I've got one to add to the "thrown food from cars" list.

A friend and I were cycling just past Sherbourne and Bloor (Toronto, Canada) a while ago. It's not high crime or anything, but it's not exactly rich either. Anyways, we're on the right side of the road riding 2 across, because that's pretty much the only way to get a lane in this city without cars coming 5mm from clipping you. This pale blue Honda Civic comes up, screams something unintelligible at both of us, and tosses *three eggs* out of the window at us. We both weave out of the way, one of the eggs clips my helmet, and we take off after the cagers. We booted it to try to catch up -- I swear I was in big/tiny all the way. At the bridge crossing into downtown, they run a red light, presumably to avoid us (a wise idea, because we were both in a very bad mood due to the incident, one of those moods that nobody really wants to admit to having felt, wherein you feel smashy-smashy), nearly causing several cross-collisions at the intersection. We, being law-abiding citizens, stopped for the red, causing us to lose the license plate number.

Regarding peds kicking cyclists, I've also had a member of a film crew come kick at me for kicking their pylons out of the middle of the bike lane. She was pretty fierce about it, yelling "how would you like it if I kicked you?", but I bet she learned not to kick a moving spoked wheel while wearing sandals pretty quickly after, heh.

I shoulder checked some film crew that was blocking the bike lane in Philly last summer.

Bike and rider weight = 250 pounds
Speed = 14 mph

Energy = A LOT

It still takes a lot of energy to move a cyclist enought to tip him/her over. A moving mass tends to keep moving, a freestanding equal or lesser mass being impacted tends to move.

.... Or I am not playing pool anymore

Or

Honestly, what's with film crews thinking they have god-like powers over the roads?

Yeah, OK, so the city said they could film here, but that doesn't mean they get to impede traffic flow, and thus break the law.

No ... they think that they are immune to 500 people buzzing by and yelling "WTF!!!!"

Try riding in Richmond. Be sure to wear a helmet.....and Kevlar. It's the most dangerous city in CA. I used to bike commute to my job there, but I had one too many close calls. Now I drive my pickup truck.

Personally, I'm not too inclined to get my head blown off after chasing some wanna be gangsta down.

In the seige of Stalingrad during WWII they had these little beauties which were a sealed pop bottle with benzene, liquid rubber, and phosphorus. When exposed to the air after breaking the bottle, everything ignites in a big gooey mass.

gregas: just find the car, dump a load of iron oxide and aluminum powder on it, light with a sparkler -- instant thermite.

perhaps just carryng a carton of eggs for the throwing would help. as long as you don't break them. hmmm....

We've been at work for seventeen hours already. It's cold. We've been working long days for the past few weeks. We just want the goddamn director to get the goddamn shot so we can go to the next location and do it all over again.

Honestly, most film crews are so fried they're not noticing a thing. It's not a godlike powers thing, it's a 'dear god i wish i was dead' thing.

... and there's the problem. They're not noticing a thing except what they want done.

It's all well and good to say "I've had a long day", and everyone has felt that way at one time or another -- perhaps the film crew occupation is predisposed to longer days than others, I wouldn't know.

But consider that if those pylons had caused me injury, "we weren't paying attention" wouldn't have worked in a court of law. Regardless of what your occupation is, every human being is obligated to be treated with respect and civility, whether that means preventing possible accidents by moving your pylons elsewhere, or not kicking at my bike for preserving my safety. This particular film crew did neither, and I'm not attacking everyone in the profession. It just seems to be a common thread here in Toronto.

I was on Morocco recently and saw a guy riding with probably about a thousand eggs on his bike. Though I would never wish harm on another cyclist I secretly wanted to see him fall.

These work pretty good, too:
https://www.bulldogpaintball.com/armotechzeus.html

Non-lethal, but they HURT when they hit, and they make a helluva mess when they explode on the inside of somebody's windshield. If you've never been hit by a paintball at close range, trust me that they are an effective deterrent to an approaching would-be attacker. Careful though, you will permanently blind somebody if you shoot them in the eye. (Not that some people wouldn't deserve such a fate.)

I wish I had that durring a few of my rides downtown recently. People are getting crazier.

i had some on-the-corner type kids jam a stick in my spokes last winter as i rode by. it broke the stick, and only caused me to make a tiny, tiny fishtail. damn stupid hooligans.

What area of Sacto? I want to make sure to avoid it.

For those who don't have a rear-view mirror, GET ONE. They are invaluable at spotting problems approaching from the rear.

+1 on the mirror

In the event of an attack I see coming:

• Plan 1: ride like the wind, preferably someplace they can't follow
• Plan 2: long blast on my AirZound horn (works great for dogs; I hope it'd also work for human curs)
• Plan 3: collect as much information about the attackers as possible (license plate #, physical description(s), et cet), and report attack to police ASAP

Note there is no "Plan 4: pull out pistol and pull a Dirty Harry." Though, like most critters in nature, if cornered I will defend myself, I always want to de-escalate any situation. That's for my own safety. Do I even carry a pistol? That's for me to know and for punk to find out. Do You Feel Lucky?

Plan 3 is also in effect in case of an attack I don't see coming.

Those are plans, and I mentally rehearse them fairly regularly. I practice memorizing license plate numbers and describing people I see from quick glances. Practice really helps.

In reality, the one time I was attacked (beer poured on me from a car full of yuppie puppy teens), I was lucky enough to be able follow them undetected through city traffic to their destination, a movie theater.

After they went in, I used a key to let the air out of all four of their tires. This was risky: it took several minutes, made more noise than I'd expected and I could've gotten caught. Now I always carry a small pair of tweezers for quickly removing valve stem cores.

But this will only work if you can follow them undetected. I don't recommend it anyway. Plan 1, 2 and/or 3 all the way.

I started riding back in the early 70's and would have thought this kind of crap would have stopped by now! I could rant on and on about by horror stories with over 30 years of riding here in good ol West-by-god-Virginia.One of the worst was a bunch of punks got out of their car and tried to cut me with broken soda bottles (32oz returnables pre-2liter,like I said I've been riding for years) lucky for me some buddies happened by.......I haven't had on incident though since I've been carrying a cell phone pouch on my messenger bag strap,,,just point it at em like your taking their ever lovin picture,and then call 911. Damnest thing nobody likes to get caught. 4 on one ain't cool though, being a tree huggin hippie type I never thought I would tell anyone this but,,,,,I'd consider carrying a gun for awhile.
-------JJ

when i was, say, 11, i was biking home from school and some punk in a car decided to simply reach out, grab my backpack, and shove me to the ground. but hey, i actually got the license plate! after my dad talked to the cops, they went over to the guys house to have a little talk...

I've got (car)valve stem removers on as my valve caps now just in case I manage to track someone to their final destination. Havn't had the opportunity to use one yet.

you rule. i don't really have that kind of balls. but reading all of this i'm starting to wonder if i should be carrying rocks in my pockets for throwing at car windows...

to the op: i'm so sorry and so glad you are in one piece. may your shoulder heal normally and may you not ride in fear of ****ing *******s who deserve to flip their trucks. *tips glass*

this really angers me, and makes me want to start carrying weapons. it sucks when i feel that way.

ps: i love the molotov in the water bottle cage idea

pps: on a more serious note, can you KILL someone with a flare gun or just **** them up? because that would probably be a pretty sweet thing to ruin someone's day with. i don't want to cause serious harm to people. i just want them to know the need to **** off.

i really let my emotions show through when i read this kind of stuff. i am so easily frustrated with people that have power over me.

In Chicago Hand guns are illegal,but...
you can own a musket if it is an antique.

Make sure to keep your Flint dry this time of year, I have found wrapping the whole thing in saran-wrap (TM) helpful. Also, When refiling, just go ahead and bite off the top of the paper charge packet with your teeth, no need for scissors or a knife. Growing up on the east coast, I used to go to Antietam and Gettysburg and study the technique of those in the garrisons. Even a noobie can get off a round every 2min with a couple months of practice.

Never been in a dispute that this couldn't handle, and a bike is so much smother to fire off of while moving than a horse.

good luck in your conflict resolution.

Please don't start carrying weapons.

Granted, I am a peacenik Canadian. However, should the trend catch on, we'll get a reputation similar to (and perhaps worse than) the kids who throw sticks into your spokes -- cagers will think we're out to ruin people's days and treat us similarly.

Remember, you always have a bike between you and a threat. Non-violent resistance like parking in front of a person for a minute or so has worked for me in the past. When the person got out, the societal implications of stopping traffic like that made the people behind him really dislike him and begin to honk. He threatened to start a fight, so I made sure that every car behind him (whether they disliked me or not) knew this fact rather loudly.

Sometimes the best offense is really a good defense.

I'm not sure what I'd do if confronted with a violent attacker. I mean, I have a bike I can lift and use as a weapon if I have no other option. And a U-lock. Fortunately, violent outrages seem to be a rare occurrence on the roads here.

Edit: Just to add, make sure you pick your battles wisely if you do decide to confront a driver. Have a workable escape plan just in case. For example, confronting a driver on a busy street with many alleys and cross-streets is more likely to get you out of there ASAP if he or she turns out to be violent.

4 on 1 isn't cool--ganging up is never cool, period. it doesn't even reflect well on the person(s) perpetrating it..."yeah, there was this dude and me and 4 buddies ****ed him up good"...wow. aren't you the tough guy?