To the following people:
1. The guy who loudly called me an "Asshole" in front of my daughter when I politely asked you "Can you hold on one minute while I push my daughter on the swings? I'll be right back." [as Chloe was calling for me to do so for over 15 minutes while you gawked at me, and kept asking me the same banal questions about you seeing me in the paper and on the internet].
2. To the guy who kept following us in that big-assed Chevy Suburban, yeah, YOU... the guy wearing the cowboy hat... you look like Richard Petty [but more redneck]:
you don't need to keep following us, block after block, while we're riding our bikes. And I don't appreciate you following behind us and then gunning it past us while you lay on your horn. It's bracing and scares Chloe. And yes, I wasn't waving at you... I was flipping you off, every time [beyond the first time] you did it.
3. To the family in the silver Camry: it's not cool, nor funny, to drive beside me and my daughter-matching our speed-for 6 blocks while you and your wife snap cell phone pics and point at us.
4. To the two police officers who turned on your lights and siren, and then pulled over the car that was going thru the intersection of Grand Ave. & 36th St. at 4mph while they pointed at Chloe & me and took photos, Thank You.
5. To the moron who matched my pace, me on a bike and you in a Dodge pickup, up that hill that exits off West River Parkway to get to the U... and then, halfway up said hill, pulled in front of me at an angle and cut me off: all just to stop me so you could say, "WOW, You're that guy from the Star Tribune!!". There was a better way to do that. Late at night, on a bike, getting cut off by a pickup that stops dead in front of you: it isn't the best way to greet someone.
To all of you...
...just chill out [not that any of you are reading this, but man I gotta say it somewhere].
Keep Ridin'... Always
Jesus H. Christ on a flapjack....people are ASSHOLES.
Not sure I woulda held it together as well as you did.
PS-How's the planning going for your upcoming ride?
You are *so* gonna kick some ass:-)
Posted by: George McNally | March 25, 2008 at 04:10 AM
Just think of these incidents as your "Britney Spears moments"...celebrity comes with both highs and lows -- but mostly it just reinforces the notion that most people are inconsiderate assholes.
It was a great Strib article...and I suppose if I lived closer to you, I'd shamelessly ask for your autograph!
Keep riding, man -- you're an inspiration to so many of us!!!
Posted by: Ghost Rider | March 25, 2008 at 05:10 AM
That's terrible and frightening for your daughter. I hope it ends at that and you can ride on peacefully. Geesh. :)
Posted by: suzi | March 25, 2008 at 07:08 AM
My favorite are the diesel pickup truck driving folks that think it is fun to floor their black smoke spewing machines just as they blow past you all in effort to give you a big face full o' toxic fumes. To these fine folks I say Pura Vida!
Keep on going!
Posted by: troutbum | March 25, 2008 at 08:07 AM
Phew - I'm glad I didn't make the list!
Nice seeing you and Chloe last night - sorry I forgot to take photos of you two...
Posted by: mark | March 25, 2008 at 09:20 AM
why are the scariest and rudest drivers always in bigass pickups with rumbly pipes?
hang in there, the craziness will go away.
Posted by: bfeltovi | March 25, 2008 at 09:39 AM
Man, that's way too bad. You dealt with it much better than I would have had my kids been with. Just remember, soon they will (hopefully) forget, and go on treating you horribly like they treat all other "normal" cyclists :).
Glad to see you are keepin' on. There is one driver here who just always is amazingly rude. This lady who drives a gold Prius with several left-leaning bumper stickers. That lady also EVERY SINGLE DAY last summer would honk as she drove by. For awhile I thought she was just being courteous, until I noticed what I thought was the bird one day. Couldn't be, I swore.
The next day? Drove by revving her engine (that was an odd sound..) and yelled "get out of MY ROAD!" Now, when I do run into her, she honks and buzzes me, to the point where once I was easily able to knock on her window as she drove by. Same spot, daily, if I take that route. I've since stopped taking that route, because every time she does it a piece of my hope in humanity dies.
That said, the VAST majority of the others who are rude/clueless are driving SUVs. The others are in pickups, and maybe a couple have been in cars. These days I just smile and wave, because that just makes 'em even more mad. And that makes me a little happy inside.
Posted by: Ben | March 25, 2008 at 10:23 AM
Remember -- Minnesota is a Conceal and Carry state...
Posted by: yam | March 25, 2008 at 06:11 PM
Funny how some folks get off watching people live their lives instead of having one themselves. Funny how those same folks have to lash out in stupid and dangerous ways at the folks busy living their lives.
Those morons will soon be distracted by some other news story and be on their way but those of us who are inspired by your journey will still be here rooting for you, grateful for the inspiration you give us.
Posted by: WheelDancer | March 25, 2008 at 06:58 PM
I too lament the general lack of civility these days. Rather than follow you around let me use this opportunity to say I think your blogging and biking are great. Have a lovely day.
Posted by: fridly | March 26, 2008 at 06:05 AM
Yam hits on a valid point. I don't have the celebrity problem you do but down here in Texas there are way too many 'typical Texans' (being a lifetime resident I can say that) who behave toward cyclists the way you would expect them to. It's always a concern when wanting to tell a motorist the he is '#1!' that he may be packing but they need to consider when they pull one of their ass-wipe stunts that it could be the other way around. Keep it up and thanks for your stories.
Posted by: Beast1624 | March 26, 2008 at 10:21 AM
Sorry to hear about this. Sounds like you've become another casuality of the celebrity worshipping culture that we've devolved into.
Hopefully these people will stop hounding you in their cars and get truley inspired and pick up a bike and start riding. You've been an inspiration to me for the past year when I discovered your blog. Keep on keeping on.
Posted by: Don | March 27, 2008 at 07:27 AM
I'm so disappointed at the treatment some folks displayed. Not only that, I'm actually shocked. Call me naive, I guess. :>) I want to tell you that you've inspired me to make some lifestyle changes myself. Thank you for all you've done for yourself and your family!
Posted by: Sussy | March 30, 2008 at 06:54 AM
I thought Minnesota was a little too far north for hillbillies, but I guess not. I thought the Strib article was great and would be a hopeless fangirl if I met you, but would hopefully have the presence of mind not to disrupt traffic and creep out your daughter or wife.
I loved the concealed carry comment.
And like Sussy above, you have inspired me to go buy a used bike from the Schwinn dealer in hopes of building my sorry, out of shape carcass up to riding the hilly, rural, 7 miles to and from work. I won't be as die-hard as you, but I'll be better than I am. And I'll have cool Mrs. Gulch baskets!
Posted by: Gette | March 31, 2008 at 07:02 AM
I laughed at the Prius comment. They tend to be jerky drivers where I am, too I assume they're busy watching their MPG rather than the road. In your case, she's probably just irritated that she shelled out $20 K and your carbon footprint is STILL smaller than hers.
Posted by: TasterSpoon | April 10, 2008 at 03:58 PM
Lifelong cagers never change, never will. Hopefully some people on BICYCLES will ride up to/past you and say "Hey Scott, My name is (insert name) and I saw the article in the strib and I just wanted to thank and congratulate you for being an inspiration to me!" instead of all the cagers acting like idjits. For the record, I go out of my way to be courteous to cyclists on the rare occasion I drive my cage. I give tons of room, wait for a safe time to pass, even act as a pick if I see some asshat is going to cut them off: I just people would do the same for me the other 6 days of the week. This "celebity" phase will pass... sorry you have to endure it in the meantime.
Posted by: Ian Hopper | April 28, 2008 at 11:17 PM