Harassed by an SUV

Did a 75-mile ride in 5.5 hours today, nothing particularly difficult.  The only interesting thing that happened was that I got hassled by some idiots in an SUV; as they passed me, one of them rolled down the window and started shouting anti-Asian epithets.  They then got stopped by a red light, which I blew right on through.  This is NOT normal behavior for me – I am very particular about obeying the vehicle codes, because I believe it’s part of responsible cycling – but sitting at a stoplight right next to a vehicle where someone is shouting racial epithets at you didn’t strike me as a good idea.  And in fact I’m glad I didn’t, because as they came up behind me as the light turned green, someone in the vehicle threw an entire bottle’s worth of liquid at me, and laughed as they went by.

Fortunately it turned out to be only water, and I finished my ride without further incident.  Oddly, I didn’t feel particularly threatened by the whole thing – I assume it was a 13-year-old passenger trying to show off or something.  The driver made no attempt to run me off the road or anything, so I assume they were just “having fun” as they went by.  Uh, whatever.  Come back in ten years when you’re a little more mature, and I might consider getting upset over you.

(Not that I’m condoning that behavior or anything, you understand – but getting rattled by every idiot kid is just not good for your Zen.  I’ve been riding in that area for six or seven years now without incident, so I’m inclined to treat it as an isolated incident.  That’s different from Third Street in SF, where I got hassled two out of four rides, both times with people actually flinging physical objects at me.  That is NOT a good area.)

Once I got home, I discovered that my (fairly new) cycling shorts had a rip in one of the seams.  Unfortunately I’ve been riding in them just long enough that I imagine the shop won’t take them back – in any event, they’re out of the sale-priced shorts so I will have to bite the bullet and buy a new $120 pair of cycling shorts to replace them.  I’m pretty annoyed by this – I may complain to Shebeest.  They normally produce excellent quality cycling shorts, so I’m surprised that these failed so soon.

All in all, a frustrating sort of day, but at least I managed a 75 mile ride despite the bronchitis.  Curiously, I had no trouble whatsoever with coughing while I was actually riding – it only seems to be a problem when I’m stopped.  I’m seeing a doctor about it on Monday.

Tonight I am going to try to get that warp wound on, so I can dismantle the trapeze.  It’s taking up a lot of space that I’d like to be able to use again.  B. and I are also going to watch “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”, in honor of Priuscilla.