Madison bike shop owner assaulted by fellow cyclists

Dec. 4, 2008 — There's been an arrest.

C'mon. There's enough road rage out there without bicyclists turning on each other.

But that's what happened in Madison last week, reports the Wisconsin State Journal. According to police reports, Colin O'Brien, owner of Madison's Cronometro bike shop, was attacked one evening after suggesting that a couple of other bicyclists “get a light” after they passed him.

The man and woman had the decency to announce “on your left” when they passed, so they should have known that they needed to light up their rides after dark. Instead, the man shouted “mind your own business.”

Assault

According to police, they followed O'Brien home and confronted him in the driveway. The man grabbed O'Brien by the head, wrestled him to the ground, and kneed him in the ribs before they left. This after O'Brien gave the woman a bicycle light.

O'Brien gave detailed descriptions of their bikes: The man rode a Trek Time Trial bike and the woman rode an Obrea road bike.

Although O'Brien didn't mention the altercation on his Cronometro blog, I see that he did reprint the Wisconsin state bicycle laws on Nov. 30, including the requirement for that bicyclists use lights at night.

O'Brien's shop custom builds bikes in Madison. He was interviewed for a New York Times story about bike fitting last month.

I guess this proves that some people are jerks, whether behind the wheel of a car of gripping the handlebars of a bicycle.