People who throw stuff out car windows at cyclists

Post by **Ascentionist** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 1:56 pm

Three rednecks in a Ford Ranger threw an Ale8 bottle at me at Zachariah once.

Two Red River Ranch (scourge of the earth) semis boxed me in on a residential street once in Stanton. Started carrying the Glock the next ride.

Waved a dumptruck down on highway 15 between Slade and Stanton for almost running over me in a curve. The guy just gave me a doe in the headlights look as I yelled at him.

A woman in a Chevy astrovan lay on her horn as I came up the easy hill into Stanton from the east on 15 for about a hundred yards. Then she passed me and almost immediately turned in to the drive-thru at the BP to pick up cigarettes. I cruised up to her driver's side window and gave it a slap. She rolled it down and i said, "Did you need something?"

She said I could have gotten out of her way. I told her bikes are recognized by the state of Kentucky as legal vehicles and she passed in a no passing zone and left her to think about that.

Since I've been in Colorado I've found that drivers are, for the most part, much better behaved around cyclist, though i have had a few that passe dtoo close. I try to stick to the bike paths as much as possible.

I ahve found that the best defense is to take the whole lane and force them into a different lane. Of course this only works with long sight lines and multiple lanes. But it works really well in those situations.

But people tend to yell at you and honk more. I don't really care as long as they give me the room I need.

I stopped carrying the Glock after I left Kentucky. I feel safer here in my tight shiny pants.

Post by KD » Tue Apr 22, 2008 2:04 pm

I bike in louisville almost every day in the srping/summer and i haven't had thatmuch go on. people seem nicer since gas has gone up so much. I have had a thing or two happen but not much really.

Post by **dmw** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 5:35 pm

you ride in cherokee park, which has a bike lane, kd.......

Post by **Shamis** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 1:48 am

Pedestrians are there to be abused.

Post by KD » Wed Apr 23, 2008 7:39 am

dmw wrote:you ride in cherokee park, which has a bike lane, kd.......

thats where ive had almost all of my problems!

i ride all over louisville-jeff co. have a few run ins but really, with high gas, people have been pretty respectful and friendly.

Post by **Myke Dronez** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 9:57 am

Pedestrians- slower than a bike, dumber than a car.

Post by **lucamaniac** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:31 pm

We had an incident here a couple years ago where some college age kids threw books at a couple of cyclists in the River Rd area. I believe one of them was a pro cyclist who was seriously injured. This was all over the news here and in the papers. They eventually caught those kids and they were prosecuted. I haven't heard of any other attacks since then.

The area I ride EMS at here covers Shawnee Park and parts of Cherokee. We've only made one injured cyclist in the park the last two years and it was just an accident. We drive through there in the ambulance all the time and everybody seems very courteous to the cyclists and pedestrians.

Post by **Ascentionist** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:27 pm

In Colorado it seems as if most people (not all) are much more courteous to cyclists. Almost everytime I have approached a 4-way stop and a car has gotten there first they have waved me on through.

It's kinda nice.

There was a guy killed by a USPS driver a few days ago just outside of Golden though. She wasn't paying attention or something to that effect and hit him on the shoulder of the road. I ride home in that general area now that I am back to commuting to and fro. Makes you think...

Post by **Myke Dronez** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 6:07 pm

Don't skimp on the blinky lighting if you're cruising at night. And remember to keep the batteries fresh- always seems to make a big difference.

Post by KD » Thu Apr 24, 2008 8:58 pm

lucamaniac wrote:We had an incident here a couple years ago where some college age kids threw books at a couple of cyclists in the River Rd area. I believe one of them was a pro cyclist who was seriously injured. This was all over the news here and in the papers. They eventually caught those kids and they were prosecuted. I haven't heard of any other attacks since then.

The area I ride EMS at here covers Shawnee Park and parts of Cherokee. We've only made one injured cyclist in the park the last two years and it was just an accident. We drive through there in the ambulance all the time and everybody seems very courteous to the cyclists and pedestrians.

the racer was hurt really bad and his partner was papa john - schnawder - the pizza guy. papa john dropped the charges on the kids. happened off of wolf pen branch.