01:01:52 pm
I don't think I could ever throw an egg that wasn't free range  :-\
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: hellymedic on 19 July, 2008, 01:04:06 pm
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Humber | Man loses sight after egg attack (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/humber/4360506.stm)

I think this case was reported in the Emergency Medicine Journal; the report included a photo of a box of eggs sold for throwing.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Pete on 19 July, 2008, 02:13:51 pm
I'm admittedly flummoxed as to what defines an 'egg for throwing' and what Food Standards it has to meet?

Shall we see a time when there will be an age restriction for buying eggs, and young people will have to show ID, as for fags, booze and knives?  ::-)

The law is just so behind the times, isn't it?

I'd like to see common assault treated as murder, even if it doesn't kill the victim.

And attempted entry to a shop by a teenager should always be treated as shoplifting.
That's the spirit!  And while we're at it bring back the rope - and the birch!  Teach these little brats what-for!

Seriously though (*quietly removes tongue from cheek*) how to just educate these brainless prats that throwing a lit fag from the window is not a convenient way of getting rid of an unwanted item, indeed it can do a helluva lot of damage?  FFS every car I've ever been in has been equipped with at least one ashtray!

And, OT but while we're talking of fire-raising: we had a serious fire in my local Town Centre earlier this week: it was in the news, arson is suspected.  I've just come back from shopping and having a look at the scene: amazing how much devastation it has caused.  Several retailers will probably go out of business.  :(
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Treewheeler on 19 July, 2008, 02:29:43 pm
.Spit
.Broom handle
.Pikies ina pickup thucking flints
.Bottles
.Fists still attached to the owners
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: PeteB99 on 19 July, 2008, 04:46:20 pm
Am I the only person who gets snowballed when out cycling? Or has global warming removed that possibility from the southern members?

Apart from that the only thing actually thrown at me was a can of something that came out of a passing landrover - I didn't try to chase them as I'd just passed some trouble further up the road and I suspect they'd been involved in that.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Maladict on 19 July, 2008, 04:48:12 pm
Happened to me in Cambridge several years ago, hit me in the eye.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Pete on 19 July, 2008, 05:01:24 pm
Am I the only person who gets snowballed when out cycling? Or has global warming removed that possibility from the southern members?
We had snow down here in Sussex - in April this year  :o.  Here's the evidence:
(http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/66/snowapr0801cj3.jpg)
And yes, we did go out snowballing.  But we only threw them at each other - and not at cyclists!  O:-)
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Mr Larrington on 21 July, 2008, 11:36:22 am
The term 'pissweasel fuckpuppet' is indeed sheer poetry.

I wish I could claim it for myself, but it was coined by one Simon Smith to describe a Kevin Sampson who had written a really rubbish article about Half Man Half Biscuit.

He had earlier use  the words "pissweasel" and "fuckpuppet" separately to describe Razrolight's Johnny Borrell.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Chris S on 21 July, 2008, 03:34:17 pm
We had snow down here in Sussex - in April this year  :o. 

I suspect those rather more lunatic of us were riding the Dorset Coast 200 round about the time you took that picture. What a snowy bunch we were  :thumbsup:.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Mr Larrington on 22 July, 2008, 10:12:19 am
I suspect those rather more lunatic of us were riding the Dorset Coast 200 round about the time you took that picture. What a snowy bunch we were  :thumbsup:.

ISTR rust bucket saying that snow tyres wouldn't be required on the Elenith this year as long as you got out of the hills before nightfall.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Ian H on 22 July, 2008, 10:16:23 am
I suspect those rather more lunatic of us were riding the Dorset Coast 200 round about the time you took that picture. What a snowy bunch we were  :thumbsup:.

ISTR rust bucket saying that snow tyres wouldn't be required on the Elenith this year as long as you got out of the hills before nightfall.

I was fat controller on the Dorset Coast, and only the later riders got snowed on before halfway. I missed the snow on the Elenith, though it was a close call.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Chris S on 22 July, 2008, 11:35:06 am
I suspect those rather more lunatic of us were riding the Dorset Coast 200 round about the time you took that picture. What a snowy bunch we were  :thumbsup:.

ISTR rust bucket saying that snow tyres wouldn't be required on the Elenith this year as long as you got out of the hills before nightfall.

I was fat controller on the Dorset Coast, and only the later riders got snowed on before halfway. I missed the snow on the Elenith, though it was a close call.

Not quite true - we all got considerably snowed on from the start to the Sandbanks ferry. Us slow coaches then got a further dose just after the lunch stop; for me, it was just as I was hauling my lard to the top of Sector Lane.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Greenbank on 22 July, 2008, 11:50:37 am
I missed the snow on the Elenith, though it was a close call.

I got a bit on the way up near Kimbolton/Leysters at about 00.30 but it didn't really settle. Absolutely nothing compared to what came down just after the 3am finish though.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Nienke on 23 July, 2008, 10:45:21 am
I don't think I could ever throw an egg that wasn't free range  :-\

...but as long as they're free range you happy to have the occasional lob at an unsuspecting passer-by??
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Che on 23 July, 2008, 12:33:50 pm
Never had anything thrown at me, but like Charlotte, I've had someone smack my arse while speeding past. This was on a late Friday night, and the passenger seemed pissed. This one didn't get cautioned.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: andrewc on 24 July, 2008, 07:13:11 pm
Just come back from some circuits of Sefton Park,  riding back into town on Princes Avenue and a Budweiser bottle hit the kerb just in front of me and smashed into fragments. 

Not sure if it was thrown from the car that overtook me, or somewhere else, I just kept pedalling.  >:(
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Adam on 24 July, 2008, 07:16:55 pm
I think I've been lucky (so far).

The only thing that's been thrown at me was a packet of Skittles - the car passenger was a rubbish shot though, and they landed a few metres in front of me.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: scott on 24 July, 2008, 08:41:26 pm
I wish I could claim it for myself,

What I really enjoyed was that you wrote that whole phrase out, but not the word p*nc+*r#.  :)

...but as long as they're free range you happy to have the occasional lob at an unsuspecting passer-by??

Note to admins--I think our subspace irony beacons need replacement.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: fruitcake on 24 July, 2008, 08:46:02 pm
A chip.  With ketchup on.
And a little bit of orange squash. 

After I stopped to tell them not to shout at cyclists again.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: matthew on 13 November, 2009, 09:46:21 pm
Time to resurrect this thread.

A plastic bag of something came over the hedge in Yateley this evening. Hit my jaw and the inside of my right arm before going under the wheels of the car that was on my tail.

Cue laughter from behind the hedge.

I am just glad that instinct kept me peddling as getting thrown by the fixie in front of said car. I shall have to report it tomorrow incase a pattern forms.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Palinurus on 13 November, 2009, 09:51:48 pm
Bottle of non-diet Coke.

That stuff sure is sticky.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: The Family Cyclist on 12 January, 2020, 06:13:20 pm
Not cycling but once in establishment that served refreshing beverages someone threw a beer glass at my head. No idea why didn't even see them and thankfully I have a robust cranium

The impressive part was I managed to catch it on the rebound
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: matthew on 13 January, 2020, 09:30:03 am
On the way to a FNRttC a number of years back I was struck by something in the middle of my back. It was thrown from the passenger seat of a passing light van and then bounced off the side of the bridge into the Thames in Staines. When reported on the phone to the police and they asked about calling back later it took a little explaining to say that any time would be fine. They duly called back at about 3am while we were on the road.

Unfortunately the CCTV was pointing the wrong way. However I got enough of the number plate and the jump of the red lights was picked up resulting in words with the owner and his nephew who had borrowed it.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: quixoticgeek on 13 January, 2020, 01:23:29 pm

I had fireworks fired at me in Amsterdam last new year.

Dutch people can't be trusted with fireworks...

J
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: bludger on 13 January, 2020, 01:37:50 pm
I refer you to Pepys...

https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1667/07/19/
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: MikeFromLFE on 13 January, 2020, 05:07:30 pm
Quite some years ago I was cycling through a Norfolk village about 2am no one apparently about and I had a bottle thrown at me, hit my front wheel. It was a very odd occurrence.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Adam on 13 January, 2020, 05:21:16 pm
On the way to a FNRttC a number of years back I was struck by something in the middle of my back. It was thrown from the passenger seat of a passing light van and then bounced off the side of the bridge into the Thames in Staines. When reported on the phone to the police and they asked about calling back later it took a little explaining to say that any time would be fine. They duly called back at about 3am while we were on the road.

Unfortunately the CCTV was pointing the wrong way. However I got enough of the number plate and the jump of the red lights was picked up resulting in words with the owner and his nephew who had borrowed it.

That reminds me.  In 2017 I was doing a recce for the Shoreham FNRttC.  Along the A237 between Carshalton and Coulsdon, I had the passenger of a red Corsa throw eggs at me.  On their first pass, one missed, and I felt the other bounce off my back (hard boiled?).  They must have turned off and gone round the block, as I soon noticed the car coming up behind me again, but foiled them by jamming the brakes on as they approached, so his next volley missed, and I then turned off to avoid them.
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: ElyDave on 13 January, 2020, 08:09:48 pm
only a punch, back when I was a schoolboy cycling home, the local meathead who took the bust to "the other school" decided he didn't like people from my school on bikes. Second time he got my size 8 in his kneecap
Title: Re: Ever had stuff thrown at you (whilst cycling)?
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 15 January, 2020, 09:42:48 am
Every time I see this thread, the Buzzcocks start singing in my head. Although it doesn't even scan properly.