What Pisses You Off The Most About Your Cycling Commute?

For most cyclists, commuting by bike can often present a labyrinth of obstacles and moments of terror which are enough to induce road rage in even the most seasoned of riders. You need only look at a recent newspaper article for a shocking incident that almost left one cyclist under the wheels of a passing lorry. Despite the bad press motorists often face from the cycling community, in this case, the driver of the vehicle wasn’t to blame, it was in fact, another commuting cyclist! For others, just the sight of Boris Johnson cycling to work is enough to seriously piss them off, and for the record, we’d feel exactly the same!

With these examples in mind, we asked five Bike Shack customers - “what pisses you off the most when you’re cycling to work?”

Mike - All the gear

 “I cycle to work everyday and on parts of my route the state of the road is terrible. As you well know, I’ve spent a lot of money on my bike so I wince whenever I clatter over potholes. They really piss me off. Especially when you accidentally go over the same ones that have been there for months on end. I’ve complained to the council but they don’t seem to give a monkeys. To be frank, pedestrians have also started to make their way into my bad book too. You’d be surprised how many blindly step out in the road around London Bridge because they see traffic at a standstill. Keep your eyes out for f***ing bikes as well you idiots!”

 Karen - Mum and cycling newbie

“I don’t ride my bike to work every day but when I do it’s a pleasant experience more often than not. I travel at a leisurely pace so I tend to avoid the confrontations I’ve seen some cyclists get themselves in to. I will say, it’s often quite frightening when I witness the speed and recklessness of some as they pay no regard to red lights or other cyclists. I presume that these few morons are the reason cyclists are often unfairly stigmatised and tarred with the same brush by motorists. Yes, I’d say they certainly annoy me the most and give all cyclists a bad name”.  

Lukas - Road rebel

“Ah man, it’s got to be slow people. I think they should have separate lanes for fast and slow people because they’re always in my way and it makes me look like bad guy when I try to overtake, you know? If it wasn’t for these guys and all the traffic in London I might get to work on time someday”.

Tyrone - Roadman

“I don’t know what it is yeah, but man gets a puncture on his way to work everyday fam. It gets man vex cos I only live like, what five minutes from my job but it’s like everyday, boom, tyre’s buss up. It’s a mad ting. I know you keep telling me to get a new bike but don’t think I’ve not clocked you man on a sales flex”.

To be fair to Tyrone, one of his recent punctures had nothing to do with the quality of his bike!

Agnieszka - Carefree, cycling hippy.

“Oh gosh, I’m not sure. It seems like a lot of people get angry with me most times. I try to block out beeping cars with headphones and ride more quiet roads but along my way to my work there are no nice and pretty streets. The pollution in London is so bad also so it would be nice to have a route to my work where there are lots of trees and it’s nice to ride. Maybe I need to change my workplace”