Tubehunter

Yep I am, I am a fellow cyclist person and have ridden the same roads experiencing that almost vindictive driver along this stretch too, so identify with the anger, but not the rage.

What are the chances the eye witness came into sight of the event just as the van had come to a complete halt deliberately brake checking the whole group?? The van would appear stationary to someone a couple of hundred meters back on the road. We all know that stretch and the group were likely doing upwards of 50 clicks at the time hammering along. Skinny wheel bikes have many road specific qualities, but completely stopping quickly and safely in a bunch is not one of them. As a regular cyclist we are not in the habit of doing group rides into the back of random stationary vehicles for no reason. More so when we are at pace and leading out a large group. The car gets a dent and we get dead. What is being sold here in this account, makes no cycling sense, which is why myself and others are having to speculate.

There's 2 distinct camps on this thread. There are those who have seen the footage and don't want to know anything more except for how severely the culprits are punished. There are others who think the level of confrontation was entirely overboard and the perps deserve what they have coming, but as fellow cyclists would like to additionally know what the real circumstances in the build up to that were. Not to justify the perps actions but simply to get all the facts around whether the van had indeed deliberately put cyclists in danger and whether that could be addressed too.

#4 is what you get. Yep, this news is on the thread 3 times already... Shot for the echo though Ger.

Keep an eye out for us. We'll be the eedjits wearing The Incredibles outfits... ( yep, I like testing my better half's sense of humour...) Have a lekka ride on Saturday Wannabe. We'll be getting kids sorted at the junior tour at youngsfield.

Search for a thread called Durbanville Area Roadies. They post regularly and ride as often.

This is pure speculation on my part from knowing the area and the circumstances we as cyclists typically face along this stretch of road around the peninsula. I've seen a few riders of the club posting on this thread, but no one is giving any info in the lead up to the events witnessed on the video. Guess those facts may never come out or perhaps only trickle post disciplinary hearings. Have ridden quite a few races with the members of this club and although their finer ettiquette in bunch racing is somewhat lacking, they are simply people who smile when they ride their bikes too. Somewhat intrigued to know what really went down to provoke them to the point we have all witnessed.

Sadly I was not both hypothetically or in reality. Amazing how far assumption can carry all of us though...

Here's a hypothetical scenario for those of you still committed to this thread. Straight up. What would be your response if the cycling mates you have are out on a ride with you and your bunch is say 20 strong. You're doing final prep for your full effort at a fast race. It's the weekend before and you're riding a recce race pace effort on the course. You enter the final 10 km stretch and start upping the pace. A Toyota Quantum carrying a bunch of kids starts hooting behind you as you cycle through a single lane road on your approach towards a section of road that becomes a dual carriage piece. It is not safe for the van to overtake your group as the road is too narrow for him to get by safely even if you ride in single file. For safety reasons you choose not to and remove the option for him to try. You're happily cruising along at a similar speed to motorized traffic along the stretch anyway. The van keeps hooting and the driver and his cohorts are hurling abuse at being held up. You enter the dual carriage piece traveling at close to the speed limit for vehicular traffic in the left lane and the van pulls alongside on your right. The side door opens and a bunch of teenagers start throwing water bombs at you from point blank range. Expletives are exchanged and then the driver decides to show your group what he thinks about being held up by squeezing the group as he begins to deliberately veer left into your group and then completely brake checks you with his abs equipped vehicle, putting your entire cycle group into PROPER danger. Who here climbs off their bike and calmly proceeds to have a civil discussion with the driver and his cronies about the situation at this point??

Oh dear. Faizel has really shot himself in the foot... Especially if you think about the facebook comment that was deleted and knowing it was him involved.

Precisely and as much as they can enter late on the day with temp numbers these will be chaps who are regular racers and losing their seeding and ability to race their own groups with timing will put them off racing with the backmarkers of the temp bunch and their temp numbers with no times.

Have you considered these?? http://www.cwcycles.co.za/product/suplest-streetracing-carbon-velcro-2013-lime

To the point where posters who have indicated on this thread they were present and the altercation first started.

Hands up anyone who condones this. COME ON. Let's see who really thinks this is justified. (Seriously doubt you will find anyone. We are almost ALL in agreement that this is thuggery. Some of us would just like to know how it really got to this, now that it is truly out there in the public for all to see.)

Marko, it will be a sadder day for cycling if some lycra hothead has to do something stupid simply because another member of this club is wearing their shirt. Especially when the majority of their riders are development guys who wont necessarily have access to other kit.

Sorry G, but you're the only poster who believes the Argus is filled with vigilante types moonlighting in lycra.

Eddy, I agree with you. I'll post this again. The level of response was not appropriate irrespective of what the provocation. The chaps who have handed themselves in to the cops need to get what is coming to them. Simple. Period. I don't for one second believe they were justified. Let the process follow its course and we'll see where it goes. All I would like to get from this incident above what the rest of you are saying is what the whole story is and not merely the 59 seconds of mobile phone video a passer by in his car captured as the tail end. Some posters here have indicated they were present. Let them fill in the gaps without the media spin. What has been presented so far makes no sense as to the beating the driver got.

I'll post this piece again. The response was not appropriate irrespective of the provocation. Period! However, I don't want to believe that a fellow cyclist can get this aggro over water sachets?? That's just total dumbass. I could understand someone having this response after having just gone through a life threatening experience and would like to hear if that actually happened or not. As a cyclist I have already admitted on this thread, that we will all have to raise our game to just get back to where we were ahead of this incident making international news.

Why would the group attack the driver who would be on the opposite side of the vehicle for spraying water on them?? They would go after the chaps in the back surely? Somehow I sense the driver's account is probably omitting the part where he tried to squeeze the group left along the road somewhere after words had already happened. Doubt a 19 year student would have the gall to admit to the media he thought it clever to show the group where he believed they should be riding by squeezing them along that stretch whilst they were at pace, especially if he was egged on by his mates in the back...

Since when should shouting at someone be cause for a disciplinary?? The chaps who resorted to the physical attack of the driver should get what's coming to them. We can all see that it was inappropriate, irrespective of the provocation. But something in this story doesn't make sense yet. We should get some info filtering out of the disciplinary tomorrow, unless someone is brave enough to give a full account sooner.

My thinking keeps bringing me back to the same point. What did the driver do to warrant this response??? More to this for sure! Doubt it will come out though....

But to some extent we have to admit that as a group in society known as cyclists, we are properly tense for good reason. I know of 3 cases of daylight robbery on roads in the peninsula over the past week alone. Let's not begin discussing how many cyclists have perished at the hands of motorists in the past year. Going for a ride has turned into a real struggle for survival and those of us deeply committed to enjoying this past time are feeling the very real anger that comes with the realization that a quick ride may well be our last. On this knife edge it won't take much to fly off the handle as is evidence here. For this reason I am really hoping that we get to hear the full story of events, but doubt this will be public until formalities have been completed. One part still bothering me. I've read the report from the chap who recorded the video but think the beginning of the altercation between this group of cyclists and the van in question happened before the video taking driver came into eye contact with any of this lot and his opinion on the reason for this will be based entirely on his own view of events when he arrived on the scene. Couple of posters on the thread have indicated they saw what actually went down. Any chance we can get some insight too please? Many of us are trying to understand what could bring a group of cyclists to this level of aggression as much as we don't condone or encourage it?

The guy who does the pepper spray is also the chap throwing the punches. The only other 'physical' chap is the wheel basher dude. Was there anyone else in the vid acting violently??

The sad reality is that for many of us we have encountered that almost deliberate yet menacing motorist somewhere on some road that could easily have made our families have to grieve the loss of us were it not for some quick thinking at the time and we've felt the insane desire to dish out what we have viewed in this trending clip. The bigger reality however is in a cyclist vs car confrontation, we as cyclists will simply never ever win. As such the onus is ALWAYS on us the cyclists to be the bigger 'person' and do the right thing. We NEED motorists to change their opinions and allow their behaviour to follow suit and should be doing what we can to bring on this change.

Peach come clean. You're a downhill biker from the big smoke so no way related to this skinny wheel CT crew. BUT you are properly acid with motorists for whatever reason and that's why you are feeling this action is justified right??