August 4th, September 17th, November 10th.

Deja · 2012-12-01 04:11:09

I'm an archaeologist. I used a bike to get to work and school for 4 years. Now I drive a truck. August 4th 7am the sun was already up light was fairly good I was driving a Ford Explorer at around 20mph. I came up to a T junction. Washington Square meets 30th there. Washington square is an enormous pile of road It's a tiny little stretch, a block long but the road is huge, four lane highway huge. The cyclist came barreling down the middle he was dipping and weaving. I hit the brakes and he slewed out in front of me and shot me the finger before continuing on. He was in the middle of the road. He didn't signal. Washington Avenue is tempting that way I guess.

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.

dougmc · 2012-12-01 11:16:07

A cyclist flipped you off for some unknown reason. That's certainly believable -- both motorists and cyclists will flip others off for some perceived affront.

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.

MichaelBluejay · 2012-12-01 13:25:14

Bingo. I was thinking the exact same thing when I read this, that it was too hard to believe. 27 years of cycling in this city, including lots of time on Washington Square and Shoal Creek Blvd., and I've never seen that kind of behavior (except the 5mph thing, on Critical Mass, which was one of the reasons I quit that ride).

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

Donald Lewis · 2012-12-01 16:27:33

Sound like a bogus troll story to me.

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

Don in Austin

ch3ster · 2012-12-02 16:27:42

The archaeologist reports:
"At that point I had been up for almost three days....
One of them heaved a brick through the back windshield."
Startling narrative marauding gangs of shrieking cyclists putting
a brick through his rear window panel. It is difficult
to actually put a brick through plate glass. The panel shatters
but to make a hole it needs to be pounded through. I'd like to see
the police report but it doesn't sound like the was one filed.

ggw · 2012-12-02 19:21:50

My post reads like I'm "piling on", but you cannot turn left from 38th onto Shoal Creek anyway. Did he mean 45th? More "not awake yet"?

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

MichaelBluejay · 2012-12-02 20:02:41

Sorry Deja if what you're saying is true, but you have to admit that your story just seems hard to believe. As Carl Sagan said, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." If there's more that you can share with us then we'll be more than happy to consider it fairly, but if not, then I think you can't blame folks for being skeptical.

rickb · 2012-12-03 10:23:49

Regarding the difficulty with breaking glass on a car with a brick... I believe that aspect. Windshields might be more strongly reinforced than the sides and rear. But on those windows it is suprisingly easy to shatter them with a rock or even a spark plug, thrown with a strong arm.
I had my rear window smashed in with a dead pumpkin on one Halloween. Cost me $500.

Bicycle Austin forum

#1 2012-12-01 04:11:09

August 4th, September 17th, November 10th.

#2 2012-12-01 11:16:07

Re: August 4th, September 17th, November 10th.

#3 2012-12-01 13:25:14

Re: August 4th, September 17th, November 10th.

#4 2012-12-01 16:27:33

Re: August 4th, September 17th, November 10th.

#5 2012-12-02 16:27:42

Re: August 4th, September 17th, November 10th.

#6 2012-12-02 19:21:50

Re: August 4th, September 17th, November 10th.

#7 2012-12-02 20:02:41

Re: August 4th, September 17th, November 10th.

#8 2012-12-03 10:23:49

Re: August 4th, September 17th, November 10th.

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