FLCC> Another menace out there

[Donal Fitterer]

That stuff never happens to me Bob. I saw it happen to Dave Ruppert
once.

 

From: flcc-bounces at icycle.org [mailto:flcc-bounces at icycle.org] On Behalf
Of Bob Talda
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 10:41 PM
To: flcc
Subject: FLCC> Another menace out there

 

Hate to have to post this after such a glorious day, but this is a
well-used cycling route, and, well...


I was waiting on Ellis Hollow Creek Road, at the intersection with Ellis
Hollow Rd, with a couple of other cyclists for the rest of the group to
catch up.

This guy was a classic: older (late 40s - mid 50s by my guess - that is,
he was about my age or a little older) white male in a rusted out white
vehicle (I'd call it an SUV, but it is too old for that; more of the age
of an International Scout, or the original Suburban or Cherokee). I
couldn't see the license plate as he had pulled up next to me.

General strain of the conversation:
Him: "You know, you all are a menace"
Me: "Excuse me?"
Him: "I had a friend of mine who [had some kind of legal trouble]
because a cyclist rode into his vehicle.  Cyclist was riding no hands
and rode into his vehicle - and it was my buddy's fault.  New York state
law".
Me: "Doesn't sound like the law as I know it."
There was more of the conversation along these lines, and then very
calmly, 
Him: "My best legal option would be to kill you"  (and THAT is a direct
quote)
Me, as he was driving off: "Well, I'm also a liberal and a Catholic and
I vote Democratic, so you can pick your reason to kill me"  (okay, so I
shouldn't have said this, but I was somewhat shaken and irate; it was
probably a good thing I didn't mention I worked at Cornell)

I don't know if this gentleman was having a bad day or what, but it was
his last remark, and the way he said, that concerned me.  This time, he
did nothing - to me or the two cyclists waiting just up the road from me
(young ladies in their twenties, so, call me a chauvinistic pig, but I
was a little concerned for their safety) - but I don't know what he
would do next time, particularly if the cyclists were moving and he was
coming up on them from behind.

For the record, all the other drivers we encountered were decent.
Always has to be that one bad apple.

 

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