Just feeling sad and scared right now

mfhor said:

I read the thread on Saul and the unnamed rider killed on Plenty Rd., it rang some bells with me.

I was Saul's mechanic on a Tour of Tasmania a few years ago, he seemed like a really nice guy. I know he did good work with the bike club, and encouraged a lot of people out that way. I've raced on the road he was killed on. :-(

I ride out to Kinglake quite a bit. I've been harrassed by [censored] and cut close several times on Plenty Rd. There's plenty of room - why is there so much aggro/stupidity? I feel like an ancient Christian in the Coliseum, with the lions and gladiators. Only my (!) leg speed and smarts to keep me safe.

The Preston police are good, tho'. The twice I've reported PARTICULARLY stupid and aggressive behaviour they've come up trumps and given me the option of the offender being given a caution, or me pressing charges (chickened out both times :rolleyes🙂

On another topic (related): riding to see a friend on Sat eve. down Beaconsfield parade, going south. Acland St. diverges to the left, I look behind, clear, indicate right and start to pull across the lane to curve right down onto Lower Esplanade. &%$#er in a silver Landcruiser 100 series going LEFT onto Acland St. (reg# QIF 4 . . . ? DOH! didn't get the rest!) roars round me on the right and cuts me so close that his bumper flicks my front wheel! "#$%&ing MORON!" I yell (in a loud voice). I idle to a stop at the traffic lights. Pumped-up 'roid dude from the 4wd has jumped out, run across the little bit of park between Acland, Fitzroy and the Esplanade, and is waiting for me at the lights, proceeds to push and have a good yell at me and smack my helmet, hard! (ears ringing), spoiling for a fight. I push him back and tell him in no uncertain terms to get the %&$% out of my face, and try and get my foot in the pedal to ride off. I slip, and catch another whack on my shoulder. I manage to get away after pushing the guy away.

That really shook me up - that someone like that could be in charge of a 2 ton vehicle, and call it a "weapon", should be out there, waiting for the red mist to descend again so that he can bully and harrass another "fkn poofta" on a bike without any qualms. I've had worse (jackhandles brandished, et c .) but none so depressingly ordinary - just another road rager out to kill someone, and they'll get them, sooner or later, one way or another.

M "beaten up, shook up" H

Just what you need. It's a pity. I find that most drivers are actually very courteous and mostly observant, but there's a large enough quotient that really just needs to be told that they're not allowed to play with anything bigger and heavier than a Razor scooter. Or perhaps a bicycle. Wouldn't you just love to lead the meathead across the greater metro area? At speed? "Come on, keep up! Steroids make you slow?"

mfhor said:

I read the thread on Saul and the unnamed rider killed on Plenty Rd., it rang some bells with me.

I was Saul's mechanic on a Tour of Tasmania a few years ago, he seemed like a really nice guy. I know he did good work with the bike club, and encouraged a lot of people out that way. I've raced on the road he was killed on. :-(

I ride out to Kinglake quite a bit. I've been harrassed by [censored] and cut close several times on Plenty Rd. There's plenty of room - why is there so much aggro/stupidity? I feel like an ancient Christian in the Coliseum, with the lions and gladiators. Only my (!) leg speed and smarts to keep me safe.

The Preston police are good, tho'. The twice I've reported PARTICULARLY stupid and aggressive behaviour they've come up trumps and given me the option of the offender being given a caution, or me pressing charges (chickened out both times :rolleyes🙂

On another topic (related): riding to see a friend on Sat eve. down Beaconsfield parade, going south. Acland St. diverges to the left, I look behind, clear, indicate right and start to pull across the lane to curve right down onto Lower Esplanade. &%$#er in a silver Landcruiser 100 series going LEFT onto Acland St. (reg# QIF 4 . . . ? DOH! didn't get the rest!) roars round me on the right and cuts me so close that his bumper flicks my front wheel! "#$%&ing MORON!" I yell (in a loud voice). I idle to a stop at the traffic lights. Pumped-up 'roid dude from the 4wd has jumped out, run across the little bit of park between Acland, Fitzroy and the Esplanade, and is waiting for me at the lights, proceeds to push and have a good yell at me and smack my helmet, hard! (ears ringing), spoiling for a fight. I push him back and tell him in no uncertain terms to get the %&$% out of my face, and try and get my foot in the pedal to ride off. I slip, and catch another whack on my shoulder. I manage to get away after pushing the guy away.

That really shook me up - that someone like that could be in charge of a 2 ton vehicle, and call it a "weapon", should be out there, waiting for the red mist to descend again so that he can bully and harrass another "fkn poofta" on a bike without any qualms. I've had worse (jackhandles brandished, et c .) but none so depressingly ordinary - just another road rager out to kill someone, and they'll get them, sooner or later, one way or another.

M "beaten up, shook up" H

Sorry to hear the story. If it makes you feel any better (which it wont i spose) but i just had a similiar problem tonight here in "bike" friendly Amsterdam. I was riding along a bike path, and just before the intersection the road grows from 1 car lane into 2, so that you can turn right or head straight on. If your wanting to turn left on the bike at this intersection it forces the bike path inbetween this new lane that opens up and the original lane to go straight. The stupid part is, this turning lane only opens up close to the interesection not giving the driver all that much time to change lanes but with common sense its easy enough to do. Just slow down or stop even and wait and check there are no bikes comming. At the point where the bike path heads between these 2 lanes i have often thought in my head at this spot of a car just cutting right into me to get to the turning lane, so i slowed down and just as this happened a car came zooming up from behind on my left and proceeded to just start turning, if i had of kept going at the speed i was i would surely of been knocked right off the bike. The car would actually had to of accelerated pretty hard from behind me to get to this point. I tried to see if the driver just did not see me and wasnt paying attention but couldnt tell.

I had to brake pretty quickly, or as quickly as a WWII city bike could and the car clipped my front wheel and as i pulled up to the intersection i tapped on the window and made some sorta "use your eyes jesture" to the driver. He shat it, him and his wife or whatever she was got out and just started screaming and pointing. The wife actually came over and was poking her hand in my chest. It was ridiculous really. The guy waiting behind me on his bike had to stop suddenly too but he never uttered a thing. The husband started pushing me and grabbed my handlebars to try and pull me off the bike, he was whipping himself into more of a frenzy and started taking off his jacket to punch on i assume. I was sorta stunned at this point, it was like watching some sorta "worlds dumbest" reality show. The light changed green so i took off, turning left and then i hear a engine roar up and they have have actually cut across the intersection after me. These 2 idiots screaming at me saying they are gonna call the police of all things. They proceeded to follow me via a large bike path till i turned off and they got caught in some traffic.

I was pretty calm the whole time but it was only after i got home that i really was exploding. Leaves a sour taste in the mouth but i can only imagine for you it being worse, having to head out again on the road. I can at least for the most part stick to bike paths.

it's getting scary out there. Not sure if it's because there's more cyclists out there & some motorists see a few running lights etc & put that in the bank for the next cyclist's related fo-pah to let fly.

Maybe it's them putting up with [censored] driving from other motorists and lashing out at cyclists looks to be the easy option.

Could be the new cars nowadays that make driving [fast] so easy that driving becomes a distraction to talking on the phone or using a palmpilot, also seems that everyone is impatient to be somewhere an hour ago. (new top-of-the-line euro luxa-crusier or 4wd won't make the lights change any faster than a $200 '74 Datsun 180b)

I'm lucky that I don't spend alota time out on the roads, mostly bike paths & dirt (MTB) , this time of year.

On 2005-01-23, mfhor <[email hidden]> wrote:
[...]

Quoted message said:

On another topic (related): riding to see a friend on Sat eve. down
Beaconsfield parade, going south. Acland St. diverges to the left, I
look behind, clear, indicate right and start to pull across the lane to
curve right down onto Lower Esplanade. &%$#er in a silver Landcruiser
100 series going LEFT onto Acland St. (reg# QIF 4 . . . ? DOH! didn't
get the rest!)

That leaves 100 possible cars. Considering that dealers buy license
plates by the hundreds (or is it 150 at a time? I don't know), the odds
of the police being able to identify the exact vehicle in question are
not as good as they could be, but it might still be worthwhile filing a
police report. Worst case is it goes nowhere, in which case it _may_ be
useful as circumstantial evidence in a future case by another cyclist;
best case is there's only one silver Landcruiser of that particular
series in the range, and they can nail him. (If it's 150 at a time, the
odds are, strangely enough, a bit better in your favour; it's possible
that the dealer plate sequences were, say, 300-450, and 451-599, making
it quite likely that Toyota got one half, and another make got the
other.)

If it were me, I would've tried to get the license plate, and then
reported the incident to the police. Morons like that deserve to be
booked, and deserve to have the book thrown at them. There's no room on
the road for emotion, especially not violent emotion, and that goes
whether you're riding a bike, a motorcycle, or driving a car (or, heaven
forbid, something bigger).

Of course, the first priority is getting out of danger; getting the
license plate number is a distant second place. I wasn't there; I can't
judge.

Quoted message said:

his bumper flicks my front wheel! "#$%&ing MORON!" I yell (in a loud
voice).

Understandable reaction, but it might have exacerbated the situation.
Still doesn't excuse the driver's reaction, though.

--
My Usenet From: address now expires after two weeks. If you email me, and
the mail bounces, try changing the bit before the "@ to usenet".

Far out Mfhor, that's pretty full on. That sort of behaviour makes me wish I I was a big bad-ass bloke who could fight night into day... it would certainly give them a fright and it would pretty much guarantee a no-repeat. Having said that, I don't believe that violence solves anything.

I've never had that sort of problem myself, but I think it has to do with being female. I once told a seriously obese man "Don't strain yourself you fat c***!" (my mother would kill me!) after which he got out of his car... except, the light turned green and um well.. he still had to get his lardy body back in the car and by the time he'd gotten in, I'd turned up a couple of side streets. This was probably 6 years ago, when I was in my agressive teens, and needless to say, I've no intention of doing it again.

Having said all this, I do find that the best way to deal with ignorant/stupid/agressive drivers is to give them a wave when they have a go, or simply ignore them. Doing this (I think) deprives them of their need for a response (they're obviously looking for confrontation) and they might just feel a smidge bad and will perhaps be reluctant to do it again.

I've had drivers apologise profusely when I pull up next to them at the next traffic light and remind them that they wouldn't be too happy if someone ran over one of their loved ones.

"mfhor" <[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

On another topic (related): riding to see a friend on Sat eve. down
Beaconsfield parade, going south. Acland St. diverges to the left, I
look behind, clear, indicate right and start to pull across the lane to
curve right down onto Lower Esplanade. &%$#er in a silver Landcruiser
100 series going LEFT onto Acland St. (reg# QIF 4 . . . ? DOH! didn't
get the rest!) roars round me on the right and cuts me so close that
his bumper flicks my front wheel! "#$%&ing MORON!" I yell (in a loud
voice). I idle to a stop at the traffic lights. Pumped-up 'roid dude
from the 4wd has jumped out, run across the little bit of park between
Acland, Fitzroy and the Esplanade, and is waiting for me at the lights,
proceeds to push and have a good yell at me and smack my helmet, hard!
(ears ringing), spoiling for a fight. I push him back and tell him in
no uncertain terms to get the %&$% out of my face, and try and get my
foot in the pedal to ride off. I slip, and catch another whack on my
shoulder. I manage to get away after pushing the guy away.

[censored] man.. that's nasty. I really was hoping there'd be a
"road raging [censored] beat upside the head with wide
variety of LBS tools" conclusion to that mfhor.

I guess you don't wanna push your luck with guys like
that. Any chance of witnesses identifying the plates?

Are the Landcruiser 100's the boxy ones or the curvier
ones? I'll add it to my mental list of "cars to fsck with" :-)

hippy
- contemplating career change to car-jacker

mfhor said:

I read the thread on Saul and the unnamed rider killed on Plenty Rd., it
rang some bells with me.

I was Saul's mechanic on a Tour of Tasmania a few years ago, he seemed
like a really nice guy. I know he did good work with the bike club, and
encouraged a lot of people out that way. I've raced on the road he was
killed on. :-(

I ride out to Kinglake quite a bit. I've been harrassed by [censored]
and cut close several times on Plenty Rd. There's plenty of room - why
is there so much aggro/stupidity? I feel like an ancient Christian in
the Coliseum, with the lions and gladiators. Only my (!) leg speed and
smarts to keep me safe.

The Preston police are good, tho'. The twice I've reported PARTICULARLY
stupid and aggressive behaviour they've come up trumps and given me the
option of the offender being given a caution, or me pressing charges
(chickened out both times :rolleyes🙂

On another topic (related): riding to see a friend on Sat eve. down
Beaconsfield parade, going south. Acland St. diverges to the left, I
look behind, clear, indicate right and start to pull across the lane to
curve right down onto Lower Esplanade. &%$#er in a silver Landcruiser
100 series going LEFT onto Acland St. (reg# QIF 4 . . . ? DOH! didn't
get the rest!) roars round me on the right and cuts me so close that
his bumper flicks my front wheel! "#$%&ing MORON!" I yell (in a loud
voice). I idle to a stop at the traffic lights. Pumped-up 'roid dude
from the 4wd has jumped out, run across the little bit of park between
Acland, Fitzroy and the Esplanade, and is waiting for me at the lights,
proceeds to push and have a good yell at me and smack my helmet, hard!
(ears ringing), spoiling for a fight. I push him back and tell him in
no uncertain terms to get the %&$% out of my face, and try and get my
foot in the pedal to ride off. I slip, and catch another whack on my
shoulder. I manage to get away after pushing the guy away.

That really shook me up - that someone like that could be in charge of
a 2 ton vehicle, and call it a "weapon", should be out there, waiting
for the red mist to descend again so that he can bully and harrass
another "fkn poofta" on a bike without any qualms. I've had worse
(jackhandles brandished, et c .) but none so depressingly ordinary -
just another road rager out to kill someone, and they'll get them,
sooner or later, one way or another.

M "beaten up, shook up" H

--
mfhor

*hugs*

My dad keeps talking about getting a big 4WD and I've told him in no
uncertain terms that he will find his tyres slashed if he does so.
"Yeah, cool, Dad, then you can run over cyclists and small children."

*more hugs*

take care

T

Tamyka Bell said:

*hugs*

My dad keeps talking about getting a big 4WD and I've told him in no
uncertain terms that he will find his tyres slashed if he does so.
"Yeah, cool, Dad, then you can run over cyclists and small children."

*more hugs*

take care

T

Has anyone ever noticed that whenever a car comes towards you with it's
head lights either on high beam or on low beam but badly adjusted it
always turns out to be a four wheel drive?

Keep statistics and you'll see it's true.

Marty

On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 at 06:18 GMT, Marty Wallace (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

Has anyone ever noticed that whenever a car comes towards you with it's
head lights either on high beam or on low beam but badly adjusted it
always turns out to be a four wheel drive?

Keep statistics and you'll see it's true.

BWMs as well.

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
"This company performed an illegal operation but they will not be shut
down." -- Scott Harshbarger from consumer lobby group on Microsoft

Marty Wallace <[email hidden]> wrote in news:ct23om$t1c$1
@nnrp.waia.asn.au:

Quoted message said:

it
always turns out to be a four wheel drive?

Keep statistics and you'll see it's true.

Always? No. Often, yes, but possibly no more than other vehicles. Pick a
sterotypical vehicle driver, e.g. BMW, "Bloody Volvo Driver (tm)", local
delivery truck driver, whatever and you'd probably be able to say the same.
When an offending driver (pick your offence) conforms to your own
prejudices then it backs up your argument, when they don't conform then
your brain tends to forget them. This isn't aimed at you personally, this
is just the way the human mind works. It's the same as the "bloody
cyclists, always running red lights" attitude of car drivers.

Graeme

On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 at 08:31 GMT, TimC (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 at 06:18 GMT, Marty Wallace (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

Has anyone ever noticed that whenever a car comes towards you with it's
head lights either on high beam or on low beam but badly adjusted it
always turns out to be a four wheel drive?

Keep statistics and you'll see it's true.

BWMs as well.

Er. BMWs.

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
I am not afraid of heights, nor am I scared of falling. Height and
falling have never hurt anyone. Now the ground. The ground is a
different matter... --unk

hippy said:

[censored] man.. that's nasty. I really was hoping there'd be a
"road raging [censored] beat upside the head with wide
variety of LBS tools" conclusion to that mfhor.

I guess you don't wanna push your luck with guys like
that. Any chance of witnesses identifying the plates?

Are the Landcruiser 100's the boxy ones or the curvier
ones? I'll add it to my mental list of "cars to fsck with" :-)

hippy
- contemplating career change to car-jacker

witnessed 3 couriers in town today 'take-on' a 4WDriver after he tried to pull into one of the riders changeing lanes.
It was like an episode of monkey!
Guy jumps out of car to face-off courier whom had said rude words in his direction.
Next thing there are 2 others wielding spanners/cablelocks.
2 of em then sat on his bonnet and told him to 'listen to a story' of why they were [censored]. I stuck around and listened as one of them told twit-brain about the poor sod murdered on Plenty Rd.
The stoopid driver had no choice but to listen to the lecture as every time he tried to get argybargy again they simply threatened to dent his paintwork. Oh how purile, and yet so poetic all at the same time.
Not that one would commend such behaviour of course
🙄
but the perfect line came at the end when the couriers jumped off his bonnet and just when he thawt it was all over one tapped him on the arm and asked "you got kids?".
"yeah?" he answered
"Well you better prey they never bump into a jerk like you, littleman"

Oh, touche. "Bwwilllliant repartay Vivian!"

Thanks, guys. I feel better now 🙂

I wish I'd been there, Dutch. That sounds classic. I only ever tipped a bidon into a Porsche poseur's lap when I was a courier - not really in the same league. (still perversely satisfying, tho'😉

Hip, yes, they are bigger with slightly curved edges. I didn't have anything bigger than a minipump with to threaten him with. Not that I'd want to - he had the sort of cold, dead eyes that Rutger Hauer has in most of his roles as a psychotic android, etc.

Tam, thanx for the hugs. Whenever the adrenalin has gone, leaving you cold and empty, you need as many hugs as you can get.

That's the worst that has happened to me in a year or three. There's altogether too much anger out there - I believe yoga should be made compulsory in all schools. All we need is another Julian Knight or Martin Bryant with just enough emotional wherewithal to open fire with a gun, again. Then everyone will gasp, Channel Ten will emote crocodile tears, and more people will have lost loved ones. But doesn't this happen with a different type of weapon every day? All that's different is that it's socially acceptable to kill someone with a motor vehicle, whatever private self-recriminations go on. No stigma for the hit and run driver - they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and were at worse 'negligent'. What about my Mr Meathead? What about the ones that don't get out of the car to show their agression, but just push that pedal a little harder?

M "in a bit of a fugue" H

mfhor said:

That's the worst that has happened to me in a year or three. There's altogether too much anger out there - I believe yoga should be made compulsory in all schools. All we need is another Julian Knight or Martin Bryant with just enough emotional wherewithal to open fire with a gun, again. Then everyone will gasp, Channel Ten will emote crocodile tears, and more people will have lost loved ones. But doesn't this happen with a different type of weapon every day? All that's different is that it's socially acceptable to kill someone with a motor vehicle, whatever private self-recriminations go on. No stigma for the hit and run driver - they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and were at worse 'negligent'. What about my Mr Meathead? What about the ones that don't get out of the car to show their agression, but just push that pedal a little harder?

M "in a bit of a fugue" H

Chin up there mate. 😉

Something you just briefly touched on there in that last paragraph - circa 1996, was the tragic impetus that made me take up cycling again in my late 20's. And opened up a very strange winding path that has completely changed my life course. I rediscovered bicycles and fell completely and utterly in love forever... :p

On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 at 09:28 GMT, flyingdutch (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

Quoted message said:

Not that one would commend such behaviour of course
🙄
but the perfect line came at the end when the couriers jumped off his
bonnet and just when he thawt it was all over one tapped him on the arm
and asked "you got kids?".
"yeah?" he answered
"Well you better prey they never bump into a jerk like you, littleman"

Lovely jubblies.

/me applauds.

--
TimC -- http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/staff/tconnors/
cat ~/.signature
Electromagnetic pulse received (core dumped)

"mfhor" <[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

Hip, yes, they are bigger with slightly curved edges. I didn't have
anything bigger than a minipump with to threaten him with. Not that I'd
want to - he had the sort of cold, dead eyes that Rutger Hauer has in
most of his roles as a psychotic android, etc.

hehe.. I love his work.. I base my race face around those
cold dead eyes :-D

Quoted message said:

Tam, thanx for the hugs. Whenever the adrenalin has gone, leaving you
cold and empty, you need as many hugs as you can get.

Look man.. maybe after a few beers.. but not sober, in public.. ;-)

Quoted message said:

No stigma for the hit and
run driver - they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and
were at worse 'negligent'. What about my Mr Meathead? What about the
ones that don't get out of the car to show their agression, but just
push that pedal a little harder?

People still wonder why I get a little agro with fscked up driving!?

hippy
- still looking for the brown Kingswood

mfhor said:

I read the thread on Saul and the unnamed rider killed on Plenty Rd., it
rang some bells with me.

I was Saul's mechanic on a Tour of Tasmania a few years ago, he seemed
like a really nice guy. I know he did good work with the bike club, and
encouraged a lot of people out that way. I've raced on the road he was
killed on. :-(

I ride out to Kinglake quite a bit. I've been harrassed by [censored]
and cut close several times on Plenty Rd. There's plenty of room - why
is there so much aggro/stupidity? I feel like an ancient Christian in
the Coliseum, with the lions and gladiators. Only my (!) leg speed and
smarts to keep me safe.

The Preston police are good, tho'. The twice I've reported PARTICULARLY
stupid and aggressive behaviour they've come up trumps and given me the
option of the offender being given a caution, or me pressing charges
(chickened out both times :rolleyes🙂

On another topic (related): riding to see a friend on Sat eve. down
Beaconsfield parade, going south. Acland St. diverges to the left, I
look behind, clear, indicate right and start to pull across the lane to
curve right down onto Lower Esplanade. &%$#er in a silver Landcruiser
100 series going LEFT onto Acland St. (reg# QIF 4 . . . ? DOH! didn't
get the rest!) roars round me on the right and cuts me so close that
his bumper flicks my front wheel! "#$%&ing MORON!" I yell (in a loud
voice). I idle to a stop at the traffic lights. Pumped-up 'roid dude
from the 4wd has jumped out, run across the little bit of park between
Acland, Fitzroy and the Esplanade, and is waiting for me at the lights,
proceeds to push and have a good yell at me and smack my helmet, hard!
(ears ringing), spoiling for a fight. I push him back and tell him in
no uncertain terms to get the %&$% out of my face, and try and get my
foot in the pedal to ride off. I slip, and catch another whack on my
shoulder. I manage to get away after pushing the guy away.

That really shook me up - that someone like that could be in charge of
a 2 ton vehicle, and call it a "weapon", should be out there, waiting
for the red mist to descend again so that he can bully and harrass
another "fkn poofta" on a bike without any qualms. I've had worse
(jackhandles brandished, et c .) but none so depressingly ordinary -
just another road rager out to kill someone, and they'll get them,
sooner or later, one way or another.

M "beaten up, shook up" H

You ought to try living in the outer suburbs: those monsters are
everywhere out here and their behaviour is just as bad. Of course cars
are weapons, always have been, sad to say. I don't know what to do about
morons like that either.
R.

I think it's something about this week that's getting edgy out there... The rides in today and yesterday have felt quite threatening, and myself and the rider in front of me nearly got clobbered crossing Kew Junction last night.

I'm assuming it's the 'back to work' thing, and the roads filled with angry, sulky people.

mfhor said:

On another topic (related): riding to see a friend on Sat eve. down Beaconsfield parade, going south. Acland St. diverges to the left, I look behind, clear, indicate right and start to pull across the lane to curve right down onto Lower Esplanade. &%$#er in a silver Landcruiser 100 series going LEFT onto Acland St. (reg# QIF 4 . . . ? DOH! didn't get the rest!) roars round me on the right and cuts me so close that his bumper flicks my front wheel! "#$%&ing MORON!" I yell (in a loud voice). I idle to a stop at the traffic lights. Pumped-up 'roid dude from the 4wd has jumped out, run across the little bit of park between Acland, Fitzroy and the Esplanade, and is waiting for me at the lights, proceeds to push and have a good yell at me and smack my helmet, hard! (ears ringing), spoiling for a fight. I push him back and tell him in no uncertain terms to get the %&$% out of my face, and try and get my foot in the pedal to ride off. I slip, and catch another whack on my shoulder. I manage to get away after pushing the guy away.

That really shook me up - that someone like that could be in charge of a 2 ton vehicle, and call it a "weapon", should be out there, waiting for the red mist to descend again so that he can bully and harrass another "fkn poofta" on a bike without any qualms. I've had worse (jackhandles brandished, et c .) but none so depressingly ordinary - just another road rager out to kill someone, and they'll get them, sooner or later, one way or another.

M "beaten up, shook up" H

mhfor.. sending plenty of bike hugs your way.. thats simply shocking .. humans are truly animals in moments like that - even less becos most animals have some dignity.

All I can say is that karma will be coming his selfish, arrogant way sooner or later.