ASSAULT = TO THREATEN VIOLENCE

The locals here are so much fun. Today i went for a ride on the cross bike. I was trying out a new route with some long dirt road sections. The dirt road was very smooth, and as a bonus, not a whole lot of traffic. Ellijay seems to be a hotbed of pain in the ass drivers that all seem to hate bikes. I'm not really sure why it is, could be because they are UGA fans, could be that they don't like all the new people moving into there little inbred backwoods world...who knows.
My ride included 1 mile each way on old hwy 5 which can be busy and 1 mile each way on progress road that has less traffic. My ride was almost over, i was about 75 yards from the entrance to my work, I looked over my shoulder and saw a white car starting his super fast pass (because i just can't get stuck behind one of those damn bikes!!!) After the car passes, i stick my arm out to signal for a left turn. I looked over my shoulder and there was a F350 dually getting ready to fly by on the left. As the truck passed, i turned my left turn signal into another hand gesture to let this guy know i thought he was number one. I yelled at him wondering why he was in such a hurry and asking how he was able to drive with his head up his ass. Apparently he wasn't in as much of a hurry as he thought because after i turned off the road i saw him hit the brakes and turn into a parking lot up the road. I thought, hey...maybe he is coming back to apologize for almost hitting me.
I pull into the parking lot at my building, I lean my bike up against the truck and i am about to go inside and I see this guy come through our gate. He pulls right up to me and gets out of his truck and says "you a big man to flip me the bird". That set me off, i was shaking with anger. I started to explain to this portly redneck fella, how he almost hit me and i realize that he was in such a hurry that it didn't matter if he hit somebody. After he told me i shouldn't ride on the road, i asked why not? I pay taxes, i follow the rules, the law says that i can. I told him he was on private property and that i was calling the police. I called 911 and started to walk around to the back of his truck, he jumped back in an backed out so that i couldn't see it. I talked to 911 but since i didn't have a plate number it wouldn't do any good.
Ellijay is a small town, after work i went to the bike shop, when i was leaving i pulled up to the traffic circle i saw across the way, a Black dually with silver lower trim, push bars and a HD front plate...well what do ya know, I didn't have a pen, but the passenger side silver trim had De Foor's grading and paving....it pays to advertise. So i called the police when i got home. I wanted to know if i should file a report just in case something were to happen with this guy in the future, i wanted a record of this instance. I didn't want this guy to be arrested after the fact, if the police had come when he was at my work, that is a different story.
Here is where the story get's a little funny. An ellijay policeman calls me back, I tell him what happened and point out that it is assault. The officer said did he hit you, i said no, he said then it is not assault. I said, well i understood it that assault was the threat, and battery was actual contact, sara looked up a definition online and i read it to him. I told him, i'm not trying to teach you anything, I try to stay up on my rights as a cyclist. I think he was looking up laws while we were on the phone since towards the end of the phone call he said, well we could charge him with simple assault, and possible road rage (but he needed to read up on that). Well...now i know. I hope i don't see this guy again, it almost sounded like the cop may know who he is, he said if he has a reason to stop him, he will get his side of the story and tell him what he did is against the law.
whatever good that will do. I'm going to mountain bike tomorrow. Take a day off the roads.