Assaulted

[Pat "5mph"]

Gender assumption on cc should warrant a thread on CA&D?

 

[Trail Child]

I'm glad you are alright and I hope this guy gets charged. He obviously has some serious anger issues that could have hurt anyone coming in contact with him that day.

 

[edwardd67]

He means it isn't becoming all too frequent. Its very rare.

Can't he/she speak for himself/ herself??

 

[Monsieur Remings]

Well of course it's possible, but I'm unlikely to encounter some madman in a white van trying to take me out on my canal towpath. I was just trying to sympathise with the OP and if I decide I would rather ride off road, for any reason, surely that's my decision, it's not for anyone else to deride that decision!

I think the point is here Wilko is that a large number of road cyclists aren't going to give up their hobby/sport/commute because of idiots on the road. Yes, we're vulnerable and yes, if I'm put in danger on the road I don't always act too chivalrously toward the perpetrator but surely, going off-road is not the consequence alone of self-gratification artists on the road is it? I hope not.

Where I am, in rural North Somerset, the roads are less clogged but if you get hit in some of the places I ride it will be fatal, no question. On the other hand it doesn't stop me taking my hat off to commuters in inner cities like London where the traffic is slower but perhaps less dangerous because of the speed, I don't know. What I do know is I regularly have cars on the Mendips pass me at 70mph +.

What does unite road cyclists though, I think, is that will to carry on riding and as Tiny points out, danger, potentially, is everywhere and some of it you can control and others, no chance.

And to BlackCountry, I hope you're okay mate, take care out there and hold your head up high.

 

[Cubist]

Can't he/she speak for himself/ herself??

Of course he can, but I wanted to make the same point. What's the matter with you?

 

[EltonFrog]

I wish the OP well and I hope they catch the miserable lowlife, charge him, ban him from driving for a long time and give him a custodial sentence.

 

[wilko]

I think the point is here Wilko is that a large number of road cyclists aren't going to give up their hobby/sport/commute because of idiots on the road. Yes, we're vulnerable and yes, if I'm put in danger on the road I don't always act too chivalrously toward the perpetrator but surely, going off-road is not the consequence alone of self-gratification artists on the road is it? I hope not.

When I was a kid I used to cycle everywhere. I lived in the suburbs of London and regularly cycled up The Western Avenue around Marble Arch along Oxford Street etc and it never fazed me, but as I've got older, I'm in my 60's now I've become more and more concious of my vulnerability. I have never had a direct assault aimed at me like the OP either on the road or off road, but I have had many close calls from impatient drivers trying to get past me on narrow country roads and, frankly, it's unnerved me. I do still ride on the road but less frequently and prefer to ride off road. I have no qualms about anyone else riding on the road, it's your choice and I admire your spirit, but it frightens me! So, to answer your question is it due to self-gratification artists on the road that I have taken to riding off road I'm afraid the answer is yes, to a degree, sad though this may be. This thread has been hijacked a bit and I apologize to the OP. Stay safe.

 

[EltonFrog]

When I was a kid I used to cycle everywhere. I lived in the suburbs of London and regularly cycled up The Western Avenue around Marble Arch along Oxford Street etc and it never fazed me, but as I've got older, I'm in my 60's now I've become more and more concious of my vulnerability. I have never had a direct assault aimed at me like the OP either on the road or off road, but I have had many close calls from impatient drivers trying to get past me on narrow country roads and, frankly, it's unnerved me. I do still ride on the road but less frequently and prefer to ride off road. I have no qualms about anyone else riding on the road, it's your choice and I admire your spirit, but it frightens me! So, to answer your question is it due to self-gratification artists on the road that I have taken to riding off road I'm afraid the answer is yes, to a degree, sad though this may be. This thread has been hijacked a bit and I apologize to the OP. Stay safe.

Me too, in the 70's, (on that bike in my avatar) it never seemed to be a problem, maybe it was because we were young and invincible.

 

[swee'pea99]

I have no qualms about riding anywhere and everywhere I want to, and I have to say I very rarely feel in any way theatened (I come across much more overtly considerate and careful driving than the opposite, and have certainly never come across anything like the OP, in forty years on the roads). But I have also to say that I do notice big differences in the driving depending on whereabouts in London I am. The nice bit of North London round me is almost totally cycle-friendly, but there are areas south of the river in particular where, although I will go if that's where I'm going, I go with a real sense of foreboding.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

But I have also to say that I do notice big differences in the driving depending on whereabouts in London I am. The nice bit of North London round me is almost totally cycle-friendly, but there are areas south of the river in particular where, although I will go if that's where I'm going, I go with a real sense of foreboding.

Same here I guess: riding in "student land" or to the traffic calmed city is different than riding in "taxi land" (my area).
Last summer I was regularly using a street with lots of cyclists as most of it is for bikes, taxis and buses only - could do without the taxis drivers in general are more considered around that area, probably more used to cyclists.

 

[benb]

Good luck. Let us know the progress from our friends in blue.

 

[edwardd67]

Of course he can, but I wanted to make the same point. What's the matter with you?

I disagree with both yourself and 400bhp. More bikes on the road , more incidents involving cyclist and drivers.

There's nothing wrong with me. But thanks for asking

 

[Black Country Ste]

OK, I went to the station this morning to give a statement, which essentially paraphrased the written account I put together last night. The officer was great with me. There wasn't a computer handy to watch the video but the CD has been taken as evidence.

Through some clever investigative work of my own I know where the bloke works. Obviously I'm not sharing any information about the driver yet but it's in my statement.

She said it would be a couple of days before the case is assigned for investigation but there are a lot of leads for them to follow up on. She didn't comment on the likelihood of charges being brought and I didn't ask. What happened is clear enough.

And of course I've left the door open for civil action against the driver and his company when it's all over. I'll seek legal advice regarding that at a later time.

As for publishing the video, as much as I'm dying to share, name and shame, a conviction is more important to me and I don't want to risk that.

 

[Arch]

I disagree with both yourself and 400bhp. More bikes on the road , more incidents involving cyclist and drivers.

Not proportionally. There may be an increase in incidents, but that increase won't be the same as the percentage increase in cyclists. More cyclists on the road means fewer accidents per 100 or 1000 or whatever.

The more people cycle, the safer we all are.

 

[Monsieur Remings]

When I was a kid I used to cycle everywhere. I lived in the suburbs of London and regularly cycled up The Western Avenue around Marble Arch along Oxford Street etc and it never fazed me, but as I've got older, I'm in my 60's now I've become more and more concious of my vulnerability. I have never had a direct assault aimed at me like the OP either on the road or off road, but I have had many close calls from impatient drivers trying to get past me on narrow country roads and, frankly, it's unnerved me. I do still ride on the road but less frequently and prefer to ride off road. I have no qualms about anyone else riding on the road, it's your choice and I admire your spirit, but it frightens me! So, to answer your question is it due to self-gratification artists on the road that I have taken to riding off road I'm afraid the answer is yes, to a degree, sad though this may be. This thread has been hijacked a bit and I apologize to the OP. Stay safe.

Fair play Wilko, and that's genuinely sad to hear.

For a dedicated roadie I bought an MTB recently and couldn't get on with the whole off-road thing but, and this is an admission too, by the time my two children are old enough to ride a road bike I'd prefer them to stay off-road! Inconsistent I know.