pseudobrit

I was wrapping up a 40 mile ride (ran out of water about 25 into it, so I was cramping up pretty bad for the last 10, but had *just* found a soda machine and drank a little) and just getting back to town, about three blocks from home, doing my normal 30% of the lane (any more to the right and you get squeezed a lot) when a truck passes by a little too close and yells something to the tune of,

"Get off the road, idiot"

I let him know I think he's number one and he stops dead in the lane (this is a slightly busy highway with maybe 3 cars every minute going past.) and stays there. I unclip and get to the side of his truck so I don't get squished if he decides to go Twisted Metal with his death sled. I lay my bike in the grass and remove my helmet and glasses, but I stay to the right rear of the truck in case he's packing.

"What's your problem?" I ask.

"You're gonna cause an accident and get someone killed; you shouldn't be on the road."

"I have every right to be on the road, now get out of here."

Blah blah, I tell him to get lost again and he doesn't, and thankfully I've just put my cellphone in my jersey pocket 'cause it wouldn't fit in my saddle bag (has a fresh Coke stuffed in it for when I get home). I whip it out and slam in 911 as I move to the rear of his vehicle and get his plate. I tell the operator and about 40 seconds into the call, by dumb luck, a cruiser pulls up and I flag him down.

I let him know everything and he's gonna give the guy a call and shake him up a litte.

Mwahahaha! Some days you get the bear.

B10Cycle

Good stuff. One thing I don't think I got from the story, did the guy take off between the time you called 911 and when the cop happened by?

The weather here was beautiful today so I saw a lot more bikers out than I have lately, but it also seemed around here that everyone was in a "playful" mood. I got one comment on my shorts from a car of teenage girls and I also got several buzzes as compared to zero over the last few weeks.

pseudobrit

He blasted away out as soon as he saw me dialing. His wife was in the truck, too. I'd love to see the look on his/her face when the officer knocks on the door or rings him up.

Down around Conestoga, I got an SUV full of young'uns who, as their mom passed me, shouted out in unison "speed kills."

Which was ironic, 'cause I was absolutely blazing along at all of 15mph to keep my legs from cramping.

DieselDan

Too bad someone didn't rear end him and give him a headache.

pseudobrit

Too bad that cop wasn't there a minute earlier.

titanium

sorry to disapoint you but i doubt the cops even going to bother doing anything. Not that you will ever know if he does.

chicharron

good question. While you were on your cell phone, what was the truck driver doing????

operator

Sorry to go against the grain here. You did not need to engage said driver. Ignore them. If they do anything illegal against you, pull over dial 911.

jfmckenna

Ye thats what I was gonna say. In this case you are part to blame for provoking him. So either settle it like a man there on the streets or call the cops but not both.

My vote personally is to not provoke and just call the cops. Though believe me I know this is hard to do when the adrenaline is pumping and some ignorant asshat gets your goat.

jeff-o

Yeah, you could have faked dialing 911, or perhaps dialed but not press 'send' unless totally necessary.

operator

Good way to think about it is, if this guy pulls anything on me, he's going to have a surprise coming to him when he think he's won.

pseudobrit

I was off my bike and he stayed in his pickup. I was ready to fight if it came to it. I was not going to pass him and allow him to be behind me with his truck. I told him to leave repeatedly and he would not. As I saw it, he was retaining the option to use his truck as a weapon and trying to cause an escalation. I didn't want to escalate the situation, so I called the police.

Men can settle their differences without resorting to violence. I'm a hockey player so I know what's involved in throwing down. When all is said and done, it's a cop-out.

I knew it was only a matter of time until the "blame the cyclist" crowd chimed in. I've seen it happen in just about every road rage thread, even though I've yet to see such a thread where it was the cyclist who initiates the confrontation. Why is that? I probably should carry a gun so I can shoot myself in the head to ensure a situation doesn't escalate.

Maybe next time he'll try to run you off the road. (He did pass way too close as he was yelling out the window) Or maybe getting a phone call from the police will make him think twice about threatening the next cyclist he encounters.

I'm convinced I did the right things and put myself in the right places at the right moments.

He drove away as soon as I dialed 911 and moved to the rear of his vehicle to get his plate.

scoana

"I probably should carry a gun so I can shoot myself in the head to ensure a situation doesn't escalate."

LMBO. Thats the thinking, yeah thats the ticket. LOLOLOL

larue

if you had caught up with him and started something at a light or whatnot then you would have been at fault, but the ahole stopped in the middle of traffic so you would have to pass him. if you told this story to a cop and he took your side then you obviously did nothing wrong.

kwv

You were lucky he took off and didn't reverse into you when you moved to the rear of his vehicle..

2wheeled

It is difficult not to let the emotions fly when you get honked at right on your rear wheel or get shouted some inaudible words as they race by, but they are out of my life in seconds and that's fine by me. You never now who's packing or ready to fly off the deep end cos they've had a bad hair day! It's simply not worth it. We're the minority on the roads and should try and raise above this behavior.