ALMOST tagged.

[kenyonchris]

I rode 35 yesterday. Granted, I did not pick the most traffic free roadway. Another officer and I (both of us on our road bikes, out of uniform, off duty) often ride together and we set out for a nice, steady recovery ride. We ride single file, most the roads are 30 mph, so we are not holding traffic up too much, we coast along at 22-25 mph. I had my one ipod bud in.
SO I am pedaling along in my zen state, pulling while my partner drafts, when a big pickup truck pulling a speedboat roars past, so close to me that the side mirror nearly grazed my ear (he had plenty of room, and it was a no passing zone, and I had no shoulder). He then pulled ahead of me and swerved so that his boat moved quickly into me. I was able to brake hard (yes, back brake) and luck was that my partner had dropped off my wheel...there was no place to go to the right and avoid a potentially disasterous wreck (and on my new bike!!!). It barely, barely missed me.
I seldom lose my temper. My patience, yes. My temper, no. But I lost it here. I yelled, loudly, with a shake of my fist, "WHAT THE F*$*K!!!" and stood up and pedaled hard. I swear, if he had had a stop sign in sight or a light, I would have caught him. I am not sure what I would have done had I caught him. At least gotten his LP, and gotten a ticket mailed to him. It would have meant going to court, but I would gladly go for it.
I have been yelled at, I have been not seen and nearly run over, I have been brake checked, but never, never, so genuinely threatened. Agh. I was so, so angry.
IDIOT.
Rant over.

[Mr. Bloom]

KC: You and I are very alike in our demeanor and temperament on this stuff. The story is told in some of my Garmin charts

I'm glad the thread is called ALMOST tagged. Consider this one "practice" for the next time.

[spazzdog]

(with tongue in cheek) 2 off duty cops and neither of you got the plate #!


ANd in Texas!


Seriously now.... am SO glad the idiot missed you.

spazz (a born Texan, now living on the left coast )

[lph]

oooo kenyonchris. I feel your pain. Your rage, rather. Better luck catching the mongrels next time.

[OakLeaf]

I've never been able to get a plate when that happens. It's that stupid adrenaline rush that just shuts my brain down.

Is there anyone here who has been able to get a plate number on someone who buzzed them? If so, is there some technique you use to keep your brain working when you've been terrorized? And did the police do anything?

[kenyonchris]

The boat obscured the truck tag, and the boat trailer didn't have one....it is habit to look!
I only know that I ride that route quite a bit, and with any luck I will encounter that driver again. And next time he won't be so lucky.

[Biciclista]

glad you're ok. I've (unsuccessfully) tried to chase down vehicles in this situation before. They just go too fast.

[PscyclePath]

I've never been able to get a plate when that happens. It's that stupid adrenaline rush that just shuts my brain down.

Is there anyone here who has been able to get a plate number on someone who buzzed them? If so, is there some technique you use to keep your brain working when you've been terrorized? And did the police do anything?

Sort of like one of the old Yehuda Moon comics, I started practicing getting plate numbers, and as soon as it's safe I pull over and call them in to our local "311" non-emergency cop & city services line. But as Chris noted, it's a lot tougher when they're pulling those big trailers.

(And for the cell-phoning lady driving the gold Honda 4-door, Arkansas PAULSIS, I hope you got wherever you were going a whole lot safer than you were acting while you were getting there.)

[DDH]

I feel your anger. I have drivers, although rare, that do this same crap around here. What makes me even madder is when they do it and they had another lane they could have gone in to go around me and don't.
I understand when there is only one lane and no shoulder that cars have to pass, but even in those situations (such as yours) there is a safe way to do it without causing potential harm. Even if you didn't get hit, there is harm in that I'm sure your blood pressure sky rocketed for a minute or two. Causing that surprise, adrenaline rush, and anger in such rapid succession cannot be good for our systems.
I am very happy that you didn't get hit. I hope you are able to nab the guy the next time. e

[pfunk12]

I'm glad to hear that you're okay, kenyonchris. I can definitely relate to what DDH said. I had an incident a few weeks ago during my commute home. It was definitely not one of my proudest moments on a bike. I had two cars cut me off. What I didn't realize initially was that the 2nd car was following the 1st (not that it matters since they shouldn't have cut me off in the first place). But I guess driver #2 was trying to stay close to driver #1. It happened in a quiet, residential neighborhood - tons of kids, dogs, crosswalks, stop signs, etc. There was no need to be driving fast or aggressively. When the 2nd car cut me off, my anger rose and it got worse when she gave me a stupid look. And then I noticed the child in the car seat. I passed her and when she caught up to me and passed me, she yelled something stupid like how I should get out of her way. My anger rose again! I caught up to her at a stop sign. She turned on the street where I would normally turn. Since she was acting crazy, I decided to continue straight and make the next right. I turned around - she stopped the car and flipped me the bird and was cursing at me! With her child in the back seat! The next street that I turned on intersects with the street she was on. So I ended up "running into" her on two more occasions. The funny part of the story is that I think she thought I was following her so she got scared. I guess if everytime I looked in my rear view mirror while driving my car and I saw a rabid cyclist, I would be scared, too! The last time I saw her, instead of flipping me the bird, she yelled out her window in a scared voice, "What are you doing????" I hope that the next time she comes upon a cyclist, she thinks twice before she acts stupidly or aggressively.

[spazzdog]

sic 'em kenyon!

won't he be surprised when you pull up next to him & his big boat (and truck with a HEMI) when you're in your cruiser and uniform and say "Hey, remember that cyclist last week... it was me"

Go get 'em girlfriend!

spazz