worktheweb

I've been commuting for a while now on the Mount Vernon Trail without incident (with one of the most beautiful commutes imaginable). Tuesday night, I was approaching Alexandria from Washington and had a very weird thing happen by Daingerfield Island. It was around 9 PM and very dark outside and around 28 degrees F -- to my right about 15 feet off the path I saw a man in a grey jumpsuit walking toward the path and directly toward me. Naturally, I started pedaling as hard as I could, thinking the guy might be trying to attack me ... and once he noticed me cranking up the speed he put up his right hand and yelled "Hail Caesar!" . Absolutely bizarre.

Would you be worried about this, or just dismiss it as some guy trying to get some laughs?

thdave

I'd dismiss it as a crazy dude off his meds. A good reply might have been, "Elvis lives!"

truman

DC, right? Sounds like a freshman senator being hazed.

ColorChange

LOL ... you guys are funny.


What's the frequency?

ItsJustMe

Nah, either "Et tu, Brute?" or "Frodo lives"

nebben123

You should have just yelled "SALAD!"

Lurker1999

Take the safety off your pepper spray, smile, nod and just keep riding.

Bockman

the good thing is, in this weather, unless you're extremely curvaceous most people 'assume' a cyclist is a guy. That gives you some extra time for getaways from the crazies.

Bikepacker67

Pass The Croutons!

HoustonGal

You might want to keep an eye out for this guy. If he is indeed mentally ill, you just don't know what he might try to do to you the next time you go past him.

Case in point: one of our department chairs was riding his bike along a biking/jogging path along the bayou. He was accosted by a homeless person who rammed a pipe into the spokes of his bike, pushed him down a 20 foot concrete embankment into the bayou and then began a fist fight. Apparently the guy was screaming something about going for the Montessori school next.

Homeless guy was arrested, department chair wound up in the hospital for a few days with broken ribs and a collapsed lung. He's fine now though.

SingingSabre 

You should have stopped and make him kiss your hand.

Two Buck Chuck

I am friends with the Park Ranger for the Parkway. I will pass along this incident to him and the Park Police. A cyclist was strangled to death last year in that same area in broad daylight. The person was mentally ill and on acid as well as other drugs. He was later caugt running naked down the Parkway. Daingerfield Island is a dangerous place, day or night. Here is the link to the incident report: https://www.nps.gov/uspp/528homdanis&arr.htm

Be careful out there. Let me know if you notice an increased police presence in this area in the next few days. I get off the Mt. Vernon trail at Four Mile Run, but occassionally ride past Daingerfield Island.

worktheweb

I did notice a park police officer in the parking lot this morning as I went in -- made me wonder if maybe someone else had reported a similar incident with the same guy. The stretch around Daingerfield Island is definitely a spooky ride at night -- lots of sharp turns and hiding places for people to jump out from behind. The guy was dressed so darkly that if it weren't for the blazing light of my HID headlight, I might not have seen him until he was right next to me.

lima_bean

I find the weirdest thing to be that this is the first time you have had an encounter like this. This is a semi-daily type of experience for me.

rule

he wanted you

deputyjones

Doing what you did is the best thing...RUN AWAY! Pepper spray is a cheap, 99% effective secondary solution if you are not able to get away. Just check the local regs on it's legality, and good luck.

ragboy

TOGA!

Paul L.

For some reason this reminds me of the cat woman on the simpsons.

CommuterRun

"Hail Caesar! Thank you, good Citizen!"
And keep right on going.

squeakywheel

Did you say Daingerfield? I don't get no respect. I tell ya. If it weren't for creeps on da bike trail, I wouldn't have any fun at all. My ex wife mugged a guy there once. I tell ya. He was cryin for more. Now I ride da trail hopin she's in da bushes. What? Who ya lookin at?

I think he was some kook. You could probably take him out if he tried to jump you. Just riding faster was the best response.

caloso

Now we know what Don Rumsfeld has been doing since he left the Pentagon.

ronjon10

Maybe you shouldn't dress like this on your bike

cc_rider

Might just be a funny encounter, but when the OP metioned "Dangerfield Island" and "crazy-acting guy" I immediately thought of last year's murder.
Even though MVT is one of the busiest bike trails in the country, that stretch can be pretty isolated.
Be careful.

btw, has anyone had problems with the "mad tacker" this season? I hadn't heard of any incidents on the MVT for several months.

buzzman

I was riding home late one night on a bike path here in Boston and had a similar incident.

It was about 12:30 am and I was in a particularly creepy quiet part of the path and fuming about what a jerk the director I was working with was when a guy stepped out of the bushes in full camouflage gear. Fortunately, I had simultaneously vocalized a particularly vicious string of expletives at full volume and it absolutely scared the crap out of the guy. I had no time to react to the Rambo-man and am ever thankful to the tyrant of a director I was working with at the time- "Hail, effing Caesar!"

My advice: render unto Caesar what is due Caesar- a face full of mace or an earful of expletives.

Two Buck Chuck

I think the "mad tacker" hasn't been causing any trouble this season. It is still a mystery--they think it may be some pissed off jogger who has gotten buzzed by bikes one too many times.