Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, that is unless you dare cross a cyclist

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, that is unless you dare cross a cyclist. Then you can expect more than fury—outright rabid frothing at the mouth.

It all started during a snow storm right before x-mas when I was on the roads and noticed a cyclist slipping and sliding over a slushy street. It was an accident waiting to happen. I took a photo and tweeted it out saying “you have to be a real knob to be out in weather like this”. My mistake was calling the guy a knob. THAT was wrong- But the post had nothing to do with cycling rights. It was simply an observation that it wasn’t a safe day to be riding a bike on Toronto’s slushy streets with no bike lane

Que the outrage from the perpetually outraged!

First to chime in, the Ottawa police as their social media team nosed into a jurisdiction that’s none of their business. That they know nothing about and certainly wouldn’t understand riding conditions that day. They stated cyclists have every right to be on the roads, and gave me instructions on how I should go around a cyclist.

News flash- my tweet and comment was never about cycling rights. Not one word of it suggested that. Nor did I need a lesson on how to go around. I wasn’t trying to go around. The guy wasn’t in my way. Or slowing me down. He WAS struggling to stay upright. And I thought it was foolish to risk that. Your tweet suggested I’m anti cyclist. Which couldn’t be furthest from the truth. And I am on record with that. I have zero issues with cycling. I have no issues with bike lanes. No issue with giving them a wide berth. My only issues with cyclists is that they need to obey signs and rules so no one gets hurt. While you may not like the opinion—the fact is cyclists get hurt when they fall. And in a City like Toronto full of congestion and lousy cycling infrastructure- going out in a snow storm is not worth the risk. But how could Ottawa police know that? It’s not their jurisdiction.

The Ottawa police, so concerned about cycling rights in a totally different city, unleashed a frenzy of hate filled rhetoric suggesting I be fired, arrested, have my child taken away. On and on the hysteria went. All because I called a miscellaneous person a knob?

And what’s your excuse Huffington post? I see you filed a story on how the Ottawa police “shut down” a Toronto reporter. Oddly, my phone nor any email ever came offering me an opportunity for me to have a say? Your glee in having me checked by Ottawa cops-didn’t need to be marred by any inconvenient truth? There is a very simple rule in journalism, Always get the other side of the story? And if you can’t— try like hell. Otherwise it’s click bait—or fake news.

This isn’t me having a pity party. I’m a big girl. I can take my lumps. When deserved. But IF you are going to attack me, libel me, convict me, use my 4 yr olds picture to fight your cause, you should know the facts. You don’t. You weren’t there. You have no idea If I was with someone. Where I was going. What I may have been doing. Sherlock Holmes you are not. But hey, in the days of social media mobbing apparently we no longer need courts. We have you the social justice warriors to play judge and jury.
For whatever role I played- I happily accept responsibility and I say this--
To the unknown man, slipping and sliding on his bike back during a snow storm- I do apologize for calling you a knob. I don’t know you. I don’t know your situation. Or where you were going. But knob was the wrong word. I should have said – Fool. Silly. Reckless. Because it was reckless to be out that day. Even for the most experienced cyclist. Bottom line--- while cyclists have a right to be on the roads all year long—it doesn’t mean you should. Or that it’s safe. Or that everyone rides at the same level.

I may have been a jerk for calling someone a silly name, but the vicious rabid reaction from those looking down from their moral high horse -- you have revealed you are no better than those you attack.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices