Keep your eyes and ears open, pray.

Your are unhurt! Keep it that way.

The sob that came within a few inches of ending my life? ...kept right on going after swerving eight feet into the shoulder to hit me.

My left arm was saved by a talented surgeon.

I too wish that I hadn't missed years (twentyfive) of cycling...thank G for mountain bikes! ...and, three years back as a wheelman, I'm ALMOST brave enough to road it.

Easy for us to second guess not being in your shoes. But......Is it possible you just freaked and POSSIBLY over reacted? Is it possible it may have been a close pass but nothing more?

Chances are that the OP would have been fine, albeit passed too closely, if he'd just held his line. I get a lot of drivers who don't move over for whatever reason. They pass closer than I would like but not one of them have hit me or blown me off the road in about 15 years of road riding. I don't like it when they do it but as long as I can ride a straight line and keep my cool when I'm getting passed close it's not that bad. Some people teach that you should "take the lane" but I have a hard time brining myself to do that. On rural roads I do ride a litle farther out than I need to so when a car's passing me I can move over 6 inches or so, giving me a little more room than the driver was leaving for me.

But like Spiduhman above relates, some small pecentage of drivers are out to hit riders. I've once had a truck come up behind, floor it and try to nail me. That time I jumped the bike off the edge of the road into the gravel. I'm not sure how I knew he was going for me, maybe the change in engine speed.

I'm going to disagree with Pcad on this:
Having more information on what's going on behind you can help you make the split-second evaluation: homicidal maniac or typical idiot? If that means a mirror, get one. I don't use one but I have good hearing and I'm still limber enough that I can turn my head and look back out of the corner of my eye.

I've never fell from the bike but I've had similar incidents (I think we all do sooner or later). It happens so fast I always forget to look at the plates. I've been thinking on getting one of these small sports-cams, attach it to the bike and leave it recording everything all the time. It would be Fred but ....

I got home last week one day and I thought, so this is what surviving combat would have felt like. Cars were passing way too close, I swerved off into a driveway I swear he would have hit me, but I aint quitting. Screw em'. Every once in a while I flip one off, in hopes they will come back. *******s. Really I am not that bitter, but some days are worse then others. Hang in there buddy.

and what would you tell the police department? that a big car was coming up fast behind you, it was loud and scared you, and you rode off the road? it sounds like it didn't 'run you off the road', but that you just got freaked and over reacted.

Good to see fellow BF'rs are as supportive as always.

You lived to fight another day -- just be glad of that, and get back in the saddle.

I have about 200K miles on the road and I have had only four incidents like you describe. Each is etched into my brain. Whatever you do don't follow the SOB home and ring his doorbell. You just might get a large caliber chromed handgun shoved in your face. Guess how I know that. (It was great training, BTW. A couple of miles at 35 mph+ after already riding 90+ miles. Adrenalin is so awesome!)

Absolutely.

A little denial is a healthy thing. What I think happens is you start thinking too much about what *could* happen, often as a result of these situations. Our perception of risk changes, and hard to stop thinking about. To get that healthy denial back, it sometimes helps to get mad, get zen about the whole thing, tlaki about it with other experienced cyclists, realistically re-evaluate what happened and what you can do different next time, reminding yourself of the rarity of real incidents vs. the feeling that they could happen (and will happen) at any moment.

Or just go get roaring drunk. Helps with the "**** 'em" attitude so necessary when riding.

You gotta decide if you're going to let this kind of thing stop you from doing what you love to do, or not. We're here to help. At least most of us, anyway.

What you need to do is put it behind you. Next time you ride on the road defend your lane. Do not

ride on the very edge but maybe a 1/3 of the way to the left of the edge. That way you have some wiggle room and you force drivers to safely pass you by making them wait till the oncoming lane is clear (2 lane road) Just try it and see how it works for you.

I had a very similar incident that almost ended badly. On a back road a van pulls around me and the passenger makes some sort of statement as to their assumption of my sexual preference because of my bike shorts.

I paid them no mind they pulled away. About 30 min later they came back down the road the other direction and threw out a ½ bottle of coke and hit me in the head. Out of reaction I threw up the one finger salute as I grabbed my head. They slammed on the breaks and started backing up, the passenger hanging out the window shaking his fist screaming something. I had no place to run / go, I could not outrun them.

I got off my bike laid it down as they kept backing up. Slowly reaching with my right hand behind my back until I made contact with my Glock 40 that always accompanies me on my rides in a waist band holster. They stopped about 15 yrs from me, I never said a word, never made a move as they hollered a few more choice phrases…. we looked at each other for what seemed like a hour, but was most likely 1 minute or so and then they pulled away. I have spent some time in law enforcement 20 + years ago, had I pulled my weapon, I would of used it. I assume these guys were a little liquored up as this was on a Friday about 5:30, but they had no idea the reason looks so scared, was because I was, I was scared of what they could do to me on a back rode after I had 60 miles under my belt, but more so I was scared that I was about to take someone’s life, but I was not going to be a victim that day. The drive never got out of the truck and the passenger never closer then about 12 yards. I am sure these guys had a good laugh about it, but they will never know that had the driver gotten out or the passenger pushed 2 yrd. closer just what would of happed. I am thankful they didn’t I never want to have use deadly force, but if it come to protecting me or my family, I will. The entire15 yrs I have been riding I have only pulled my gun once, and that was to shoot a dog that attracted a rider in a group I was in. It knocked her of the bike the proceeded to try and take another bite from her while she was down. Had I not shot the dog she would have had to take rabies shots, but the test on the animal came back negative. She had a few stitches and had to get a tetanus shot. They police checked the area around where it happened and no one claimed the dog.

BTW, no I was not breaking the law…Texas is concealed carry state and I have a permit to do so.

I tried to get the license # but was so shaken up I coule barely remember my name. I still try not to ride back roads alone to this day.

I have reached for my firearm once in the last 49 years and I had the choice to fight or run. I ran. That might have been the wrong choice the way things turned out but, at the time I know I did the right thing.

The person who actually hit you is guilty of a felony for neglecting to stop. Report it.

I know and I did, but the fact I could not remember the whole license # was a problem. That was my fault, but like I said I was prety shook up.

If you had the plates, it would go like this:

"I'd like to report a hit and run." (first incident)
or
"I'd like to report being forced out of my lane and off the road by a vehicle, causing injury to me and my bike. The driver who forced me off the road left the scene of the accident."

In both cases, the accidents would be investigated, and most likely the drivers involved would be in trouble for leaving the scene of an accident. Furthermore, it would give you the opportunity to find out who they are and get their insurance information so that you could file a claim for the damage to yourself and/or your bike.

And best of all, those people who got in trouble for the trouble they caused you, would tell at least one or two friends or family members, meaning that at least in some small way, awareness would be heightened for a few people.

Sorry about your accident. But it could have been worse. I always carry a cell phone. I haven't had a crash for many years now. But when I have a motorist that's trying to run me off the road or making some threating moves, I always call the police and report their license plate number. Most of the time they never investigate it but, here, it is recorded on the license plate number as having a nuisance report on it.

What you experience was a driver who did see you but felt he owned the road himself. The road is for cars and cyclists and cyclists have the same rights as motorists. That's the law, at least, where I am. The law even states that if the road is no more than 8 feet wide the cyclist can use it at will, like ride in the middle. I've done this on some of the twisty country roads here followed by a bunch of cars. They swear and all that but I'm just going by the law. As soon as they can pass they just hit the gas, almost to show who's the boss. What a joke some trivers are.

This is what I do.

I used to ride 3 inches from the white line as courtesy as to not impede traffic. Cars would pass and not go over the yellow making for a few uncomfortable situations. Now the 4 feet I take is a bail-out option. After a while you get a sense if the vehicle behind you is coming around or coming up directly behind you. So far, I'm still here.

Practice memorizing license plates at a glance. Car passes...with just a glance I try to get it. A serious hit & run happened in my area and that made me want to practice.

The worst is that your memory gets a bit better.

Report it. Last year we had driver in my area who was repeatedly harassing and intentionally driving at cyclists. After enough incidents were reported, the police in several towns compared notes and were able to track the person down and arrest them. No slam inferred regarding how fast the police responded; my point is that it took a while to collect enough data (vehicle descriptions, partial plates, etc.) to finally get the person. After the news broke, more people came forward with incident descriptions. Don't expect a flurry of action based on just your report, but if the guy who took a run at you is in the habit of targeting cyclists, maybe your info will help track him down.

In NC attempting to escape before shooting is a legal requirement.

Cycling....the most dangerous sport in the world.

Yep,

I video every ride, and repeat the license plate out loud to make sure I have it on the video. I can get over 2.4 hours of good resolution video on a 2gb SD card...

DPN

I am afraid if I was that worried about traffic to have to carry a video cam I would just choose not to ride.