Yan 

My girlfriend and I are touring through Transylvania. Last night as we approached Faragas an overtaking car's passenger threw a glass bottle at us. Luckily it missed and landed just in front of us. We rode through the flying shards and were not injured.

I've toured in many countries and this is the first time this has happened to me. We can't say we're impressed by Romanian drivers, even when not considering this incident. I felt much safer even in China, where drivers are notoriously bad.

Has anyone else experienced motor vehicle problems while on tour?

antokelly

all the time but so far no bottles.
watch your back stay safe.

well biked

Every country has its share of cowards, it's not surprising. When I was about twelve years old I was doing my paper route on my bike and a passenger in a passing car broadsided me with a bottle. A lot of laughter from the vehicle as it sped away. It hurt like hell, but even worse, it scared me nearly to death. I'd say it could happen anywhere, anytime.

Gus Riley

As a comuter, yes, not while touring ... yet.

fietsbob

You don't even have to leave the US to find those types of behavior.

I expect the guy drained the Beer out of the bottle first.

zzOtherlandzz

Same here ...... Not while touring (haven't toured yet, getting close though sometime in the next few weeks).. But I did have it happen while riding home from the ocean near St. Augustine. What was weird it was a FULL can of beer. Really blew me away that a redneck would part with their beer like that. Missed me by quite a bit, but still bothered me.

Another time near home some idiots in a truck passed me and the passenger stuck out the window and blew on what sounded like an air horn... LOUD LOUD.... So loud that it actually hurt my ear for about 2 minutes. I was riding in the bike lane next to a curb.... Luckily I didn't jump or swerve or anything... I think that was worse than the beer can...

LucianTheOne

I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm not surprised. I live in Romania, and I know my people. In last years bicycles became more popular, and gain more and more respect. Some driver still ridiculized us, and make bad jokes. We keep pedaling and hope for the best.

What is your route in Romania? I live in the north-est, and I love touring.

Machka 

Same thing happened to me in England ... person threw bottle, it hit my cycling partner's mudguard and broke the mudguard. Then it smashed on the pavement, and I had to pull up quickly to avoid riding through all the broken glass.

Same thing happened to me in Australia ... person threw bottle and it whizzed past my shoulder.

Same thing happened to me several times in the Winnipeg area when I lived there.

These things happen ... all over the world.

Bob N.

I remember riding the Danube path (a section along a roadway) with my wife and an oncoming car swerved at us, getting into the oncoming traffic lane. He didn't even come close, but clearly a knucklehead maneuver. Plenty of idiots spread around the globe.

vuduchyld5

There is only one way to deal with someone that ignorant...You have to scream " I %$#ED YOUR MOM"!!! as loud as you can while they are still in earshot for redemption...hehehe. J/K

Chris L

I find blowing them a kiss tends to upset them a lot, too.

To be honest I've had much worse behaviour from drivers at home than on tour. I could write a book about some of the things I've dealt with around here (including a number of full flying beer cans), but apart from a couple of honks, I've had basically no issues at all on tour. There was one guy in London who thought someone had told him to "F--- off" earlier in the day and wanted to find the culprit really badly, but that's about as much crap as I've had to deal with.

vuduchyld5

DAMN! A full beer can to the dome or back at 55 mph would make for a bad day! Pricks!

Aquakitty

Just curious, at least for the local folks why have you not called the police? My first inclination would be to get the license and car description and file assault charges. I understand this is more difficult in another country where you don't speak the language.
Throwing a bottle is a weapon.

vuduchyld5

I know right? Or at least track them down like Gerard Butler in "Law Abiding Citizen" and make them pay in other ways...sheesh!?! ha!

Louis

Here in the US, I was hit in the back with a full, unopened, can of beer. The force was hard enough to split the can and cut my back.

Aushiker

Same here ... being hit with a ball thrower (that ended up with Police as it was an assault), lemons and beer cans. Pretty standard Bogan behaviour in this part of the world.

Andrew

aggri1

I got smacked in the side of the head just the other day while I was riding. Cut my ear and hurt for ages. I was very surprised.

But then, the flamin' magpies are always like that in Spring, "guarding their nests" by swooping any and all passers-by.

;-)

Machka 

Has it happened to you?

I bet your first inclination would NOT be to get the license and car description.

I can tell you from my experience that processing what just happened comes first ... and by then, the vehicle is gone. I've only ever managed to get a license number twice, and both of those times the vehicle was stopped ... once up on the median strip after coming within inches of hitting me, and swerving violently to miss me, while he was running a red light; and once stopped by my father while the driver was busy trying to run me off the road. The rest of the time, it all happens too fast.

Chris L

It would if they actually hit me. Fortunately for me, the number of beer cans they'd actually consumed by that point was probably in double figures for the day by then, so their accuracy wasn't very good.

Yes, that's all well and good if you have a police force that will do something about it. Unfortunately, not all of us have this luxury. I have reported incidents of this nature to the police, but so far with no action taken. I was also run down by a red light runner on July 26 of this year, but despite the fact that there were witnesses (i.e. the people who told me what happened when I woke up in hospital 12 hours later), the police again made it clear they had no intention of taking any action.

Then they wonder why crime has increased so much in these parts.

Rowan

There's a particularly nasty one that has been patrolling the crossroads at Thornton, on the way to Lake Eildon, for the past four or five years. I've suffered a cut ear thanks to that one.

Funny, isn't it... the magpies defend their young against harmless cyclists, but happily get run down by motor vehicles left right and centre.

Tansy

Twice, on this tour, I've been in a situation where a dog has been chasing me, and a speeding vehicle hit the dog. Neither time the car stopped. One time I was with friends, once I was alone. Both times we/I found the owners, and the second time the dog was still alive so I stayed with it until the owner came. Obviously neither of these was an incident of violence against a cyclist, but it would have been decent of the driver to at least stop and make sure everyone is okay, or deal with contacting the owner.

Also, in both these situations, there was absolutely no time to get a license number.

I've had a ton of people swerve close to me, shout, lay on the horn, and give the universal suggestion. Once a bunch of rednecks in a truck in Michigan followed me for a bit threatening me and accusing me of being homeless. So far no flying bottles, at least!

simplygib

I have. I felt a little silly about it, since all he hit me with was a half-eaten salad in a plastic container. As Machka said, getting the plate is not easy since you're usually taken by surprise. But a couple of girls behind this car were outraged at what had happened, so took down the license and later flagged me down to give it to me. I reported them, hoping if nothing else they would be hit with a littering charge, which carries a $2,000 fine where I live.

These days I have a HD Hero camera mounted on my rear rack to catch this kind of thing in action. Video is evidence. Unfortunately, it isn't good enough to pick up license plates if the vehicle is passing more than about 35 miles per hour above my speed. I've been trying to train myself to get plate numbers as cars pass, but am still doubtful that I would have the presence of mind to do that after being hit by something like a beer bottle.

Ratzinger

"Has anyone else experienced motor vehicle problems while on tour?"

Not on tour, but I've had an egg thrown at me from a car in Toronto. Fortunately they missed but it splatting on the car next to me gave me a start.

Chris L

What you need is a well-timed squirt from the water bottle over your shoulder. Or if you're riding the tandem with Machka, perhaps one of you could carry a squash racquet.

Note, however, that neither of these suggestions will work if you encounter the infamous Uki bomber from NSW. Chased me for 5km one day and actually tried to land on my shoulder. I make a point of avoiding the area he patrols around springtime these days.

Machka 

Actually the magpies we encountered on our century this past weekend were rather half-hearted ... maybe confused by the fact that there were 2 of us on one bicycle???