As I approached the intersection heading east, I made eye contact with a pedestrian walking north with his dog. As I slowed slightly and entered the crosswalk, he quickened his pace to assert his supposed right-of-way. He then stuck the butt end of his dog’s tennis ball chucker between the spokes of my rear tire, stopping my bike. I jammed my left ankle as I dismounted. He then started yelling about how I should have stopped and pushing me. He picked up my bike and threw it indiscriminately. He then picked up my heavy-duty folding bike lock and threw it at me. (I was able to dodge it) Having let go of his dog’s leash, he then went to retrieve his dog and walked off insulting me and yelling that I should have stopped.
After realizing that my derailleur was broken among other things, I spent roughly 30 minutes trying to fix it and talking with a security guard at the Dumbarton House a block away. (He did not witness the assault) I then saw the pedestrian again, presumably walking home, and expressed my displeasure from a distance of at least 30 feet. He approached me, insulted and pushed me again.
In my opinion, the fact that he accelerated to create a conflict and was still only able to make contact with my rear wheel shows that I entered the intersection before he did and should have had the right-of-way. Ordinarily I would swerve left a few feet to create more separation, but there was a car immediately left of me, also traveling east.
Has anyone else been assaulted by a pedestrian?
This city is dangerous enough as a biker just avoiding cars…
If anyone witnessed this assault or knows the pedestrian, I’d love to hear from you.
Here is my description of the pedestrian:
White, male, mid-20s, roughly 6′ tall, heavy-set, curly brown hair of medium length, wearing a camouflage tee shirt, walking a black lab, bragged about owning a truck.
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