Haven't ridden for 3 days because of a very scary man

[Trek420]

That's just my newbie 2 cents.

That's a good $0.02 at any rank You will get to train with people who push the boundaries a bit. And we need that too.

I've had some interesting training moments with students, mostly male, and mostly flat out beginners who just do not like to be thrown by a woman.

Think the MA version of male cyclists who do anything not to be "girl'd".

This can be amusing in an art that simply favors experience, skill, training over strength, height, speed .... practically anything else.

NbyNW, glad your confrontation was ok. Stuff is just stuff, it can be replaced. What matters is that you are ok. That's what matters most for us all; have fun, be safe, ride ride ride ride!

[staceysue]

Wow - I'm overwhelmed by the number of responses. I wish I could respond to each one individually - so many great suggestions and interesting and scary stories (VERY scary) and just . . . sniff . . . this is the world's most supportive forum.

I changed my route but haven't gone so far as to get in the car and driving somewhere different. I have such a short time before work to get a good ride in. If I had to drive somewhere, I wouldn't be able to ride before work every day. The route I'm going has some spots where he could see me if he was looking for me, but he'd have to be looking and I honestly don't think he's THAT obsessed.

I've dealt with a lot of insane people at work (ER nurse) and in my life (lots of crazy family members) and I have learned the very hard way that trying to reason with them or befriend them is not a good idea. They're not reasonable and they're just wired differently. He's been out in the road waving a gun around at cars going by (including my son's car). I've heard stories from other people about him. I'm not going to go introducing myself to him or giving him any encouragement. Talking to him, looking at him, riding past his house . . . . all that's encouragement. I do not want to attract further interest in any way. Although he's been seen prowling around on our property, I'm holding out the hope that he doesn't know who I am or where I live. He may not have put 2 & 2 together yet.

The people who own the camp behind our property had some major run-ins with him. They started out trying to reason with him, then fought with him, but no matter what they did he just got more and more aggitated and obsessed with the conflict. He gets whipped into a frenzy. They ended up building a heavy locked gate across their driveway and renting a backhoe to dig trenches on either side. The police and a lawyer were involved at some point but nothing short of locking him up would work.

If I call the police, I'm afraid they'll go talk to him. If they go talk to him, things will really escalate. He WANTS to make people afraid, and he enjoys conflict, and he's completely unreasonable. He loves negative attention.

The neighbors across the field from us had some problems with him, too. I know at one point some of the people he was harassing got some sort of posse together and snuck over to his house and cut off the tops of all his apple trees in the middle of the night - not a good way to calm him down, for sure!

Anyways - I think I might already be off his radar. I'm on the new route and I'm keeping my eyes open for him. I've never seen him on that road before and if I see him coming I'll figure something out. He's got to be in his 60s at least. He's big and strong but I'll bet he's not very fast. I'll run between some trees - somewhere where his 4-wheeler won't fit - and dial 911 (the cops are only 30 minutes away!) and lay down on the ground with my gun . . . and that's totally not going to happen. He's not THAT crazy - he just likes scaring people. If he actually liked hurting people, he'd be in jail by now.

I was really afraid at first, but everything will be alright. He's not obsessed with me, in particular.

Thanks again, everybody.

[redrhodie]

Sounds good. I think it's a smart plan. Now you can carry on with your life, but you have an idea of what to do next should things move to another level.