hi all,

below is the gville sun article and link regarding sunday's
"incident," or what i would be more inclined to call "a driver's
purposeful high-speed near collision into a large group of cyclists
to incite intimidation and fear."  perhaps that wouldn't be a good
headline.

in any case, we should be reminded to go the extra mile in courtesy
and respect on the road.  and yes, we should extend that courtesy and
respect even to people who do stupid things who might hurt people in
the process.  we all know taking the high road a lot easier said than
done.

gcc members who were not there should know that the endangered gcc
cyclists on sunday dealt with this very dangerous person within the
law, and in my opinion, that was a respectful act in itself.  the
offender certainly cannot say the same.

according to lambert, this man was charged w/ reckless driving and
fined and will have to attend a driver's education program.

keep riding, safely.

danny lyons

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060716/LOCAL/
207160336&SearchID=73250961174091

Gainesville.com
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Article published Jul 16, 2006
Jul 16, 2006

Cyclists run off road call 911 for help

By NATHAN CRABBE

Sun staff writer

An incident Saturday between two dozen members of the Gainesville
Cycling Club and a driver on Millhopper Road ended with law
enforcement authorities being called to the scene.

Police received a 911 call at 11:53 a.m. saying a driver had run a
group of cyclists off the road, said Sgt. Steve Maynard, spokesman
for the Alachua County sheriff's department. The sheriff's department
dispatched two deputies to the scene but the Florida Highway Patrol
ended up handling the situation, he said.

A highway patrol official confirmed it responded to an incident
involving a driver named Charles Purdum and a cyclist on Millhopper
Road and NW 53rd Street around that time, but wasn't able to confirm
details or say whether the driver was charged with anything.

Lambert Vaes, a member of the cyclists club, said the members were
one mile from finishing a 70-mile trek to Bronson and back when the
incident occurred.

"We had 24 cyclists (whose) adrenaline was sky high," he said.

He said police were able to restore peace in a tense situation. The
scene was finally cleared nearly two hours later, he said.

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