Quoted post said:Originally Posted by Nitefeatherz
I am in a very populated suburban area and I ride on a park trail that is also used by pedestrians- especially little old ladies and tiny little tots whose parents aren't paying as much attention as they really should. (Like when said tot darts out into bicycle traffic).
I crashed more than once because someone wasn't paying attention to what was going on around them and stepped into the path of my bike when it was too close to stop.
One was a little old lady that was walking off the trail so I figured it was safe to pass her. She wasn't on the trail, she was in a grassy area feeding ducks. Mind you, I'm on a road bike but I keep in mind that there are other people on the path and I slow way down until I am past them. Needless to say- she turned without warning and without even looking stepped into the path of my bike- like 6 inches from me. I wiped out and wound up in a creek. She didn't even ask if I was ok or if my bike was damaged- just told me that she wanted money from me "in case she needed to go to a doctor". I had a messed up shoulder, road rash, and I'm standing there bleeding. Can't say I was very sympathetic to her request for money "in case she is hurt- after all she could do something nice with the money". I also told her that if she wanted any money from me I could call the police, we could file a report, and she could sue me for it. (Still bleeding at this point- and she STILL hadn't asked if I was ok). She told me it was clearly my fault since I was on a bike and she was on foot. I replied that she had a responsibility to at least look up from her feet to see if the coast was clear before stepping out into traffic.
She told me she wasn't hurt and she "didn't really need a doctor but I wasn't a very nice person." She then told me that if I was a nice young lady I should just "give her whatever money she asks for" because she was old and retired and I'm young and employed. She then told me again that, even though she's not hurt, I should again, give her money for a doctor and x-rays and she could "save the money for something nice on a rainy day to spend for herself to have a treat since how she spends the money for the doctor is up to her...and if she decides not to go she can just use the money for something nice".
I was very horrified with myself for nearly running a little old lady down...until she started trying to use me like an ATM. Then all the sympathy was gone.
With anything you do in life you will meet jerks. The majority of people aren't like that. There's a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt that is along the lines of "Everything you do in life will upset someone. Just do what you feel is right."
Wow that sounds horrible and kinda crazy, almost something you would see on Judge Judy haha. Thanks for sharing though!
Quoted post said:Originally Posted by Froze
So now what? Are you going to stop riding because of a bad experience? Not trying to sound like a jerk but just wondering why you posted this! Did you get on Facebook and post the first time you had a bad driving experience? Did you quit driving your car due to that? Quite worrying about stuff and just have fun riding your bike, there are a lot of jerks in this world and you have to share the road with them, just put yourself into a mindset of not being bugged by every little thing that occurs on the road because you will be filling this forum with threads a lot if you do.
I've been riding for over 40 years and have had a lot of jerks I had to share the road with, I ignore about 99.999% of them, it's just who they are and they're not going to change. I hate to say this but guess what? I've seen my share of jerks on bikes too! They ride like they have a death wish, running stop signs and lights, cutting in front of cars then flipping them off when the car honks, riding on the wrong side of the road and expect you to move, turning illegally then flipping off drivers, eating their Gels and sports bars and throwing the wrappers on the ground when their done, or leaving their tubes and CO2 carts on the side of the road after a flat. So you see, there are jerks in the bicycle community too. Get use to it, but don't become one.
No I'm not going to quit and I didn't say I was. What's the problem with me telling a story about cycling, on a cycling forum?
I'm not saying just drivers are the problem I know this. I see other riders always blow past stop signs and going in and out of traffic. I just thought it may have been a good topic to see if anyone else had a similar experience.
No need to get so offensive.
