SingingSabre 

Let me set the scene for you. I was riding home from fire practice Sunday night on my Xtracycle loaded with about 40lbs of fire performance gear. It was about 12:20 AM and the sky was overcast, so any trace of the moon was lost. I was on an area of the road where there weren't many street lamps (Pima Rd between Rosemont and Craycroft, closer to Rosemont, for any Tucsonans). A wrong way cyclist was heading towards me sans light, reflector, helmet, and good judgement.

I screamed "Look out, look out!"

He gave me a bewildered look.

I decided that I would go as far right as possible, despite the almost nonexistant traffic conditions. I figure that I should get my body trained to stay to the right for the next time I encounter a nudnik like this.

He must have felt that he didn't want to give up right of way to some nudnik riding legally, as I felt I didn't want to give it up to some nudnik riding illegally, thus we collided.

Apparently, the Gravity Advantage JuJu that Xtracycle touts works...either that or physics are real. My extra stability and momentum made me hardly even veer off course, while his bike was thrown to the ground. When I looked back, I saw he was standing, so I figure he's okay.

I high tailed it out of there in case he wanted revenge. Besides, I wanted some sprint training.

BroMax

That bewildered look plus the bizarre behaviour and the time of night are clues. That nudnik was probably a shikkered schlumazel.

rough translation: the stupid unlucky bastard was drunk.

SingingSabre 

Perhaps... But he wasn't weaving or anything prior to the collision. He also landed on his feet, rather than kissing the asphalt.

oboeguy

Or high. You never know. Sabre, I enjoyed the image of you riding through the guy like Oddjob taking a gold brick in the face from James Bond like it were nothing.

Sammyboy

Wrong way, no lights, no reflectors? What a schlemiel......

doraemonkey

"fire practice"? "40lbs fire performance gear"?
I don't get it. What were you carrying? Logs? Charcoal?

At least did you ask the dimwit wrong way rider if he was OK?

I-Like-To-Bike

Perhaps there is justice and the victim of a hit and run bicyclist called it in and the police are on the lookout for the perp. Shouldn't be too hard to spot if the victim saw the bicycle. All the stuff about the victim's equipment or lack of such doesn't alter the fact that one of the parties to an accident, hit and ran.

Bklyn

THAT's your first instinct? To tut-tut the guy? Let me point out some salient details:
FIRE PRACTICE.
FIRE PERFORMANCE GEAR.
THE MOON "WAS LOST."
GRAVITY ADVANTAGE JUJU.

Obviously, the guy's like a 12th level white wizard or something. His mere presence is a danger to mortals.

Also, he saw that the guy was standing. If you examine the situation carefully, you'll see a faint perforation between dogma and common sense. Separate them; discard dogma.

MichaelW

Why is it that we can see riders who fail to use reflectors and lights but they cant see us when we dress up like a christmanss tree ?

I-Like-To-Bike

He can tell that to the judge,and find out if that satisfied his responsibility to the other party in an accident. My guess is a big fat dang NO. Especially for a hypocrite so anxious to squeal on others' infractions of the rules.

Bklyn

What is it, like 6 am in Iowa now? Comrade! Have some coffee! Have a grapefruit! We're all friends here!

brokenrobot

SingingSaber: Shame on you! You could have hurt yourself. Satisfying as hell, though, I bet - I'm often tempted to do the same when a wrong-way refuses to move, but I'm afraid of uncontrolled falls; I'd rather move into traffic to get around a jackass than hit one and get moved into traffic without any control.

jyossarian

Glad to hear you're OK Sabre. How's the bike?

BTW, next time, just yell, "Look out! He's got a gun!" Then you can shoot/stab/ram/lance/set him on fire in an act of self defense. I learned that on South Park.

hubs

I think at 12:20 in the morning, where it reasonably appears that the other party doesn't need medical assistance, one is entirely justified in not sticking around to see if he wants a piece of you for knocking him off his bike. If you are worried about running out on the situation, call the police. Explain what happened, why you left (fear for your safety) and how you can be reached. Or, offer to come to the station or meet the police at the scene if they want you to. I think that covers you just fine.

Bklyn

Or just use your MAGIC FIRE ABILITIES and . . . I don't know, heal the guy, or fry him or something.

I-Like-To-Bike

Better yet the victim of the hit and runner should have called the police, described the perp, the incident and said "He has a gun!" I learned that on BF.

Maybe the victim could have added for even better effect the various racial slurs he heard the perp threaten him with prior to fleeing the scene. All's fair when tattling and squealing, eh? Learned that on BF too, from the clique of squealing hypocrites who think a JackAss riding a bike is some other animal.

I-Like-To-Bike

Yeah a judge might buy that, if that is what the OP would have done; BUT he didn't do that. Instead the OP asummed what he wanted, went home and typed a message to BF boasting of his thrilling ride to similar minded clowns for their admiration.

Bklyn

Wow. You must get laid, like, never.

SingingSabre 

ILTB: I'm a Mexican Jew...so if you catch me throwing racial slurs at somebody, you're probably listening to the wrong person.

Bklyn: yes, I'm a level 12 white wizard. The real reason I didn't fall was I caught him with magic missile right before he hit me. Then I flew right over his head as he lay his bike down under my path.

Nah, I'm one of the city's top fire eaters, if not the state's. I had all my fire eating stuff with me, video camera, digital camera, tripod, fuel, etc. on the bike. Next week I'll probably have a staff or three and some poi...more weight. I hope he's learned by then.

ILTB: you make it sound like I have no remorse about what I did. Well, I do have some remorse, I feel a little guilty. However, I feel the humor of the situation negates any and all guilt I feel. If anything, I just had a withdrawel from the Karma Bank of the Universe. I have enough stored up in there that I'm not concerned.

Besides, it was a good day. I'm not going to let some schlemil ruin it!

CastIron

I've had a number of close calls like that. Seems a large part of the local hispster set thinks their exceptionally kewl fixie is exempt from all concepts of traffic safety and self preservation. As they say: Young, dumb, and full of...

banerjek

You collided on purpose? If you encounter some clueless twit riding a piece of crap, why risk hurting yourself and your bike (which won't heal) just to make a point?

I also hate yielding to nitwits, but it's much better than the alternative. Besides, I know they'll eventually encounter someone just like themselves.....

SingingSabre 

It was not on purpose. He actually ran in to me.

Eggplant Jeff

Hmmm... Yeah I don't really have to say anything.

banerjek

Sure, but it sounds like you had a chance to avoid the accident since you saw him and could see he was acting like an idiot.

It's kind of like having to stop quickly when you're being tailgated. It's their fault if they hit you, but it's a good thing if you can leave the road and avoid the accident.

Urban Shooter

Kudos to you. I have gotten so sick and tired of joggers and cyclists who ride the wrong way that I have taken to purposely veering into them. So far I have not run anyone down but I won't lose any sleep over it if I do.