Fifty Plus (50+) - Road rage in reverse

This story is from the Cincinnati Cycle Club's Forum.

OK - here's the story...and it's not good. My brother is an Indian Hill Ranger who checked into this for me. Apparently a female motorist passed a small group of cyclists (2 or 3)on Loveland-Madeira Road. According to her (and several witnesses) she honked before she passed and pulled out to what she thought was a safe distance around them and passed. She drove on and down the road had to stop for traffic. The cyclist, who apparently didn't think she passed them safely, caught up to her, confronted her, literally pulled her out of the car and began to beat her about the head, face, etc. He had to be pulled off of her by his fellow cyclists. Her car was still in drive when she was pulled out of the window and it went off the road and struck a tree. The cyclist later apologized and admitted he just "lost it". He was charged with assault. As traffic was stopped, there were several witnesses, all of whom gave basically the same story.

I know I've often got pissed off at cars, but this is just too much!

My guess it that something MUCH bigger and far worse was going on in that cyclist's life, and his perception of the car's passing pulled the trigger.

I'll sure miss Botto.

I'm amazed he managed to catch her, and then drag her through a window.
I always discounted stories like these as too super-movie-dude to be real.

I do, just out of curiosity, wonder how close she actually passed and if I'd have thought it was too close.

I do know how I'd feel if someone dragged my wife out of her car....

Based on the information given, I'd say the cyclist is a nut job and shouldn't be mingling with other people.

The term criminally insane comes to mind.

This is about the 4th such incident I've heard about in the past 6-8 months. Is there a growing group of cyclists who walking the rage line?

I can not even imagine how stupid I would get if some jerk did
that to my wife.

That's not Assault, that's Assault and Battery. Pulling her out of her car sounds like it's now a felony. He should go away for a nice stretch in prison.

Not really road rage in reverse, this is straight old road rage, just involving a cyclist. This is outlandish behavior on the cyclist's part. I can't help but believe that there was a fairly big helping of misogyny involved here too. Man has issues.

I have a post in A&S about getting extremely angry at a guy that endangered me and other motorists. I caught him, in fact I was tailgating him down a mountain until we stopped at a traffic light. I thought I should have talked to him, or at least go check to see if he was old enough for a competency check, but I was too pissed. If I had been carrying my new super-light backpacking hatchet, there would be holes in that antique car right now.

I have gotten irrationally mad on my bike, it's one of the reasons I stopped riding back in the '90s. I was under enough stress, and I didn't need to get myself more stress by being assaulted and endangered by idiotic drivers.

This is about the 4th such incident I've heard about in the past 6-8 months. Is there a growing group of cyclists who walking the rage line?

Spend any time in the A&S forum and you will realize that there is a vocal minority there that does not have it all together. They feed each others attitudes in a manner that is similar to a mob working itself up into a frenzy. Eventually, someone will go off half cocked and do...................

To respond to Tom Bs question of growing road rage within the cycling community.
Tom,U may be on the mark!
Especially with the elite riders on some clubs (or shop clubs) there seems to be an intolerance form anything on the road save themselves.
I witnessed cycling road rage with a really bad end.
Going up River Road in North Tonawanda NY several bicyclists chose to get into it with several members of a notorious motorcycle organization.
The warning "Be Carefull What You Ask For" immediately came to mind.

With rising gas prices putting many 'ill tempered' motorists on bicycles, it's isn't hard to see where some of the reverse road rage comes from.