What to do about a menace

[bathsalts]

Hoping the PL's huge depth of knowledge and experience might have an answer for this question: how do you make someone who is an absolute menace stop doing the group ride?

Nearly 5 years ago, a group of cyclists starting showing up to our local rides and one guy in particular from the group became a problem almost immediately. Over time, his quick temper and erratic behavior has been a constant issue. He's been spoken to nicely, screamed at, threatened and ignored. He's gotten into numerous altercations with other riders that rise right to the point, but don't cross the line, of being something you'd call law enforcement about. He regularly tries to organize a "break" with a few riders but he's always ignored. Sometimes he just rides away and other times he settles down but then causes issues by opening gaps, running stop signs and even red lights. I've witnessed him almost run over by cars because of his insane behavior. Last week, he started a fight and two riders got off their bikes because they were ready to put an end to him. He's an absolute idiot and nothing anyone says or does causes him to leave the ride. He clearly has severe anger and other mental issues and I feel like everyone has made it clear they want him to go away. We've heard he pulls the same crap on other rides around the area and is treated the same way in hopes he goes away. We've changed the ride time to get rid of him but that only works for a week until he figures things out.

The ride starts on public property and isn't affiliated with any shops or businesses. There's been talk about letting him punch someone and then getting a restraining order but that means having to deal with him outside the rides and no one wants that. People are also afraid he's the type of person that might escalate things to the point of doing something violent that gets someone killed.

Anyone have any ideas on how to shake this jerk? If this was an isolated incident it would be one thing but this is every ride. Many people, myself included, have started doing other rides that he doesn't do but he's occasionally shown up for those rides too. Is it time to get law enforcement involved? Is that something you can even do?

[Tickdoc]

[dbnm]

I think you need to speak to him as one large group. Lay down some rules.

If he doesn't respond, there must be a lawyer among you who can use some legal way of keeping him away.

[FlashUNC]

Let him ride off the front. Take the next right as a group.

Or just tell him he's a tool and a danger to those around him and he's not welcome anymore.

Refuse to roll out until he's left. Change the rollout time and location and don't tell him.

Tons of ways to deal with this that don't involve calling the cops.

[bicycletricycle]

I would tell him he is not welcome and then refuse to leave when he shows up.

[eddief]

before i gave him too much sh*t. sounds like the perfect storm to me.

start the ride someplace else.

[Ken Robb]

Originally Posted by bicycletricycle

I would tell him he is not welcome and then refuse to leave when he shows up.

I think a person like this might be DELIGHTED to stop everyone from riding. Maybe if he somehow got a flat just before roll-out a few times he'd take the hint?

[bathsalts]

My guess is that he does own a gun or two especially since I live in a state with extremely loose gun laws. This has been brought up by a few people on the ride.

Originally Posted by eddief

before i gave him too much sh*t. sounds like the perfect storm to me.

start the ride someplace else.

[GregL]

Consult with your local law enforcement. The person in question may already have a criminal record or history of unsocial behavior. Let the professionals deal with him. It's not worth the risk of engaging him within the framework of your group.

Greg

[skouri1]

sounds familiar unfortunately. a dude exactly as you describe was a fixture of the vino velo ride in Philadelphia. they're out there. i think people try to ignore him. I heard it almost came to blows at one point, but he backed down. fortunately, at least you have many sane people vs one outlier.

[tbike4]

Hey that guy rides with my group too... Someone just like him. I don't have a great solution for you but what happened with our ¢£™¶• person was last year he took out a rider on the MS ride in SoCal and cracked the guys new Canyon frame. Yes he was part of our team, he suffered some cracked ribs and that was the incident that got him to realize he was dangerous to us and himself. Crashing in front of a few hundred people, having the paramedics show up and being ejected from the weekend ride by the ride marshals persuaded him to go into hibernation.

I hope destruction and injuries is not the answer to stop the problem.

[Elefantino]

We had a similar situation a few years back. We calmly but sternly told the person we didn't feel safe riding with him and would not ride with him that morning or anymore. He left, never to return.

If you are honest and upfront about it, and he still insists on riding with the group, I would stop en masse, or change direction as Joe says, when he tries a break or gaps off the front.

What I would not do is escalate the situation with threats.

[d_douglas]

Originally Posted by GregL

Consult with your local law enforcement. The person in question may already have a criminal record or history of unsocial behavior. Let the professionals deal with him. It's not worth the risk of engaging him within the framework of your group.

Greg

I would agree. I think police might offer some ideas as to what to do without getting involved. One of my son's friend's Dad is a cop and we've asked him a few friendly questions about things to get feedback. He was happy to help.

As he said, 99% of his job is public relations - he just reasons with people and a good chunk of the time, people are reasonable, so he says.

[longlist]

is this guy in southern california? there is a super angry guy who has caused problems at many bike races and ride there.

[bathsalts]

He's been spoken to repeatedly and has caused a crash or two over the years. There's been numerous incidents and he still shows up. He's totally unreasonable and irrational.