“Getting stomp’d” out on the trail can have a variety of different meanings, and I’m about to get into my personal account from this past weekend. First and foremost, this is a personal story that I debated whether or not to even put out there. After some chats with D2 and Dirty about the pros and cons, I’m convinced that posting this will hopefully have more positive results than negative, so here we go.
I headed out to North Table Mountain in Golden, CO on Saturday for a quick ride. It’s the closest trail to my house, and with a 10 month old at home I try to keep my mountain bike rides shorter than they used to be. Not long into the ride as I was climbing up a portion of trail, I came behind a runner who was wearing headphones that wrapped around his neck, and a shirt/jersey that said either “COM” or “COR”. I rang my bell a few times to let him know I was approaching from behind (this had never been an issue when sharing trail with hikers, runners, and other mountain bikers), but I don’t see any acknowledgement that he heard my bell. I slowed down and before I could ask to pass, another mountain biker (who had pulled off to yield as they were descending) said, “there is a bike behind that wants to pass”. The runner pulled off the trail, and as I passed I shook my head (the use of two earbuds or full headphones when on crowded trails drives me nuts as it’s a safety issue for everyone involved). The runner obviously didn’t like me shaking my head and shouted, “shake your head at me again, and I’ll beat your motherfucking ass!” Fun times, but I keep riding.
About 20 minutes later, I’m climbing up a different trail and see a runner coming in the opposite direction. I pull off to the side of the trail to let the runner pass, and I recognize the “COM” or “COR” on the shirt as the guy who yelled at me before. He is nearly past me, when he says, “I remember you”, then suddenly and aggressively moves towards me. Unprovoked, he grabs me by my throat and starts forcing me towards a boulder on the side of the trail. He manages to shove me on top of the boulder, all the while punching my head, jaw, helmet, and anything he can reach. Once he had his fill with his fists, he moves on to stomping my back and ribs. He decides that he’s had enough and heads over to my bike, picks it up and says “Shake your head at me again” before throwing my bike off the trail and down the steep mountainside. Pleased with himself, he heads off down the trail. Still in complete shock, I pick myself up and slowly start to walk after him in hopes of getting a picture. As he’s moving down the trail, he’s obviously keeping tabs on me, and rather than chance some more punches to the head, I walk away. The entire incident couldn’t have taken more than 30-45 seconds, but it has been playing in my mind ever since. Why hadn’t I tried to get a swing in at him? Why didn’t I charge at him when he picked my bike up? Could someone really be that pissed off about me shaking my head?
Bruised up throat
Courtesy of the runner’s shoe
I switched over to damage control, calling the police to get things started on filing a report, calling my wife to let her know what happened, and retrieving my bike. For what it is worth, I ride with an ICEdot crash sensor, and thank fucking Christ for that. My wife knew exactly where I was following the incident and that something wasn’t right–she was able to pinpoint exactly where I was and get to the nearest trailhead to meet me. I get to my bike which is about 30-50 feet off the trail (down the side of the slope), and start giving it the once over, prepared for the worst. Frame, maybe okay. Handlebars, a little off center but probably okay. Chain, good. Wheels… toast. So I am stuck walking back to a neighborhood access point. I get lucky that some other people who pass me on the trail check to see how I am doing and verify that they saw the runner further on down the trail. One fine gentleman named Ty even gives me his phone number and lets me know he’s be happy to give a statement and work to help to identify the runner. Once back at the car I give a formal statement to the Deputy from the Sheriff’s Office. As I finish my statement some chatter comes over the radios that they think they found a guy matching the description, and are trying to track him down. But unfortunately he ducks into a residential neighborhood on the western side of North Table Mountain, and is lost. Despite the assurances from park officials and deputies, it’s pretty obvious that the likelihood of finding this guy is fucking slim at this point. I thank all those who helped out and head back home to try and digest everything that happened.
In the grand scheme of things I seem to be alright, the punches to the head didn’t really seem to cause much damage (thanks helmet), although my jaw is pretty sore and I made the mistake of trying to eat an apple on Sunday. My legs are covered in smaller cuts and scrapes from getting shoved down on the boulder, and I have larger scrapes/bruises on my throat and shoulder from the respective grab and stomp. General body soreness is also present, but nothing that I haven’t dealt with before. My bike seems to be in decent shape, minus the two busted wheels, broken seat, and lost crash sensor. All items that can be replaced, and again reminds me that in the big picture of life, I certainly caught some breaks with this one.
My rear wheel after its toss off the trail
My seat didn’t look that way at the start of the ride.
The shitty part of it all is:
1.) this guy got away and will no doubt be back on the trails in the future, and
2.) what the fuck has it all come to where punches and kicks get thrown on the trail between different users?
Something tells me that this guy was already in a shitty mood, ready for a fight, and I was the unlucky recipient of his rage. Should I have shaken my head when I passed? In retrospect the answer is probably not; but if someone shaking their head at you is all it takes for you to assault someone, you’ve probably got a couple of loose screws to begin with.
In regards to the first question, part of the reason why I decided to put this story out there is that I was hoping the DC community could help to bring this guy to justice, or at least make him think twice about jumping another trail user. Basic description is white male, somewhere in his 30s-40s, 6 feet tall, and somewhere between 180-190 pounds. On that day he was wearing black shorts, wrap around headphones, and a black or dark blue shirt with either “COM” or “COR” on it. Given that he was able to duck into a local neighborhood and wasn’t found, it seems likely that he lives in Golden and will be back out on North Table Mountain. If you encounter someone that fits that description please reach out to either the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (303) 271-0211, or the Jefferson County Open Space (303) 271-5925. Also, if you have any information you think might be helpful you can email me at 40Hands@drunkcyclist.com. Also, based on the incident, this guy may take exception to how you pass him if out on the trail, so be fucking careful and don’t shake your head.
To the second question, I have no idea how many of these types of incidents take place, or what the proper way to deal with this. This guy doesn’t represent all runners or hikers, the same way that the Stravahole trying to get rowdy on a descent doesn’t represent all mountain bikers. The trails are crowded and sure we can preach the “don’t be a dick” approach, but as this guy proved, some people are just dicks and aren’t going to change. Anyway, I’m at the rambling point where it all seems like hypothetical, deep questions, so I’ll end this pretty soon. Thanks for taking the time to read, writing this has been somewhat therapeutic in dealing with everything that happened, and thanks to those of you out there who will keep an eye out for this guy.
I had a confrontation with a guy that fits the description at NTM last season. Headphones blaring and I tried to get by from behind by asking, then yelling with. I response.
After he finally noticed he said sorry, I went by and told him that’s not the way to share multi use trails plus it’s not safe with rattlesnakes prevalent & he screamed “F$&k OFF” at top of his lungs.
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Thru some recent social media friending I came across your story this morning, which has absolutely shocked me. I am the ‘Cyrus S’ mentioned above and assure you that while I fit the description given and was running on NTM on Saturday, this certainly was not an act of mine. First off, I’m not the kind of dipshit that would ever wear headphones while running. Second, I’m certainly not a fighter and lastly, I live right off of the trail near the Mesa trailhead, run on the trails daily and have a young family that also uses them. Frankly, the news of an incident like this on North Table Mountain scares me and makes me wonder if this asshole is on the trails here frequently. If my family should come across him, what would he do…? This is precisely the problem with the influx of Trail users to Colorado and overuse of our public trails. I hope that you recover well and I’m happy to help if you can put together a description of him as I’m on the trails nearly daily.
Send all the Californian douchebags that moved here back to their shithole state. Get the fuck off my trails! That means all types of users. STay in your own neck of the woods. God damn millenium hipsters! That’s the real problem. No care, no morals, no respect.
As much as I’d like to see this guy caught and punished, maybe don’t name people until we’re sure? Could really ruin someone’s day/week/life by focusing blame on an innocent person.
#BoulderWorldProblems
I guess Boulder is a much better place to ride now. Funny how issues shift.
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Okay, I get the vitriol from folks and having run and biked these trails on the Jeffco front range for 25 years, it is crazy sad that this happened. “40 Hands” my thoughts are totally with you and like other folks out there, I will keep my eyes open for your guy. My comments are not meant to dismiss your experience. That dude is horrible and doesn’t belong on the trails AND…
Any fears and concerns for all of us trail users would be totally unfounded. This sucks, but it is the furthest thing from the norm. The trails are safe. The vast majority of people are good. The etiquette is mostly upheld. Given the big number of users on our awesome trails, bikers and runners are doing pretty well around here, so let’s temper the over-the-top anger and fear about this as some sort of trend or epidemic. I’ve no doubt that many of us have a “bad trail user” story (cutting trails, going downhill too fast, not moving over). To go along with that, I’d guess we’ve passed 1000 other trail users in which we had no issue or, more likely, a positive exchange. “Good job.” “Thanks.” “Have a great run.” Keep being good role models.
Now, if we could just get some of the dog owners to realize that putting poop in a bright plastic bag and setting it along side the trail is NOT picking up after it…ha ha ha. Enjoy the trails!!!!
^^ old guy sounds like an old guy. lol.
I guess I’m going to be the odd man out here:
If you’d simply ridden by, I’m sure there would have been no issue. But by shaking your head, you’re effectively insulting his intelligence, his “awareness” or whatever. Bottom line, you took a condescending attitude toward him and he, quite rightly, didn’t care for the insult.
Should he have kicked your ass? Probably not.
Should you have fought back? Definitely so. If you are going to insult the man you should also have enough moxy to deal with the consequences. Don’t write a check your ass can’t cash. If you’re going to insult someone, be prepared to follow through. What would your Dad’s generation have done? Fucking millenials…
F these aholes who wear headphones and can’t hear and yield the right-of-way. Continue to shake your heads at them, and respond accordingly if they escalate things. Hope this psycho gets caught.
John Harper wins Stupid Comment of the Day. Shaking one’s head is free speech — If somebody is “insulted” that’s their problem. Assaulting somebody is not free speech, and certainly not an appropriate response for being “insulted”. Get a clue, idiot. You sound as psycho as the ahole runner.
John Harper is 100% correct.
I also wonder what the witnesses (if any) reported. We are only getting one side of the story here. How do we know for sure that 40 Hands didn’t throw the first punch? We take his word because he’s a fellow biker? Sorry, something is not adding up in this story.
After brimming with anger from reading this, I’ve calmed down and hope this dude gets what’s coming to him. Heal up, 40.
Please don’t start doxxing people publicly. If you feel like you have info for OP, then send it privately. We don’t need to turn this into anything it shouldn’t be.
John Harper is NOT correct. Shaking your head at someone is no justification for assault. It sucks the runner wasn’t caught, but the silver lining is if he continues to act this way he’ll get what’s coming…he’ll pick the wrong victim and catch a beating.
I have a feeling we are going to have a Curtis Sliwa wanna be brigade up there knocking out knee caps based on an collaborated story that went viral.
OP should come out to everyone and tell them to calm the fuck down and stop naming names, but he won’t. He’s just another entitled hipster millennium.
^^ That would be “UNCOLLABORATED”
What a pussy LiL andrew is—runner should have kicked andrew’s ass down the mountain.
Carrier Corp, the air & heat people, have used their stock ticker for goodies and employee apparel: COR
Said that wrong, they have a line of products with the logo COR… their traded under UTC, who owns them.
I think the fact you didn’t fight back against this goddamned psycho makes you a typical thin-skinned millennial puss-bag. Sorry this happened–no excuse for the other guy’s criminal behavior–but it is simply unfathonable that you let him beat your ass and didn’t defend yourself. Grow a bit sack. Thank you and good night.
What Old Guy and Jonathan Mendez are missing is that the perp cold cocked the biker 20mins later at a random encounter like a fuckin coward. If perp would have challenged him like a man, then it’s an even fight. Only cowards and psychos attack a defenseless person, and only sad sacks of shit defend the attacker and blame the victim.
…And to Runner. Try some reading comprehension. The guy got jumped well after the original encounter. If you want to run a little experiment, I’ll jump out and jack you without warning and see how well you respond. I’m guessing you’ll be stunned by the first blow, then confused while I pummel you, and I’ll be on my way less than 60 seconds later… beating accomplished. Stop being an internet tough guy and try on a little humanity for a change. And stop calling the OP a millennial… he lives off N Table, so he’s probably a successful late 30s, not a professional dog walker sharing a 2 bedroom apartment with his 3 barista buddies.
That’s a terrible thing that happened to you! Glad you are ok.
I’m a runner in another state, and I wear headphones on my morning runs. They are at a low volume and I can hear all the noise around me…my feet, Killdeer, Robins, cars, other runners, and even the geese flying over me. Just my own defense of my headphones.
But he obviously couldn’t hear and was being therefore irresponsible. What he did was completely crazy and absolutely wrong. Hope he gets caught or does the right thing and turns himself in.
B A MAN. Spot on. If anyone needs me I’ll be riding laps shaking my head.
Joe said: “F these aholes who wear headphones and can’t hear and yield the right-of-way.”
Serious question: where do the rules come from on who has to yield?
https://lnt.org/blog/trail-etiquette-101-primer-when-yield-other-trail-users
I’m sorry dude, the hiker/runner has the right of way.
You probably didn’t deserve to get your ass kicked for it. Unfortunately, many mixed use MTBers do deserve a heavy boot up the ass from time to time.
Good Luck.
So did you shake your head at him again or run your mouth? Nobody else reading this was there so you can paint yourself a do-right victim.
It seems you were in the wrong as far as trail etiquette is concerned. Maybe mountain bikers would act less entitled if hikers start dealing out more ass-kickings. I am thankful frequent cycling causes ED and other reproductive harm.
wow – glad i dont live on the front range anymore
Sounds awful. Your injuries were so severe that you were able to try to take a picture of the guy as he was heading off. You had a helmet on right? You got a couple strawberries. Bid deal. I’ve seen 5 year olds get worse falling on the sidewalk…..I hope your bell didn’t break.
Totally agree with John Walker. Insults, deserved or not, are provocations and provocations have consequences. Nature has its way of working these things out – you’ll think twice before condescending to strangers again. Your comeuppance involved no permanent injury or real loss, so you got a valuable life lesson for free.
I rather suspect there’s more to the story. Like how, in addition to the head shake, there was the disgusted in-your-face glare? And how you were emboldened by thinking you were faster and couldn’t get caught? Insulting people while you run away is cowardly. And cowardice has its own rewards as you discovered.
How would things have worked out if you had just accepted that some people may not hear a bell? If you took the personal responsibility as the overtaking party to yell when it was obvious you had not been heard? If you gave a cheerful “thanks” to a person who gave way when he realized you were there?
Memo to Cyclists: Nobody gives a damn what you think about earbuds, or anything else for that matter. That you cannot engage in the simple child’s pleasure of riding a bike in public without drama is why you are so universally reviled. Your self-righteous confrontations have no constructive effect and only get other cyclists’ asses kicked. GROW UP!!
Fuck yes Dave!
I cannot fathom the mental Olympics one’s mind has to jump though to somehow perceive shaking your head at someone as provocation, insulting, or initiating a confrontation.
“He is nearly past me, when he says, “I remember you”, then suddenly and aggressively moves towards me. Unprovoked, he grabs me by my throat and starts forcing me towards a boulder on the side of the trail.”
Because assaulting someone who shook their head at you is totally reasonable.
Wait? So you were a dick about trail etiquette and a runner beat you up and threw your bike down the mountain?
Lolololololol, where is this guy? He needs a gofundme account, I’d buy him some fresh sneakers. It’s high time someone stood up to the likes of you and your ilk. I’ve seen you guys berate old ladies and children on the trail simply because you had to unclip. Colorado has a problem: often right coast or left coast transplants, self-righteously clogging the trails because you think you’re extreme or read about said trail on a blog or rag. You ride as though everyone should yield to you, you wildcat trails across private land and then ask that the trail be incorporated legally after you say “sorry bruh.” To sum it up for some of you hardcore aggro riders: YOU ARE THE TRAIL EQUIVALENT OF COAL ROLLERS!
The saddest part is we’ll probably never hear his side of the story which I am quite positive, paints you in a more aggressive manner, likely combative or provocative.
Thanks to your blog I am now convinced that most bicycle riders are a bunch of snowflakes who must have a safe room where they can whine to other pussies.
Wow, how can so many people think violence is a reasonable answer to “being insulted.” People seem to think this was an acceptable “honor beating.” Guess what? There is no such thing.
I once asked a woman who’s 2 children were running rampant in “The Egg and I” to please restrain them after they both ran into my 91-year-old father’s wheelchair while he was eating, causing him to hit his lip with his fork and get a fat lip. She did settle the kids down, but then insistently tried to get me to go out to the parking lot so she could beat the crap out of me because I “insulted her family.”
So, apparently anyone trying to enjoy life in a supposedly civilized society deserves to be physically battered by deluded people whose pervasive sense of indignation makes them act like schoolyard bullies rather than grown-ups? I think not.
Gotta laugh at the transplant comments. I have lived in So Cal my whole life and we have a constant influx of transplants, if you live anywhere that doesn’t have terrible weather and a variety of things to do you will too. Many of the transplants that come from CA to CO were probably not natives of CA either. Get off your high horse, your family was once a transplant to CO and you sound like the biggest snowflakes of all with all your whining.
Terr and John, you guys rock. It is the coasters that are ruining our State. I live on NTM too and haven’t been able to ride it for five years because of these asshats that think they own the place.
Terry Orist why didn’t YOU stand up against the cyclists you saw berating kids and old people? Now you laugh from behind your keyboard and rip on MTB riders and assume they’re not from here? Talk about a fucking snowflake.
Then there’s Dave who says shaking ones head is an insult that deserves an assault..fucking idiot.
The fact is there are plenty of runners, hikers, and cyclists who are douches out on the trail, just like there are on this thread.
Finally. A runner did what so many other runners have dreamed of. He kicked a trail biker’s ass. Trail riders are amongst the worst humanity has to offer. A aimless activity that is big amongst the white privilege hipster types.
Dear Bsmith:
And here you are commenting on our comments.
Yeah thats right Terry, im calling out your stupid comments dumbass
You continue to prove my point, Bsmith.
What’s with all you snowflakes on MTBR? You all take the same one-sided view of things. Always everyone elses fault and not yours. Same sad sack of shitheads that have been there for years, but joined by a few Californians that migrated here. You can tell that from their join dates.
Pretty patchetic that you douches can’t open your eyes and see things once in a while. If it weren’t for UncleTrail, there would be no grip on reality there.
Love how some of you then go over to 303 Trail Monitor and use your real names. Fun to put faces to the shitheads.
As for Andrew, he has some ‘splainin to do. This is a ONE SIDED news story right now with no witnesses to back him up. Yet, the fake news has already found their guilty party. The wonderful investigative news has discovered that person who beat him up. Well, they didn’t. No one has. Andrew seems to be the only person on a VERY crowded mountain that saw the assailant. It just doesn’t add up.
Before you go trashing me as a runner, know this. I am a mountain biker. I don’t run, walk, whatever.
Wow Terry way to stand up to mountain bikers! A little more practice and a set of balls and maybe you’ll be able to do it in real life you little bitch.
This is is the place where a reply or rebuttal goes; it doesn’t appear the momentum of this discussion needs one.
The bell is rude and it drives me crazy. Even if I had headphones in – I would still know you are approaching. So maybe the “bell” might have been strike one. Then, expecting the “runner” to move over when he has the right of way – could have been “strike two.” Strike three was shaking your head.
You didn’t deserve to get beat up – but next time think twice about your actions.
This story is bringing out all the crazies at once. Impressive.
Wow. Just wow. Reading all the comments on this makes me want to puke. As a Front Ranger for over 30 years, I have seen the increase in trail use and have adjusted my actions and outings accordingly. Too bad some have yet to figure that out. Yeah, crowded trails suck, but we have to deal with it one way or the other.
Both parties involved did something wrong here. Andrew should not have shaken his head. He should have passed the guy after he moved out of the way and went about his business. Did the head shake deserve a beating? HELL NO! And to all of you who think he deserved it, shame on you. You’re no better than the psycho who beat up Andrew. The runner/assailant should not have been wearing both headphones on a crowded trail on a weekend. He got pissed that he got called out on his BS and took it out on Andrew. His actions were criminal. Andrew’s were not. Now, all of this assumes Andrew’s account of the confrontation are totally accurate, which I admit, would be hard to prove without witnesses. Bottom line, bad trail etiquette does not deserve violence in any way, shape, or form.
As a long time mountain biker, I know that runners have the right of way, and always yield. While there are some irresponsible MTBers out there that ride way too fast and do not yield accordingly, they are not the majority. Most mountain bikers are just trying to do the same thing you trails runners and hikers are trying to do……….enjoy our beautiful state and everything it has to offer. The problem here is that some of you have had bad experiences with other types of trail users and are now biased against that group. Let’s all just take a minute and realize that there are a few bad apples out there giving each type of trail user group a bad name. The sooner we all realize that, we can all be better about sharing the trails responsibly.