Road Ragers Learn They Messed With Wrong Cyclist
As many peo
ple that read my blog know I am an avid cyclist. I have been on the bike for years and obey the laws and in general give much more leeway to vehicles than required by law out of courtesy since many drivers do not understand that cyclists have just as much right as they do to be on the road.
So, that said, for many years I have dealt with people driving by in their rusted out pick up trucks making comments while they try to fit behind their steering wheels drinking their 44 oz Big Gulp. Its the typical, not so original comments that they give, always the same, “nice spandex shorts” or “go Lance Armstrong”, then a finger usually pops up (pretty sure that one finger is how far they can count, also if you take offense to the above then you are not realizing I take more offense based on what happened below). I, being me, always mouth back, and until tonight they always kept going.
Well, tonight that all changed. After finishing my fastest ride in a long time (2o MPH average on a hilly 21 mile route) we were coming back through town when a white mid-size car came up along side us, to be REAL CLEAR, myself and the rider with me were on the side of the road and not impeding traffic. The wife, in all her wisdom, decides to show the finger she can count to one with and starts mouthing obscene comments. I did the same and showed her I could count to one as well. She had also made some pretty bad comments that were so ridiculous a person could not take offense since they were so kindergarten.
At the stop sign, her husband decided to pull across and get out of the car and want to fight, I just rolled through slowly and said whatever and rolled on. I am 37, almost 38 year old man who does not live on an elementary playground, that said, I am big enough and fit enough to hold my own and was more than prepared to do what is necessary to make sure he realized that he picked the wrong person on the wrong day.
About a half mile up the road the car pulled up and parked, the person decided to park on the shoulder and then they blocked traffic and came after us, not being one to ever runaway, I stopped, unclipped from my bike, as he came up, he was mouthing along with his wife. I won’t go into all the details of the mouthing, but I will admit I was giving right back. But the most important part is the guy actually was threatening violence and took a swing at me, I grabbed his wrist since it was not a full power swing. And we kept arguing.
Well, knowing that this needs to be fixed, I got their license plate number, called the police, and filed a report, since I had an actual witness, he also filed a witness report.
Locally cycling has grown and most of the leaders in the community are active cyclists, they understand that there needs to be education. I was happy to have one of them call me tonight about this incident after hearing about it. Kudos to the community leaders for being active in making sure we have a safe environment to ride in. It is people like the angry people tonight that are at fault, not us cyclists.
It looks like there is a good chance the story will go in the local newspaper and it will be mentioned with the license plate number of the couple in my twice a month radio show. It was also posted on Hicktown.com, here is the link: Watch Where You are Going $%$%$
For the record, they have a Missouri license plate, it is PJ5 K4Y , for those other cyclists, note it and watch out for them, this is a public service:)
Also, for the record, I was once 244lbs, its tattooed on my wrist, so I understand what its like to be that guy with the 44 oz Big Gulp….
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Bruce Marler
My time is spent evangelizing Unified Communications and WebRTC to companies looking to lead the way in enhancing the way their employees and customers communicate through making app enablement more efficient.
Along with that small task I also drive online marketing efforts with SEO and Social Media for small businesses through our efforts at LocalTek where I am Founder but just a small part of a larger team these days.
But most importantly I am a husband, Father and Step-Father of 4 GREAT kids and a wannabe hack triathlete.
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A well written article with educational value! I love to see cyclist, sometimes envy them but; always wave to them to cheer them on, with a FULL hand wave. Ride on!
A close friend is an avid cyclist and a State Trooper. He wears his badge on a necklace under his top. He said one flash is all it takes and they are gone. But by then he already has their license number.
So sorry of your bad experience. I don’t get it. Living in Southern CA where the weather is nice, I always give as much space as possilbe when passing a cyclist, just as a gesture to reassure him I respect his need to cycle. Personally, I think it is too dangerous to cycle on the main roads. They’re trying to make it safer in Long Beach. Lots of new construction to remove a third land, and turn it into parking/bicycler lane, in downtown, on our one-way streets. It forces cars to drive slower, because – believe me! – the commuters act like they’re still on the freeway when they get off on these one-way, multi lane roads through town. There have been many, many accidents, and almost I got killed when I blocked the right lane temporarily to give someone a jump start, from home-bound commuters racing along apartment-lined streets. Filth.
Shirley,
Thanks! Appreciated. We appreciate the full hand wave:)
Bruce
Smart move by the trooper, this is the first time I had someone actually get physical. Typically they just keep going, I think its because I actually called his wife out on mouthing and did not let her get away with it.
Louise,
CA is a very cycling friendly state, in reality the area I live in is rather good for cyclists, the small minded people that do things like what happened last night are getting fewer and farther between.
Now I want to go ride in CA though:) Have not done that for a few years.
Bruce
Many of my friends and family are avid cyclists and I hear stories too often about abusive drivers. One neighbor was purposely side-swiped by a truck and although his injuries were not life threatening, he has given up cycling altogether due to permanent fear (this is a combat hardened Marine).
When I started driving 20+ years ago we thought of cyclists like pedestrians… “gotta look out for them but the road belongs to cars”. These days I think of cyclists like cars, giving them every respect and actively looking out for them like a potential traffic stoppage around the next bend.
Being in SoCal, where cycling is so popular, I remain hopeful that driver’s ed. and general education changes to include the cyclist more prominently in safety classes.
The thing is, there are also exists a small percentage of idiot cyclists that are so bent on demonstrating their “rights” that they go overboard, almost taunting drivers with their thoughtlessness. My sense is that the cycling community at large shuns those types but it’s worth noting that more could be done on that front. I don’t let it get to me as I think about my brother and neighbors on the road but some don’t reflect as deeply on the subject and “punish” legitimate cyclists based on the actions of the few knuckleheads.
Stay safe and certainly continue not taking any garbage from chump drivers.