Tewksbury "Incident"

I spend a good amount of time out on those roads and I've yet to come across a group of cyclists not taking up the entire road and/or generally being jerks. I've yet to come across a situation where the driver was actually at fault. I highly doubt there's anything a young girl could do to get an entire team harassing her. Cyclists get beeped at, it's a driver's way of letting you know they're coming up behind you, especially if you're riding out in the road during a paceline. It doesn't mean the driver is telling you to go to hell or anything.

-Jim.
 
I believed the girl until i saw the article with the photo of the supposed damage to her mirror. That is clearly not from a bicycle. You'd have to be driving a gt-40 to have paint transfer from a bike on your side view.
 
That picture does seem to change things a bit. I'm sure the story must have gone down a bit different than she's telling it. It will be interesting to hear how this thing shakes out.
 
743power said:
I believed the girl until i saw the article with the photo of the supposed damage to her mirror. That is clearly not from a bicycle. You'd have to be driving a gt-40 to have paint transfer from a bike on your side view.
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Who knows, it could just be an idiot reporter. That's usually where I start my doubt.
 
Not a roadie, but I got to tell ya alot (not all) of these guys are a-holes riding 2, 3 or more abreast on narrow country roads. If alone riding in the middle of the road. No matter what you think your rights are, it will be hard to argue your pov from 6' under. Don't argue with a car, move over and ride single file.
 
The TdLV riders were wearing "race" numbers - that would kinda give away their identity.....even to the most stressed out person. that should lead them to the other groups.

think the hand prints had cycling glove marks? can ID through the most unique glove print - alert the shop owners -the bruno magli of bike gloves? if the glove don't fit.....

"a group of men in their 40s" - and nobody has come forward after cooling down to say 'we f'd up' - or 'here is what happened'....

seems there are other inconsistencies, hope that this can be resolved soon. tend to think this is not high priority for the police tho.

found them!!! spread across the road in the background.https://dl.dropbox.com/u/70643048/tdlv.jpg:p
 
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I live in a rural town that seems to have an organized benefit rides every weekend and group rides several times a week during rush hour. I don't mind when they ride single file but when there is often have several groups 3 3 accross spread out every 1/4 of mile...its enought to drive you nuts....'especially when I am trying to get to the trails...:hmmm:.

I try to be patient for the 1st group then the 2nd group a quarter mile later but the next 6 group tries my patience. I'd rather get behind a schoolbus at 3pm than to drive through town when one of these rides are going on.

I may beep not to be dick but just hopefuly let them know I am there and to ride single file.

I don't ride on the rode for 1 reason...I am scared to death of getting clipped by a car. Riding on the road seems more dangerous than riding in the trails any day. I've never seen a card driving down a singletrack...
 
fidodie said:
The TdLV riders were wearing "race" numbers - that would kinda give away their identity.....even to the most stressed out person. that should lead them to the other groups.

think the hand prints had cycling glove marks? can ID through the most unique glove print - alert the shop owners -the bruno magli of bike gloves? if the glove don't fit.....

"a group of men in their 40s" - and nobody has come forward after cooling down to say 'we f'd up' - or 'here is what happened'....

seems there are other inconsistencies, hope that this can be resolved soon. tend to think this is not high priority for the police tho.
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Another reason not to wear fingerless gloves...
 
MST.ESQ said:
You meant this as a joke, right? We all know who they are in that pic, but I doubt they had "15-20" riders in their group that day.
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Yes, it was a joke - i'll add a smiley.

there were 18 in the wave (metric a)i was in, and this happened in front of me - vague memory of passing a police car - but not sure.

don't have to go past the home page for the ride to find them.

the reporter doesn't seem to want to do any investigating/reporting past 'woman attacked by bicycle gang'
- since the participant list is online and they are posting pictures of the race - ie the group starts. it wouldn't be too
hard to contact the head of that team for a statement. hell, the owner of that shop answers email too.
 
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Road riding scares me too. I usually ride road alone & always look for back roads w no cars. I was off Rockport Rd. by the pheasant farm, on the right shoulder when a black truck came speeding across the lines directly at me. When he was 2 feet away he swerved back, both hands were off the wheel & he had a wicked crazy laugh. His mission was accomplished. He scared me, but afterwards I just felt so sad. There's a ton of anger towards roadies out there. I too feel much safer on the trails.
 
Chris(NJ) said:
I always chase down cars who scream something at me or honk at me. Only been able to catch and exchange words with 2 of them so far. I say, good for the cyclists. If people always take shit from others, they'll continue being abused. Stand up for yourself if you're not doing anything wrong.

The above article might be a bit of an extreme example but you just dont know what the driver did to prompt their response.
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I'm with you Chris, 100%

It can be crazy pedals, for sure. I carry a multi-tool/knife on every road ride
for some sort of self defense- if I would happen to even get the chance to defend myself. I've exchanged words like Chris was saying with a few drivers,
but it has never escalated-so far...

It seems that as more and more people ride bicycles on the roads, the less patience and understanding the driving public has. I do get the frustration with group/club rides. I mainly ride alone and try to stay out of the way as much as possible. But there will always be drivers who just don't care about a riders safety or well being.
 
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jimvreeland said:
I spend a good amount of time out on those roads and I've yet to come across a group of cyclists not taking up the entire road and/or generally being jerks. I've yet to come across a situation where the driver was actually at fault. I highly doubt there's anything a young girl could do to get an entire team harassing her. Cyclists get beeped at, it's a driver's way of letting you know they're coming up behind you, especially if you're riding out in the road during a paceline. It doesn't mean the driver is telling you to go to hell or anything.

-Jim.
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Yea but anyone with an ounce of common sense knows theres a difference between a "hey, i'm coming up behind you, honk" and a "yo, get the fuck off of MY road, honk".
 
riveting coverage of both stories.
- about 10:30, why not the time stamp on the 911 call?
- and nobody arrived from behind while this was happening?

so who wants to look through strava and mmr to find out who was there around 10:30 (i was, but the mmr app failed on me, so don't have exact time) - i'll get a time stamp off a pic my wife took at hill&dale, and estimate. she also said a large group of B&W/diagonal jerseys went by in front of me - they were leading the wave....

i continue to wonder about these greasy hand prints - you know how those colnago and pinarello bikes leak oil from the campy hoods....
 
pedals said:
There's a ton of anger towards roadies out there.
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I will NEVER understand this^

Just trying to look at the bright side with these news articles, the writers are reminding the readers about the laws and that cyclists do have a right to be there and what the laws are pertaining to them.
Hopefully making both stupid drivers and rude cyclists a little more aware.
 
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