Hit from behind by maroon Gold Rush recumbent with windshield

[Bill Hole]

I just want to point out to any potential vigilantes that I've seen more than one Gold Rush meeting the description of this one in the area. Don't go off half-cocked and harass the wrong rider.

[rcannon100]

However the recumbent rider that you see on the MVT riding to Rosslyn that looks like a working stiff govt worker, you can totally dump your water bottle on that guy.

Oh hi RootChopper!

[krazygl00]

I check my bike and realize that the wheel isn't spinning freely - maybe a spoke or something else wrong with the wheel. I was able to get it ride-able by loosing the brakes way up, and then I ask the guy if he has a card with his number on it. He says no. I keep inspecting the bike for other damage, and ask him for his phone number as I pull out my phone to copy it down. This is when things start getting crazy. The guy starts saying he thinks it was just as much my fault as his, or maybe nobody's fault but definitely not just his. I was truly shocked, so I asked him how it could possibly have been my fault, and he says he was watching that car coming and saw it stop and never looked at me - but I should have been going because the car was stopping.

Ahh. Peloton rules for the MUP.

See, what you haven't realized is that whether you knew it or not, you were a contestant in a Category 6 race. By stopping suddenly without calling it out to the riders behind you the crash is therefore your fault.

[Rootchopper]

Especially if it's a hot day!

Let's be careful not to besmirch Big Nellie's pristine reputation.

BTW the Gold Rush is aluminum. My identical design Tour Easy is steel (and black). With all the junk I carry, if I rear end you your back wheel will probably be vaporized.

Gold Rushes (and their titanium version the Ti Rush), fully faired with a body sock, can reach very high speeds. My Tour Easy, without fairing or body sock, can do so as well, as long as the cliff I ride off is sufficiently high.

In all seriousness, the Gold Rush guy acted like a complete ass.

[n18]

Recumbents (generally) have a smaller frontal area than an upright bike, and therefore a higher potential speed when air resistance/wind is the determining factor. You can't get weight over the pedals for sprinting and climbing so they tend to suffer on uphills and accelerating.

That and lower body position mean vegetation would block their view, so they have to go slow.

[kcb203]

I think I saw the miscreant in Herndon today at noon at the W&OD crossing at Van Buren St. He was on the Van Buren sidewalk adjacent to the trail. No beard. Didn't pay attention to whether he was going to the trail or leaving, but the bike looked just like the one in the picture earlier in the thread.

[baiskeli]

We should find this guy and the guy who caused the accident in the paceline on Beach Drive and make them ride together all day long as punishment.