Hit by a runner – my story

[Veik]

So I am on my lunch time bike ride today, going on the dirt (used to be grassy) area along Independence Ave NW, avoiding sidewalks at all costs – sidewalk is full of people.

I see a runner jogging on the sidewalk, then suddenly he switches onto the same dirt path I am on and next thing I know he hits me full speed in the left shoulder.
I barely hold my balance (he was a big dude), trying not to hit anyone on the sidewalk to my right. I stop, look back, he speeds up and keeps on running.
This was definitively a planned hit.

What would you do in my case?

Topic

[jrenaut]

Continue to love and respect all mankind. Don’t think there’s much else you can do that will have any positive effect on anything.

[creadinger]

Just call him a dick and be on your way.

Was he pissed that you were riding on his “turf”? Using the “joggers only” dirt path? Too bad cyclists can’t do this to joggers in bike lanes, because we probably would get arrested.

[MCL1981]

Given there was no harm beyond feelings, starting a confrontation over it would not accomplish anything. He’s no doubt aware he bumped into your by not looking, so screaming it at him isn’t going to tell him anything he doesn’t already know. I doubt he’ll learn from it, and screaming at him won’t change that either. So the net gain of “doing something different” would be zero.

[Terpfan]

I probably would have made a smart ass remark like “I guess tag I’m it!”

[theakston]

@Veik 17828 wrote:

So I am on my lunch time bike ride today, going on the dirt (used to be grassy) area along Independence Ave NW, avoiding sidewalks at all costs – sidewalk is full of people.

Pardon my ignorance, but where is Independence Avenue NW? I thought it was all SW-SE? Trying to work out where you were riding that necessitated riding on the grass / dirt / dirt path

[Author]

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