Back when I worked for Scram Couriers I had someone throw an unopened can of soda at me. I was straddling my bike in front of the Klinke Cleaners on East Washington and jotting down my next pick-up in my manifest when something with reasonable heft hit my helmet. The can bounced down onto my bag and then onto my foot and managed to hit the ground without exploding. I glanced up and saw a van full of teenagers cruising up the hill toward the Capitol. They were gawking and not making an effort to hide the fact that they threw the can --- and then they had to stop at a red light. So I picked up it up and rode up the hill, slowing to a creep as I came up on the side of the van. Everyone inside was very still and looking straight ahead, now trying to play it cool. I reached inside the passenger side window with both hands, opened the can and let it go as it began to spray everywhere. I rode off down a one way to avoid being followed. Not saying I would do the same thing again, this was over 8 years ago, but I sure did enjoy it at the time.
Aside from that I been subject to some hollering and antagonizing, mostly when riding Capus Drive and/or being downtown at bartime, but nothing major. -M. On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 1:01 PM, Robbie Webber <[email protected]>wrote: > In all my years of bike commuting in Madison - over 20 years, and most > of those year-round - I have only had something thrown at me once. > Late winter/early spring, riding west at night on "Old" University > Ave. someone passed me around Allen St and hit me in the back with a > snowball or ice ball. (Not sure where they got it, because I recall > there was no snow on the ground at the time.) Although it hurt like > hell, the winter layers cushioned the blow a bit. > > What the perpetrator didn't expect was that bicyclists can accelerate > quickly when adrenaline is suddenly pumping through their veins. I > almost caught the van before it turned a corner and roared away. If my > glasses hadn't been covered in fog and rain, and if I had better night > vision, I would have gotten the plate. > > Even yelling from irritated motorists has been fairly minimal. Having > so many bicyclists on the road helps drivers to understand that we are > supposed to be there. Also, most motorists (and walkers, bicyclists > and transit users) tend to travel the same routes on a regular basis, > so they are used to seeing bicyclists and knowing how to act around > them. > > Another reason that "more butts on bikes" helps make us all safer. > > Robbie Webber > Bike Walk Madison Steering Committee > www.bikewalkmadison.org > Join our group on Facebook! > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > -- ......... __ o .........-\<, ......(O) (O)........... ...........................
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