Pennies

[kenerin]

Yesterday during a training ride, a man in a beat up Ford Escort threw a penny out his window at me. I'm just glad that it hit my tire and not my face or any part of my body. That really makes me mad !!!!! Has anyone ever had something like this happen to them? It's a busy road and I probably shouldn't be riding down it anyway, but I shouldn't be afraid of people throwing things out their windows at me.
Kendra

 

[pineapple]

Yesterday during a training ride, a man in a beat up Ford Escort threw a penny out his window at me. I'm just glad that it hit my tire and not my face or any part of my body. That really makes me mad !!!!! Has anyone ever had something like this happen to them? It's a busy road and I probably shouldn't be riding down it anyway, but I shouldn't be afraid of people throwing things out their windows at me.
Kendra

The bottom line is that you should be able to ride down any legal road you like without harrassment. These people are just embarrassingly stupid bullies who have utterly failed the fundamental test of life - growing up.


I've had a bunch of england football shirt-clad hooligans slow down next to me and squirt a bottle of water (I hope) in my face while I was climbing a 10% gradient. It just goes to show what kind of people are attracted to the sport of football. I don't know when I last saw a cycling riot...

Other than that, I've had two incidents of people driving past, rolling down the window and yelling really loudly at me. Scared the **** out of me both times!!

 

[Bunyip]

So what did you guys do? I haven't had any experiences with projectiles yet but I just wanted to ask. Or did you just speed off real quick?

PS: While we're letting off steam about rude people on the road, on my ride today I went to overtake this guy on a bike lane (I think he was both homeless and drunk) when he suddenly started to do really sharp weaves across both lanes. He basically spun his wheel 90 deg to the left and slammed straight into me. Hello?! His bike was okay but mine wasn't.

 

[Jeffonyourleft]

The cheap son of a *&^%$. At least he could have thrown a dollar. What a crappy person. Sorry to hear about your story. I was on a charity ride with 7000 other riders (MS150 in Jersey) and one lady was so ****** off and mad that she continuously honked her horn as the policeman was directing traffic. Scared the mess out of me so much that I rode near her and wasted a little water from my bottle to help cool her off. Doubt she was going to chase and look for me in 200 riders with close to the same jerseys.

Yesterday during a training ride, a man in a beat up Ford Escort threw a penny out his window at me. I'm just glad that it hit my tire and not my face or any part of my body. That really makes me mad !!!!! Has anyone ever had something like this happen to them? It's a busy road and I probably shouldn't be riding down it anyway, but I shouldn't be afraid of people throwing things out their windows at me.
Kendra

 

[kenerin]

He slowed down, threw the penny, and drove off, I didn't do anything but try to avoid the penny. I was afraid it would hit my spokes and fly up into my face or something crazy. After that, I was watching people alot closer. I don't even know what I would do or say if he had gotten stopped by the next red light and I caught up to him, probably nothing. That's just my personality.

Kendra

 

[psmalley]

Yesterday during a training ride, a man in a beat up Ford Escort threw a penny out his window at me. I'm just glad that it hit my tire and not my face or any part of my body. That really makes me mad !!!!! Has anyone ever had something like this happen to them? It's a busy road and I probably shouldn't be riding down it anyway, but I shouldn't be afraid of people throwing things out their windows at me.
Kendra

Yeah, earlier this year I got beaned with a half eaten apple. Good thing I had the helmet on. That sort of thing really sucks.

 

[TechJD]

Yeah, earlier this year I got beaned with a half eaten apple. Good thing I had the helmet on. That sort of thing really sucks.

Well you could always get their plate number and if ya see a Cop just mention it to him // maybe he'll do something, maybe not, but if enough people complane then they will have to start doin somethng about it

I mean that would actuall be like _____ ( cant think of the term ) driving, cause it could cause an accident

 

[BanditManDan]

I would have caught up to the jerk and yelled or squirt water at him. It's funny how dumb people are to think that I can't catch them, they almost always get stuck at a traffic light when I pull up beside them (the chase is kinda fun). My goal is to just make them feel as un-comfortable as possible to hopefully prevent them from doing it to someone else.

 

[tpat3]

Yesterday during a training ride, a man in a beat up Ford Escort threw a penny out his window at me. I'm just glad that it hit my tire and not my face or any part of my body. That really makes me mad !!!!! Has anyone ever had something like this happen to them? It's a busy road and I probably shouldn't be riding down it anyway, but I shouldn't be afraid of people throwing things out their windows at me.
Kendra

A friend of mine recently suggested keeping some bolts handy for just this reason. I'd probably fall down tring to find the bolt and throw it, but it's a good idea and fighting back is always satisfying.

 

[meehs]

The bottom line is that you should be able to ride down any legal road you like without harrassment. These people are just embarrassingly stupid bullies who have utterly failed the fundamental test of life - growing up.

Exactly what I was going to say. Unless it's a road that you're legally prohibated from riding on, you have every bit as much right to be on it as any motorist. Unfortunaely a lot of drivers don't believe this to be the case.

I've had people scream at me, gesture at me, had my elbow clipped by a side mirror more than once, get in front of me on the shoulder, lots of ****! I don't rememeber ever having anything thrown at me though (knock on wood). It's hard sometimes but the best thing to do is completely ignore it.

 

[izzodesh]

I would have caught up to the jerk and yelled or squirt water at him. It's funny how dumb people are to think that I can't catch them, they almost always get stuck at a traffic light when I pull up beside them (the chase is kinda fun). My goal is to just make them feel as un-comfortable as possible to hopefully prevent them from doing it to someone else.

one time when i was riding someone thrw some garbage out the window...but little did they know a light was around the corner...so i just biked by and smiled as i kicked their piece of **** car with my cleat...and dragged it across to leave a nice mark 8)
i hate getting messed with when i am riding..
cleats are very dangerous 8)

 

[RaleighRider]

Exactly what I was going to say. Unless it's a road that you're legally prohibated from riding on, you have every bit as much right to be on it as any motorist. Unfortunaely a lot of drivers don't believe this to be the case.
QUOTE]

Are you suggesting that if you are illegally on a road people have a right to physically assault you.

 

[RaleighRider]

..cleats are very dangerous 8)

So is the 13 ounce 357 magnum in my cargo pocket.

 

[meehs]

Exactly what I was going to say. Unless it's a road that you're legally prohibated from riding on, you have every bit as much right to be on it as any motorist. Unfortunaely a lot of drivers don't believe this to be the case.
QUOTE]

Are you suggesting that if you are illegally on a road people have a right to physically assault you.

Ummm... Yeah, that's it.

What're you reading?

All I said was that if you're not on a road that's prohibated to bikes, you have every bit as much right to be there as a motorist. Not that anyone has the right to assault you.

 

[RaleighRider]

Ummm... Yeah, that's it.

What're you reading?

All I said was that if you're not on a road that's prohibated to bikes, you have every bit as much right to be there as a motorist. Not that anyone has the right to assault you.

I guess I read into it. My apologies. But the original point of the post was assault by pennies.

 

[meehs]

I guess I read into it. My apologies.

Haha! It's cool. No apology needed.

 

[Bolo Grubb]

It's hard sometimes but the best thing to do is completely ignore it.

I completely agree. If they get a raise out of you they are just more likely to do it again, maybe next time you or perhaps a different cyclist.

If you ignore them, they get bored and stop doing anything.

But now if they do something illegal or dangerous, get their plate number and report them to the police. May or may not do any good but worth a try

 

[bradlynd]

Thank god Lance has made such an impact in the states! In the good old days, people would throw beer bottles and shout [email protected]#% you loser!. Now, they throw beer bottles and shout [email protected]#% you Lance!. I am not really a fan of Lance more than any other guy in the peloton, but I certainly welcomed the change.

 

[Trekker2017]

I completely agree. If they get a raise out of you they are just more likely to do it again, maybe next time you or perhaps a different cyclist.

If you ignore them, they get bored and stop doing anything.

But now if they do something illegal or dangerous, get their plate number and report them to the police. May or may not do any good but worth a try

I've found that 100% of the time, if you report someone to the police for harrassing you and your bicycle the cops could care less. I prefer to call them in as "drunken" drivers. A phone call to the police and a phone call to MADD and that poor SOB is going to be harrassed for a long time to come. Just say that he was driving erratically and endangering other people on the road. All of which is true... just don't mention the bicycle and the police will take you seriously. And after all, the driver had to be "impared" in order to be stupid enough to throw something at you... right?

 

[Bolo Grubb]

I've found that 100% of the time, if you report someone to the police for harrassing you and your bicycle the cops could care less. I prefer to call them in as "drunken" drivers. A phone call to the police and a phone call to MADD and that poor SOB is going to be harrassed for a long time to come. Just say that he was driving erratically and endangering other people on the road. All of which is true... just don't mention the bicycle and the police will take you seriously. And after all, the driver had to be "impared" in order to be stupid enough to throw something at you... right?

I do like that idea