It finally happened, I was caught by suprise.

I had heard the stories. Like when Rondal told me about getting hit between the shoulder blades with a beer can while on a 2nd shift late night commute home in the city of Bessemer. He was wearing a Camelback which took most of the aluminum/shwag beer energy. Then some folks decided it would be smart to stalk then assault a group ride with a 45mph handful of coins down Pineville way. Rich had more than one thing thrown at him on separate occasions. I started commuting way back in another lifetime and as crazy as certain situations have been, somehow I had missed the experience until just the other day.

Monday morning I decided to Mt. my Zion for an impromptu special bike day. It was a 34 x 18, 29er nob destroyer east side stay alive all the way down the Centrolian traverse to the hill climb approach on the Plaza. Half way up the climb by the dirty book store and flooring center I was hit with the heel of a 32oz Bojangles drink cup filled with ice and less than a half cup of a sticky brown liquid which I assumed was tea. Just as I realized that I had been hit in the right butt cheek just above the saddle a green Chevy Impala blazed by on my left in the right hand lane of inbound Central. I looked back first at what had hit me, in a flash seeing the ice fall in slow motion away from a separating clear plastic lid and red straw. Then I looked forward towards the car as it disappeared up the hill onto the Plaza. I never saw the occupants but feel confident there were two humans in a car that looks like the one pictured above with fancier wheels. I knew as I saw what it was that I was not hurt, an internal scan reflex worked perfectly. Someone asked me later in the day, "Did you get any retribution?" My first thought was that I just may had been able to catch them at a light if I were on my Lemond fixy but on the dirt bike I had no chance. What would I have done anyway, gone nuts and smashed their roof in with my U-lock? Instead I listened to the nobs climb on the concrete while I sulked about being violated in such a personal manner. When the cup hit me there was an electrical almost burst in my emotional brain that caused this weird alarming feeling for like one half of one second. Then followed an immediate feeling of vulnerability that I could not see or touch, it was from behind. Don't you hate it when something hits you from behind which could under the right circumstance be life or death, walking or not walking. I'm thankful that the witty folks who did what they did only had a drink cup and not something harder like a glass yoohoo bottle or a beer can. I'm also glad that the object traveling close to 40mph did not hit me in the base of my neck, say just above my shirt line but below the helmet.