chrisvu05

Coming home from a 60+ mile ride 2 weeks ago...it was hot and I was tired. I was riding in an area that goes from countryside to urban sprawl in about 100 yards...so the shoulder quickly became crappy. I hit a red light and there was a big mound of dried cement in the shoulder so I moved into the right lane and stopped at the light.

Just then a guy and his wife pulled up literally within an inch of me on my left. Needless to say I wasn't happy and glared at him. Light turned green...i stood up to pedal and get back in the shoulder and the jerk yelled out the window for me to get my A$$ off the road and onto a sidewalk....I was doing in the upper 20s as this was a slight decent and I had the adrenaline pumping....I kindly told him to go F himself...as he brushed me with his mirror while passing me...so for the next quarter mile he kept slowing down and veering into the shoulder right as I was about to pass forcing me close to the curb...thought it was done with after a few times and then he did it one last time where the curb and shoulder pretty much collapse onto one another....

Bad idea on his part!! It was either hit mirror with my upper body and probably be knocked off my bike or move the mirror....I chose to move the mirror. At this point I was furious because he was jeopardizing my life...full closed fist with my left arm I swung like a hammer fist and enjoyed the satisfaction of his side view mirror spider webbing into pieces and flipping to the front of his vehicle hanging off of its hinge.

He was livid and pulled up next to me...at this point i'm doing well into the low 30s as the road was definitely descending and I was pissed. He told me to pull over and he was going to kick my ass and then take my insurance....I told him we will call the cops while we are at it because he almost killed me and I will press charges...I then told him that I have every right as him to be on the road and we could talk to the cop about that too! He told me to pull over again and I said F u man....i'm not wasting my time and then he sped off.

I normally don't condone confrontation with vehicles but I completely thought my life was in danger with his swerving...and trust me he didn't want me to stop...he would have received the beating of a lifetime and that point....

ridethecliche

Why didn't you ask him to read the laws for cycling or call the cops to have a chat instead of asking him to go eff himself?

He instigated, but you went back at him. You can't clap with only one hand...

ratebeer

Woah, sorry about the bad experience! Too bad you weren't carrying a hammer.

Those situations where some bung hole tries to kill you aren't pleasant.

I once started a road trip with a friend from San Diego to Oregon. We aren't more than 10 miles into it when some buff guy in a Hyundai Excel gets super pissed at my buddy for his lane change and starts telling him to pull over and fight on the freeway. Yeah right. So the guy starts moving his car in real close and swerving at us like that guy was doing to you. It happened a couple times and it was unpleasant. Then he does it one more time.

My friend freaks out.

He takes his truck and puts into the guy's Hyundai Excel where almost the same thing happened. The left sideview vaporized and then his side window spiders and becomes opaque. Then in an instant that too vaporizes as the guy's freaked out face, sreaming in horror, is revealed in its place! The dude's car was hosed and he pulled over to the side of the road immediately. My bud's truck was nearly without a scratch and we had a laugh and just kept on rolling north.

chrisvu05

Verbal encounters are not the issue....even him veering into the shoulder making me slow a few times wasn't that bad...I only made anything other than a verbal encounter after he put my life in danger. I told him we could call the cops but he was set on kicking my ass and at this point my brain decided to keep myself from kicking his ass and just tell him to eff himself...no...i can't clap with one hand...but I definitely can't clap if I'm not alive to clap

query

Well done!

gcl8a

I would love to hear the motorist tell this story. Not that I doubt yours -- I just think it would be entertaining.

("Then for no reason the cyclist pulls up next to me...")

Has anyone here heard a driver recount a tale of a similar encounter, whether or not they knew that you were a cyclist. How did that go?

Dynamic

hah, he got away with it. who cares.
sock that car more if you can. good thing your fist didn't get hurt

ridethecliche

While I wouldn't commend you on the exchange that took place and your breaking his mirror, I will say that the driver had no bloody right to try to run you off the road. I hate drivers like that, and I think you're completely right in feeling that way. Being cyclists, we have to ride defensively, and sometimes that means falling safely behind an idiot driver, I know it ruins the ride but it keeps us alive.

There was another situation that was just posted up where a truck forced a rider off the road causing the rider to fall and black out. I'm glad you could avoid that because if he had run you into the gravel at 30+mph that could have happened.

I'm glad you're ok, because that situation could have turned out to be a lot worse if the driver was an ever bigger moron. Hard to believe right?

roadwarrior

I tell you....cell phone, call the police, give them the plate number and a description and tell them the guy appears to be intoxicated, weaving all over the road, etc...give them the direction they are headed...

Gets them every time. Police love potentially drunk driver runs.

Anymore, you don't know what nutburger has a gun and will use it.

It would have been cool to have been sitting next to him at the light while making the call to the police so he could hear you.

VT to CA

I've got no problem with you not taking any sh*t from the guy- but you should have pulled over. He was clearly going nuts... imagine if rather than speeding off, he'd snapped and run you over.

Next time, pull over and take him up on his challenge.

It always amazes me how fat guys in Hummers seem to think they can take the average in-shape cyclist in a fight... like somehow the combination of their giant SUVS and our gay-looking spandex will create a magical parallel world where fatties beat up athletes...

ridethecliche

Yeah, my dad used to scream at every driver that used to drive like an idiot. We kindly reminded him that unlike in New Delhi, India, the drivers in our part of PA might pull a gun out of the glove compartment if they got pissed.

roadwarrior

The Hummer is an extension of his, well, you know....

BTW...I once faked the police drunk driver call. After a couple of swerves, I met the guy at a light and had my phone out of my seat bag. Had his license, pretended to make the call so he could hear while we were sitting there. Never saw him again.

Generally, people that do things like this are not exactly mental giants, so it's not too hard to get them moving along without resorting to physical violence.

Remember, he has a multi-thousand pound weapon. You'll lose...

R900

+1

ridethecliche

+Infinity!
I love the 'call the cops'/fake call the cops idea. Use the latter if it's just minor crap. Now to find a way to keep my cell phone close at hand! It's hard to get it out of the seatbag while riding. I need to figure out how to mount a waterproof cell phone holder on my bikes!

VT to CA

That's great! Of course, here in LA, nobody would ever buy you actually got through to the LAPD, unless of course the red light lasted 15 minutes... that would be barely the 911 hold time...

I experienced this first-hand recently. A rider in our group blew a tire on a descent and went off Nichols into some brush, broke his wrist, twisted an ankle.

Called 911.

23 minutes before I spoke to anyone...

cordia75

I just came back from a ride.

On a rather steep descent with housing on the left, a cab veered out from the side road even though he saw me coming down the slope. You know that when a vehicles turns into a road from a stationary position, there is a momentary pause as he shifts to 2nd or 3rd gear. Man i almost crashed into the rear, had to jam onto my brakes hard.

Maybe car drivers should be given an education on bike riding mechanics.

btw, I live in a country where it is a right hand drive

WCroadie

I try to keep my cool when a-holes in cars do stupid things but every once in a while I loose it and will yell, gesture, etc. I've never hit a car but one dude did pull over once and we were nose to nose until cooler head's prevailed.

While I wouldn't recommend it cause you never know who you're messing with, I applaud your actions and hope that dude learned a lesson. Making him look like a sissy in front of his wife too, nice. Glad you didn't get hurt.

beaus pete

I enjoy breathing to much to take on a nut in a car!!!

blonduathlongrl

wow, those kind of incidents make me sooooo angry!
I was hoping the cops showed up and really got him in trouble!
Im sure this seemed to happend so fast for you, I have never encouraged behaviors like this, but part of me was very happy about what you did, I mean come on! this was your life out there! but I also wish more would of been done, like having the cops there, seems he left thinking YOU were in the wrong, so now what? he will probably do it again and with a vengence thinking that cyclists are a bunch of a$$hats!

( you didnt get his licence #, did you?)

Campag4life

I think most of us like to hear stories like that. But a guy on a bike, even a good cyclist like yourself is like bringing a knife to a gun fight. Many...and this seems to be truck drivers literally believe that bikes belong on the sidewalk and not on the street. They are the polar opposite of the cycling mentality of being fit and riding a small lightweight self propelled energy conserving vehicle....just big and fat ugly and dumb and most of all angry. How's that for a stereotype? In any event, if they brush me which seems to happen on occassion, I simply back off and let them have their 10 seconds of validation since they never get it in their daily lives.
Every one of us gets crazy mad when our lives are threatened but it is almost a given being out in traffic today.

Ryleeryno

+1 - Telling the cops that they "appeared to be intoxicated" will always ensue in affirmative action.

maddyfish

Nice thing about most car mirrors, if you whack them from above with any real force they snap right off.

billallbritten

ziplock bag in a jersey pocket works for me. Accessible, can be used through the bag in an emergency. Or a Bluetooth headset loosely attached by loop around ear, not inserted until needed.

Bill

Walter

To be politically incorrect: Sometimes people really need, and can actually benefit, from a real good a$$ kicking. Next time he offers to step out, help the poor bastard out. You'll actually be benefitting him in the long run.

spearce

The intoxicated line is great...you should say something to the effect of "he was swerving all over the road nearly killing and then he threw a half full bottle of beer at my head. As he went by I'm sure that I could smell marijuana cigarettes as well."