Congrats to Clenbutador for dodging the bullet that is the looming CAS hearing. Of course, now the hearing has been pushed back yet again, to AFTER the Tour begins.
So a doper will continue to be allowed to race, while another guy, who doped YEARS ago, is chased through the countryside by angry villagers with pitchforks and torches? Ah, the joys of equity!
No ride today, as I'm tired, lazy, and there's much to do around the homestead. The yard got attention, both vehicles received a scrub, and my new/recycled trailer hitch got de-greased, stripped and painted. The Salsa will be getting stripped down this afternoon, so the parts can be transferred to the Jericho. The SRAM will go on the Salsa, so it's merely a switcheroo.
Yesterday, however, I had an interesting ride. After doing some exploring out in Lexington County, I rolled through the woods, and jumped on 12th St. Ext., near Amazon. No more than 400m passed under the Clement LAS tires before a carload of future recidivists rolled by, slowed down, screamed something at me in a language that can only be described as 'indigenous', then threw a half-full Coke bottle at me. It missed.
I left forth a stream of expletives that would make a Navy Vet proud, and gave them a double, single finger salute.
No more than 5-7 seconds passed before I heard the sounds of a vehicle slowing behind/beside me. A beige Chevy Tahoe rolled up, and lowered the passenger side window. Inside, a Cayce Police officer, and his K9 partner. He asked me if the car had thrown something at me, to which I answered in the affirmative. All at once, the truck down-shifted, and the lights and sirens came on. He was ON IT!
I rolled up around to Old Wire, and there were both the dipshits, and my LEO friend. He was in process of pulling them from the car when two more LEOs pulled up. Three crusiers, three human cops, and one BADASS looking Belgian Malinois police dog. Sweet!
I kept my distance, but could hear everything that was going on. All of the future guests of the SC Penal System were searched and sat in the grass, while the K9 had a good sniff of their vehicle.
One of the back-up officers approached me, and asked if I'd like to sign a complaint. Hells Yeah! I filled out an incident report, signed it, thanked all of the officers (including the dog***), and went on my happy way. Sometimes, the Madonna del Ghisallo looks out for you!
I called the Lexington County Sheriff's office yesterday afternoon for info, and spoke to the very officer who took the report. He said they wrote the driver AND the bottle-thrower EACH a $250 ticket for harassing me, and they'd be required to appear in Court in June. Nice!
SECTION 56-5-3445. Harassing or throwing object at person riding bicycle; penalty.
It is unlawful to harass, taunt, or maliciously throw an object at or in the direction of any person riding a bicycle. A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than two hundred fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.
*** I was opening a Honey Stinger Waffle when the K9 was near. The dog walked over, and sat in front of me. He went from badass police dog, to a normal, begging-for-a-bite housedog in 2 seconds. I gave him half, and a good rub behind the ears! Good boy!
