Just a little upsetting

So every now and then I peek into the world of rants and raves on craigslist to see what people are pissed off about. Some of the stuff on there is pretty funny and others are not. Today seems to be full of people who want to kill and hurt cyclist. I am just going to give a few examples of what has been said so far.


"As I drove to work today in a silly attempt to make money, I inadvertently got caught in you bike race. And after waiting for over an hour on a bridge caught in some no man's land for you lance Armstrong wanna Be's to pass me so that I could continue my drive to work. I hope many of you crashed and are laying in a pool of blood by the side of the road. But if not I am sure going to do my best to run as many of you off the road as I can on my way home today. I will now be doing this on a daily basis until my need for revenge is satisfied. Get a car you bunch of cheap bastards. I hope you guys can bike faster that I can drive or you are in for an accident! Also if any one who participated in this event would like to meet me in an alley some where I would love to beat some biker ass."




"Today is day one of the bike war! And I am one for one. Yes it was you (yellow shorts) on 360 today! Did you think the liquid that hit you was water? No it was just piss! Hope to hit at least 50 by the end of the week."


"I am through slamming on my brakes to avoid hitting a cyclist who runs a stop sign or red light. This has happened 3 time this month (Sept). I am through slamming on my brakes to avoid hitting a cyclist who zips past me on the right side when I am making a right turn. I am through slamming on my brakes when a cyclist pulls in front of me on Lavaca when I am trying to pass them in the center lane and they are in the outer lane. I figure if I can put some of these idiots in the hospital the others will get the message. Cyclist follow the traffic rules and you will not be hurt. Don't use you signals, ride with your head up your ass and YOU will be hurt. I am not slamming on my brakes anymore to avoid hitting you just because you ride a bike.
Olediablo "


"So to offend you but war is hell. It was the biker's that drew first blood. And this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. I am going to take down at least three bikers a day. Today was just a friendly glass of warm love tomorrow it will be a little cock tale..."


"
One more dead biker.....


BREAK


THE

LAW CAUSE YOU THINK YOUR ABOVE IT

AND

FIND

OUT


WHAT HAPPENS


SPLAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"



"ANOTHER DEAD CYCLIST??? What will it take????? Maybe if lots and lots if them die, they will "get it" that they need to follow the law, too??? You know they guy who hit the cyclist will not even get a ticket, BECAUSE THEY DID NOT BREAK THE LAW, the red light running and NOW DEAD CYCLIST DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!


AND TO THE GUY WHO WORKS IN THE HOSPICE< YOU GO>>>I CAN"T WAIT TO HEAR HOW YOUR "GASSING" GOES, they deserve it!!!!!"








What the hell is wrong with people? I mean I understand that when a cyclist breaks the law it upsets you. I get it, but if someone actually hits and kills a cyclist, that is murder. I understand that sometimes there are elements at play, such as the sun was in my eyes, I didn't see them riding there and so on. What if these people are actually following through on their threats over the internet? Do they use these excuses and get away with it?

Another Dead Cyclist
Reply to: pers-868655748@craigslist.org [?]
Date: 2008-10-06, 1:02PM CDT


These are things that frustrate the ever loving piss out of me. How am I supposed to feel safe riding to work or to the store just knowing that there are people out there that want to kill me just for riding a bike? Whenever you are dealing with people there are always going to be douche bags and people who aren't douche bags. You have drivers that run red lights, stop signs, don't use turn signals, turn (while they are in the far right lane) left and cut everyone off. There are also cyclist who do it too. I am not saying that all car drivers are bad or all cyclist, but there are always bad apples in the bunch. Just because one does something that pisses you off doesn't mean you should take it out on someone else.

I try my damnedest to not get irate when a car driver throws shit at me, I used to chase their asses down and confront them, but where does that leave me? Usually getting into a fight, which didn't resolve the problem. Now I get their license plate number and call it in. Whenever someone throws something at you, that is assault, and they can be prosecuted.

I know that most cyclist are going to ride slower compared to how fast you are driving, but really how much time of a car drivers day does it take up? Maybe 10-20 seconds? Is it really worth almost or killing someone because they inconvenienced you for maybe half a minute? Do you get super irate when you are in line at the drive thru because your order is taking so long? Do you take it out on the person that is taking your money? Or when you are at a restaurant, do you get pissed off because the table next to you sat down after you and ordered their food after you and they get their meal before you get yours. Do you want to kill the waiter or waitress? do you get up and knock over he persons table who got their food before you? No, chances are you don't. So why would someone get pissed off enough to where they want to physically harm the next cyclist they see, just because they go slowed down for a second, or got cut off by a cyclist or fuck they even ran the red light.

Shit happens and not everyone is the same. Not every cyclist runs red lights. Not every automobile driver runs red lights, but you know what???? It happens.

I know that the section of rants and raves, is so you can do just that. What happens when someone follows through? Should craigslist get in trouble? I know that CL can block peoples IP addresses from posting, so why wouldn't they block the folks that are posting that they are going to kill someone and take a log of it and report it to the cops? If I hear of a cyclist getting hit at all this month, I am going to have a copy of each post (screen shot) and give it to the cops, so that maybe if someone does run a cyclist off the road or hits them, they can be prosecuted. My girlfriend works off of 360 and rides to work. Even though she is only on 360 for maybe a mile, it scares e to see stuff like this on CL. What if the next asshole driver tries to take her out? She stops at all stop signs and red lights. I would go absolutely ape shit if someone "took her out" because they are pissed at another cyclist.

Please be safe out there and watch you back. It seems that some people are going to try and "take you out" for no reason, other than you being a cyclist.


til next time


OLC