mskibinski

I've been road biking since 1998 and have put in about 80,000 miles and I had my first confrontation with a motorist. I was going down an old country two lane road near Grand Rapids, MI this evening and this knucklehead and his buddy in a van come up next to me and lay on the horn and they both yell right in my ear. I hear them laughing and gather myself and immeadietly flip them the bird. About 1 mile down the road, guess what I see? They are pulled off the side of the road. Without hesitation I pull up to the drivers window and start going off on him. I scared the crap out of him and he almost had a heartattack. He immeadietly gets out of the van and starts off on me. He tells me to just ride on before something happens. So I plant my elbows on the handlebars and just laugh. I start yelling at him and tell him I could have broke my neck. He keeps saying what are you going to about it. His buddy keeps telling him to get back in the van. I was about 2 feet away from the guy the whole time as we continue our verbal assault. He was a pretty big guy, but I'm no small guy at 5' 11" and 215 lbs. After about another couple minutes of this I just decide to ride on. It was a work van with the company name and phone number on it and I know his name was Dave. I wasn't thinking clearly, just seeing red. If this happens again I will get a picture of the van and license plate with my phone. After about 3 years of living out here this is the first time anything like this has happened to me.

mrrab

If you remember the name of the company on the van, call the company and report it along with the drivers name. That's what I'd do.

Makel

I don't hear people when they yell, cause the music in my earphones is loud.

Why don't you just call the company?

coasting 

this is not advisable. people get murdered over road rage.

darb85

cool story bro

roadiejorge 

I trained with a master ninjutsu in Japan a few years back so in those situations I can slice their tires then vanish before they even realize what happened. Of course I also get their info and report them.

coasting 

you are yanking our chain aren't you?

i hear a flushing noise.

Makel

maybe OP should consider carrying concealed?

coasting 

oh boy.

roadiejorge 

I can cause a lot of damage with chains too but they're not practical to carry around. On a side note:

WEMBLEY WEMBLEY WE'RE THE FAMOUS MAN UNITED AND WE'RE GOING TO WEMBLEY!!

roadiejorge 

with that kind of temper he might end up hurting people. My ninjutsu master always told me guns are for cowards, if you face an opponent you fight using the skills you have mastered through years of practice. One time someone got snippy and all I had to do was twirl my mini pump and they left me alone.

Makel

Hey pie guy how's it going? any new flavors? How's the spawn?

coasting 

It has been a good year for both Manchester teams.

coasting 

do they do random drug testing at work?

roadiejorge 

all is well thanks, how about you? The spawn is doing well and we're eagerly awaiting the arrival of spawn2 in July. I've been busy at work which looking back on it has been for quite a while now, no more ebb and flow of projects as they're pretty constant. I've been getting lots of riding in and I always enjoy that.

Makel

sshh!! i've been on the down low for a few years, it hasn't happened..... ssshh!!

anyway, i'm not work... yet!

roadiejorge 

there's only one team in Manchester.

Sprocket Man

Good advice, but I'd take it a step further. Get the name of the company President, or at least one of the executives in charge of human resources, then visit them in person. Have an account of the incident written down, and present it to them. Make sure that when you tell them what happened, you remain absolutely cool and calm, because if you get too hot-headed, they won't take you seriously. Be gracious and courteous at all times. Don't focus on what they did to YOU, but rather frame your conversation in a way that shows that you're concerned about what they may do to other cyclists in the future. Don't need to warn them about their company's liability for incidents like these lest you come off sounding too preachy. They know. When you leave, thank them for their time.

Makel

Things are going great!! Thanks for asking, congrats on spawn 2!

Velo Vol 

Correct.

surgeonstone

Never been in a situation where getting pissed off at a cager helped the situation.

Makel

Hey surgeon, if OP were to carry concealed should he do away with the helmet? You know, in order to keep the weight down.

surgeonstone

[QUOTE=Makel;12695346]Hey surgeon, if OP were to carry concealed should he do away with the helmet? You know, in order to keep the weight down.[/QUO TE]

I have a confession to make. I always wear a helmet, if for no other reason than to make my wife happy. I do sometimes play the devils advocate to stimulate discussion...don't let anyone know and for God's sake- don't tell closetbiker.

Kind of Blued

Sounds like you handled it almost as poorly as possible. By the way the encounter started, you knew he wasn't going to apologize or consider the possible consequences of his actions, so what's the point? If he WAS going to listen, you can make your point without putting yourself in danger by standing two feet away from him.

The end result is that you put yourself in more danger than THEY did, and they now probably dislike cyclists even more.

coasting 

this thread has potential but i don't think it will ever reach the heights of the driver confrontation thread with "jerkface". i think that one involved water spraying.