Not like I was going fast. not like he was. Off a side street, with another car keeping him from scooting up and ripping around to make a right. But since he was over far enough that there was no room between him and the sidewalk on the right, I tried coming around him (at walking pace) on the left to cut between and make it to the sidewalk.
yeahnotsomuch.
best part was after picking myself up off the ground and glaring at him, he opened his window and yelled at ME.
Then he decided to get out of his car and make something of it, but he turned out to be just another pussy...
...in a VW Jetta...
...who thinks he has right of way at all times...
...and got pissed at me for "hitting his car with my bicycle."
Yeah, buddy. it's my fault your hood and front fender got dented and scratched up by my bicycle.
I was feeling a little maudlin, a little sentimental about bailing on this piece of shit city after seven years. I guess I owe it to the choad for reinforcing my enthusiasm to GET THE FUCK OUT OF THIS PLACE.
LA: where people run you over and then try to get into fistfights with you for the damage you did to their car
Geezus. Glad to hear you didn't get dented. I had a Detroit bus try to force me into a game of chicken with a truck today. Two lanes were merging to one and the bus broke the speed limit making sure I wasn't going to merge in front of him. It took me a moment to realize that yes, he saw me, and yes he was serious about not letting me in no matter what came of it. Apparently a Prius in Eco mode will not out drag a DDOT bus.
My father used to ride around with a beer can full of ball bearings taped by his left foot so that when the semis came, he could just reach down and throw a handful up into the air. I never saw the point until I legitimately had an 18-wheeler try to run me down in Arizona.
You might be hurting tomorrow. I got hit a while ago on a motorbike at very low speed in a parking lot and the broken ribs pain did not kick in until later. This also just reminded me of Michael Bryant the former Attorney General of my home province (ie. the guy in charge of appointing judges, prosecutors and the administration of justice in general). He was out drinking, got into an altercation with a drunken cyclist, hit the bike from behind which put the cyclist up on his hood. He bounced off and grabbed the side of the car and Bryant tried to knock him off the car by veering into the opposite lanes and into trees and mailboxes, eventually ramming him into a fire hydrant, killing him. Near the busiest intersection in Canada. Bryant then drove a few hundred yards/meters away before pulling over. He was arrested but released without a bail hearing and the charges were dropped as there was "no reasonable prospect of conviction".
Don't I know it. Fortunately this was a "grab the front so hard that you pivot on it and sort of endo around the car" collision, unlike the time the AT&T van tried to smear me across an on-ramp. FUN FACT: the guy driving the AT&T van was legitimately chagrined and apologetic. I remember your buddy Michael Bryant. I remember how scandalous that was, back in the era before Rob Ford.
I want to hear about him getting out of the car and confronting you. How did that go down? Since I've known you, this is like the third time you've been hit on a bike or motorcycle. -take care pal. Glad you're alright.
"What the fuck?" "Where the fuck did you think you were going?" "To the sidewalk, asshole! The one you made no room for?" (gets out of car) "Oh, right. Make a thing out of this. Get back in the fucking car, asshole." "The bicycle lane is on the right!" (gestures) "Do you see any room on the right?" "What the fuck did you do to my car?" "The fuck are you talking about? You just about ran my ass over and somehow this is on me?" (at this point he fronts me...) "Get back in the car. Get back in the car. Get back in the car, asshole." (...and realizes I'm probably 40lbs and an inch on him, as well as full fight-or-flight) "Goddamn right, piece of shit. Get back in the car." (gets back in car, gets out his iPhone. Fer real. A six plus in a leather wallet case.) "The FUCK are you doing." "Documenting the damage you did to my car." "Are you for fucking real." "Just look at my car!" "yeah it's all fucked up where you HIT MY BICYCLE WITH IT!" "I didn't hit you!" "Okay..." (kleinbl00 rides off to buy fucking perlini mozarella) _____________________________________________________________ Worthy of note: Times KB has been hit on a 2-wheeled conveyance anywhere but LA: 0 Times KB has been nearly hit on a 2-wheeled conveyance anywhere but LA: 1 Times KB has been hit on a 2-wheeled conveyance in LA: 3 Times KB has been nearly hit on a 2-wheeled conveyance in LA: DAILY