My weirdest commute home ever
 

Warning: long story. Occasionally I'll meet my wife at our daughter's day care and then we'll leapfrog each other home (my wife will pull over where it's safe to do so and then pull in behind me again when she can) because our 2.5-year-old loves seeing me ride in front of her and then waving to me as they pass me. We did this yesterday, and if my wife thinks this was my typical commute she's probably convinced I barely survive every trip home.

First, this one: We were about a mile from the day care and my wife passed me as we approached an intersection (ironically, the road to our right was my company's campus driveway). She had just passed me--there was less than a car length between us--when the driver of a van pulled out from our right, nearly clipping me and just missing her too. Thank God there was no one in the left lane next to me! I slammed on the brakes and cut it left, barely missing the van, and screamed "WTF are you doing????".

Now the van driver tried to accelerate away from me. Woops! My wife was in our car right in front of him and knew I was out for blood. She slowed down and prevented him from pulling away as I tried to race up along the driver's left side. But he pulled into the left lane as I reached his rear quarter panel, then pulled onto the highway.

I'm going to cruise around the parking lots on my company's campus today and see if I can spot the van. I'm undecided what I'll do. Leave a note? Flatten the tires? We'll see.

Then this one: About a mile and a half from our house my wife pulled alongside me and said she needed to stop and get gas, and to meet her at the gas station. As I pulled into the station some young guy in a pickup truck with two other guys yelled something about "suicide isn't a hobby". Since I'd just pulled in and I hadn't even seen this truck anywhere on the road, I wasn't sure he was talking to me. I stopped and asked if he was talking to me. He didn't answer. I asked him again. He again didn't answer me. I rolled a little closer and asked him again. Out of nowhere he started going off on me, saying things like, "Suicide isn't a hobby! You %$&*ing cyclists are gonna get killed! There are crazy drivers out here! There are plenty of bike trails in Chapel Hill!" I had no idea what I did to this guy, so I said, "What did I do to you? What's your problem?" I don't remember what he said next, but he and I really started to get into it.

Then my wife walked up behind me. I said, "This is my wife." Now, I'm a pretty small guy and I'll put up with just about anything done to me. My wife, on the other hand, is bigger than I am and one thing guaranteed to set her off is harassing me. She went off on the guy.........and he completely backed down. Honestly, it was almost funny.

After she yelled at him for a few minutes she slammed the one door they still had open and they left. I was still shaking from the adrenaline.

Get this: My wife had been observant enough to notice the guys in the pickup worked for a tree-cutting service...and they're cutting down trees at our neighbor's house just 2 doors down. When we arrived home I went over and got the phone number of the company and the name of the owner. He'll be getting a phone call today. :)

Don't you hate it when you think of a great line after the confrontation? The guy who kept saying, "Suicide isn't a hobby!" was holding 4 packs of cigarettes in his hand. I so wish I'd thought to say, "Suicide isn't a hobby? That's a really funny line from a guy who smokes as much as you do! So, are you a professional then?"

Hey, do you think I could get your wife to follow me around for a couple of days? I could use the help/protection!! That's a pretty weird commute alright, but I think we all put up with the B.S. from idiots from time to time. Sounds like it was just a bad day.

When you asked "Are you talkin' to me?" did you use your De Niro voice? :D

1 - seems like a really bad idea to have your wife leapfrogging you in the car on your way home. It's possible the guy in the van didn't see you because of the leapfrogging at an intersection (per your description).

2 - Learn to ignore people who yell stupid things at you. It'll make your life much happier. Sounds like you felt the need to seek a fight, rather than just walk away from a jackass who wasn't really threatening you in any tangible or immediate way. Does wonders for the rest of us riders when some of us choose to escalate a fairly benign situation rather than walk away from it.

Sorry, just my opinion.

That was the really strange thing about this incident. I'm used to drivers pulling out in front of me--you know, either they don't see an approaching cyclist, or they misjudge the speed, or they just don't care. But THIS driver pulled out in front of my wife's Honda CR-V! She only managed to avoid him by cutting left to get around him.

Furthermore, it could just as easily have been any other driver passing me near that intersection...and if it had, I probably wouldn't be here right now. It was only because it was my wife and she was very aware that I was there that she managed to avoid both me and the idiot in the van.

So you're going to damage private property because someone cut you off (a common occurrence for me, at least), and you are having your wife fight your battles for you? hmm...

Man, you need to chill. Cycling is about enjoying the ride, not having a chip on your shoulder.

Can't say I would have done any different in your situation. Once the blood is up, reckless things are said...

Both you and your wife got aggressive and hostile with a guy you didn't know (in other words who may be armed and nuts) in a gas station. With your child in the car.

Moreover, your wife used a moving car--with your child inside--to block off another moving car (that also might be driven by an armed nut) just so you can close and, presumably, go off on the guy.

No excusing poor driving by the van or verbal harassment by the pick up guy--both of those things could make you angry. But when you let your anger turn into road rage that makes the incident worse (couldn't you have just walked away from the pick up guy when he initially refused to engage?), carries over well past the immediate situation (flattening tires, really?), or involves your wife and kid in sketchy situations it's hard to be sympathetic. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but I think a lot of folks, particularly non cyclists who haven't been brushed by traffic, might see it that way.

Wow, all that is bizarre. And by "bizzare", what I actually mean is "amusing".

And by "amusing", I mean "amusing because I wasn't actually part of it".

LOL. :-)

When I think about a pickup truck driver I always think, "Bull whips cracking...How long, how long?"

When a driver pulled out at an intersection and knocked me onto their hood, I jumped up and yelled at my wife that I was fine!

She says she doesn't recall anything until I yelled that - she'd jumped off her bike and thrown it to the ground and was going for the driver :)

Low speed, nothing damaged, he just pulled forward and I lay down on his hood.

It's funny how things come in two's and three's. The other day had the craziest traffic I have ever seen (I teach school, so I don't usually go home at rush hour) but I saw more traffic than at a usually at rush hour. I also saw an unusual number of old people on bikes. It was weird.

Tru dat!

If she's more bad@$$ than him, then it's fine to bring on the militia!

It would be easier to wave at you if your wife was riding a bike with your daughter on a carrier, no?