Be Careful with how you handle this !!!
I had a similar incident back when I was in college and was younger and dumber then I am now (somehow those two seem to go together
). Namely, I was pulled over by a highway patrol officer while riding south on Hwy-93 from Whitefish to Kalispell back when it was only a narrow two lane road. Full lights and sirens and all just like when a cop pulls a car over.
The officer walked up to me and proceeded to explain to me that it was unsafe, dangerous, stupid, reckless, idiotic, etc., and etc. . . to bicycle on that highway section and that I was to cease and desist. At which point I demanded he give me a warning ticket with what he was saying in writing and on that ticket he provide a written statement of his “probable cause” for pulling me over (MT is a probable cause state, and an officer of the law pulling someone over without probable cause can be subjected to departmental disciplinary action, misdemeanor criminal action, and civil action) while at the same time I was staring at his uniform and badge and memorizing his name tag and badge number. This kind of caught him off balance and he told me to wait and then went back to his patrol car and spent about five to ten minutes on his radio talking back and forth to his dispatch and then he turned off his lights and pulled back onto the road and took off without getting back out of his patrol car and talking to me again or giving me the written documents I had demanded. After noting the time I proceeded on my way and counted reflector posts till the next mile marker and memorized that along with the time and the officers name tag and badge number.
After my classes at the college were over I peddled my way down to where the nearest highway patrol office is located between Kalispell and Somers and went into their office and demanded to be given the proper paper work with which to file a written complaint against one of their officers who “had chosen to enforce his personal opinions in direct contradiction of the law of the state of Montana and had done so through an illegal traffic stop without probable cause” (direct quote of what I said to the lady at the desk up front).
Needless to say, I basically being young, stupid, and had my “hackles up” and basically “kicked over the hornets nest”. Long story short I made an enemy of that particular officer and several in the office staff and supervisory positions. Since then over the course of several years that same officer has pulled me over twice and there were many, many, many more times where he didn’t pull me over but just slowed way down to my speed and gave me a very long look over and followed me for a distance looking for a reason to pull me over but found none. The first of those two pull over’s was when I was riding at night and my rear tail light had stopped working and I didn’t realize it and he gave me a ticket for operating a vehicle with non-functional tail light after dark on a public roadway and creating a public hazard as a result. I won that case due to the fact that the MT state law code specifically states that only a rear reflector (which I had) is required for bicyclists and that a rear tail light is not required but only suggested (where as a head light is required after dark). The second time was when I was riding into town in early summer and he slowed way down as usual to check me out and then pulled me over for having studded snow tires on my bicycle after the legal date (studded snow tires are only legal on MT state roadways during a specified Winter period). I had been lazy and hadn’t taken them off yet. I lost that case and paid the fine since there is no exception for bicyclists stated for that particular section of the state law code.
I was able to patch up relations with that particular officer due to the way I handled the second ticket where technically I was legitimately on the wrong side of the law. The fact I admitted so and paid my fine without making excuse or wining or complaining earned me some respect in his eyes so he has left me fairly well alone over the last few years.
I have no objection to officers of the law responding to bicyclists who refuse to follow the rules of the road just as they would respond to motorists who refuse to follow the rules of the road, in fact, I encourage such and feel that equal rights can only be gained through equal responsibility. That said I don’t like being signaled out for even greater scrutiny then any other user of the road motorist or cyclists not withstanding by an individual officer with a grudge against me.
Long Story Short, the moral of me sharing my personal experience in this area is to serve as a warning about being very careful what exactly you do when you do and how go about doing it when you “have your hackles up”. It appears that the same attitude I faced you are also facing. That being the inability of some individuals to see the bicycle as a legitimate mode of transportation just as much as a motor vehicle combined with a misguided idea that those in charge have a duty to protect us dumb little people from ourselves and dictate to us what choices we should make that are within are own free will and within the law of the land. Yes, it is important to make a stand but how you do so determines whether you are a strong and wise individual or a dumb punk who kicks over the hornets nest and gets himself a whole heap of trouble and makes things worse then they already are.