My First Foreign Object Tossing Incident

I've changed my home-bound commute from S. High Street to going up 4th Ave. instead of Front Street and N. High Street. And for the most part it's better as far as time goes. It's not as much fun as the previous route, which took me through the Short North and some of the fun areas of High, but with fewer stops I get home quicker, which is nice.

But yesterday, for the first time, I had something thrown at me. I was crossing over I-670 on 4th, and a pickup decided that I wasn't over far enough (in other words, I wasn't riding on the shoulder, which I refuse to do for multiple safety reasons). So he started honking at me. I looked back with a rather withering glare and kept going. As I got to the other side of 670 and pulled over to the right-most lane, the truck roared past me and someone in the passenger seat threw a wad of paper at me.

It was only paper, and it didn't even come close to hitting me... but this was a first for me. I try very hard to ride in a way that's both safe for me and considerate to those around me. Granted, if push comes to shove and it's one or the other, I opt for safety. And that was the case yesterday.

But it was disheartening to have that happen for the first time. I've NEVER had problems with that sort of thing, and I'd always counted myself lucky in that regard.

I guess it's just a matter of time before we all run into an asshole, though, so be careful out there. And don't stop taking the lane.

People, not speed.

Comments

  1. see Matt's status on Facebook, he got hit w/ Xavier...

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  2. Bummer. I worry about the hot-coffee toss. I haven't had my first time yet... yet.

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  3. I was more annoyed than worried at the time. But yeah, the hot coffee toss would be nasty.

    I also fear the cigarette butt toss. My wife once had someone toss one into her car window, and she pulled up and threw it back at them.

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  4. I got a cigarette butt thrown at me. Beat that! ;)

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  5. Jaime,
    Your wife and I are the elite class.

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  6. Someone tossed a lit cigarette at me once. I go the tag number and reported it. The desk officer said all they could do was charge the guy with littering. He was a moron.

    More recently, someone threw an apple past my head. He found very quickly that a full water bottle makes one hell of a bang when it bounces off the side of a car. He didn't stop.

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  7. Several years ago, I had someone throw a half empty bottle of Mt. Dew. Luckily, his aim was poor.

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