Thought I'd seen it all...
 

Never in my 60 years of riding bikes has this happened before. I was near the top of a long, steep hill this morning, on a rural road that doesn't get much traffic, on the upslope as the grade gradually leveled out. I hadn't gained much speed yet, when an older small pickup truck approached. He was headed downhill, the opposite direction from me. I moved to the right edge of the pavement, as is my habit, and when about 25 yards from me, the truck veered my way and came right at me. On a whim I took my gravel bike today, as I haven't ridden it lately. Good thing I did, as I was able to ride off the road, through the ditch, and up onto a rough grassy area. I would likely have crashed on my usual bike with road tires.

I don't stop when I encounter crazy people, in case they have a gun or are homicidal, and was able to get back on the road without stopping. The old, white haired, white bearded man had his window down, and I said "what's your problem?" He had come to a stop at my edge of the pavement, and I was essentially beside him at that point, perhaps 12 feet away from him. He mumbled something, either "not my problem" or repeating my question, as in, "what's my problem? "

I don't know if he was asleep at the wheel, demented, or crazy, but it sure seemed like he deliberately tried to hit me head-on. I've got a call in to an emergency response leader in my small town; am hoping she'll know who this guy is, in case he needs help.

Cycling is a great pasttime, but there's always that element of danger. Gotta stay sharp!

Glad you are Okay. Another version of road rage I'll wager. You were an easy target. Honestly, get a plate or a partial and report it to the authorities as an assault. Let them sort it out.

Again, glad you are Okay.

woof!

I’ve done some touring on inlines.
One of those times I’m skating through empty countryside well outside peak tourist season.
Hasn’t seen a car in 45 minutes.
Then I see one approaching.
I think nothing of it, since he’s in the other lane, and there’s no one else to be concerned with.
But then I see him stick his head out the window, holler something incoherently and - quite deliberately - cross the dividing line and aim his car at me.
Right at this spot the shoulder was really hard packed bare soil, so I roll out on the shoulder.
Only to see him crank the wheel even further.
By now I’m going slow enough to be able to take a few running strides on the grassy slope into the ditch, leaving me a few feet of clearance to the car that sweeps by right at the spot I’ve just vacated.
Apparently he’s also feeding it some throttle at this time, since he begins to fishtail wildly across the road.
For some hundred yards it was anybody’s guess if he’d manage to stay on the road, or which ditch he’d end up in.
But eventually he got it under control and disappeared down the road in a cloud of dust.
The strongest sense of relief was of course from not getting hit.
But nearly as strong a few hours later was the relief of not seeing him crash - because the way I felt when it happened, I might simply have left him in the wreckage and skated on.

Every now and then, after a particularly sad accident, someone will suggest mandatory alco-locks on all (new) cars.
Me, I’d rather see mandatory aggro-locks.
I believe I see more dangerous acts more reliably attributed to anger than to drunkenness.

Situational awareness for the win. Great job!

Don't discount the likelihood of dementia and exaggerated target fixation. People with frontal lobe disorders can be irresistibly drawn to objects of interest.

Chuckles1 Glad you're safe. Thanks for the reminder that not everybody's playing by the same rules.

I live in CA.
Recently had an Empty bottle thrown at my truck while I was driving down the road. It bounce off my hood.
As luck would have it, a cop was coming the other way and I flagged him down.
He grabbed the bottle for finger printing and his coworkers grabbed the kids.
Finger printing... I thought he was joking.

Throwing items at a moving vehicle is a FELONY.
Tempting though it may be, it's worth knowing.

Barry

happens more now than it ever has in the past years. I report each incident & most often I am updated that they located the individual & happens to be a habitual rage driver. Some people do not value there freedom & would rather try taking out someone on a bicycle.

Some kid coming towards me drifted left. I had to pull into someone’s yard to avoid a head on. As he passed I looked in the window. He appeared to be impaired.

I could tell more stories like this. Some people should not be driving.

Yes, very glad you weren't hurt or harmed!
Best regards

Glad nothing happen to you. The only similar thing I've had was 20 years ago. For some reason I used to get run off the road by drivers who wanted directions to somewhere. It would happen about 3X per year, most of the time tourists from out the area/out of country. Haven't had that happen in many years, maybe due to the rise in mapping applications on smartphones. But geez, it is scary when someone does that; not sure if someone's going to harass/assault/rob/injury you . . . . or just ask for directions.

they could ask for directions, then harass/assault/rob/injure you?

I thought the story was going to end with the old codger saying "I was just trying to get close enough to you to offer you a beer."

Another glad person to hear you're ok.

never never engage with a road rager. you never know what they will do and you should already know that something is not right with them :commute:

A similar problem I've had on two lane rural roads is the impatient driver coming the opposite way who swings out from behind a slower vehicle. They pass head on a few feet away usually at 60 plus mph. Scares the heck out of me.

We've become a country of enraged toddlers. Unfortunately, the over-18 toddlers have access to very lethal things.

Do you use a headlight on the front of your bike, to make yourself more visible to oncoming traffic? I have one that flashes and haven't had an unpleasant close oncoming car approaching in my lane since I started using it.

My light is like a bug zapper. Except that I am the one almost getting zapped by vehicles.

I and a friend were walking across a traffic light controlled intersection one night. The MagicShine knockoff light on the front of my bike was on flashing mode. A car turned nd nearly ran into us. I thumped my fist on the hood of the car just before it hit the bike. What the driver was doing/looking at is beyond me. Talk about being out of it; that driver certainly was. No matter how bright your light is a zoned out driver isn't going to see it. Stay alert people and do NOT depend on your light being seen.

Cheers

Yes, find that unnerving as the route where I see this it is hard to pass due to traffic, and I'm always thinking if a car is coming up behind me the guy passing would rather take me out than have a head-on.

scott s.
.

Yes, front and back lights on day and night. I've moved to hi viz jerseys too. I think it helps, but some impatient passers don't seem to care.

On day two of this years MS-150, while heading back to the finish line, I pulled into a left turn lane that had a red light. At the front was a car, then three cyclist, another car, myself and more cars behind me. When the light changed, everyone took off and was making their turn. As I was in my turn and almost to the bike lane, the car behind me comes around me from the right and forces me toward the inside lane where the car that was behind him, at the light, was occupying. Then, he almost hit the other three cyclist that were already in the bike lane when trying to straighten out into the lane. I don't think he saw the motorcycle cop at the other corner that was there to stop traffic for large groups of cyclists but the cop saw him. Yep! he got him.. While he was stopped with the cop, I waved to the driver and gave him the finger as I passed. Karma was there that day