America's #1 Balance Bike Destination

America's #1 Balance Bike Destination
America's #1 Balance Bike Destination

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Road Rage in Rhode Island

Okay before I explain today's misfortune, I would like to thank my team for leaving me swinging in the breeze out here... Numerous requests for additional contributors have gone unanswered... Numerous updates sent via the team Yahoo group have barely caused a blip on the site's traffic. So... effective very shortly, the title of this blog changes to something else of my choosing, and it may as well because for it to be called Union Velo blog, there needs to be interest and participation from the rest of the team. The list of my esteemed sponsors will remain in the sidebar, no matter what. Enough said. You all had your chance. Suggestions for the new title?
Today, this evening, I am riding home from work. It's 6:00 or so and I'm on Main Street in West Warwick, approaching Fairview Ave, only 1/4 mile from my house.. There is a long line of cars building at the stoplight. I'm passed by a small pick-up truck (surprised?) driven by a man of large age (and girth). He presses his vehicle as close to the curb as possible, trying to block me from overtaking vehicles stopped at the light. This annoys me, and I think to myself "What would David Schwartz do?" Never one to miss a chance to speak his mind.. and rightly so most of the time.. I unclip from my right shoe and squeeze in between said truck and the curb to tell the driver what I think of his behavior. The second I peered into the cab and met his glare, he laid on the horn, scaring the wits out of me. He's also swinging his arm toward the sidewalk, as if to say "Get off the road!" I detect the precariousness of my position and surge forward, in front of the elderly rage-a-holic. I'm now directly in front of him, and he surges behind me, horn blaring non-stop. I have a legal right to be in the lane because I am about to turn left onto Fairview, the arrow is green. He follows me through the turn and continues to surge and harrass and taunt me with his vehicle, his fist and his horn. I had his license plate memorized before ever seeing his face. When he saw me pointing towards his front tag, he knew the deal and sped around me and up Fairview Ave. I turned onto Maple Avenue, where I live. I got home and promptly called the police to report the incident. An officer stopped by an hour later and heard my side of it, took down the plate number. He promised me to pay this fella a visit to inform him that threatening me with deadly force (his truck) is criminal... That's my story.
This is a typical story I think, and I wonder how many of us actually call the police under such circumstances. I have to admit I was afraid, and it wasn't long ago that I was T-boned by a car in Cranston and hospitalized...
I have to ask my fellow cyclists, would you have avoided this confrontation (stayed behind the truck without passing) or would you have done as I did and tried to communicate? Needless to say, I never used a swear word or any obcene gestures, just received them. Another question: Would he have threatened me if I was elderly, or if I was a ten year old kid, or if I was a woman? I want to believe 'no', that there was discrimination involved, because the thought of him exploiting [his perception of]weakness in such a situation makes me want to vomit. This person was looking for a fight and chose to deliberately provoke me from the second he went by and shut down my path. Your comments appreciated. Thanks for reading.

7 comments:

Zoo said...

cat 2 for cyclocross would be in Men B field

IMA said...

Yikes. I am in for a thrashing. Should I downgrade or count my blessings for having something which others covet, even if I fell ass-backwards into it?

gewilli said...

As per the subject on hand? the verbal thrashing?

I typically hang back lately - mostly bacause i've got the trailer on and can't fit where i normally would.

I'm actually suprised the officer came to your place and took the report. Slow day down there eh?

Good luck, stay safe. its freaky out there man... freaky...

solobreak said...

If I'm in a dedicated turning lane, I claim my spot in the middle of it and wait.

This guy sounds like a bona-fide bike hater, but normally, whether you are passing on the right (which as a lane-sharing vehicle you can do, just as cars don't have to wait for a dotted centerline to pass you) or the left, it is YOUR responsibility to do so safely. They person being passed doesn't have to make an effort to get out of your way.

In general, I put my safety first, the law second, and my desire to move quickly last. But I don't commute either. I do this for fun, and in my old age I've found it's better (for me) to avoid confrontation and just flow like water downhill.

See, I'm not just kind, gentle, and nurturing, I'm easy going too.

IMA said...

That's good advice FnF... I also try to avoid confrontation, but turning a blind eye to ignorance seems to make me complicit, so I'll attempt to educate people every chance I get. In the case of this motorist, he wanted me off the road and on the sidewalk, no ifs ands or buts. I commute because my wife hates when I come home and then ride after work, because when I do I don't return until dark. By riding to work and back, there is little she can bitch about- I'm usually home by 6:30 or sometimes 7:00, and I get 35-40 miles in automatically. GeWilli- what pray tell do you carry in that trailer to work every day?? That E Providence bike path is so narrow. Check out the Cranston-West Warwick path one day- it's luxuriously wide. I bought a nearly new Fuji Cross Pro bike today, from a friend in need of cash. Needs pedals and shoes and I could use some advice choosing them. Please make some recommendations.

gewilli said...

my youngest is in the trailer everyday... drop her off at daycare in the city - we are looking for options, but the riverside/EP stuff is not as good as where she is at and the Barrington stuff is all full up...

the only narrow part is the walkway across the washington bridge...

hell if ya can hold a line in a crit - draggin a trailer ain't any tougher...

IMA said...

Holy crap. Poor kid must be freezing back there! I bought a trailer, used it once. Couldn't get myself to clamp it onto the carbon frame.. So I bought the 'cross bike for that duty. (and to learn/race cross) I need practise. Where to begin?