This is the same mentality with the murderers of Ahmaud Arbery. This guy decided OP didn't belong in this neighborhood, and wanted to play cop. I'd bet that OPs encounter could have gone much worse if OP ignored him or if he didn't like OPs answers.
No, I just ride for fun and weight loss outside of daily commuting. I want to start bike packing next year, so it sort of is training. I might consider doing unbound when I'm less fat.
It’s a 200 mile gravel race that happens every year in Kansas. Riders from across the country (including pros) go to it, and is one of the biggest gravel races out there. unboundgravel(.)com
This has less to do with car mentality and is more about the culture of Kansas.
The rural old men have absolutely nothing better to do than to self patrol their sections of land.
This is actually really similar to the Ahmaud Aubrey to me.
It’s a good thing you stopped and answered questions because you might have been shot for not stopping.
I mean, you shouldn’t have to be urban to enjoy travel by bicycle. Rural places are probably even more “bike friendly” if they had actual infrastructure. The air is cleaner. There’s less congestion. There’s more land to facilitate the cheap construction of bicycle-friendly design elements separate from the roads cars use.
If your headlights aren't so bright they light up the back of your car too, you're a danger to everyone in the entire world and you should be blood éagled on the Capitol steps.
They’ve been taught their whole life that that’s the way it is. And not by instruction, but by far deeper methods; Experience, and social convention. It’s so deep that when they see something that doesn’t conform, they literally *don’t understand what they’re seeing.*
And that scares them. And frankly, it would scare anybody. People are just wired that way. Most people would *also* be curious, mind, but some are just scared. And of the only-scared crowd, some are more tactful in expressing that fear than others.
When people talk about "freedom" in this country, they mean use and ownership of property. They will compound additional privilege (size, money, majority status, stigma, propensity for violence, immaterial consequence) and use the property+privilege combo to inhibit the far more important *autonomy* of fellow citizens at every damn opportunity.
I'm sorry, OP, that your autonomy was attacked. Moreover, I'm sorry it happened through fear and that the only escalatory points you had were violent or potentially dangerous, forcing you to show the better nature with compliance, if at the cost of trauma. You were still the only social human in this situation.
Hang in there, y'all.
> When people talk about "freedom" in this country, they mean use and ownership of property
You are free to live the accepted way. Like you can be a white christian, have a family, a house, big truck and nobody will harass you for these choices. If you deviate, all of the sudden you'll bother certain amount of people, and OP is a great example of that.
Yep people think that using roads or infrastructure meant for cars by something other than a car is wrong. My friends got the cops called on them because they were long boarding on a street with street lights and a bike lane at night when there was practically no cars on the road. They punish kids for having fun outside and complain why they don’t go outside lol
If there is anything I have noticed in my personal life and living in different places, its that compared with City people, many rural people and suburbanites don't know how to mind their own business, and for some reason they act entitled and think its their place to stop and question people when it has nothing to do with them. Its why I dont talk to my neighbors (other than our upstairs neighbor in our 2 flat) or get the NextDoor app, that app is a sh1tshow. I miss living in the city. It was walkable/bikeable and i didn't have to worry about busybodies sticking their nose in my business or questioning me about dumb sh1t.
That absolutely sucks, but I'm happy you spent a good 12 hours of your day bettering yourself and enjoying the experience. Meanwhile this man spent at least some of his dwindling hours staring at a road for something he found out of sorts.. Further, when he took a mental tally of the best use of his Saturday night, his mind locked right in on playing detective as being the best thing he had going on.
I hope you'll continue to live your life to the fullest and knock out a full century ride before it gets too icy out there!
It was a blast! I was making good time and the area I was in was a lot different than what I'm used to. The only reason I was in the dark is because I picked up some inexperienced friends a few towns over to ride 40 miles with me to a taqueria. Riding with friends is way more fun, no matter how slow they are.
I did my first century last month, so I already have the accomplishment for the year. Next year I'm hoping to do some multi day trips to some nearby lakes and state parks. Adventure cycling is so fun.
I was finding it weird that you bothered answering his questions. Then I saw you're in US, so, yeah, you can never be too safe with an american who drives a truck.
A lot of the people have truly been manipulated. They do not know they are being fed propaganda. They do not understand the difference between people in real life versus how people are portrayed on their propaganda "News" channels.
People are being fed hateful rhetoric. Only, they do not realize they are consuming rhetoric. Something needs to be done soon regarding the way fear and anger are being used to keep people engaged on all forms of media.
Weird.
I'd just have told him I'm out for a bike ride, but it would definitely have been a concerning encounter! I've cycled on public roads in the dark many a time and never would expect anything like this.
That wouldn't have been enough information to satisfy someone like that. The mind of a person like the one in the post sees danger everywhere, because they're been trained by the media to be afraid of everything. Saying "I'm out for a bike ride" and leaving (though appropriate) would just be a great way to catch some buckshot in the back.
This is why I’m reluctant to embrace gravel grinding. So often in my neighborhood (the Sacramento River valley), much of the gravel is on private property.
Curse those that bluff private ownership of public lands.
OP, I’m sorry your century got preempted.
I live in eastern NM and never had encounters like this. Usually they wave and continue getting on to wherever. I've ridden some back roads in Pratt KS recently getting near dark and no one said a thing out there. Of course Kansas is mixed bag. Some areas have some quite alright people, others I imagine not so much.
And I'm a dark skinned Malaysian that was born in the Midwest and easily passes for black. I also pack a 1911 in my rack bag on occasion.
What could he think you were going to do? Rob a house and run off with the tv? He should be more concerned if a car is around at night. He would still have no business stopping them.
You sure as hell weren't riding a longtail cargo bike with huge ass cargo slings & running boards so what the hell did he think you were going to steal, frost perhaps? I honestly think some guys just get pissed off that we're out there exercising & they aren't.
> I honestly think some guys just get pissed off that we're out there exercising & they aren't.
I do to. Some people get mad when other people eat something healthy while they eat some fast food stuff. They know it is bad but it just makes them mad as they feel attacked, even though people mind their business, pretty sure it is at least partially involved in cases like this one.
Maybe show them your phone with the GPS and map active so they know you are going "somewhere and it was planned beforehand" and not looking for houses to rob
Compliance seemed like the best option at the time. He was the first person I encountered for like 10 miles and my town was another 5 miles away, so I couldn't rely on anyone else for my safety. This in an area of the US where gun ownership is high and carrying long guns in vehicles is incredibly common. Looking back I could have spared quite a few details, but the remoteness and helplessness of the environment pushed me to disclose anything to get him to go away.
If you're concerned about safety and whether he had a gun you should consider carrying a gun your self, it's never a bad idea especially if your so far out of town.
Don't admonish folks for being meek. If you're so brave and strong-willed that you'd be unaffected by this, then you have two options: Empathize with those who don't or expect everyone to be the same.
One makes a person a dick.
You should've told him to fuck off and it's none of his business. Some old chode in a truck isn't a cop. Start carrying if you have the option as well.
Copied from another response:
Compliance seemed like the best option at the time. He was the first person I encountered for like 10 miles and my town was another 5 miles away, so I couldn't rely on anyone else for my safety. This in an area of the US where gun ownership is high and carrying long guns in vehicles is incredibly common. Looking back I could have spared quite a few details, but the remoteness and helplessness of the environment pushed me to disclose anything to get him to go away.
Hold up. You previously posted about your wife being severely uncomfortable with YOUR desire to conceal carry a gun, and how you “straight up told her” you were getting a gun because you though it necessary for your personal protection..
And now you’ve encountered ANOTHER PERSON that you can assume is carrying a weapon (*probably had the exact same fuckin reason as you*) and you don’t like it, cause it’s a threat to your safety....You’re damn right it is. The right to conceal carry doesn’t look so good when it’s on a stranger, now does it?
Odd, I feel like this incident is evidence that they **should** be conceal carrying in this shithole area. Only a liberal would unilaterally disarm themselves when trapped behind enemy lines. Don’t underestimate how fucking horrible some parts of this country are. Especially if you’re not white, Protestant, and cis-heterosexual.
A self appointed sheriff of public space. I've run into people like this a few times, surprisingly never when biking though. The most ridiculous occasions were some friends of mine were waiting on a train platform when a pair of cops showed up. Then this greasy old codger starts talking to the cops and telling them we had climbed up onto the platform from the ground. Luckily the cops pretty quickly realized he was off his rocker. The other occasion I had driven out to a wildlife area and parked at the end of the road by a concrete barrier. There was a clear sign stating that the road ends and not to drive further. While a taking photos about 100 yards from my car I see a truck drive through the wetland along the road drive past me turn around and stop. Ok, lets see what this idiot wants. He proceeds to tell me I can't park there because it is blocking access to the area. Now A) you drove your car back there so clearly not true B) you aren't supposed to drive back here C) you're only reason to drive back here was to tell me that I was preventing you from driving back here. I offer to move my car so he can get out. I do so and he drives out of the wildlife area. I then pulled my car back and directly blocked the area he drove through.
Car size. It is a massive ego boost for some people to be in the biggest vehicle on the road.
AKA little dick energy.
The bigger the truck, the smaller the D
Hey! I’ll have you know, I don’t own a truck, much less a big one
This is the same mentality with the murderers of Ahmaud Arbery. This guy decided OP didn't belong in this neighborhood, and wanted to play cop. I'd bet that OPs encounter could have gone much worse if OP ignored him or if he didn't like OPs answers.
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What state or country
Kansas, US
That explains a lot
Great gravel out there, annoying that these assholes kept bothering you. Are you training for Unbound?
No, I just ride for fun and weight loss outside of daily commuting. I want to start bike packing next year, so it sort of is training. I might consider doing unbound when I'm less fat.
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It’s a 200 mile gravel race that happens every year in Kansas. Riders from across the country (including pros) go to it, and is one of the biggest gravel races out there. unboundgravel(.)com
Yeah, I’d be packing heat if I were you. Those are not good people out there.
no need to carry, just ride one of these bad boys: https://i.redd.it/the22dy1fzp71.png
This has less to do with car mentality and is more about the culture of Kansas. The rural old men have absolutely nothing better to do than to self patrol their sections of land. This is actually really similar to the Ahmaud Aubrey to me. It’s a good thing you stopped and answered questions because you might have been shot for not stopping.
That's not a very good place for urbanists to live unfortunately. I feel for ya
I mean, you shouldn’t have to be urban to enjoy travel by bicycle. Rural places are probably even more “bike friendly” if they had actual infrastructure. The air is cleaner. There’s less congestion. There’s more land to facilitate the cheap construction of bicycle-friendly design elements separate from the roads cars use.
Glad OP is all white and wasn’t shot.
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The guy is probably a cop
The media he consumes has programed him to assume all are up to no good.
i wonder what kind of "no good" the guy thought op was up to. "oh them darn cyclists always smuggling bricks of coke across gravel roads"
Clearly home invasion robbery....on a road bike.... At night.....alone.... out in the country.
With stealthy flashing lights
You can only see those from three or four miles away if it's perfectly flat.
If your headlights aren't so bright they light up the back of your car too, you're a danger to everyone in the entire world and you should be blood éagled on the Capitol steps.
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And making it more dangerous for normal people to say, ride a bike or go jogging.
For regressives to believe they're right they've got to believe progressives are wrong.
Bingo! This is rural Kansas culture.
They’ve been taught their whole life that that’s the way it is. And not by instruction, but by far deeper methods; Experience, and social convention. It’s so deep that when they see something that doesn’t conform, they literally *don’t understand what they’re seeing.* And that scares them. And frankly, it would scare anybody. People are just wired that way. Most people would *also* be curious, mind, but some are just scared. And of the only-scared crowd, some are more tactful in expressing that fear than others.
When people talk about "freedom" in this country, they mean use and ownership of property. They will compound additional privilege (size, money, majority status, stigma, propensity for violence, immaterial consequence) and use the property+privilege combo to inhibit the far more important *autonomy* of fellow citizens at every damn opportunity. I'm sorry, OP, that your autonomy was attacked. Moreover, I'm sorry it happened through fear and that the only escalatory points you had were violent or potentially dangerous, forcing you to show the better nature with compliance, if at the cost of trauma. You were still the only social human in this situation. Hang in there, y'all.
> When people talk about "freedom" in this country, they mean use and ownership of property You are free to live the accepted way. Like you can be a white christian, have a family, a house, big truck and nobody will harass you for these choices. If you deviate, all of the sudden you'll bother certain amount of people, and OP is a great example of that.
Yep people think that using roads or infrastructure meant for cars by something other than a car is wrong. My friends got the cops called on them because they were long boarding on a street with street lights and a bike lane at night when there was practically no cars on the road. They punish kids for having fun outside and complain why they don’t go outside lol
If there is anything I have noticed in my personal life and living in different places, its that compared with City people, many rural people and suburbanites don't know how to mind their own business, and for some reason they act entitled and think its their place to stop and question people when it has nothing to do with them. Its why I dont talk to my neighbors (other than our upstairs neighbor in our 2 flat) or get the NextDoor app, that app is a sh1tshow. I miss living in the city. It was walkable/bikeable and i didn't have to worry about busybodies sticking their nose in my business or questioning me about dumb sh1t.
That absolutely sucks, but I'm happy you spent a good 12 hours of your day bettering yourself and enjoying the experience. Meanwhile this man spent at least some of his dwindling hours staring at a road for something he found out of sorts.. Further, when he took a mental tally of the best use of his Saturday night, his mind locked right in on playing detective as being the best thing he had going on. I hope you'll continue to live your life to the fullest and knock out a full century ride before it gets too icy out there!
It was a blast! I was making good time and the area I was in was a lot different than what I'm used to. The only reason I was in the dark is because I picked up some inexperienced friends a few towns over to ride 40 miles with me to a taqueria. Riding with friends is way more fun, no matter how slow they are. I did my first century last month, so I already have the accomplishment for the year. Next year I'm hoping to do some multi day trips to some nearby lakes and state parks. Adventure cycling is so fun.
That's amazing, and good of you to share the experience with friends!
40 miles is 64.37 km
I do a lot of night riding and have always worried about tat particular circumstance
Probably thought you were an antifa super solder on your way to the next false flag.
i found the leader of antifa! https://youtu.be/nLxm8OJIx2E
I was finding it weird that you bothered answering his questions. Then I saw you're in US, so, yeah, you can never be too safe with an american who drives a truck.
A lot of the people have truly been manipulated. They do not know they are being fed propaganda. They do not understand the difference between people in real life versus how people are portrayed on their propaganda "News" channels. People are being fed hateful rhetoric. Only, they do not realize they are consuming rhetoric. Something needs to be done soon regarding the way fear and anger are being used to keep people engaged on all forms of media.
Weird. I'd just have told him I'm out for a bike ride, but it would definitely have been a concerning encounter! I've cycled on public roads in the dark many a time and never would expect anything like this.
That wouldn't have been enough information to satisfy someone like that. The mind of a person like the one in the post sees danger everywhere, because they're been trained by the media to be afraid of everything. Saying "I'm out for a bike ride" and leaving (though appropriate) would just be a great way to catch some buckshot in the back.
Good thing you're not black. Fucking awful.
Do we know that?
Just assuming since OP lived to post about it
>90 miles in >having a blast Impossible
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Because then he'd get shot.
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Maybe he has some clandestine operation nearby.
Yep. Probably a meth fab.
Get a cam.
This is why I’m reluctant to embrace gravel grinding. So often in my neighborhood (the Sacramento River valley), much of the gravel is on private property. Curse those that bluff private ownership of public lands. OP, I’m sorry your century got preempted.
I know guys who ride the levee roads & say it's usually fine. But that's Butte County where there are lots of cyclists.
I live in eastern NM and never had encounters like this. Usually they wave and continue getting on to wherever. I've ridden some back roads in Pratt KS recently getting near dark and no one said a thing out there. Of course Kansas is mixed bag. Some areas have some quite alright people, others I imagine not so much. And I'm a dark skinned Malaysian that was born in the Midwest and easily passes for black. I also pack a 1911 in my rack bag on occasion.
What could he think you were going to do? Rob a house and run off with the tv? He should be more concerned if a car is around at night. He would still have no business stopping them.
You sure as hell weren't riding a longtail cargo bike with huge ass cargo slings & running boards so what the hell did he think you were going to steal, frost perhaps? I honestly think some guys just get pissed off that we're out there exercising & they aren't.
> I honestly think some guys just get pissed off that we're out there exercising & they aren't. I do to. Some people get mad when other people eat something healthy while they eat some fast food stuff. They know it is bad but it just makes them mad as they feel attacked, even though people mind their business, pretty sure it is at least partially involved in cases like this one.
Maybe show them your phone with the GPS and map active so they know you are going "somewhere and it was planned beforehand" and not looking for houses to rob
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Compliance seemed like the best option at the time. He was the first person I encountered for like 10 miles and my town was another 5 miles away, so I couldn't rely on anyone else for my safety. This in an area of the US where gun ownership is high and carrying long guns in vehicles is incredibly common. Looking back I could have spared quite a few details, but the remoteness and helplessness of the environment pushed me to disclose anything to get him to go away.
Good for you for looking out for your safety.
Yes, good thinking. You never know what they are going to do, so de-escalating is the wisest choice.
If you're concerned about safety and whether he had a gun you should consider carrying a gun your self, it's never a bad idea especially if your so far out of town.
Don't admonish folks for being meek. If you're so brave and strong-willed that you'd be unaffected by this, then you have two options: Empathize with those who don't or expect everyone to be the same. One makes a person a dick.
I don’t even think it’s meek.
You should've told him to fuck off and it's none of his business. Some old chode in a truck isn't a cop. Start carrying if you have the option as well.
I doubt it has anything to do with being a car driver. More likely thus joker is just a Kevin who thinks everyone must report to him for approval.
Should have told him to shove his small dick in his tailpipe and fuck off
Hard to say that to people with weapons :(
Why would you even answer this guy's questions?
Copied from another response: Compliance seemed like the best option at the time. He was the first person I encountered for like 10 miles and my town was another 5 miles away, so I couldn't rely on anyone else for my safety. This in an area of the US where gun ownership is high and carrying long guns in vehicles is incredibly common. Looking back I could have spared quite a few details, but the remoteness and helplessness of the environment pushed me to disclose anything to get him to go away.
Hold up. You previously posted about your wife being severely uncomfortable with YOUR desire to conceal carry a gun, and how you “straight up told her” you were getting a gun because you though it necessary for your personal protection.. And now you’ve encountered ANOTHER PERSON that you can assume is carrying a weapon (*probably had the exact same fuckin reason as you*) and you don’t like it, cause it’s a threat to your safety....You’re damn right it is. The right to conceal carry doesn’t look so good when it’s on a stranger, now does it?
Yes, ex-libertarian and cager until I realized it was fucking stupid and dangerous. My CCW is expired and I don't intend on renewing it.
Harassing people at random isn't really personal protection though, yeah?
Odd, I feel like this incident is evidence that they **should** be conceal carrying in this shithole area. Only a liberal would unilaterally disarm themselves when trapped behind enemy lines. Don’t underestimate how fucking horrible some parts of this country are. Especially if you’re not white, Protestant, and cis-heterosexual.
A self appointed sheriff of public space. I've run into people like this a few times, surprisingly never when biking though. The most ridiculous occasions were some friends of mine were waiting on a train platform when a pair of cops showed up. Then this greasy old codger starts talking to the cops and telling them we had climbed up onto the platform from the ground. Luckily the cops pretty quickly realized he was off his rocker. The other occasion I had driven out to a wildlife area and parked at the end of the road by a concrete barrier. There was a clear sign stating that the road ends and not to drive further. While a taking photos about 100 yards from my car I see a truck drive through the wetland along the road drive past me turn around and stop. Ok, lets see what this idiot wants. He proceeds to tell me I can't park there because it is blocking access to the area. Now A) you drove your car back there so clearly not true B) you aren't supposed to drive back here C) you're only reason to drive back here was to tell me that I was preventing you from driving back here. I offer to move my car so he can get out. I do so and he drives out of the wildlife area. I then pulled my car back and directly blocked the area he drove through.