Look who's trash-talking bikes now - from the League of American Bicyclists

[WindingRoad]

That's horrible Darcy, sorry you had to deal with that.

Unfortunately this reminds me of a situation my mother and father just dealt with. They live in rural Indiana where they have lots of country roads and some of the busier roads have HUGE shoulders on them. They generally ride on the should when they can. But this one time they had some old man come pull up behind them and kept honking and honking refusing to pass them trying to get them to get completely off the road when there was broken glass all over the edge of the road. My mom motioned this guy around and he finally went around laying on his horn. Keep in mind my folks are well into their 60's now, they don't need that kind of crap. My mom called him an "old fart", which is harsh words for her. I'm glad they ride together. My dad was attacked by a Pitbull last year while riding. Knocked him completely off his bike into the ditch and the dog wouldn't let go. My mom ran over towards it and literally beat it with her bike to get it to let go. That one went to court and they did win which is amazing given the rural mentality around there. I hate how some of the country folks treat cyclists. I feel for you Darcy, is there anyone who can ride with you? For whatever reason they seem to be better if there's more than one rider.

[DarcyInOregon]

I feel for you Darcy, is there anyone who can ride with you? For whatever reason they seem to be better if there's more than one rider.

Hi WindingRoad, I bet your parents shrugged off the old guy honking at them as just another riding experience. That is how it is for me, until I started noticing a pattern. Mostly though my rides are quite safe. I only got bit by a dog once, and it was a tiny fast dog.

I have a few friends with whom I bike, but I bike myself a lot too. I don't wait around for other people, I get on my bike and go. I put a lot of miles on the bike, and so I experience a lot of odd things. Like last year I was pedaling along the road on a steep uphill where there was an embankment above me, and there were two farm workers shooting out across the road at birds over my head, totally oblivious to the legality of what they were doing, much less the bullets could have fallen out of the sky and impacted my body. I had to yell at them to let them know there was a cyclist on the road, and thereby diverting valuable oxygen away from the climbing muscles. I was not happy about it. Nor do I expect to see wildlife killed by guns when I am out on a ride.

I have no idea what fuels road rage. The story of the ER doctor who got 5 years in prison and destroyed his career goes to show you the road-rage-guy can be well educated yet allow rage and anger to consume his entire being without recognizing that anything is wrong with his emotions and thought proccesses. I never engage the road-rage-guy, because who is to say that the next road-rage-guy doesn't pull out a gun and shoot me. I just say, sorry you are wrong, please look up the laws, and pedal on.

I thought at one time the road-rage-guys think all bikes are mountain bikes and are supposed to be riding off the asphalt of the road, down in the ditch, or off in the field. I stay alert for road-rage-guys on my rides, just like I stay alert for the motorists who look me right in the eye from a stop sign on a side road, then pull out in front of me in their pickup truck that is hauling a trailer with a boat behind it, and sometimes there is a horse trailer in the mix too, and I am expected to go from 15-18 mph to zero mph in just a few seconds with no way to go around the vehicles because the length of all of the trailers and such is too long.