Uncharacteristic Rudeness

Sunday morning as we were finishing up our usual group ride, we were harrassed by two vehicles, one behind the other, moving well above the speed limit. The second driver was laying on their horn as they passed.

This happened in Ansley Park which has very broad streets. There was plenty of room to get around us. At that point, there were only five riders remaining and we were riding no more than two abreast. There was no reason for the hostile horn.

As I caught up with the car at the next intersection, the driver closed out the space to the right making it easy to approach the driver-side window. I politely but pointedly asked the driver for an explanation of the horn. She ignored me and intended to move on as if she had done nothing.

Another rider quickly arrived and was also ignored so he popped her side mirror. At this, the gentleman in front pops out of his car -- the first car that came around us -- and tells us to stop threatening his wife. The other three riders came up at the same time and soon everyone but the lady driver was arguing back and forth.

The gentleman who jumped out of the first car announces he is a lawyer and wants to get the cops involved and sue everyone, but bluffing only works when no one can see your hand. In the heat of the argument, he mentioned we should have gotten off the road and thus revealed his ignorance of the law. Of course, we were only too happy to get the police involved and it was maybe 30 seconds before the lawyer thought it might be best if everyone returned to what they were doing.

One by one we educate those who don't know how to treat cyclists.