Batman on a Bicycle.
I have now had two near Batman experiences that happened as a result of my choice to ride a bicycle in Los Angeles.
The second happened just this morning in Echo Park, in front of a coffee shop called “Chango.” I was riding down the long hill on Lake Shore Ave when about half way down I heard a loud honking and yelling coming from the woman driving a car behind me. She was honking and shouting for me to “Get the FUCK out of [her] way!!”
Given that I was riding downhill on a narrow road, this was not an easy request to honor immediately. Nor was it my responsibility to “get out of her way” as a person on a bicycle is vehicle on the road and must be treated as such. As she began to swerve and rage behind me, I started to feel that oh-so-familiar fear that comes with riding a bike in LA, “Oh SHIT! I might get injured or be killed!!”
When we reached the bottom of the hill, I slowed down, stopped and turned to face her. I noticed a young child in the front seat, perhaps about 3 years old. He looked on as his mother spouted off a bunch of angry phrases on the theme of “get the fuck out of my way”…
I tried to remember my days as a bicycle advocate and shouted things back to her like, “you could have injured me! You are behaving recklessly! You must be more careful!!!”
This is where my safety vest transformed into the neon orange cape of a figure that could either be seen as “Batman” or a “crazed biker girl chasing down the car who just tried to threaten her life”
As she passed me and sped off, the batman adrenaline juice that was swimming in my blood basically exploded. NO WAY was she going to get away with this. NO WAY. I’m going to chase her down and I’m going to get that license plate number!! Breaking into full sprint, I did chase her for a few blocks calling out “PULL OVER!!!”
She angrily sped off and I slowed down, realizing that the battle may very well be over. Turns out, it had only just begun. I looked ahead and saw her stopping traffic at a stop sign, waiting for me. She was waiting at the corner of Echo Park Ave and Morton. Right in front of a busy coffee shop. I arrived at the stop sign and got in the cross- walk to stand in front of her car.
There were many witnesses all around, but this woman wanted blood so she shouted as she punched her fists together, while standing on the door ledge of her car, “You wanna fight! Let’s do this!!!”
All I could say was, “You have a child in the car!!”
She kept yelling and threatening me. This time however, it was in front of a crowd. My absolute favorite line that she called out was the following:
“I used to ride and was hit, so I know what the fuck is
going on here. Now get the FUCK out of my way”….
The logic is a bit difficult to follow, and really all I saw at that point was “ANGRY LADY with child in car” as I shook and tried to stay as calm as possible…
She got back into the car and started to rev her engine. I was still inches in front of her and was calling out her license plate for anyone to hear. Luckily, a kind mother had stopped her car to help and was already on the phone with the police. She heard me say the license number and gave it to them. They ran the plates and guess what:
The vehicle was STOLEN.
That should help explain why she was so, well, INSANE about trying to run me over and pass me on that hill…..
My batman juice had all but completely run out and I felt afraid standing in front of her, so I finally acquiesced to her requests to get the fuck out of her way and she sped off towards Sunset Blvd.
The kind mother who had stopped to help told me about the stolen vehicle, handed me her phone and I spoke with the police department. They sent officers right away, no doubt helped by the stolen vehicle aspect and I stayed on the scene to report my story to them. The kind mother also stayed as a witness, her young son giving me supportive little smiles and hugs as we spoke with the officers.
Now, police report in hand, I feel empowered and relieved that people were so ready and willing to help me at that corner. Another very kind woman who also lives in the neighborhood offered to drive me to work so I popped my bike in the trunk of her car. She drove us downtown and on our way we saw a fellow cyclist pedal past who works as a bike advocate here in LA. I grinned a big grin.
My kind chauffeur then dropped me off in front of work. With a smile and a wave, she drove off, back towards her home in Echo Park. Hopefully I will see her and the other kind people who helped me back in my neighborhood. In a neighborhood dominated by stories of gang violence, it was beautiful to see the compassionate and human side of the story emerge.
