[McChipstah]

@baiskeli 52277 wrote:

White male, 50s, white facial hair, half-crazy – that narrows it down to about 2/3rds of bike commuters.

Trust me… I know. I wish I’d been able to see the make and model of his bike… oh well. The good news is I know I’ll get to see him again! AND I know how to get his attention LOL!!!!!

[McChipstah]

@rcannon100 52202 wrote:

I find the best way to avoid road rage…. is to not engage in it. At all. Ever.

There are assholes out there. And just like our patron saint, Crazy Ivan, we must give this American, er, asshole, a wide berth. 5% of the population (or whatever) are jerks. There are a lot of people out there who are walking bad-moods, for whatever reason. If you respond to them, they are going to respond to you. If you step aside and let them by, they are going to find someone else to respond to. I’ve been cycling for a long long long (long) time. I dont respond to road rage. At all. Ever. My goal is to get home safely. It’s not to respond to a jerk.

I disagree. A good citizen in a civilized society should take the time to stick his/her neck out to rectify a situation when they are witness to or the victim of a habitual abuser. Your method of dealing w/bad behavior results in women being held hostage in a house for 10 years, or a wife being murdered b/c her friends didn’t want to “respond” to the jerky husband. People who behave aggressively over and over should be, at a minimum, called out.

I too have cycled for years and am also a parent-I teach my children that if they behave badly, they will be held accountable.

[McChipstah]

@mcgeekgrrl 52102 wrote:

Although I am not disputing that the guy in question is an asshole, I would suggest that we all should at least TRY to refrain from making inflammatory comments. He was rude to you–but calling him an asshole is really not helping anything. If not for the sake of a more civil world, then how about for purely practical reasons, such as self preservation? People have been shot for lesser insults. You just never know in these crazy times who is carrying a gun. (Or even if no gun, who will just stop and beat you up!)

Let’s all avoid calling people names, and just breathe deeply the next time someone cuts you off or startles you. We can all do our part to lessening the incivility we are surrounded by every day.

My $.02

I’m in complete agreement and have done exactly that for 2 years. However this guy is a habitual aggressor, this not being the his first time harassing me and other female runners as he aggressively speeds by and yells at us. At some point, someone needs to take a stand and stop him. I’ve filed a police report and plan on pressing charges.

[McChipstah]

@mstone 51962 wrote:

I’d encourage you to file a police report if you haven’t already.

I did

[McChipstah]

@Dickie 51964 wrote:

I’m so sorry you had to deal with such a terrible person on the trail, please don’t let his actions represent the majority of us who try to be good citizens and cycling ambassadors on the roads and trails. As thucydides noted, sadly there are folks around that are just angry no matter what they are doing. I will keep an eye out myself although I am rarely in that vicinity in the mornings…. which way was he heading, west or east? Thanks again for posting this and making us aware, I hope you had a better run today.

He was coming from Mad Manor/Falls Church heading east and turned left onto Custis. We usually run M, W, F and I plan on bringing my cellphone w/me from now on to see if he happens to pass and I can take his pict.

Thank you for your kind words.

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