Tandem Cycling - Stoker hit by egg

My wife and I were out for ride after work yesterday. Other than the cold gloomy weather everything was fine as we pedaled down the coast highway through Carlsbad. Suddenly I heard a loud pop and my wife let out a scream. I saw some yellow bits fly through the air. My first thought was the tire blew, but what was the yellow stuff? Turns out a passing car threw an egg at us and it hit my wife square in the back of her neck. We got off the bike and there was raw egg all over her helmet, hair and neck. A saw the car continue and there was a traffic light about 50 yards ahead and I hoped it would turn red but it did not. Probably a good thing because I would have had that car door open instantly and I don't know what would have happened next. Needless to say the ride was over shortly after it began. My concern now is that next time something like this happens and the car gets stopped I don't know how I might react.

...saw the car continue and there was a traffic light about 50 yards ahead and I hoped it would turn red but it did not. .....

A good reason to carry a camera with you.

BTW You likely ought to report the incident to the police. It won't do you any good but if more folks have similar problems it will be on record.

If I caught them at the stop light, I would have reached in the car, turned off the ignition, and chuck the keys as far as I could throw them. Then call the police. Hopefully the keys would be thrown over a cliff :D

You ruined our day, now I ruined your's.

Good to know your stoker had your back covered.;)

Someone stupid enough to throw an egg at another human, does not know right from wrong. Get the plate number and report it. If you could not get the plate still report it with a description of the car. I would not confront them (I am a big guy). In my locale, if you report the incident and sign an affidavit, they will prosecute. Thankfully everyone is okay.

My wife and I were out for ride after work yesterday. Other than the cold gloomy weather everything was fine as we pedaled down the coast highway through Carlsbad. Suddenly I heard a loud pop and my wife let out a scream. I saw some yellow bits fly through the air. My first thought was the tire blew, but what was the yellow stuff? Turns out a passing car threw an egg at us and it hit my wife square in the back of her neck. We got off the bike and there was raw egg all over her helmet, hair and neck. A saw the car continue and there was a traffic light about 50 yards ahead and I hoped it would turn red but it did not. Probably a good thing because I would have had that car door open instantly and I don't know what would have happened next. Needless to say the ride was over shortly after it began. My concern now is that next time something like this happens and the car gets stopped I don't know how I might react.

Didn't get a plate? Man, hope your wife feels better, that sucks bad.

For everyone's sake, don't assault the driver, no matter how much you want to. If you get close enough to do that, you will be close enough to get the information that can cause the driver some real grief.

My wife has both been the target of a bottle (missed) and had a gun pulled on her while riding. It was before our tandem days, though, and I wasn't there. She reported the gun incident, but she had no details other than the color of the car. Just too shocked to get anything else.

Glad it wasn't worse. But it is pretty bad to be assaulted from behind. Some people have none of the normal mores or control.

Glad you are both ok, I feel bad for you guys....idiots like that need a life's lesson administered to them. It is bad enough when somebody nearly takes you out because they are not paying attention or misjudges the speed that you are approching them, but for someone to deliberately throw something at a cyclist, runner or anyone from a moving vehicle is beyond criminal. Over the years we have had several ugly encounters, including having a partially filled beer can thrown at us on Pacific Coast Highway in Hutington Beach in the early 90's ... it hit my wife's leg and bounced off the tandem. By the time we realized what just happened the car was to far down the road to get much info much less a license number. I was crazy mad..... ' had a real short fuse in those days and I would have done regretable things if I could have gotten to that thrower.
When we have one of those kinds of deals happen it sure take the fun out of riding for a while, hope you both get ok with it fairly soon.
Bill J.

There sure are some stupid folks that do this stuff.

I personally have had a couple things.

While trail hopping I use a main road as access. An oncoming car crossed into my side of the road a flung a bag of McDonalds garbage ate me, they missed but sure made a mess of the roadside.

Another time, and this one was really odd, this van got mad because I was able to use the bike lane and beat them from light to light. They got stupid and blocked the entire bike lane. I went the long way around and they tried to open their door. Next light they blocked the lane again, of course after trying to crowd me but I bunny hopped onto the sidewalk, for some reason this really made them mad. So as they got ready to toss something out the window, I pulled along side and sprayed the occupants and interior with cytomax. Then rode away.

Hated doing it and as always risky but I did feel better.

PK

ahh...sweet revenge...I think about it, too. I ride a busy 2 lane with rednecks in trucks. Everyday someone either yells or blasts me with their horn. I posted about some cowboy with an air horn that scares the s..t outta' me. Best advice from forum, ignore it. So that's what I'm trying to teach myself. I'm trying to learn to just let it go. It's not easy, a study in self control.

Glad it was only and egg....I got hit with a beer bottle last week on the same stretch of road and wasn't able to get a plate number of the car.
Most of the time Carlsbad is pretty mellow along the coast but now that some of the schools are out for summer there are some stupid people that have no concern for others out there on the same roads as us.......but we still got to ride.

Glad you both are okay, I can image how frightened your wife must have been. Just glad it wasn't a rock or something that could have done a lot of damage. Chances are they were young teenage boys. I believe in Karma and they will have something bad will happen to them. (I just put a spell on them! LOL)

Seems some folk really are envious and will do anything to get us off the road! It's like 'get that tandem!'
Had a cup of ice thrown at us (missed); HS kids in car slowed down and attempted to spray paint us but had heard car slowing and saw in my glasses mounted rearview a passenger's arm out the window with spraycan . . . swerved tandem to the right as he sprayed (missed).
Had a small milk container thrown at us by rowdy HS kids in car; ignored it and a mile or so later police car pulled us over. Cop asked 'did someone throw something at you from a passing car?' Said 'yes'. Seems another car had seen the incident, called police on her cellphone and got the license number!
Cop asked 'wanna file charges . . . if you do we'll go tho their house/school and scare the bejesus out of them'. We obliged!
Had various other incidents of stuff thrown or cars trying to force us off the road (including a bus!).
Called bus company with bus number, route, time etc. They said 'we don't know who the driver is.' Told 'em to find out as we could be pressing charges for 'attempted vehicular homicide'. Tone/respsonse changed immediately! Double checked with company and they said bus driver had been 'severely reprimanded.'
Whether it's egg, spray paint, ice or whatever, this can be classified as an assault.
, . . and we recommend keeping your cool (and temper)!
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

It was probably some teenager or a real looser. Glad to hear your wife is OK. I will relate a couple of silly stories that hopefully will bring a smile in your wife's face:

Once I was riding my bike near Oakland at one of my daughter's Volleyball tournaments. When I was making a right turn completely concentrated on my ride, a car with a bunch of teenagers passes me and as they do, they scream something really loud. I did not understand what they said but they scare me so much and they started laughing... the situation made furious... I hit them with a machine gun of really bad words in Spanish (most of them I have not used in more then 35 years) I did not think about it, they just came out... a few seconds later I was laughing so hard that I had to stop to regain composure.

A few years back, while riding along Hwy 1 just north of Big Sur on a cool and misty morning, a car blows its horn (BEEEP!!!!) just as it passed us... it scared the %$^% out of us. Long a behold, a couple of miles later the same car was on the side of the road with the driver unloading something that looked like large picture frames from the trunk. I did not plan this but as we passed by, I screamed to the top of my lungs: BEEEP!!!! We heard a scream and something hitting the ground....

[QUOTE=jgg3;6862911]But it is pretty bad to be assaulted from behind.QUOTE]

Riding on the bike paths in Huntington Beach, we've collided with thrown objects a few times...usually thrown at us unintentionally. I must report: getting hit in the back is greatly preferred to getting hit in the face, chest, or anywhere else on the front of our persons.