Cycling to work i approached a crossroad that give me right of way, white flatbed transit pulls away from the butty van that’s always parked on the right-hand crosslane (from my perspective) & shoots through the junction.
No problem, i’m about 40yrds away. He then immediately pulls a U-turn & shoots back through the junction just as i’m passing through it. Obviously didn’t see me, i took avoiding action but his wing mirror still clipped my shoulder, knocking my off the bike though i just about managed to stay upright.
Called him a few choice names & told him to use his effin’ eyes, big ape then gets out of the van and tells me it was my fault for riding into him!
He approaches with his fists up & i pick the bike up to use as a shield/weapon & he turns back to get in his van.
I put the bike down & he runs back at me & throws a punch that i easily parried (cos it was pathetic!).
I stepped back, he picks my bike up & throws it at me, kicks it a few times & starts yelling obscenities etc. By this time we have an audience so i don’t retaliate, just recite his reg no. at him & tell him i’m phoning the cops. As soon as i mention the cops a young blonde girl in her late teens jumps out of the cab & drags him off & the van shoots away.

I get details from the witnesses & ride off to work thnking “i’ll phone it in when i get there”.

Turns into the lane to work to find that two of our blokes (aged 66 & 60) had been ‘randomly’ attacked by 4 p!ssed-up 20-something blokes (it’s 7:45am) one has been smacked, thrown into the canal & when he tried to climb out he was kicked in the face then this loony jumped onto his head & started to batter him.
These thugs then attacked another bloke & left him in a pool of blood on the main rd. I got there a few minutes later to find cops everywhere & see one of these blokes being loaded into a van.

Cops turned up quickly ‘cos they’d already robbed the local co-op of beer with weapons of some sort.

Two blokes still in hospital. not a good start to the day…..

ever wonder why this shit always seems to happen to you….

Blimey 😯

So did you report the van driver?

Where do you work? Helmand Province?

this isnt in the shires is it?

hope your bike’s OK and your mates recover quickly.

Oh aye, van driver reported. Cop dealing with the case is a cyclist – nice to have someone sympathetic & understanding working on yourside!

Appears that the van isn’t registered to anyone (old vehicle) but it did have the name of a demolition company down the bodywork & the cops are going to speak to this company. It turns out that the driver of an Audi also reported this vehicle/driver for another altercation the same morning, not sure if it was before or after my incident.
Got to go to the police station next tuesday to make an official statement, by that time the cops will have more info for me.
It’s being treated as assault apparently.

As to the attack, cops couldn’t interview the 4 psycho’s ‘cos they were still too wrecked as of 4pm yesterday!
Still blood on the road outside our works… 😥

The numpty has bust my lights & scratched the bike – we’ll see what gets done about that.
I was all righteously angry, but the attack on my workmates is more in my mind at the moment. If i hadn’t been involved in my own incident i would have been right there when these idiots appeared on the canal outside my works….

Rochdale like Liverpool without the Culture then.
Hope you and especially your 2 workmates get better, dont forget to tell them to claim for criminal injuries, as well as damages from the scum.