"They're Trying to Kill Us" - Blog Post on Above Cat

[Clean39T]

https://abovecategorycycling.com/jou...ryingtokillus/

"I turned, and there was the Ford, 500 meters in front of me. Within ten seconds and three corners, I was ten meters off its bumper. It was a rental. In it, the driver, a male, late 30s, and a female passenger wearing oversized aviators. I was confused why he’d felt the need to nearly kill me. My anger resurfaced. For a split second, I felt like a dog with its cornered quarry, naively figuring out what to do with the prey it had run down. Then I saw the brake lights. And by then, it was too late.

Within seconds of the catch, the Ford had screeched to a complete stop directly in front of me, an intentional brake-check. I slammed into the driver’s side rear bumper, hitting the ground at 50km/h."

Did anyone else read this and have a hard time sympathizing with the OP? I mean, I empathize with the suck of crashing, but chasing a car at 50km/h and not keeping a safe stopping distance is all sorts of not-smart...and how does he even know the driver didn't just accidentally stop-short and then freak out after getting run into?

[FlashUNC]

When you drive a two-ton machine capable of killing people, the fault isn't with the person you decide to brake check because you're a petty douchecanoe.

So, no, I've got a lot of sympathy for Nate and I'm glad he's not dead.

[Jaybee]

Is it possible to place the fault with the douchecanoe driver and also wonder what exactly you would expect to happen after you caught him? What's the best case scenario here? He stops, you exchange pleasantries, and he begs a thousand apologies, gives every rider a full lane for the rest of his days?

I get that we are not using our rational brains in that moment, but there aren't many ways that ends well. I'm glad it didn't end worse.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

When you drive a two-ton machine capable of killing people, the fault isn't with the person you decide to brake check because you're a petty douchecanoe.



So, no, I've got a lot of sympathy for Nate and I'm glad he's not dead.

I'm glad he's not dead too (of course).

[etu]

OP, I can understand the piece as an angry rant when your adrenaline is through the roof because of a close brush with death. but after the fact and when you've had the time to reflect.... Not so much.

[rnhood]

Nate sounds like an idiot to me. I hope the bumper wasn't damaged.

[Jgrooms]

Looking for a confrontation, he got one. Its a wonder his superior cycling skill set, as the article is laced with, didn’t prepare him for contact w someone who had already demonstrated no concern for a cyclist. The dude is full of himself imo.


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[tuscanyswe]

Originally Posted by rnhood

Nate sounds like an idiot to me. I hope the bumper wasn't damaged.

Jeez

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by Jgrooms

Looking for a confrontation, he got one. Its a wonder his superior cycling skill set, as the article is laced with, didn’t prepare him for contact w someone who had already demonstrated no concern for a cyclist. The dude is full of himself imo.


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Originally Posted by Jaybee

Is it possible to place the fault with the douchecanoe driver and also wonder what exactly you would expect to happen after you caught him? What's the best case scenario here? He stops, you exchange pleasantries, and he begs a thousand apologies, gives every rider a full lane for the rest of his days?

I get that we are not using our rational brains in that moment, but there aren't many ways that ends well. I'm glad it didn't end worse.

Um, he wasn't looking for a confrontation and explicitly says so. Weird how we're so eager to eat our own.

Under normal circumstances, I’d have no trouble catching up on the approaching descent to dispense a piece of my mind – but it was early on Saturday, and it was mid-September – traffic was light, giving a reckless driver a straight shot down the hill. It was all things considered, a hopeless (and pointless) endeavor that I opted not to engage in. I pocketed my rage. By the time I reached the upcoming left-hand turn towards Mill Valley, I’d not seen or heard of the Ford, assuming they’d sped off to the right, down the tourist-jammed California State Route 1 to the sleepy burg of San Francisco.

I was wrong.

[HenryA]

From the blog story cited by the OP:

“The white Ford Fusion rocketed past, skimming my left side by an inch or two. Automatically, I threw up my hand in in perplexed disgust. I rarely give quarter to aggressive drivers. I’ve been hit too many times and had too many friends killed to relent. “

Go home and look in the mirror. What you will see is a large part of your problem.

I’ll reference the movie “Midnight Cowboy”

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c412hqucHKw

[Jgrooms]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Um, he wasn't looking for a confrontation and explicitly says so. Weird how we're so eager to eat our own.

What are you reading? He spots him & gives chase. I’m in full support of “our own” to own the space and too expect all the support the law provides.

However, when you bring a knife to a gun fight, don’t go whining about it. He should have continued making himself feel good amongst the weekend warriors, tris, and flat pedal folk that he is obviously so much better than. Opps forgot to include brake distance in relation to proven dick head in car.

I’ll complete your misleading edit:


“My anger resurfaced. For a split second, I felt like a dog with its cornered quarry, naively figuring out what to do with the prey it had run down. Then I saw the brake lights. And by then, it was too late.”

Prey? Knife to a gun fight.


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[paredown]

These days, there is at least some chance that the driver just stopped in the middle of the road to enjoy the view, oblivious of the bike behind him. Or to check his cell phone...

Powerful piece, and I think the catch (at speed) and the brake check would all happen too fast for anyone of us to avoid--we ride (and drive) based on expectations, and when people do something like stop in the middle of the road for no apparent reason, crashes happen.

My sympathies are with Nate--and I hope the driver rots in hell.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by Jgrooms

What are you reading? He spots him & gives chase. I’m in full support of “our own” to own the space and too expect all the support the law provides.

However, when you bring a knife to a gun fight, don’t go whining about it. He should have continued making himself feel good amongst the weekend warriors, tris, and flat pedal folk that he is obviously so much better than. Opps forgot to include brake distance in relation to proven dick head in car.


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Except he doesn't give chase. What are you reading?

I'll quote the relevant part again:

Under normal circumstances, I’d have no trouble catching up on the approaching descent to dispense a piece of my mind – but it was early on Saturday, and it was mid-September – traffic was light, giving a reckless driver a straight shot down the hill. It was all things considered, a hopeless (and pointless) endeavor that I opted not to engage in. I pocketed my rage. By the time I reached the upcoming left-hand turn towards Mill Valley, I’d not seen or heard of the Ford, assuming they’d sped off to the right, down the tourist-jammed California State Route 1 to the sleepy burg of San Francisco.

I was wrong.

[etu]

"The ambulance stopped. I fought the EMTs. I didn’t want to go with them. I knew how much that cost. I’d been here before. Coerced into the back of the medical transport, I relented, and the morphine drip started. I woozed in and out of consciousness, taking the time to horrify the world by posting an Instagram story. It was all okay, if but for a minute.

And then it wasn’t. I was lying in the worst ER I’d ever visited, filing a police report while orderlies hacked apart the nicest CHPT3 kit I own, and the 54-year-old gentleman one bed over was in cardiac arrest. He would die in ten minutes, surrounded by a cadre of doctors and nurses, and nobody would care. I awaited a spot in the X-Ray queue to confirm everything I already knew. Diagnosis? Concussion. Fractured clavicle. Minor knuckle fracture. 4-6 weeks of suffering."

As someone who has worked in a trauma bay, this is entitled, repugnant, arrogant, ungrateful, insulting, and ignorant. Actually, it makes me wonder if he wrote this in a state of shock, where his brain wasn't quite getting the oxygen it needed to think clearly.
If you're a true friend of Nate, you should really get him to take the post down for his own sake.

[Jgrooms]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Except he doesn't give chase. What are you reading?



I'll quote the relevant part again:

You may wish to reread it.

“My anger resurfaced. For a split second, I felt like a dog with its cornered quarry, naively figuring out what to do with the prey it had run down. Then I saw the brake lights. And by then, it was too late.”

Anger, dog, quarry, prey, run down...boom.

Quite the author as well as superior ex pro.




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