Road Cycling - Fireworks thown at training partner and myself

These idiots made 2 passes, first from behind, then turned around and came back, tossed some **** each time. The third time, we got off the bikes and stood at the stop sign, they pulled up, ignored us and turned down another rode. ******* didn't want a confrontation, I got their tag number, called 911, filled out a report etc..

I'll keep updating this as it develops.

Idiot's........ I expect the yells and honks, but throwing anything, especially explosives is going to be met with resistance. They were younger than I thought, I would have loved to kick their teeth out.

I have stayed off my bicyle for the last 2 days because I have seen so much residue from fireworks on my regular route and figured I would be someone's target.

i kinda doubt anything substantial will come out of this. sad, but probably true

Smoothie, if you and your partner can positively identify them, keep on top of the police. Let them know that you want to make a citizen's arrest. Keep the pressure on the cops...don't let those idiots get away.

Seems like it's us and our ideals against the world sometimes; it often makes me very sad. Many think we are wacked out weird o's or something and have no rights. Mine is a double wammy because I dont eat dead animals or their products so I really catch a lot of noise. But like most cyclist, man do I feel great!

Seems like it's us and our ideals against the world sometimes, it often makes me very sad . People hate me double because I'm a cyclist plus I dont eat dead animals or their products; seems like there is no justice for us! but damn I feel great! screw 'em all!

[Homer Simpson Voice]

mmmmmm... dead animal products... mmmmmmmm....

[/Homer Simpson Voice]


On a more serious note. Good for you, Smoothie, for calling the cops. If you have the plates, the cops can go to where they live... likely they won't end up with any significant punishment, but sometimes all a kid needs is to realize they COULD get caught.

These idiots made 2 passes, first from behind, then turned around and came back, tossed some **** each time. The third time, we got off the bikes and stood at the stop sign, they pulled up, ignored us and turned down another rode. ******* didn't want a confrontation, I got their tag number, called 911, filled out a report etc..

I'll keep updating this as it develops.

Idiot's........ I expect the yells and honks, but throwing anything, especially explosives is going to be met with resistance. They were younger than I thought, I would have loved to kick their teeth out.



fireworks are pretty serious. when i was a kid someone throw a firecracker at random and it hit my shoulder and exploded right next to my ear. it made me lose my balance and fall to the floor. my hearing was almost totally lost for several days. perhaps you could claim an injury like this...i personally believe it is an assualt.

There was just a story on the news last night of a bunch of kids driving around throwing fireworks out the window. They chucked an M80 into a field and a horse thought it was food, went to eat it and it promptly blew up in its mouth. The horse is barely surviving and the doctors are not sure it actually will live.

[...i personally believe it is an assualt.[/QUOTE]

It was clearly an assault. If the fireworks actually touched Smoothie, it would be a battery. Both are misdemeanors (in California) and can carry a punishment up to 12 months in county jail. Whether the judge will assess this penalty is another matter...but if there's significant malice, the judge will penalize them. Smoothie must file the compliant with the police and keep on top of it, otherwise it will be considered a stale misdemeanor and then nothing will happen. Smoothie, go get 'em!

This isn't me, but it does tend to give you ideas:

Now you see it:
http://www.imagedump.com/index.cgi?pick=get&tp=41377

Now you don't:
http://www.imagedump.com/index.cgi?pick=get&tp=41379

The unit is carried in a smart carry holder ... not just stuffed down the back.

[...i personally believe it is an assualt.

It was clearly an assault. If the fireworks actually touched Smoothie, it would be a battery. Both are misdemeanors (in California) and can carry a punishment up to 12 months in county jail. Whether the judge will assess this penalty is another matter...but if there's significant malice, the judge will penalize them. Smoothie must file the compliant with the police and keep on top of it, otherwise it will be considered a stale misdemeanor and then nothing will happen. Smoothie, go get 'em![/QUOTE]


If that happened here in Newark or a nearby city, the cops would be looking hard for that vehicle. What many don't realize is they now have an eye witness that there are illegal fireworks in that vehicle, or in the residence where the vehicle is registered. With the crackdowns on fireworks around this area, I wouldn't be surprised if a search warrant were obtained and served on both the car and house. Wouldn't Mommy and Daddy be SOOOOOOOOOOOOO gracious with the younguns after that?

Morons + the safety and anonymousness of a car = stuff being thrown at bikers.


It's a proven formula.

Yeah, I also learned not to go riding the 4th or the 5th of July. Jesus, why the hell does everyone want to rush around on their vacation? I thought that was what a vacation was for, to get away from rushing. Good luck with those kids, I hope they get what's coming to them.

I rode every day this holiday weekend but I rode early in the day (6am gets hot early in Arizona)

ALmost no one else is up at that time on a holiday :p

I rode early on Sunday morning to avoid problems like this. Fireworks are illegal in my town, which means that only about 1/3 of the people are shooting them off.

Since you got the license number it would be hard for the police to justifty not issuing a summons.

It's not just cyclists, though. About a month ago someone tried to run me off the road in my car while passing me on a no passing curve. When I called the police they told me they couldn't do anything. This happened while I (and the offending car just ahead) passed a cop sitting on the side of the road. Makes you feel good about all those tax dollars at work.