No Impact Man

Check it out by clicking here. You might find yourself motivated to send an email to this guy.

Joe Parkin's "A Dog in a Hat"

Joe Parkin, shown here at One on One Bike Studio with my brother (aka one "quick" roadie) recently had a book published called A Dog in a Hat. Its "An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal and Beauty in Belgium". I am about 75% done with this book and I am enjoying the hell out if. I've met Joe - don't really know him though - and I was aware that he was an accomplished cyclist in Europe. This is a very interesting read about Joe's experience as an American racing in Europe in the late 80's. Get over to velopress.com and buy a copy (that means both of you that read my half-assed blog).

Road Rage - Resolved

About a month ago I was involved in a road rage incident. It was a car versus bike situation, and I was on the bike. I was waiting for a traffic light to change so I could go forward, the motorist was behind me waiting to turn right. He honked, cussed at me, revved his engine and then intentionally hit my rear fender (not very hard). Perhaps he felt it was a turn-only lane, although it is not.

I reported this to the police non-emergency line, including the license plate and driver description. They would not contact the registered owner. I filed a written complaint to the Minneapolis Police department, they repeated that the Minneapolis Police Department would not contact the registered owner because that would be presumptive and would place blame based on just my side of the story. They did refer me to an unexpected resource: the City Attorney.

After a couple of calls and emails, the City Attorney did call the registered owner and spoke to him in real time. The motorist said he wanted to call back. He then consulted with his own attorney and left a voice mail message with the city indicating that he has been advised not to provide a statement.

I am satisfied with the outcome. Maybe (?) he will think twice before road-raging again.

I also learned that the Minneapolis Police, at least in the 2nd Precinct, have no interest in pursuing a case like this.

Kudos to the City Attorney. I wouldn't have even thought to pursue that avenue to get something done in this case.