Passing rednecks in the country

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The exact same thing happened to me in Sept of 2009 on my solo return trip from Sequoia National Park. This thing happened pretty close to home on Willow Creek Road south of Hwy 116.

 

It was a clear and straight portion of the road - no oncoming traffic or driveways in sight, I went to pass this beat up old truck and he swerved left to put me into the ditch, I was on my SV - I swerved skirting the edge of the road to avoid his swerve and got past and rolled on the throttle some more to put some distance between me and him, but I could see he had sped up and was trying to chase me down (which wasn't happening because even the SV is quick enough to get away on a straight road).

 

I reached Hwy 116 and stopped (as there was cross-traffic), checking my rear view mirrors and I could see him in the distance catching up. I resisted any temptation of a confrontation and found a gap in the cross-traffic and raced away from the fucktard.

 

Things could have turned out very differently, but I am alive and well to tell the story. You can never tell when someone will attempt to kill you with their cage, I am usually very courteous when I pass, I don't tailgate, I don't blow past them in a tight pass and I always wave a thanks whenever I pass them, regardless of if they moved over to let me pass or I just passed them when I had the opportunity - but still one never knows if the driver in front of you has a few screws loose..it's a risk we take every time we ride.

 
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I think that video is just about as real as any of the current "reality" tv shows. Way too many inconsistencies. Hell, the acting wasn't that good either.

 
Very timely thread, thanks to all who posted, gives some real food for thought and what type of protection to carry. I plagiarized the following from my ride report from this past weekend and glad I kept riding, a confrontation might have put a real damper on the trip if I'd ended up in the pokey. ....we ended up bypassing some of Hwy 1 south of Leggett due to the now driving rain. Weather radar showed that we just on the edge of the front moving through, but we couldn't get out ahead of it and ended up riding in moderate to heavy rain all day. Had a "squeeze play" maneuver brought on by a two up rider, (you know the make) who had been playing tag with is for about a hour. He was lolly gagging along until we slowly passed him, politely so as not to piss him off and make him look weak to his biker babe pillion. I pointed out a couple of pieces of recap tire in our lane to him, trying to foster good foreign (bike manufacturer) relations. Not to be outdone, he passed us, showed me how fast he can corner on wet slick roads and slowly pulled away. Near Piercy he got held up by a 18 wheeler and then passed him , in a passing lane, albeit not very fast. We had about a 1/2 mile of 3 lane (2 on our side) to pass the truck with spray blasting us from the open wheel trailer. The Dumbass on the bike got right next to the tractor and parked it there, just parked it! We were running out of real estate to pass the truck and it was getting to the point where I had to decide to jet past the jerk bike rider, on his right, between him and the tractor (oncoming traffic precluded on the left) or jumping on the brakes on wet pavement and trying to avoid the wheels of the trailer. I had been flashing my hi/low beams ( not time to warm up the Solteks!) and at the very last second, the jerk rider sped up as I was about to pass him on the right. After I regained my composure, we kept him in sight, but resisted the urge to pass him with a 1 finger salute, toss a rock at him etc... They turned off at a restaurant in Willits and it took all of my being (and cautions from my bride) not to stop and have a word or two with the sorry excuse for a rider.

 
They turned off at a restaurant in Willits and it took all of my being (and cautions from my bride) not to stop and have a word or two with the sorry excuse for a rider.[/i]
Good call on avoiding the confrontation. Another option is to pull over earlier (if possible) and have a cup of joe for 30 minutes - or even a 5-minute leg stretch or gas fillup is enough to let the problems get far enough ahead so they are no longer problem. Stopping to have a chat with the jerk will not have any good results. You will not be abel to change his behavior, he won't change yours, it doesn't matter who is 'right', etc. I suppose some people have a need to be "The Man" but those folks aren't any superior to the jerks doing the same thing to provoke the confrontation in the first place.

Dangit, now you have me thinking I should ride west to Willits and Legget again this year, instead of east ...

 
@BwanaDik: Looks like a Class A Felony charge would be appropriate. I hope they throw the book at him.

 
Jealous Redneck cagers! Would have loved to see him run clean off the road. He almost took out a second bike head on when crossing the center line.

What an ass!

 
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