I’ve read about cyclists being physically attacked while riding on public roads, but until last night it had not happened to me. Sure, people have yelled obscenities at me, threatened me, pulled out in front of me, and passed me at high speed 6 inches away. No one had actually HIT me, however.

Last night I went on a group ride near Lake Pflugerville. Other than a stout wind, the ride was uneventful. The light was fading during the ride, and I turned on my headlight with a couple miles to go. As we turned on the final leg back to the parking lot, we were single file near the right edge of the road. Traffic was approaching from the front, and I saw headlights in my helmet mirror. The next thing I know, I’m knocked hard on the head with what looked like a bottle and a white SUV is passing me with the engine racing right next to me, in my lane. Thank God it didn’t knock me out or cause me to crash into the SUV or the oncoming car. The bottle hit the back of my helmet, so chalk one up for the helmet advocates.

The good part of the story is what happened next. Fellow riders Vern and Jim were already back to the parking lot and loaded up. I was pretty upset, and as I turned toward the parking lot I screamed to them, “Get the tag number of that white SUV!” They sprang immediately to action and took off after it. I left my bike with my wife and jumped in my truck, too. (So, you really CAN drive in cleats.) We followed the SUV up Pflugerville Parkway, but only Jim was able to get across the traffic at Highway 685. (I’m told a traffic light is planned.) Thinking that the opportunity was lost, I drove back to the parking lot to meet back up with my wife and Larry and Christina. I didn’t know that Jim was on the phone with 911 the whole time, reporting the location and tag number of the SUV. Go Jim!

When we were about to leave for home, a Pflugerville squad car drove up. He told me they had the occupants of the SUV in custody and asked if I wanted to press charges. Now, I thought about this for a minute. I’m empathetic, and I don’t want to see people thrown in jail for minor stuff. But I thought, what if they had hit my wife? She could have been killed. I could have been seriously injured or killed if I crashed my bike, or swerved into oncoming traffic. What they did showed a fundamental lack of respect for humanity, and a fundamental disregard for the well being of others. I said “Yes, I want to press charges.” They were arrested and charged with assault. I think they deserve to be prosecuted and punished.

Be careful out there. If someone does this to you, call the police.