TheSpence
Oh. Hello.
- Location
- Leicester/shire
Hey Guys and Gals
Just wanted to share a story from my commute home. I am approximately half a mile from home. Whilst stopped at some traffic lights at the front, I glance behind and see a marked Police car (nothing scary at this part, just tying to set the scene), and there are several other cars in the queue behind. Lights go to green, and we all set off on our merry way. This road is a nice straight with a cycle lane and clear of traffic. Eventually, the Police Car overtakes me safely with no issues. At this stage I am, according to my cheap computer, doing 20mph. We eventually reach what I would class as a mini roundabout, however has two approach lanes; one to turn left, the other to turn right. I need to turn right. So as standard before i reach the section where the two lanes appearI glance over my shoulder to indicate out into the middle of the lane. I do so fine, but there was a car behind me which I safely had pulled in front of ( traffic was building near the roundabout so I did not slow anyone down). Yet again as standard, my outreached hand turned into a 'thumbs up' for the driver I pulled in front of.
I went over the roundabout without incident.
Approximately after 10 metres after the round about, I need to turn right into a side road. So I ALWAYS at this stage remain in primary position so I do not get cut out on the left of the road. Once again I stuck my hand out and glanced back to indicate right. The car directly behind me started to try to overtake whilst this was happening. I turned further to give him eye contact, and I could see the driver swearing at me, pointing at me and I distinctly remember seeing his lips say 'well get out the fu@&ing way then'. I stuck my middle finger up at him. At this point, the car is parallel with me. The driver started to drive towards me to force me off the road. In defence, I smacked his rear passenger window to get him to back off. He then drove fully into me which forced me into side railings for the road, but due to the lack of speed at this stage, I bounced off the railings and bounced back into the side of the car. I managed to stay standing at all times and I remember my bike being on the floor, with his rear wheel turning over my handle bar.
Now remember the police car mentioned at the start of this story? He was driving away and was the car directly infront of this incident. I stood in the middle of the road waving my arms to grab the cars attention. I can only assume they did not see me.
There were a dozen or so cars in the area, all of which had to stop as I was blocking one lane. Only one driver asked if I had got the bad mans reg. Instead of saying 'thank you kind sir, did you happen to take down his reg? May I please take your reg and details as a witness' my response was 'no, but I will fu&£ing get it'. Jumped on my bike, noticed the right hand side handlebar was bent but rest of the bike seemed fine. I cycled as fast as I could to find this guy, saw him turn down a road and followed him into an estate. At this point I had lost him. I called the Police and reported him and spent half an hour cycling around the estate in the hope I could find him.
I have been to the Police Station to fill in all the details etc however I fear this is just going to be another statistic. I have contacted my Local Paper, Leicester Mercury, who are gong to interview me tomorrow to hopefully out a full page in on Thursday. Various tweets and Instagram pics have been posted to try to raise awareness and find this guy.
I am fine. I think the slow pace of the incident, and by chance I stayed on my feet mean that shock and anger are all that are hurting me. The bike I think will be fine. Slight wobble in both wheels which weren't here before but I think this is just a cone issue. I think I will need new drop bars due to the bend, but I will take it into my LBS to professionally access the damage.
I feel better for getting this all off my chest.
The car is a people carrier, maybe a 4x4 and black or dark blue in collar. Potentially, the first part of his reg is NM02. Driver is a white male wearing one of those hats with the ear flaps on. I believe there was a child seat on the front seat and maybe someone sat in the rear but I cannot confirm this. The only damage if any would be on his near side where my pedals may have scratched his car.
Thanks for reading folks.
Just wanted to share a story from my commute home. I am approximately half a mile from home. Whilst stopped at some traffic lights at the front, I glance behind and see a marked Police car (nothing scary at this part, just tying to set the scene), and there are several other cars in the queue behind. Lights go to green, and we all set off on our merry way. This road is a nice straight with a cycle lane and clear of traffic. Eventually, the Police Car overtakes me safely with no issues. At this stage I am, according to my cheap computer, doing 20mph. We eventually reach what I would class as a mini roundabout, however has two approach lanes; one to turn left, the other to turn right. I need to turn right. So as standard before i reach the section where the two lanes appearI glance over my shoulder to indicate out into the middle of the lane. I do so fine, but there was a car behind me which I safely had pulled in front of ( traffic was building near the roundabout so I did not slow anyone down). Yet again as standard, my outreached hand turned into a 'thumbs up' for the driver I pulled in front of.
I went over the roundabout without incident.
Approximately after 10 metres after the round about, I need to turn right into a side road. So I ALWAYS at this stage remain in primary position so I do not get cut out on the left of the road. Once again I stuck my hand out and glanced back to indicate right. The car directly behind me started to try to overtake whilst this was happening. I turned further to give him eye contact, and I could see the driver swearing at me, pointing at me and I distinctly remember seeing his lips say 'well get out the fu@&ing way then'. I stuck my middle finger up at him. At this point, the car is parallel with me. The driver started to drive towards me to force me off the road. In defence, I smacked his rear passenger window to get him to back off. He then drove fully into me which forced me into side railings for the road, but due to the lack of speed at this stage, I bounced off the railings and bounced back into the side of the car. I managed to stay standing at all times and I remember my bike being on the floor, with his rear wheel turning over my handle bar.
Now remember the police car mentioned at the start of this story? He was driving away and was the car directly infront of this incident. I stood in the middle of the road waving my arms to grab the cars attention. I can only assume they did not see me.
There were a dozen or so cars in the area, all of which had to stop as I was blocking one lane. Only one driver asked if I had got the bad mans reg. Instead of saying 'thank you kind sir, did you happen to take down his reg? May I please take your reg and details as a witness' my response was 'no, but I will fu&£ing get it'. Jumped on my bike, noticed the right hand side handlebar was bent but rest of the bike seemed fine. I cycled as fast as I could to find this guy, saw him turn down a road and followed him into an estate. At this point I had lost him. I called the Police and reported him and spent half an hour cycling around the estate in the hope I could find him.
I have been to the Police Station to fill in all the details etc however I fear this is just going to be another statistic. I have contacted my Local Paper, Leicester Mercury, who are gong to interview me tomorrow to hopefully out a full page in on Thursday. Various tweets and Instagram pics have been posted to try to raise awareness and find this guy.
I am fine. I think the slow pace of the incident, and by chance I stayed on my feet mean that shock and anger are all that are hurting me. The bike I think will be fine. Slight wobble in both wheels which weren't here before but I think this is just a cone issue. I think I will need new drop bars due to the bend, but I will take it into my LBS to professionally access the damage.
I feel better for getting this all off my chest.
The car is a people carrier, maybe a 4x4 and black or dark blue in collar. Potentially, the first part of his reg is NM02. Driver is a white male wearing one of those hats with the ear flaps on. I believe there was a child seat on the front seat and maybe someone sat in the rear but I cannot confirm this. The only damage if any would be on his near side where my pedals may have scratched his car.
Thanks for reading folks.
