Anyone else?

[aussievic]

been smacked on the bum whilst riding?

How did you react? Happened to me a couple of weeks ago when I was trailing along behind my husband and a car slowed down and smacked me on the bum! I was absolutely speechless (doesn't happen that often).

Cheers
Victoria

[Irulan]

no but I have had water balloons smack and explode on my helment, and have had rfirecrackers tossed at me. My solution is to not road ride and hit the trails

Irulan

[elevenpointfive]

Okay, what the hell? What if you'd fallen and gotten hurt, or killed? I'm so sorry this happened to you, aussievic! It's a sad state when men are so intent on harassing women that they will physically endanger people to do so. THINK, man! You really didn't consider that your stupid little power play might have KILLED a human being? Or, much worse, maybe he didn't care.

I haven't had this happen to me, thank goddess, but Hilken Mancini writes about just this in That Takes Ovaries! The thug doing the drive-by hit her so hard in the butt that she fell. "Some jerk had knocked me off my bike to feel my a$$". She was lucky there was no traffic and she was relatively unhurt. The satisfyingly vigilante-justice conclusion is that she sprinted to catch the car, smashed the rear window with her U-lock, and escaped on a bike/ped route. These jerks are toying with your life for their entertainment. They deserve punishment.

[aussievic]

Thanks elevenpointfive.

We rang the police, but by the sounds I'd taken down the number plate incorrectly. I was sure I hadn't as I had repeated it in my head as a mantra until i caught up to my husband and wrote it down. He was about 250 metres in front of me at the time. I was so frustrated and angry that you wouldn't believe.

They really didn't take us seriously though and asked my husband when he called if "they may have meant it as a joke". My husband just responded by saying that if you did that in the street it would be harassment, so is that ok if you do it there, but in a "joking way". He was so close to me that if I'd fallen off I would've gone under the car - the shock just really threw me.

I was scared and have been hesitant to go out at the moment. I know I just have to get myself back on the bike, but you know, its hard sometimes.

The thing is, it was just a power play - I've not got a particularly attractive butt (its big, but i'm working on it!). It is the whole thing about rape not being about sex, but power, just a lower level down. Just another ar*ehole with no respect for women.

Is that book good? I just had a quick peruse on Amazon, but it didn't have a blurb on it.

Thanks again. I'm going to get back out, but it did shock me so much.

Vic

[elevenpointfive]

Oh, geez, "if they meant it as a joke"??? Hel-LO, if someone could have been severely hurt or killed I don't think it matters how it was MEANT! What would they say if you ran into someone's car as a "joke"? Gosh, I wonder. Freaking lazy police.

It's totally about power. Doesn't matter one bit what you look like.

I'm shouting a lot in this thread. This pisses me right off.

About the book--the U.S. Amazon has it ( link), and it's not the deepest read but it is inspiring. I could copy the story for you if you like, and email/PM it to you--it's pretty short. Or a feminist/women's bookstore might be able to order the book for you.

No wonder you're shaken. Anyone would be. Take a little time to let it wear off, if that's what you need. Maybe write a letter to the editor about sharing the road. Investigate alternate routes if this one is consistently unsafe. But don't stop riding. I'm pulling for you.

[hibiscus09]

Just so you guys don't think males are the only one's doing this sort of thing, my husband has told me that females have hung out the window yelling at him while he's jogging (nice things) and their cars have swerved at him in the process. He's also had stuff thrown at him.

[elevenpointfive]

Oh, certainly. We all know that jerkness is not limited by sex. As much as I'd like to think all women are naturally awesome. But my totally nonscientific experiences suggest that boys do this sh!t much more than women do.

[hibiscus09]

I told my sister that story while we were riding today & she said one time a guy in a truck put his hand on her butt & kept it there for almost a block. She said she was going so fast she didn't want to brake -- she thought she'd fall. What an idiot!

[aussievic]

My god - that is much scarier than what happened to me. Arrrrggghhh! How can someone do that? I know I shouldn't try and rationalise idiots, but hey!

People hey?

My husband used to do a lot of running, but he said the most frequent one he used to get was "Get your knees up!" (This is England!) or "Run Forest Run!". If its good natured I think that's ok.

I used to have a big hill on my commute home and as I was labouring up that one evening I had this young guy pull alongside me and yelled "Keep Going!", gave me a big smile and the thumbs up. There was no other traffic and it did give me a boost, got me out of the saddle and really pushed myself for the last 100m. Flipsides hey?

Vic

[hibiscus09]

Yeah, the nice people stories are much better -- . Today, my sister couldn't hang on the hills we were riding (she hasn't been on her bike in over a year) & got off the bike & started walking it. This cute cyclist road by and grinned at her and said "it works better if you sit on it and move the pedals around." He was just kidding, and it got a laugh out of her when she was feeling discouraged.

[Dogmama]

I had an old man cut me off - he was in a hurry to get to the grocery store. I followed him in (OK, probably not smart, but I was PMSing) and told him that he could have killed me. His response? "You could have scratched my car!" and he went inside the store. I called the cops. They came out, I pointed out the man, and they sent me away. I told them I wanted to press charges, but they (cops) didn't really take it seriously - it looked like they were joking with the old man when I left.

At least I did what I could and stayed inside the law. A U-lock applied to his windshield would have been much more satisfying though.

Irulan may be right...

[hibiscus09]

LOL -- I PMS just like you do. You did the right thing.

[Irulan]

I have a couple of pals in the local PD, one is a bike cop. Their advice whenever any of this stuff happens is to take down the liscense # and call them personally. Funny thing is, most road riders don't carry any gear; I keep a pencil stub and a scrap of paper in my pack *just in case*.

Irulan

[aussievic]

I had a florist hit me whilst commuting in London (she paid for all damages and I also had some spectacular bruises!). She checked I was alright gave me her number and said she really had to get going as she was delivering flowers to a funeral. My husband replied in a not-quite stage whisper, "Lucky it wasn't our's".

Victoria

[Longnblong]

I have had tons of stuff tossed at me while riding in pace lines ....CD cases, soda and beer bottles but the strangest thing was early one Saturday morning when I was out alone and a mini van full of teenage boys came up along side of me with the side slide door open. One of them was leaning way out while the others held onto the back of his shirt. He was trying to grab the long braid of my hair. I was shouting at them to back off and when they did not I shouted that I knew some of them and was going to tell their parents. With that they took off.
I agree with some of the other respondents...any kind of contact could be dangerous and potentially deadly. What if they had cought my hair and dragged me off the bike and under their wheels? I wondered what were they thinking.....then I realized. They WERE NOT THINKING AT ALL! They had probably been up all night drinking and thought that terrorizing me would be funny.