sweet revenge

[Ti Designs]

About 20 years ago (Dec 9th, 1990) I got nailed by a truck taking a left turn from the other direction on Mass Ave. The driver outright lied on his accident report, saying he was going 1 MPH at the time of impact and checking off the box that said "no injury but complaints of pain" - I was taken away by ambulance and wound up with 48 stitches in my leg. I got enough out of his insurance company to put a down payment on a house...

This week I sold that very same driver a Trek 7.5FX as a commuter bike. I also sold him a headlight, blinky lights for the back and a helmet.

[PaulE]

Did he know who you are and your prior contact, so to speak, when he bought the bike?

[Ti Designs]

Did he know who you are and your prior contact, so to speak, when he bought the bike?


He found out pretty quickly. When we do test rides we take a driver's license. He has a very common name, but as soon as I saw the address I know who he was. He later said he had hit someone from the shop long ago. I let him know it was me...

[veloduffer]

did you ask to return the favor as he test rode in the parking lot? ;)

At least he's not part of the grup trying to intimidate or run us off the road.

[FL_MarkD]

Funny how things work out.

Maybe to really get even you could get him interested in expensive bikes. That would be a gift that keeps on costing. ;)

Mark

[Louis]

The driver outright lied on his accident report, saying he was going 1 MPH at the time of impact and checking off the box that said "no injury but complaints of pain"

Since when does the accused get to write the accident report? That's like asking Charles Manson to write the book "Helter Skelter."

[Ti Designs]

Since when does the accused get to write the accident report? That's like asking Charles Manson to write the book "Helter Skelter."

There's a police report and there's an opperator's report that's required within 7 days if there's damage in excess of $1000 or injury. The police report was useless as they got there long after I was taken to the hospital (and my wallet was stolen from the scene). As luck would have it, there was a quick photo place on the corner of Mass Ave and Pearl st and the whole thing was caught on video.

[palincss]

Funny how things work out.

Maybe to really get even you could get him interested in expensive bikes. That would be a gift that keeps on costing. ;)

Mark

Yes, be sure he knows chains, cassettes, chain rings and all cables need to be replaced every 1,000 miles or less.

[gasman]

Wow talk about Karma

What was his response when He realized it was you he hit ?

I would have been so chagrined that I would buy a lot more than he did.

[Peter P.]

Hopefully you didn't give him a discount.

Now THAT'S revenge.

[McQueen]

He later said he had hit someone from the shop long ago.

I wonder if he went to your shop for that very reason. (Hopefully) he's been living with some degree of guilt and that gesture is somehow his attempt at atonement? You never know what this world will serve up.

[rwsaunders]

Did you instruct him how to oil brake pads when they squeal?

[pitcrew]

Another very important tip to share with him.......When bombing down a big hill and you need to slow down fast.....grab a HUGE handful of front brake.

I'd explain it to him that it's much like the antilock brakes on a car :D

[flickwet]

I wonder if he went to your shop for that very reason. (Hopefully) he's been living with some degree of guilt and that gesture is somehow his attempt at atonement? You never know what this world will serve up.
I hope so, would be cool, forgiveness is hard

[capybaras]

Is he going to take the pedaling class? :bike:

[Ti Designs]

Another very important tip to share with him.......When bombing down a big hill and you need to slow down fast.....grab a HUGE handful of front brake.

I think you missed the point. 20 years ago he was one of those Boston drivers who thought of cyclists like fleas to be swatted away. He made that left turn into me think "it's just a bike". That was then, this is now, things have changed. Now he's one of the good guys, seeing things from the cyclist's point of view.

For me this is the best outcome possible. There have been so many times when I'm out riding and some driver comes up and starts telling me how to ride my bike. What are the chances that they know more than I do about riding? They don't, but they consider the bike a child's to so anyone on a bike must be simple minded and need to be told where and how to ride. (this goes double for the Weston police who once lectured John Allis on how to ride) Each time this happens I've always wished I could get that person on a bike and have them show me in person how it's done. I now get that chance, and I'm going to enjoy it.

Step 1: bike fitting. The first thing he's gonna learn is that there's actually technique to riding a bike. Then I'm going to take him out for a ride and show him the back streets and bike paths of Cambridge - up til now he's always thought that bikes were strictly for the bike path. Then we get to talk winter clothing, another subject that so many people think is so simple, yet some people manage to ride all winter, others can't...

I can't hold one bad driving decision 20 years ago against the guy. If I could convert them all to cyclists I would be pretty damn happy.

[BumbleBeeDave]

I can't hold one bad driving decision 20 years ago against the guy. If I could convert them all to cyclists I would be pretty damn happy.

. . . you got it EXACTLY right! Good for you!

BBD

[RPS]

I hope so, would be cool, forgiveness is hardEspecially hard when you have to live with the consequences of their actions every day and can’t simply put them behind you.

[gone]

If I could convert them all to cyclists I would be pretty damn happy.

Bingo! I think that's one of the reasons drivers in Europe cut bikes a little more slack: more people ride or have a family member that does. There's nothing like a little personal experience or empathy to change someone's attitude.

What BBDave said: you got it exactly right.

[northbend]

Great post, Ti Design

[bike22]

the corner of Mass Ave and Pearl st and the whole thing
haha, i live 3 blocks from where this occurred.

[shiftyfixedgear]

You're a better man than I, Ti Designs.

I would be tempted to set his saddle pointing down and way too low, and set his cleats all wonky. I know I probably wouldn't do it, but I would surely be tempted !

Maybe just sneak a small ball bearing inside his top tube to annoy him.

[Louis]

This may be going against the grain here, but personally, I don't think that becoming a semi-serious cyclist will result in some deep-down changes to the individual. I suppose it may make you more likely to watch out for folks on bicycles, but if you were a self-centered individual who didn't care that much about others and acted as if the world (or the road) belong to you, then I would expect that to remain. Except that you'll now ride a bike.

As much as we love the sport and believe that in some ways it can make you a better person, it is unfortunately not a cure to being an @-hole. We all know that, because we've ridden with them.

[rugbysecondrow]

This may be going against the grain here, but personally, I don't think that becoming a semi-serious cyclist will result in some deep-down changes to the individual. I suppose it may make you more likely to watch out for folks on bicycles, but if you were a self-centered individual who didn't care that much about others and acted as if the world (or the road) belong to you, then I would expect that to remain. Except that you'll now ride a bike.

As much as we love the sport and believe that in some ways it can make you a better person, it is unfortunately not a cure to being an @-hole. We all know that, because we've ridden with them.
TI is 100% correct. I find it interesting those who want to hold infractions like these against people for over twenty years. I hope I am not judged by what I did twenty years ago.

Way to move on, good outcome.