I'm Trying to Relax Too
I was reading Brad's blog about how he's trying to keep an aggressive attitude in check. I can really relate. I think most people think of me as being pretty mild-mannered most of the time (Karma's probably the one exception, she has to listen to my rants). Put me on a bike and my attitude definitely changes, especially toward cars. I have given up the one-fingered salute, for the most part, but I sometimes can't help throwing up an open hand when someone in a car does something really stupid. Pass me too close or pull out in front of me and chances are you'll get a wave of my hand and a "What'r you doin!" yelled at your way. Not smart, I know but sometimes I can't check it and it can definitely put me into a bad situation....
Back in February, I'm ride down near Morrow on a Sunday afternoon. I'm heading south on Morrow-Woodville Road (a section of the old Morrow Road Race course, if you're faniliar with the course). As I approach the intersection with Achteman Road, I see a semi truck(no trailer) pull up to the stop sign on Achteman. He looks right at me and proceeds to make a left turn to head north on Morrow-Woodville. I had to hit the brakes pretty hard to get slowed down to avoid him. As we passed, I threw up my hand (showing all five fingers...I swear) and yelled "Hey!". The brake light come on and the driver starts yelling at me out the window of the truck. I know the best thing to do in that situation is to just turn around and ride away but I couldn't just let it go. I had to turn around and let the guy know what he had done wrong...huge mistake on my part. The guy gets out of the cab and stands on the step outside the driver's door, literally screaming curses at me. I made a conscious decision not the curse at him. I have never been called a Mother F%$@er so many times in my life. The guy completely lost it. He stood there going on about how I should have lights on the bike (it was 1:00 in the afternoon, lights would have made a difference?) how he pays taxes (I'm on a bike, apparently that means I don't pay taxes) and on and on. At one point, he even asked if I wanted a piece of him (I declined but I think I could have taken his ugly fat ass). I realized pretty quick, this wasn't the typical driver who's pissed off about me not riding on the bike path. This guy was nuts. I made it a point to look at the the license number on the truck. I said "You have a really nice afternoon", trying very hard to not sound sarcastic, as I turned around to ride away. The whole time he is still calling me an MFer. Then as I'm riding away, he tells me I had better watch myself. No direct threat, like "I'm going to get you" or "I'm going to kick your ass", just that I had better watch it. I really hope the guys was just having a really bad day and I happened to be to last straw. I also hope no other cyclist in the area have a run in with him. I going to try even harder to keep my hands on the bars and just let things slide.
Back in February, I'm ride down near Morrow on a Sunday afternoon. I'm heading south on Morrow-Woodville Road (a section of the old Morrow Road Race course, if you're faniliar with the course). As I approach the intersection with Achteman Road, I see a semi truck(no trailer) pull up to the stop sign on Achteman. He looks right at me and proceeds to make a left turn to head north on Morrow-Woodville. I had to hit the brakes pretty hard to get slowed down to avoid him. As we passed, I threw up my hand (showing all five fingers...I swear) and yelled "Hey!". The brake light come on and the driver starts yelling at me out the window of the truck. I know the best thing to do in that situation is to just turn around and ride away but I couldn't just let it go. I had to turn around and let the guy know what he had done wrong...huge mistake on my part. The guy gets out of the cab and stands on the step outside the driver's door, literally screaming curses at me. I made a conscious decision not the curse at him. I have never been called a Mother F%$@er so many times in my life. The guy completely lost it. He stood there going on about how I should have lights on the bike (it was 1:00 in the afternoon, lights would have made a difference?) how he pays taxes (I'm on a bike, apparently that means I don't pay taxes) and on and on. At one point, he even asked if I wanted a piece of him (I declined but I think I could have taken his ugly fat ass). I realized pretty quick, this wasn't the typical driver who's pissed off about me not riding on the bike path. This guy was nuts. I made it a point to look at the the license number on the truck. I said "You have a really nice afternoon", trying very hard to not sound sarcastic, as I turned around to ride away. The whole time he is still calling me an MFer. Then as I'm riding away, he tells me I had better watch myself. No direct threat, like "I'm going to get you" or "I'm going to kick your ass", just that I had better watch it. I really hope the guys was just having a really bad day and I happened to be to last straw. I also hope no other cyclist in the area have a run in with him. I going to try even harder to keep my hands on the bars and just let things slide.
posted by Doug at 7:35 PM
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