Because, regardless of whether it was deserved, you're still the dick (as conceded in the phrase "dick move"). And because regardless of whether the phone talker deserved to be scared, GD did it a way that significantly increased the risk of what he did not deserve, which is to be injured (let alone the risk GD took of injuring himself as an unintended collision could easily do).

The person I put at most risk was myself. I was not going particularly fast at all, and I was leaning such that my body, not my bike, was what passed closely to him. Had he moved the most likely outcome would have been our shoulders bumping and me probably taking a spill.

And I agree with 'goon. Someone who is actively using the path is someone who affords far more predictability than someone who is clearly thinking about anything other than who might be sharing the path with them. Between a jogger or slow walker and the dude on the phone, each of them is about equally likely to keep doing what they're doing. But IF they were to suddenly decide to do something different, the most likely things for the former are fairly predictable. Slow down, move off the path, stop in place. The most likely sudden change of state for dude on the cell phone? I have no idea.

Yes, dick move. And had I been going faster I wouldn't have done it. But I honestly do not feel I put anyone other than perhaps myself at significantly greater risk of serious injury than he had already put himself.

Well, I'll drop it after this as I've clearly ended up getting more serious on this than was intended by my initial response. We disagree and I think you're rationalizing taking retaliatory action simply because you were annoyed and felt it your job to teach him a lesson. Sounds like the beginning of most road rage incidents you hear about.

The most likely outcome may truly have been bumped shoulders (which is still more than the guy deserved, and also an assessment of your skill at almost, but not quite, hitting people that will just have to be conceded) but another outcome now significantly more likely in the situation you created than if you'd just given as much as space as possible is a sudden poorly timed last step that has you simply running him down.

But I'm worn down. Good job, you were a dick! Your brand of street justice should inspire a TV show, perhaps starring a young, less asphyxiated, David Carradine.

2 Questions:

1. With a new baby, why would you purposely put yourself at risk of injury just to teach someone a lesson (one that they may not even get because they'll just be thinking you're a dick instead of thinking it was their fault)

2. Is this what you would teach your son to do?

I know my husband wouldn't put himself in a highly risky situation. The slight risk here sounds like no biggie to me.

Seeing as how GD's dick moves are few and far between (insert joke here) (insert, ha, I get it!) and this one is so insignificantly small (bwahahaha) I have no issue with this at all. Mountains and molehills. I might not sit Theo down and say "now when someone is being an idiot and standing in the middle of a road, you need to be a dick about it" but I'd be fine with him experiencing this since we're usually not dicks. We are human, after all.

Oh, and every time we mention something we've done that's not exactly honorable, even if we agree that it wasn't the most honorable thing to do, are we going to have to answer to "Is this what you'd teach your son to do?" :rolleyes:

I think his reaction was probably to tell whoever he was talking to that some asshole cyclist just buzzed him.

The better question is always, "If God asked you what you did today, would you tell him about this?"

I'm goin' to Knott's Berry Farm. Xcelerator and boysenberry punch, here I come!