tacticalfireguy

Went out on a solo ride this afternoon. Was having a decent day, looking forward to besting my farthest ride. When I was hit in the back with a full 44oz sonic soda. Hit me square in the back, knocked me off the saddle. I lost control of the back and hit the sand on the side of the road. I went down in the sand. Didn't get a plate number or anything on the car. Had a real hard time breathing after it happened. Several people say me and stopped to help me. I am ok (I think). The bike appears to be alright. Will need to clean all the sand off and make sure it is all good. Just really pisses me off that there are idiots out there breeding. Rant off.

surgeonstone

Glad you're okay. The really sad thing is that even had you been able to get plate numbers and report it, little would have happened.

wrr1020

That really sucks, hard dealing with people like that because really theirs not much you can do, especially you being by yourself. I've had people yell stuff out at me but i've never had anything thrown at me. Too bad you or another driver that witnessed it couldn't get the plate number.

maverick31210

Stuff like this really gets to me. I admit before I got into cycling I would crack "shaved legs" and "gay" jokes in the car with my buddies, which I now feel stupid for doing believe me but never did I hurt someone or do anything like this.

One evening I was out for a run and stopped before a freeway on-ramp to let a car pass by when it passed me a bunch of kids threw a drink at me as well. I wasn't wearing a shirt so I didn't care, just kept running but it was a di*k move nonetheless.

tacticalfireguy

Law enforcement showed up, but unless someone confesses, we will never find out who did it.

urbanknight

civil suit for damages. That would go even further here where they recently enacted a law that guarantees the victim a minimum of $1000 plus legal fees. The sad thing is, it won't deter anyone, and collecting after the fact isn't the point.

BotByte

I know how you feel

One time I climbed a local mountain road, long and not too steep, about 90 miles round trip
And I was "in the zone" when someone honked at me like crazy.
I looked to my right and saw three guys in a car screaming and yelling at me telling me I was nuts for like 10 minutes. They threw bottles, cigarettes, pens towards my wheels, and a lot more
So that gave me the drive to huff it at 20 mph uphill to chase after them.
They pulled into a parking lot at a scenic view and started yelling again
I beat them up, broke two arms, a wrist, three ankles, tons of bruises, some cuts and the driver had his face dragged against the pavement by the cops.
The cops talked to me and I told them that they tried to run me off the road, down the mountain
I also told them that they caught up to me and started the fight.
They were sent to jail for attempted murder, resisting arrest, and manslaughter - which there is no "attempted manslaughter" in my state
Jail for 30 days, house arrest for 2 years and the driver will never be able to get his license in the country or any work or issued license in this state. And a whole lot more

I sued them for anything I could, turned out one of the guy's family was loaded.
Now I'm on a full ride to college for 10 years with room and board all paid in full

The thing that sucks is that I never got to the top of the mountain, the three months of my hands wrapped in bandages because my knuckled with all broken, and court.
I also don't have enough money to buy me another bike, the money I have now is just enough to pay for college and an apartment stocked with food for 9 more years. No spending money.

I hope my story helps you out.
BTW, I don't have an anger problem, and my knuckles still hurt

Palomar01

Had something similar happen to me many, many years ago. Was riding my road bike at night (I deliberately tried to ride at night because it was quieter). This car went by and threw a soda drink at me. Hit me square in the face and drenched me with soda. I almost fell off the bike. Of course the car just kept on going and I never reported it (no cell phones at the time).

If you got the car's license plate, it's actually vehicular assault and it's a feloney. Too bad you didn't get the license.

ZippyThePinhead

The sad thing is, getting a verdict in your favor and actually collecting the judgement are two different things. I'm not an expert, but I'm good friends with a few lawyers. In this case the OP did not write about being injured-- that's a good thing-- so I think this would probably be a matter for small claims court. And when you win in small claims court, it doesn't automatically follow that you collect.

patentcad

+1.

In legal terms, you were a victim of felony assault. That is a criminal matter, not a civil matter.

tacticalfireguy

I am pissed, but at least I got to walk way from it.

Val23708

i guess they can't get prints off the soda?

patentcad

But you could have been killed or seriously injured, that's no joke.

Homebrew01

Glad you're ok, and as you say, you walked away from it. Sometimes the best (and only) thing is just be glad it wasn't worse than it could have been.

chadwick

That sucks; glad you turned out to be OK, and glad it wasn't a glass bottle thrown at you. I've seen the aftermath of that a few times.

renton

I'm really glad you're OK. Don't worry, karma will take care of that *******.

patentcad

Excellent question.

VA_Esquire

Ive had my fair share of idiots. Though nothing more then a broken bone or two.

patentcad

And if you ever run out, there is an endless supply right here in the 41.

volosong

Sorry you had to experience that, and glad you can walk away. At times like that, it is such a surprise that the last thing on one's mind is license plates.

Similar thing happened to me on my cross-country bike ride back in 1995. Was huddled at the side of the road fixing a flat, back to the traffic, when all of a sudden I was drenched by a load of water. Some high school kids in the back of a pick-up truck thought it was funny, and went hollering and hooting down the road. Actually, it was somewhat warm and I didn't mind being cooled off.

Happens all too often. Normally, people just yell. Maybe they are hoping to scare the cyclist so they crash. Stupid people!

tacticalfireguy

It was a styrofoam cup, that blew away after it hit me. There was a small section lying next to me, but not enought to do anything with. I am just waiting on karma.

johnny99

These are often not isolated incidents. Give the cops as much of a description of the car as you can. If it happens again, they can combine your case with the next victim's.

surgeonstone

Ya think?

ilovecycling

I would have used every bit of strength I had to catch up to them at the next stop light, stop sign, or whatever and give them a piece of my mind (ie pull them out of the car and beat them). It's okay though. Hopefully karma will cause this person's car to swerve off the road, smash into a brick wall, and explode the next time he tries to do something like this. In my opinion, people like this are scum and don't deserve to breathe the same air as the rest of us. That's just my opinion though.

Glad you are okay and I wouldn't sweat it bro. What goes around comes around.

qmsdc15

Haha, funny story! Maybe you can find a part time job and buy you a nother bike.