I concur with Michael. I have bicycled and commuted in this town since 1968, and have NEVER heard of even half that stuff happening... I attended all the courteous mass rides except one when we had them, and none of them resulted in any altercations, verbal or otherwise, between anyone.

I certainly have had close calls that put my heart to pumping as a participant in bicycle|car interactions (being alternately on/in one vehicle or the other) where voices (and fingers) were raised, but always from a distance and no projectiles were ever involved.

George Wyche

Can't imagine seeing rocks go through my auto glass and not call the police.

Don in Austin

If it *is* true, it's exceptionally bad luck.  And certainly not representative.

At another time, you slowed down to 5 mph so you wouldn't run over some cyclists after a gentle turn.  One flipped you off, then two confronted you and started yelling.  Unless there was a whole lot more to this story that you didn't think was worth including, I don't believe it.

In another incident, cyclists randomly (?) start throwing rocks at your vehicle.  Again, unless there's a whole lot more to the story, I don't believe it.  This would go way beyond "refusing to obey any rules" -- this would go into assault with deadly weapons, and you'd be justified in pulling out a gun and shooting somebody and yet instead you ask "Hey, ease up, what's wrong?" 

Either you're some sort of supernatural trouble magnet, you're leaving a whole lot out of story two and three (and probably one, for that matter), or this is a work of fiction.

Based on phrases like "Hey, ease up, what's wrong?" and "When the first rock hit my window I didn't really register it." -- I'm guessing fiction, or at least fictionalized.

September 7th 5pm.  I do my grandfathers grocery shopping.  I drive between the Randalls and his house on Shoal Creek.  at 5pm the light was good I was waiting to make a left hand turn from 38th onto Shoal Creek.  The light turned there was no oncoming traffic. I made a gentle left hand turn.  I could hear the grocery bags shifting in the back.  I kept thinking about how I'd have to explain the broken eggs.  There were 5 cyclists ahead of me.  They chose not to use the bike lane.  I slowed down to 15 and then to under 5.  One of the cyclists in the rear turned and shot me the finger.   I was so tired.  I just wanted to drop the groceries off and go home and get a few hours sleep.  I had a flight in 16 hours and I hadn't had time to pack.  I pulled over and pretended to park on the street. 

Two of them peeled off and turned around.  One of them pushed his helmet into my window.  "Do you run us over? IS that what you do?" 

At that point I had been up for almost three days.  I didn't have the energy to argue with him and I didn't want to roll down my window to let him spit at me.  I stared at him.  His counterpart on the other side of my truck pounded on the window.  I waited to see if they would break something.  They didn't. 

The Angry Shouting guy tipped his wheel and they left.  I dropped off my groceries and got on a plane. 

November 10th 9am on Idlewilde.  I dropped off a friend and then headed back toward campus.  When the first rock hit my window I didn't really register it.  The second one I noticed.  There were two cyclists chucking rocks at me.  I know I shouldn't have but I cracked the window and yelled "Hey, ease up, what's wrong?"

One of them heaved a brick through the back windshield.  He was shrieking something.  I didn't stick around to listen.   I drive carefully.  I used to use a bike as my primary transportation.  It doesn't seem to matter.  4 wheels or 2 wheels, tons of steel or no, some people are just jerks who refuse to obey any rules and put all of us at risk.