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I had a couple incidents in the last few days that have left me a little unnerved, so I'm coming here to ask or advice. It's a pair of incidents, each of which is pretty minor, but put together leaves me nervous.
There's a guy in a pickup, big red/maroon thing rigged up for actual work. On Thursday I was on a bike and he pulled up next to me. Told me I was going to get run over and that he was praying for me. Admittedly, I'm on a low recumbent, but I have a Purple Sky flag that goes up to over six feet and multiple lights on the back. The conversation basically went as expected... I'm going to get run over and I'll be at fault for it. I pointed out how visible I am, and then my light changed and I moved on.
Today, though, I'm in a parking lot not half a mile from that intersection, getting into my car, and the guy recognises me and stops again. I don't look *anything* like I do when I'm on a bike in biker gear with a helmet, but he recognised me anyway. The conversation to my memory went like this:
"You're the one with the recumbent, right?"
"Yeah"
"You know we all pay taxes right?"
"... yeah"
"Do you pay taxes for that bike?"
"No"
<something unintelligible as he drives away>
I wrote down his license tag, but not the make or model of his truck. Since this guy recognises me and has twice made a point of stopping to lecture me, I actually have some fear that he's going to use my position on the road and the fact that I'm on a bent as an excuse to run me over. Question is...
1) do I actually have something to worry about?
2) is there anything other than keeping a very sharp eye on both the road in front of me and behind me that I can do to protect myself?
3) should I report this to the police?
I'm not sure he's done anything illegal, but I certainly feel a little threatened. I know that so long as I'm in a car I'll be safe, but I go through that particular location every single time I go anywhere on my bike. There is no alternate route because of the setup of south Austin.
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There has definitely been an increase in the amount of cut through auto traffic in our neighborhoods in south austin in the past couple of years. Streaming, sometimes flying, through our neighborhoods during rush in an attempt to get off the clogged arterials. It seems like so many more cars, so many in such a hurry. And some noticeably irritated by other traffic, cyclists, or anything slowing them down. I also had a crazy incident in some ways similar to yours with a tow truck driver on one of our bike routes. On the other hand, I also encounter quite a few particularly considerate drivers, probably those having some cycling experience/perspective.
My advice, just continue on your merry way. Don't engage in argument or confrontation by yourself, on your recumbent, when he is armed with a ginormous deadly weapon.
One option: An acquaintance sometimes will say something off the wall in these situations, to diffuse tension a bit. Such as;
"I like syrup on my pancakes."
"My great aunt likes whiskey for breakfast."
"I find banana slugs particularly of interest."
Or whatever non confrontational nonsense comes to mind.......
Make sure you do have the vehicle and license plate.......
Another strategy might be to have a travel digital camera at the ready when nearing the problem intersection. Might be less likely to threaten you or do anything if he is aware that he has been identified and recorded, perhaps.......
Just initial thoughts......
Question:
Are you on bike route 31 when this is occurring ? If so, what intersection ?
Best....
Last edited by AusTexMurf (2013-05-10 21:18:30)
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Hmmm.......
Maybe take Buffalo Pass, jump over the creek on Jones, then right on Pack Saddle Pass.
Will get you to Central Market via Western Trails or under Ben White to Lamar.
or
Cut through Sunset Valley to Jones to Sunset Trail then through the unpaved parking lot for the church. Go through the church property and use the light at west gate and western trails to enter central market parking lot via the movie theater.
or
Don't adjust your route for this dude at all. Just smile and ignore.......non sense comment, digital photos, etc.......
Best.
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I do not have any great advice on how to handle this situation, it has not happened to me. I do not think you want to try and engage this person in a discussion, but the thing about taxes made me want to respond. If you were on Jones road or Westgate or most of the roads in that area they were paid for by city taxes. The city funds road maintenance and construction through a few on your utility bill. So you pay the same taxes as this guy does (assuming you both live within the city). Besides you paid 8.5% (or is it 8.25%) sales tax if you bought your bike in Austin. He paid only 2 percentage points less for his truck.
Art
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As for what pays for the roads, m13k started on this summary of how roads are funded. It's a pretty good description of things even if unfinished -- it makes me wish I knew enough about the situation to finish it myself.
As for if you pay taxes on that bike, well, yes you do, but of course that's not the sort of argument that having the facts in your favor will allow you to win. Even if you did point out that yes, you did pay taxes on that bike (and he didn't dismiss this claim out of hand, which is quite likely), then it would become an argument about how he paid far more taxes on his car and that somehow entitles him to something that you aren't entitled to ... (though I have to wonder if he'd stick with the same argument if a semi driver asked if he paid taxes on his car ...)
It's pretty obvious what the guy thinks about you riding your bike on the road, even if you couldn't hear everything that he said, but the odds are ... he's not actually a danger to you. He probably doesn't like that you're "freeloading" on his roads, but he's probably aware that really bad things would happen if he tried to physically do something about it (even if he wanted to, which he probably doesn't.)
He may grumble to himself when he gets behind you, but he probably won't take it any further than he already has.
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