Tailgated by other cyclist!!

[Jenn]

So, DH and I went down to a long bike trail here that runs along the river. It's 40 miles round trip and we wen't down there thinking we felt strong, so we were going to ride strong. Well, we started off and it was pretty empty, not much traffic, as we are cruising along at a pretty good pace, this man and woman...(He has on NO shirt, no helmet, the woman, a bikini top, mini skirt, (NOT a riding skirt) sandals...obviously just out for a "Sunday stroll". Anyway, they proceeded to pull out right in front of us seeing how fast we were going, and ran DH off the road! I almost ate it but unclipped in time and stopped. So, they proceeded on like nothing happened. WE were PISSED. So, DH and I picked up our pace, called out "passing on left" and passed them, well, next thing I know I hear this noise behind me the same time DH does he looks back and starts taking off, I look back and this SOB is right ON my back tire. I clicked down and took off we were running about 22 and he was gone pretty fast after that, but it scared the SH&* out of me to look back, I swear this guy was trying to hit my tire! So, DH slows down asks me if I'm ok, and they were no where to be seen. As we are talking, 2 more people on bikes are taking up the whole path, so DH falls behind me and the guy would NOT get over, I finally YELLED,LOOK OUT, because he wasn't paying attention and he barely missed me. I REALLY shook for awhile after that one. So, for the rest of the ride we kept a good pace, our average was 18. We got to the end of the trail and had to turn around to go back. By then the trail was pretty clear so we were going 20-22 and wouldn't you know I looked down for 2 seconds and look up and there is a HUGE snake crossing the path. I ALMOST ate it, I ran off the path into the dirt but recovered thank goodness. DH might have clipped it's tail.
Needless to say it was quite an eventful ride! I think we will stick to riding on the street, I'd rather deal with motorist I think. We saw alot of guys down there all "decked" out and they were flying down that path faster then us, I don't know how they did it. It' MUCH easier on the street where the only moving targets are autos. I was just shocked at how people would not get over or give you any room. It's a narrow path with a yellow stripe the WHOLE way, so it's pretty obvious what side you SHOULD be on!! Sorry for the vent. We had a good ride beside all that, even though DH made me push myself REALLY hard, by the end of the ride our average was 17.2 which is the fastest I've ever done!