Just a few miles from where I live. I'll be giving pedestrians a little wider berth from now on.

https://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/j...side-stranger/

The lack of sunshine can really push some folks over the edge.

another good reason not to ride on the sidewalk.

The report did not say he was riding on the sidewalk. It said he "was headed south on South Kingston Road when he was passing a pedestrian".

I was just up there this past weekend. Highly, highly unusual to see anyone walking on the road. There's a very wide shoulder along this road. Maybe ped was on shoulder, bicyclist to the right of the lane? If he just got off the ferry, this is likely since he may have been avoiding the nightmarish traffic of an unloading ferry.

That stinks. Sounds like that kid needed some mental health help and maybe some Thorazine.


I know I wasn't supposed to laugh while reading this thread, but this did it.

I love how the author makes the point that the cyclist didn't know the attacker, as if that makes it better (or worse) somehow.

Sounds like an attempted mugging.

Did anyone not notice the fact that the suspect was just involved in a psuedo-home invasion?

You've got to leave an excuse for the L.A. crazies

Pepper Spray would solve that problem.

Not really. From the article:
I agree. He was almost certainly mentally ill or very high.

I doubt it. The attack probably happened so quickly that the victim couldn't have sprayed him until after he got punched. What would that solve?

Who knows, but do it anyway!

Last year, I pedaled past a guy walking on the shoulder going the opposite direction. As I passed him, he yelled out, "Ride, mother****er, ride!", in a really bizarre tone of voice. I remember thinking that if he had wanted to, he could have reached out and grabbed or bumped my handlebars, causing a spill at best. I didn't even think about the possibility of being punched in the face until this article. Like I said, I'll be giving peds a wide berth.

Not when you just get coldcocked. I used to carry the heavy end of a pool cue when I rode courier way back when. Didn't save me when some guy stepped out of an alley and busted me in head with a 2x4.

I think this situation just sounds like everyday, garden-variety crazy. I bet he's got nothing in particular against cyclists. He might have taken a swing at a car that came too close.

<--PNW tweaker smilie

Definitely someone in an alternate version of reality. (Given the age, I'd guess schizophrenia. The psychotic symptoms can come on very quickly and usually around early adulthood. They can be triggered by drug use, which complicates things considerably, because a lot of people with schizophrenia attempt to self medicate when the less florid symptoms start...).

I usually give pedestrians a wide berth if they are moving in any exaggerated or unusual way. I probably dodge a lot of iPod dancers unnecessarily, but better safe than sorry.

You're absolutely right. I've worked on psych units for 30 years and I've been coldcocked a number of times.

Pain is not a good weapon when you're dealing with a psychotic person. Inflicting pain before he hits you won't stop him because he's so agitated. Inflicting pain after he hits you is just taking revenge on a sick person, and not cool.

Walk away. If that doesn't work, push him away from you very hard, then turn and run away. A psychotic person will almost never follow you, since they usually just want to be left alone.

An excellent strategy!

And a good curbside diagnosis in your previous message, Dr. Buglady.

I had a drunk take a swing at me as I rode by once, He did not make contact but avoiding him took me off the bike . then stated he was going to kick my *****. I try to avoid conflict when someone threatens me (threaten my family is a different story) But at the time we had just lost a son in a car accident and I just did not care .I was riding that day to think. It took him about 3 seconds to decide he didn't want to kick my ***** after all. I feel bad about it now days but he pushed the issue
Roy

I passed a guy today pushing a shopping cart on a sidewalk through a business park that is easily 4 miles from the closest grocery store. He was yelling at cars and at me. I have never been more thankful that there is a *wide* landscape strip between the road and the sidewalk.

Dare I point out that that's what makes the story newsworthy? If he had been attacked by somebody he knew, then it's pretty easy to imagine that there was some history between them that flared up at that moment.

So what you're telling us is that you've been in and out of psychiatric facilities for many years?

Well, I've been in but I've never been out.

I used to live in Kingston off the Point-No Point Road & there isn't a sidewalk on South Kingston Rd. When we lived there, response time for the Kitsap County Sheriff was around 40 minutes because they operated out of Silverdale & covered a large, rural area with few staff. There were sometimes a couple of State Patrol officers at the dock to deal with ferry traffic but locals are usually on their own in situations like this. It was fortunate the deputies were still in the area because of the previous incident. Don

Misplaced fear belongs in A&S.