alienbogey

Yesterday my wife and I went for a Sunday afternoon ride. We deliberately sought out the quietest back roads near us because she's a relatively inexperienced rider and she was on a vintage bike ('73 Airhead) with drum brakes for the first time. Still, we're basically doing the PSL, which is 35.

I'm leading, she's 50 yards or so behind, and a white SUV comes hauling ass down the road, brakes heavily, and starts tailgating the sh*t out of her.

Wife: "This guy's tailgating the crap out of me." (We have bluetooth comms)

Me: "Maybe he won't take our next turn."

1/8 mile later, if that, we take the right turn and, alas, Mr. Asshat does too, and all she can see in her mirrors is grill.

"He's still on me."

There's no shoulder to pull over on, and we're approaching a 4 way stop in 1/8 of a mile, so I say,

"If he turns right up here with us I'll pull over to let him by, there's a good place 50 yards after the intersection."

As I'm saying these words Mr. Asshat pulls over the double yellow line and passes my wife. NOTHING gets me as riled as endangering my wife or any member of my family, so as I'm pulling up to the stop sign I'm already planning to put the peg down, get off the bike, and have a conversation.

But, no I don't get the chance as Mr. Asshat passes me too over the double yellow, completely blows through the stop sign at the four way stop intersection in a tires-squealing heaved-over land-yacht left turn, and hurtles off down the road which dead ends in a quarter of a mile. He was a grey haired dude with a grey haired wife in the passenger seat.

He went by so fast I didn't even get the chance to give him the Finger Supreme.

I briefly considered going after him, but figured it would just spoil our ride even more than it already had been.

So, Über Asshat White Toyota Land Yacht driver in the Arletta area: F you you F'g F.

Thanks for listening.

(P.S. If anyone is feeling an urge to tell me not to confront people like that, let's spare the bandwidth, shall we.)

SmokeyMcNug

first off: yay, i love rants!

and second: screw that asshole. i would go after him. only a quarter mile? easily located. he almost killed u and your wife. unless he was headed to a hospital (and would have then needed to if this happened to me), there was no reason for the douchebaggery that he displayed when his destination was less than a mile away.

daneloire

I dunno how helpful this advice is, but your wife may feel more confidant leading rather than following. My wife always appreciated being able to set the pace and she didn't have to worry about roadraging cagers tailgating her, since I was bringing up the rear.

Hope this didn't put her off riding too much!

ltlpagan

I hate it when a cager ruins your ride. It just kills the mood for the rest of the ride for me. My usual response is to pull off as soon as it's safe..... or in this case I would have slowed down and stopped right in the road to let him risk his safety going around me on a double yellow if he's in that big of a hurry. (I've done it too)

Arnbo

Remember last year,Amy and I were riding Hwy9 and had a Blue Mini-Van
Tailgating her and she was 10 above the speedlimit.I signaled to her to pass me and we traded Positions.The Asshat decides to finally pass and everyone including passengers
let us know we were Number one!We rode to The McChevron in Arlington and headed back North Looking up we seen our new Friends in The Blue mini-Van Pulled over and the Driver Cuffed and Being Stuffed.Ask Earl Karma pays.......

Tripledij

Lol... my name is Earl

SivartR1

Agree with daneloire, my wife generally feels more comfortable in the lead, and I feel better being able to watch out for her while we ride.

2nd Childhood

I'm gonna waste some bandwidth, so ignore if you like....

Okay, you're PO'd at him for risking injury to your wife. I'm on board 100% with that. But if you chase him down and your wife follows you, now you are putting her at risk if he goes apeshit and pulls a gun or something. You did the right thing.

alienbogey

My wife prefers to follow, that way all the navigation chores are offloaded to me and she can concentrate on riding her ride. I match my speed to hers from the front.

There was no emergency or hospital run or anything like that going on. There are maybe 12 houses down that dead end road. I just got back from a ride today and, out of curiosity, rode down there. Yep, there was the white SUV, parked all safe & sound in the MF's driveway.

I have a dash cam on my bike, but it caught none of the action. I've been researching helmet cams, and if I'd had one it would have recorded the double yellow line pass of me as I looked left, then the stop sign run-through, then I could have followed him for a recording of his license plate and him getting out of the vehicle at home. I have no idea if the sheriff's department would follow up on it, but if I had all that on video I would have gone down to the sheriff's to share it.

SmokeyMcNug

I like staring at the back of my wife's head too.....

now if only she rode a bike.....

FeralRdr

Now! Now! That sort of thing can lead to distracted riding.

Not that we don't understand how that sort of thing can happen sometimes.

Probably had to pee.