Was out riding today - car pulls up and passenger pushes me hoping to crash me!
 

I was out on a semi-major road today: one-lane, no shoulder, and a trench alongside the road. A car pulls up alongside, the passenger rolls down his window, and he uses both hands to try to push me off the road. I was doing 20mph. Fortunately, I saw his hands a split second before they touched me (via mirror), and I was able to brace somewhat - that was probably the difference between keeping on the road and heading for god-knows-what in the trench.

Since I was concentrating on trying to avoid crashing, I only caught the first three of the plate. And I really couldn't tell what type of car it was besides old, small, and dark. I chased the car for over a mile, almost catching up to them at one of the lights. Unfortunately, there was just too much distance between the lights to close the gap. :mad:

There are some evil people in this world.

I hope you report it to the police -- even with a partial description they would have a record of the incident and perhaps could match it to something that happened in the past or it could be helpful if these cretins try it again.

I saw a police car about 25 minutes after the event. I had been searching the area for the car, just in-case they had pulled into one of several nearby parking lots. I explained the whole situation to the officer. He said "unbelievable", but actually didn't act too surprised. Go figure. Anyway, I offered the first three of the plate and the limited car description, but he said there wasn't much he could do without the full plate and an ID. How am I supposed to ID the person when he is in a car speeding away from me? Basically, the only way they could have done anything is if I had caught up to the car, called the police, and was able to follow it until the police caught up. I understand his position, and that is the answer I expected.

yay for mirrorz!

The temptation for me would have been to grab a wrist with one hand and hit the brakes with the other. He'd have had to hire somebody to pick his nose.

Yep! The idiot would definitely deserve it, and such a move would be a self defense mechanism IMO. If only we cabled our brakes like they do in Europe (Right brake front), this would probably work!

You're right, there are some evil people out there. At least this nut-case chose to push you with his hands. I had a passenger in a car attempt a drive-by-dooring earlier this year. Fortunately I heard the car change lane positions (crappy roads do have some advantages) and veered right just as the door was opening.

If it is any consolation, this sort of behavior isn't new. My wife had someone attempt to grab her braid while she was going downhill in the early '80s and I had a friend give up cycling in the late '80s after an incident like yours. (She saw him in her mirror and had time to grab her pump and give him a mild bruising.)

Maybe we all need to carry fully charged and ready Tasers like Colleen C. http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...d-reporting-it

If I had time to think and the lights/road had cooperated, they would have regretted it. I was riding so hard my chest was hurting (prob 30+ on a flat - maybe not top speed for others, but that is about my limit on level surface in a light headwind) - I was so freiken close to nailing their plate number. Makes me so angry. People like this rely on an easy escape, because they are cowards - "Wow, look how cool I am pushing over a cyclist!"

BTW, I f'd up my rim about 30min after this incident, as my shoe released from my pedal and temporarily lodged in my rim (at full speed). Little doubt my angry state had me riding fast and angry, and I probably swang my shoe too far and released from the pedal. The ride from hell, truly. Assaulted and $100+ out of my pocket.

No doubt. I would never ride without a mirror - it has saved me more than once, and it makes my ride a lot more comfortable.

I actually do. All my bikes are set up for right/front. One of them has both shifters on the right, too. It's nice to be able to brake, shift, and signal all at the same time, and it has definitely saved my bacon more than once.

Had this happen a couple years ago. Three cars (two pulling jetskis) of kids headed to the lake, passenger in the middle car tried to push me off the road as they went by. Was able to get a full plate and a description. Called 911 and twenty minutes later CHP finally showed up. Said there was nothing they could do since they didn't witness it, and they didn't have the time to drive the ten miles to the lake and check the boat ramp.
Nice to know my tax dollars are hard at work.
FWIW, this is the same CHP district that had an officer run several bikes off the road during the Napa Valley century a few years ago.

Be careful, though. If they grab your hand tightly and car doesn't stop, you could end up being dragged by it. These people can do anything. If you had a camera on and took pictures of their faces, vehicle or plate, that would be useful.

Just imagine that this happened to him the next time he did something like that:

http://www.flicklife.com/6f090fd382b...other_car.html

Yep, that's absurd. Seriously, it's like a free ride for the lowlifes - in my book, these type of people are committing assault with a deadly weapon (or WORSE). The officer I talked to said they could possibly charge them with assault with a vehicle (or something like that), which would make it a felony.

I know some cyclist that would have cycled the ten miles to the lake and made sure that at least 2 tires of the car were flat .

For the safety of all cyclist the rest of that day.

Did you file a police report?

Another reason to get a CWP and ride armed.

Its legal to shoot someone in my state that tries to remove you from your bicycle.

The Napa CHP office has a long history of bike hate. Back in the late '70s one of their officers was trying to "encourage" the 1700 mass-start riders of the Davis Double to stay away from the center line. He put one rider in the hospital. One year on that ride a drunk driver killed a woman. Her parents and fiance had ridden ahead and were waiting at the finish when they got the news. The Napa CHP totally botched the investigation so the drunk didn't even get prosecuted. They know that most of the cars leaving Lake Berryessa are driven by drunks, but they refuse to ever have an officer patrol there, unless there is a cycling event that would allow them to harass some cyclists. Most CHP officers are real professionals who do a very dangerous job quite well, but the Napa office has always been the bottom of their barrel.

I asked the officer if it would be okay if I went up to the lake and took care of the problem. "No, that would be assault with intent." "What if you didn't witness it, then it never happened." "That doesn't apply to something like that." WTF?

In the other incident, the officer came within a couple inches of a pace line. He had several cyclist stopped up the road, so we stopped and tried to talk to him. He threatened to arrest us. We opted to continue our ride, and a mile later he did run people off the road. At the next rest stop, the Napa office was called and on Monday about a dozen people filed statements. I don't think anything ever happened to him.

I have worked with the Fairfield CHP office during the Solano Bicycle Classic, and it was a completely different experience.

Another example of why, I take the lane all the time.

You have to be kidding - If I was in the middle of the lane, these lowlifes would have rammed my back tire. I have absolutely NO DOUBT about this. These are depraved individuals - it doesn't matter if I was 6 feet off the road in the widest shoulder in the world, or in the middle of the lane - they were intent on causing me to crash.

Because taking the lane solves all of your problems with angry drivers.

while I don't disagree with you, I don't see what is stopping someone from doing this to a cyclist cowering in the gutter.

Nasty stupid people, I'm glad to hear that you didn't crash. Shame about your rim. I ride on the road quite a bit and have been thinking about a mirror. Stories like these make me lean towards getting some type of mirror.
Considering the type that attach to glasses.