nelson249

Damn straight.

Artkansas 

Must be a southern thing.

One night I was pedaling home and stopped in a driveway from a parking lot to let traffic go by so I could cross the street. A guy in a pickup, towing a lawn care trailer stopped right in front of me and the driver began screaming at me almost incoherently that I'd better watch out and that he was going to do major damage to me.

Another night I was riding along and someone shot me with a pellet gun. The night before that the passenger in a car grabbed my elbow and attempted to pull me down. Luckily, they lost their grip.

Just good ole boy hospitality, I guess.

Rosso Corsa

That is pretty intense. Where do you live?

Kojak

I'm not Canadian, but I think I live on the same island as Chilled, prolly a different "trailer park" (but, maybe not). Here in Victoria, the tea pushers can be a bit rough. "What do you mean you don't need any Earl Grey?" It's frightening.

Joey, hats off man. That's tough duty.

rugerben

I said take the f**kin' oolang or i'll cap your ass!!!!

Kojak

..... so, you've been here? It's horrible.

HillyBiker

I have a pal who is a serious rider, i.e. he races on the side (has a different day job). Years ago, over a period of weeks he was harassed repeatedly by the same driver in the same pickup truck (pal got his tag number early). One day this truck comes by with 2 passengers, buzzes my pal a bunch, then throws a full beer bottle at him. The bottle smashed on his head and he wiped out like the Agony of Defeat skier. Truck stops about 30 yards ahead while my pal is laying in the road, seeing stars from the crash.

All 3 guys exit the truck and 1 has a baseball bat in his hand. They loudly explain that they are going to completely f**k up my pal. So my pal draws a little .22 pistol he had been toting for this very situation and warns them to stop or he'll shoot. They keep advancing, so he shoots one of them. The bullet hit the guy's femur, broke it and he dropped right there. The other 2 run back to the truck and skedaddle.

All 3 got convicted. The 2 most violent ones went to prison and the 3rd guy who "was only driving" got lots of community service and monitoring.

cydisc

I give that story 4.5 stars. It would have been 5 stars if your pal had a helmet cam to capture the entire episode.

jeffpoulin

Based on his location, I'd say Little Rock.

HillyBiker

Man, that vid would certainly be YouTube-worthy!

BarracksSi

Have you seen the one where these hicks -- I think this was Canada, believe it or not -- were videotaping themselves messing with a guy and his girl in a BMW convertible? They trailed this Bimmer for quite a while, exchanging words, fingers and threatening moves, and he eventually turned off onto a side road and into a park in the woods. They got out of their pickup (I think one had a bat), and the BMW guy gets out with a pistol.

He doesn't shoot any of them, though. He makes them hand over their keys and the video camera, gets back in his car, and drives off.

Now that I spoiled it for ya, here's the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh2Jed20wLk

(psst: apparently it was staged! https://wittkopp.net/ )

I like HillyBiker's story better, though.

Pinyon

There is a guy around here that is very active in the local cycling community, that rode for years in Houston, Texas. He told a similar story about having to pull a pistol on some people harassing him. I don't know if he still carries it here in Colorado. People don't mess with you that often here. Besides the occasional buzz, I think it has been at least a year or so that anyone has even said something nasty to me.

I don't know if I would want to live in a place that rough for cyclists. It is not just that I'm that attached to riding, but that sort of intolerance and "meanness" seems to spill-over into too many other areas of life. I no longer like living in places that are both mean, and up-tight. There are enough things "out to get you" (random accidents, cancer, etc.), without people picking out random crap to get all bent out of shape about.

jeph

I almost walked that route one year (May 05 before katrina) after Jazzfest. The cab line was way long and we didn't want to wait. We were a pretty good crowd but I wonder how that would have went. It would have been on the esplanade. Is that safer?

fortunately a cab came by and picked us up, and because he wasn't queued in line he charged us extra. It was still well worth it.

I grew up in Oakland, Ca and it seems like the suburbs compared to NOLA

Hats off to you Joey, stay safe.

Jeff

drjava

I ride in Oakland between 66th and Marina. There are some tough areas, but so far nothing too bad. I do keep these stories in mind just in case something does happen.

jeph

Yeah, down by the colisuim is pretty rough.

My brother used to live on Magnolia. It was an "interesting" neighborhood.

my brief visit to NOLA struck me that racism is really still alive down there. Not to say it isn't in Oakland, is just seemed to me to be nowhere near as wide spread. I think is adds a lot of fuel to that war fire.

capejohn

Joey: (bright side) Your alternate route is the perfect place for intervals. (/bright side)

crazybikerchick

So do any of you people that are assaulted while riding your bicycle actually call the police to report these incidents? If these things happen in a car they have license plates so its not like they are not trackable. Or do they speed away too fast to get the plate?

rorban

This is a very interesting thread. Awesome stories. It makes Memphis, TN sound tame and that I ride through some very friendly streets.....

gerv 

Gee you resurrected an old thread. I guess it's appropriate to ask if everyone survived to now...Joey?

JoeyBike

^^Still alive. Got a new job three weeks ago. No more riding through the hood. Sick of that S**T

seawind161

Glad for ya, but we're sure gonna miss the vids!

gerv 

I'm guessing Joey's new route might generate some excitement. I commute through the suburbs. I'm usually not bored tailgating with SUVs.

no motor?

How's the ride home after dark? Or hasn't that happened yet?

jbabic

JoeyBike, I must confess that some of the videos you've posted here, along with this thread makes me wonder if this is karma trying to get your attention.

You've done some pretty aggressive things yourself, brother. By the tone of your language, I am under the impression you take a little pride from this.

Please ride more safely. We all impact each other in our interactions.

BadBoy10

So, you are you suggesting JoeyBike is an attention seeker and his negative interactions have a domino effect on other riders?


Deep.

I love JoeyBike's videos and have watched most of them. However, I am not going to try and replicate his riding style. I never like NOLA. I found it to be a filthy city with not so nice people. Whenever I visited I felt oddly unsafe. There is something sinister about the place. But then, I was also disgusted by Rochester, New York. I just dont like that dark, overcast, old cottage look.
Would love to find a hot, sunny, bicycle friendly place outside of Florida. I like country living.