Fifty Plus (50+) - Venting:: I got egged

Out cruising on a pastoral country road this morning (geese honking at me) and a pick-up with teenagers roars by (around here good cause to be alert). They throw an egg that breaks against my back, scream in my ear, go on the shoulder kicking up dust and gravel and speed off. I'm still angry as I sit here.

Reminds me of a similar incident where a local rider gained worthy praise. He chased down his assailents, caught them at a light. Walked over to their car, kicked a huge dent in the passenger door with his cleat, reached in the window, grabbed one of the young jerks by the collar, and said quietly, "Around here, you little bastard, we respect cyclists."

That young guy deserved cycling sainthood. I feel better for having remembered that story.
Thanks.

I had an incident where one of the four kids in a car threw a rubber ball and hit me in the back. It startled me more than hurt, then I became angry. I increased my pace and was trying to catch them at a traffic signal about a mile ahead. In my mind, I planned to do something very similar to what you indicated above..... as I approached the cars at the traffic signal, the light turned green and I missed my chance.

Probably a good thou...

I imagine the egg hurt and you were bruised the next day.

Onward and upward ... keep riding!

Thanks, KidCycle, I'm over it. Last fall it was a bag of JackIntheBox leavings that bounced off the rear of my helmet. Many drivers I encounter are courteous, are obviously conscious of driving carefully near a cyclist. Others are indifferent or oblivious. I suspect some are a little envious or feeling a bit guilty ("I gotta get more exercise"). Hopefully, even obnoxious teenagers grow up. Come to think of it, my two did!

Not 50+, but I got hit across the back one time by a bunch of teens with a big foam rubber thingy - I think it was a floater from a swimming pool, like what they use to seperate the lanes sometimes. Almost sent me into a parked car. It's just dumb kids, probably the same kind that play mailbox baseball.

I'd be pissed too.

The video of the kids who swung their car door open at a cyclist they were passing comes to mind. The kid who swung the car door open proceeded to fall out of his car & was killed by an oncoming car. The other kids in the car caught the whole thing on videotape. I wouldn't wish death on any kid, but "instant karma" comes to mind.

I've never had harassment by anyone - kids or not, but should it ever happen, I'm prepared - I carry a cell phone!

That really sucks. I carry a Taser gun when I ride. South Texas. Tough Area. O well

... I wouldn't wish death on any kid, but "instant karma" comes to mind. ...
He got what he deserved. Every now and then, some jerk who harrasses a cyclist causes him/her to sustain serious injury.

That kind of behavior is rare here, thankfully. Cycling has absolutely boomed in the last five or six years, which has helped a lot. I used to see from zero to maybe two riders a WEEK on my 12-mile commute, and now it's not unusual to see a dozen a day, perhaps 50 on weekends.
Back in the old days, though, we had an incident that, while I certainly don't condone blah blah blah, made me chuckle: A local cyclist, 42 years old, was riding on a rural highway when a car full of teens from a high school up the road brushed him back, then doused him with Coke. He caught up with them at a stoplight, pulled the front-seat passenger out of the car and slapped him three or four times. The other three guys, all football players, jumped out to "defend" their friend against the "unprovoked" attack (that's what the kids' attorneys said). The guy, a construction worker having a very bad day, kicked all three of their butts until they didn't want anymore. I think he wound up getting six months' suspended, but public sympathy was pretty much on his side.