Punched in the face at Swinley…

not only should you have retailed

Well this is STW afterall 🙄

mark, seriously, your out on your bike, you have a crash which is neither of your faults, the bloke punches you and you let him get away with it?

no way.

Is nobody going to arrest Dan?

I've just watched Mesrine so I better not say how to deal with him at the moment 😯

(waves keyboard at the screen)

TBH when that happens it can catch you right out, and by the time you've got off the floor, dusted yourself down taken in what's happend and put your dukes up it's all over.

This is what happens when you let common people ride bikes.

Now is there anyone you remember not waving to on the road before this happened 😉

Check the CCTV for Audi's in the carpark.

Check the CCTV for Audi's in the carpark.

At a trail center? That will narrow it down! 😆

Seemingly I'm the only one here, but I doubt I'd have hit him back, his reaction suggests a total ****t, and I can think of better folk to get into a fight with in the middle of a forest! ! I'm clearly not as tough as everyone here!

So I was out on a group ride today, went round a corner I know to be blind very slowly and collided with another rider coming the other way on the trail

Define "slow".

Does it matter what speed he was doing? Its not a reason to assault someone!

Does it matter what speed he was doing? Its not a reason to assault someone!

One person's "slow" is another person's "fast". Just trying to get a picture.

Define "slow".

"Very" was the term the OP used.

Gee – I wouldn't beat yourself up (sorry, no pun intended there) about not hitting him back. As Oldgit has said the guy punched you whilst you wasn't expecting it and then rode off whilst you was still reeling from it. If you and/or your mates had beaten the crap out of him you can bet Sod's Law that you would have gotten into trouble whilst he gets away scott free.

what a complete **** !

just rest assured one day he will pick on the wrong guy one day – ton/hora and get a kickin

The OP stated he was in a group and they were wearing club kit. So that means they are pretty swift/podium placed, doesn't it?

Which comes back to my point about one person's "slow" is another person's "fast".

I'm just trying to see the big picture, rather than just one person's viewpoint.

Sorry if I'm coming across as a bimbo. 🙂

Someimes I am slow to react. During the week I Spend my time being sharp, but at the weekend I try to refresh by slowing down with people – in short I would have been hesitant and done the same.If your out on the town it may be expected but at Swinley, no way.

Given the over-hyped nature of Swinley and it's 'super tech' trails, I'd probably have punched someone in the face if they'd run into me while I was there. 😉

No need for that sort of thing going on. Maybe he was just upset that he could see your bigger-than-his assets with all your lycra on.

Just to be clear, violence is unacceptable in any situation.

It's interesting to hear other trail users' perception of us and mostly it isn't good. I try very hard to rectify that. Today I ended up in the middle of a drag hunt (twice). Not a problem, I waited until they had all rode past. They were charming, greeted and thanked me, and I enjoyed seeing the horses and foxhounds.

Just to be clear, violence is unacceptable in any situation.

Goodo, not that I thought you was being "racerist" or anything 😉

I am not "racerist"! In the past I have had "sensible discussions" with people but considering most of the time I ride on my own, that is probably not the best thing to do. 🙄

Would rather try and understand other person's viewpoint. Of course, being a woman, it comes naturally. 😉

all I am saying is people can be agressive and sometimes you need to look out for yourself if people start sometimes. Violence is really bad tho IMO.TBH it is always best to walk away.

It's a cr@p that someone gets twatted like this but I think it's also cr@p that the OPs gettng stick for not skelping him back. I probably wouldn't have hit the guy back either.

For heaven's sake, people can not go around thumping each other 😯

That was not normal behaviour. Should I be worried as a lone female rider at Swinley? Do I need a bodyguard or a pitbull?

I did hear that the local Council received £20K from the HP film company for use of the car park. Interesting huh?

You reap what you sew, even if you cant see it right now.

Would rather try and understand other person's viewpoint.

To be fair to the OP he did say he tried talking to his attacker after the attack but the other guy wasn't interested and rode off.

if someone punched me I'd probably say something like "Is that the best you can do ?"

Not good. Sorry to hear that.

I hope you find out who it was and let us all know their name and description.

Don't know if the law has changed but many years ago when Mark Thomas was doing his informative comedy on C4 he did one about big brother and the cameras that watch us.

One of the things I remember is that if you are recorded, they are legally required to supply you the footage for a fee of no more than £10 if you request it, perhaps getting one of your mates (ideally of the same shape and size as the offender) to go and tell the manager this may get them access to the tapes as they may be too lazy.

As regards your reaction i'd say it is pretty natural to be shocked, I was completely taken aback during a "road rage" incident a few years ago.

If the trail centre finds CCTV of the guy and, for instance, his car's number plate, and if the cops don't feel like doing anything, then you can obtain owner's info from DVLA (preparing for litigation is a legitimate reason to access that data) and then sue him in trespass for assault. Only problem on a practical basis is getting the tape from the trail centre and making sure they don't delete it.

I'm surprised you didn't smack him back and it's bad your mates didn't help. In that situation it's self defence.

I've had MX'ers threaten us at Swinley so as they passed me (very close) I rammed my bike into the guys front brake lever. The police will never catch these people so they need to be dealt with. He's probably done it before and keeps getting away with it.

I see all the STW keyboard warriors are out in force again. 😆

Who would have thought IT managers were so 'ard?

Couldn't you have just curtailed your ride and followed the guy back to his car then taken his details?

And all the virtual hard men appear! No matter what you are gonna be a tad taken aback by somone lumping you whilst put on a ride.

Who would have thought IT managers were so 'ard?

Didn't you know? All those keyboard presses builds your muscles like nothing else.

if someone punched me I'd probably say something like "Is that the best you can do ?"

I'd probably mumble that bit.

baccodaddy – Member

…i,d have made him tell me where he lives and i,d have gone and bashed his dog to death with its own kennel

Hahahahahahahahahaha.

Best reply yet!

Clearly a massive over-reaction from an unhinged individual.

However…..whilst I have only ridden @ Swinley a couple of times I did think this sort of thing was bound to happen. I don't quite "get" the Swinley concept. You make a place that in all senses (except for proper hills!) feels like a trail centre with typical trail centre numbers of people riding there but then don't define specific routes or have one way tracks. People smacking into each from opposite directions just seems inevitable – given the number of riders per mile ratio of a typical weekend.

There again, its been a good few years since I bothered going so it may be different now from what I remember.

He's probably done it before and keeps getting away with it.

He'll have told his mates about it in the pub that night. He'll have bigged it up abit and wont think twice if hes in a disagreement with someone again.

I/we've never been threatened or experienced a threat whilst out on the trails. Rude sods not saying thank you so for someone to get soo unchilled in that setting it means he has a real problem.

I t-boned another riders bike once. I was in the wrong and apologised profusely/check his bike thoroughly. Even though he had a bloody nose- not once did he swing at me or become agitated.

Fecked if I'd let anyone with me get hit and get away with it. Your riding buddies should always look out for each other.

Anyway- threads laboured abit.

I'm surprised you didn't smack him back and it's bad your mates didn't help. In that situation it's self defence.

It appears the other guy had punched the OP 'only' the once and then stopped. If the OP had retaliated after the other guy had stopped attacking him then I doubt it would have been regarded as reasonable force in self-defence (I guess?)