BBC radio presenter whose car keys were taken by cyclist gives his side of the story

just flicked this guys tweats - reckon while I was reading what a bad time he was having  from cyclists he deleted a recent tweat on an unrelated subject which included useful advice to f... off and jog on .... 

I'd take this guy more seriously if he didn't write in such a ridiculous, magazine-piece fashion. You can tell he writes for shite like Emmerdale as his general prose is full of hot air and pointlessness rather than hard facts. Just write down the facts of what happened, don't try and turn it into one of crap magazines you read on a plane.

It all smacks of smoke and mirrors and the facts probably are there was a hold up because of a cyclist. Some people (everyone probably knows this from experience) in cars are over cautious overtaking and you do sometimes get an unnecessary queue behind you. It's not your fault but once a few people fanny about overtaking, those further back view it as your fault, hence in this case Ahad believes cyclist to be at fault as he probably has no patience, despite his claims of not really having a care in the world.

However, if the cyclist was head down going for a Strava section......I'll excuse it

I would consider it defensible if (a) there'd been a crash or other incident and you wanted the driver to stay where they were until the police came, or (b) you felt you were endangered by their driving actions and wished to get away safely. 

We don't know what happened here, it does sound like a "driver pulls up and starts shouting at you through a window" incident,  which could have been sufficient to have created the impression that this was a road rage risk. All we have is the driver's history in which asking a cyclists "why are you cycling so dangerously" while driving alongside is considered non-confrontational. And we also know that it appears to have triggered an attempted attack on someone who had the misfortune to be cycling towards the incident 

In my 20 years of driving, I have never had to: sound my horn behind a cyclist, pull up alongside one and shout at them through a window, or overtake, pull over and then try to accost the cylist. Yet I have had all those happen to me, in "a cycling city". 

The closest I've come to a car key incident was actually being harassed on my way back from some night MTB riding at a time which clearly clashed with the chavs of Portishead Friday drive to Bristol, each pair of couples in Corsa swearing abusing and throwing things. Unfortunately for them, you have to stop at the ticket barrier to pay, put the window down and be trapped in by kerbs. So I catch up the last of the cars, window down, look in with the helmet lights on full. Two lads in front, two girls in the back, everyone dressed up. Driver looking like a rabbit in headlights. I could have taken the keys, but instead just chose to ruin his evening by giving a full mouthful of Camelbak water over his shirt, after which I do a U turn pedal off to the sound of shouting and them on the horn, fast descent and then home by a footbridge and back roads. Satisfying, but I do have to consider: will they behave differently? Or will they have more hate and anger?

maybe we could ask the driver in this incident: will they be more patient and less seemingly confrontational in future?

I wish we could see some footage from the cyclist involved. Unfortunately as he nicked the keys that's unlikely to emerge!

I still don't think the story adds up. "What are you playing at?" sounds a lot more like "get out of my way!" than "why are you endagering yourself!"

Shouting at a cyclist you are overtaking isn't compatible with overtaking safely. And unless the cyclist was actually going close to or over the centre line of the road, weaving around makes no difference to safe overtaking whatsoever. You should be assuming they will be weaving around to dodge potholes, cope with side winds, etc.

I suppose it is possible that there was some loony cyclist weaving onto the other side of the road at risk to his own life, and then decoded to rant and steal keys, but really it's a lot easier to believe that a motorst was impatiently trying to overtake when it wasn't safe, the cyclist was defensively using primary position around blind bends, and the motorist, ignorant about cycle safety and safe overtaking, interpreted this as a concerted attempt to annoy him not to keep himself safe.

Of course we can never be sure with only one side of the story, but the first possibility is outlandish and the second an everyday occurrence.

Taking the keys still wrong but throwing them into a bush where motorist could see might not have been unreasonable if he really felt threatened.

When's this episode on Emmerdale?

Reminds me of when Alan Partridge interviewed himself on Mid-Morning Matters.

local TV presenter seeks attention - stop the press! 

I have considered taking the keys of arsey drivers (especially afterwards, when it's too late anyway), but this whole sorry incident does show why taking a deep breath instead is a better idea ...  our small onion associate could have been flattened, if indeed the incidents are linked

cameras are a good idea too. Having used one a lot, I've found that it make no difference whatsoever to the actual driver, but it does to their employer if their telephone number is written on the side in big letters. I've seen court cases where it's been used, but I've avoided all that so far ...

By the looks of this bloke, he would just put any footage on his showreel ....

Was it a good idea to steal someone's car keys and ride off? No.

Would I ever do it? No.

Is it hilarious to picture this angry motorist fuming in his car for three hours? Absolutely

I assume that there was more to the interview than what was published above. Did Nick Ahad mention talking to any other driver who may had the run-in with TLO?

If so, what was saidand does he take any responsiility for what happened to TLO?

It's 1 (one) mile from the junction of the main road to the church where you were heading.  That's 4 minutes at 15mph, and this cyclist was "riding hard" so probably less than that, and there really aren't many suitable places to overtake in that 1 mile. 

But in that time/distance you "passed a couple of cyclists. Then a group of three. Then some more" and 3 cars were help up by and eventually went past this cyclist before you got behind him.

Was there really any need to be this impatient on a Sunday morning on your way to church when your journey was coming to an end in a couple of minutes at most?  How long were you in this "hold-up" on a quiet, peaceful Sunday morning on your way to church?

That road does not facilitate you to drive in such an impatient manner without risking the safety of others.

He probably shouldn't have taken your keys.  You should have been a lot more patient.  I would love to see a google street view of the exact point you tried to overtake him and where your journey ended.

Not saying it didn't happen but I find it kind of difficult to envisage a situation in which I'd intentionally swerve all over a road, especially when there are a bunch of cars behind me and one is in the process of overtaking me. 

So basically, no-one commenting on this believes one word of the person who was actually there, and think's not only was the cyclist a paragon of virtue, but the driver also deserved all he got. How is this different to a cyclist bashing the side of a car in frustration because of a close pass, then getting side-swiped in reply?

So if he'd decided not to drive more carefully and knock down the cyclist who was allegedly swerving all over the place, that'd be fine too, would it?

Of course not - none of you were there any more than I was so stop telling the driver he did everything wrong because you can't view a situation from both viewpoints.

Load of nonsense.  I don't believe a word of it.  You're like Ronnie Pickering, playing the doey--eyed victimised motorist being interviewed by newspapers after the internet has shown what a massive idiot you are.  "Riding dangerously" - what's dangerous about riding in one's lane and getting increasingly annoyed by a motorist who pulls alongside, shouting out the window?  Oh that's right, it's the driver being dangerous - not the rider.

You deserve to lose your keys.  Next time, don't approach a cyclist believing you have a divine right to overtake at the first opportunity - you don't.

Nope, still doesn't sound like a balanced account. Ranting, tangents about bigots stopping African immigrants etc. Something about militant cyclists. All over the place. The more sanctimonious he gets the more I think he was an impatient douche that simply  couldn't handle a guy who wasnt riding in a way that he wanted. 

Tries to make the cyclist sound like a loon with all this swerving all over the place nonsense. Clearly a silly exaggeration as swerving all over the place while riding hard as this driver says just doesn't really go hand in hand. The description is vague and doesn't really give an insight into what the cyclist's behaviour actually was. Maybe in v3 or v4 this driver can sort a properly demonising story out. The fact that he spent more time taking around the incident, than actually describing the issue with the cyclist tell you he's full of it. Transparent as.

Love how he didn't expect retailiation after having a go at someone. That's the psychology of moving around in a pram, you feel like you can do what you want and get away with it. Douche got hoisted for it. 

I don't see the point in this article. What the bloke says sounds plausible enough, but it's not terribly interesting. If his initial Facebook rant stoked up the usual mindless hate for cyclists then he ought to be addressing those he got fired up.

The cyclist he encountered sounds look a prize bellend, but there's plenty of those around. 

I don't see the point in this article. What the bloke says sounds plausible enough, but it's not terribly interesting. If his initial Facebook rant stoked up the usual mindless hate for cyclists then he ought to be addressing those he got fired up.

The cyclist he encountered sounds look a prize bellend, but there's plenty of those around. 

So Nick managed to get alongside far enough to remonstrate through the side window, but when the cyclist starting swerving again (like a cyclist will choose to sideswipe a car) Nick chose to slow down and get back behind him rather than complete the overtake. Really? Nope, still doesn't add up. Try another version.

"I’m writing this because of the abuse I’ve been getting – I’m not the bad guy – but mainly because I now see that the militant drivers and cyclists really can’t see when they’re being militant."

This is my favourite bit.  Road user one instigates confrontation, comes off second best, and complains about road user two being confrontational.  Excellent.