Monday, March 31, 2008

Monday Night Solo Ride

Hi guys. Enjoyed riding with you last Thursday, but I can't always make it by 5. I did a solo ride tonight. Had an incident where some yahoo threw a can at me on Madison Creek and then later coming down 258 towards H'ville, a turkey (the fowl kind) took off in front of an oncoming truck and got slugged right in front of me. Nothing like riding through a cloud of turkey feathers. Those guys look pretty big when they are in ballistic mode. Poor guy didn't have a chance.

Back to the can. A samaritan got me the license plate and the guy lives in Nashville. I filed a police report, but the officer said he couldn't do anything without a positive ID on the person. Told me that if he had a Goodlettsville address they would at least have a little chat with him.

Did somebody say something about safety in numbers?

3 comments:

Tom_E said...

Your experience is unfortunate, but I am afraid we have little legal or civil recourse. We routinely have reports of lone riders being accosted, but seldom hear a group having these problems. Our best alternative is to ride as a group, even if that group is only two cyclists. We setup this blog so ALL cyclists have a means to find a buddy. Please, if you can't make a scheduled ride, post when you can ride. Most of us read this blog frequently. Often somebody wants to ride at the same time or we can adjust our schedule. Last night, we did the Madison Creek ride and didn't leave BL until after 5:15 and picked up riders along the way. Doug, struggles to keep up with everyone and depends on this blog to know want works best for everyone.

Doug_D said...

Tom,
See my January 28 Post. Very similar incident except no one saw who it was or got a plate. I would try to find out who owns the car from the plate, and then educate them. I know it really hurt and slightly bruised my back when I was hit. The worst thing was nearly getting knocked off the bike. It's just wrong.

Tom_E said...

Doug, yes I remember what happened to you also as a lone rider. Our only hope is through pro-active group advocacy, publicity, and education. In this matter Frank Bowyer IV has been a lone warrior for our cause. Almost all other cyclists choose to stay "out of sight" and not to get involved in anything political. As Frank and Bruce warn, Sumner County is only five years behind the troubles of Williamson County.