The Colorado State Patrol is now investigating this incident on Sunday in which the driver of a white SUV harassed a couple of cyclists east of Longmont, Colorado, for more than five minutes.
I have to give credit to the cyclists for keeping their cool, not allowing the situation to escalate, and catching the whole thing on video.
According to news reports, Dirk Friel and his friend were out for a bike ride this past Sunday when the motorist came up behind them and started blaring his horn. It’s a narrow road with no shoulder [County Line Road just north of Colo. Highway 52], and Dirk said when they saw the motorist approach they moved over single file to the far right to give him plenty of room to pass.
That wasn’t his intention, however. He followed at their pace, blowing his horn, and backing up traffic behind him.
Colorado is a 3-foot passing state, so the following cars only had to give them a decent gap when he passed. In this case, they also had to pass the driver of the SUV.
Dirk said their “slowing up” forced him to pass.
They posted the video on YouTube on Sunday, and another cyclist posted online that the same thing happened to him a few weeks earlier. The Colorado State Patrol wants to talk to anyone who might have been harassed by this driver.
A reporter with 7News in Denver traced the license plate number and went to the owner’s home. The son said the car belonged to his 76-year-old father who was not home at the time. The son said:
“Maybe there was something that precipitated it. I don’t know, because he’s a gentle old man.”
Regardless, let’s hope the courts get this guy off the road for a while. Sounds like he might need to take a breather from driving while he considers the merits of sharing the road.
See also Colorado Daily, 7News.com and 9News.com for more. Dirk Friel is founder of the sports fitness company Peaksware.
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