Austin cyclist shot in back by pellet gun

[ny biker]

Be careful out there.

http://tinyurl.com/mapxnz

They're looking for two guys in a Prius(!).

(p.s. Twitter is useful: got this from @lancearmstrong who re-tweeted it from @mellowjohnnys.)

[Trekhawk]

Yikes!
Another story where I shake my head and think who are these people. Do they dislike cyclists so much that they forget that cyclists are other real people with real lives. I think when you put your helmet on and get on your bike your humanness to some disappears and you are a breed apart. This seems to make it ok in some minds to hurt us.

[Zen]

Drive-by shooter= coward

Drive-by+ shoot in the back= super coward

Prius+ scrunch down in the seat= teen-aged azz clowns driving mummy's car(?)

[7rider]

Having also been shot by someone with a pellet gun while I was riding my bike....all I can do is shake my head. Some people. Good grief.

[Tri Girl]

WTH is wrong with some people??? Maybe I should get a gun rack and put it on my rear rack (just like the pick-ups around here) and have a fake gun on the back. Might keep some people from messing with me. OK, I wouldn't really do that, but stories like this make me consider it.
I'm glad the man didn't get paralyzed from the pellet and that he didn't wipe out since he was traveling downhill so quickly.

[Aggie_Ama]

I have been hit by a can. A local cyclist was hit by a glass beer bottle but got plates and filed an assualt charge. When I ride I now practice getting at least a partial plate. With a very accurate description and partial plate I can give cops something to work with and believe me if a can hits me again I will have enough information to file harrassment charges.

FWIW- Austin is not bike friendly, I don't know how that rumor started but it is not. Even Lance's first book addresses the hostility he encountered in Texas. I was not surprised to read this, sadly.

[Grog]

I have been hit by a can. A local cyclist was hit by a glass beer bottle but got plates and filed an assualt charge. When I ride I now practice getting at least a partial plate. With a very accurate description and partial plate I can give cops something to work with and believe me if a can hits me again I will have enough information to file harrassment charges.

Me too, I practice memorizing plates and car descriptions all the time.

I need to get better at getting a quick view of the driver.

[bikerHen]

Me too, I practice memorizing plates and car descriptions all the time.

I need to get better at getting a quick view of the driver.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one that does this. I've had a variety of items thrown at me over the years. Nothing that has drawn blood, just a bruise or two and being splattered with salsa, from a burrito. I am forever reading license plates, and memorizing car descriptions. bikerHen

[gavin_m]

There has been a lot of problems lately in Austin with cyclists getting the short end of the stick. I guess as more transplants move here the less overall bike friendly atmosphere it's becoming.

[Aggie_Ama]

There has been a lot of problems lately in Austin with cyclists getting the short end of the stick. I guess as more transplants move here the less overall bike friendly atmosphere it's becoming.

I think it is just the population explosion overall. Funny thing is you can go out to the hill country and find the friendliest drivers. We rode out there last month and were floored that everyone waved. We were in a little town called Doss, away from the crazy tourist trap of Fredericksburg (they get impatient too).