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Well, mum arrived even later than planned, which was good in a way (I got to eat and relax and unwind), but bad in that we had to set out in hotter weather than planned.  Also, I'd wanted to go shopping with MaxBabe this afternoon to finish off CQ shopping.

Anyhooo... we set off and had a good ride out.  There was a tailwind and mum encouraged me to try to beat my new speed PB, but I just didn't have the legs in me.  I think I hit about 46Kph before all the wind was gone from my sails.  Still, it was fun.  The Beast loves to accelerate, and I love helping it do that!    The FD is still a pain to go to the big chainring, but I'll live with it.

We stopped at Sandgate to have a bite to eat, then rode back.  I was starting to fade by around the 65Km mark.  There was a very strong headwind and I was really struggling.  Mum took the lead (what a trooper!) and I sat on her wheel for a bit.  Up ahead, I saw something on the path.  I realised some cunt had laid ROCKS across the entire width of the path.

 

I screamed at mum to stop and she stopped barely a foot short.  She'd seen it, but between her dodgy vision and the shadows, had thought it was just some clods of dirt.  I'm so glad I was there to stop her going over.

I stopped, and declared we had to clear the path.  She agreed.  We'd no sooner parked our bikes than we found the culprits.  A bunch of kids, all of them under ten years old.

How inconvenient for them that they were wearing their rugby club's jerseys.  Brothers Leagues Juniors club, you'll be getting a copy of these photos and a description of the little turds that are sallying your good name.

There was a group of about seven of them.  You can't see it from the photo, but there is a bridge just to the right of where these kids are standing.  It passes over the path and the Kedron Brook in the background.  Mum stood at one side of the bridge's support pylon, and I stood at the other, and this group of kids sat there between us, behind the pylon, shitting their pants.

Mum gave them an absolute earful, making it clear she knew exactly what club they played for, and assured them that Brothers would be thoroughly disgusted by their behaviour.  She told them they should be ashamed of themselves.  It was pretty clear that they were ashamed of themselves.  They had nothing to say in their defence.  They tried to get away from her by running to the other side of the pylon, only to be met by a much more threatening vision - me.  I was ropable, and had puffed myself up in an imposing fashion.  My fists were balled in white-knuckled rage.  I think veins were popping from my head.  They realised at that point that I was taking pictures, so they pulled their shirts over their heads, and ran screaming.

I called the cops.  The cops told me that it is not against the law to place rocks across a bikeway, so they can't do shit about it.  Had it been an actual road, it might've been something they'd get off their arses and do something about.  I tried to get the cop to explain to me the functional difference between a road for cars and a road for bicycles.  He hung up on me.

MOTHER.  FUCKER.

Once I'm done writing a letter to Brothers (who I'm sure have a code of conduct for its members), I'll be writing a letter to Stafford Police station.  The gist of the letter will be this:

1. Hanging up on a member of the public is very bad for PR, and makes honest citizens unwilling to report incidents to the Police.
2. Though you might consider acting on my complaint as a waste of time, it might behoove you to note that today's nuisance miscreants could very well be tomorrow's vandals.
3. Though their behaviour might not be illegal, it is antisocial, and had the potential to cause real losses, both in terms of property (bicycles cost money, yaknow), and in terms of lives (hitting one of those rocks on a bicycle, even going slow, has the potential to throw the rider to the ground in such a manner as to result in serious bodily injury or death).

Here's something that's not a waste of time.  Community Policing.  Police officers are in a unique position within our community.  Not only do they uphold legislation, but they have influence over the way our communities function.  These kids were clearly impressionable, and would've benefited greatly from an unofficial bollocking from the local Plod.  They would've listened.  And I suspect they would've seen the error of their ways and never repeated their behaviour.  Five minutes from the local Sergeant chatting to these kids and their parents could very well prevent future incidents (and perhaps future actual offences).

I know what you're thinking.  The cops are overworked with actual, real crimes.  I should cut them a little slack.  Well, I don't feel the same way.  I pay tax dollars for a reason, and it's not for the cops to have a laissez-faire attitude towards the safety of the community it serves.

I'm still formulating what I will write in the letter to the cops.  It will be much more articulate and verbose than what I've written here.

Anyway.  We removed all the rocks from the path.  The large one was so heavy mum couldn't lift it.  I could barely carry it either, but I did.  Those kids must've done a team effort to even move it.  After that, I was riding on anger (the best kind of motivator).  Only a few Km down the path, some dimwit was walking her dog.  The dog's leash was attached to its collar, and dragging behind it.  I said, obviously much louder than intended, "Pick that lead up, you stupid woman."  Evidently, she heard this, and said in that shocked self-righteous voice that idiots often use, "Excuse you!".  To which I replied, "FUCK YOU!".  She stood in stunned silence and watched me ride off, as her dog proceeded to run under mum's wheel.  It was only through deft manoeuvering that mum avoided the mutt.  The woman then got an earful from mum.  Fucking idiot.

You know, I get tired of people doing blatantly stupid (and in the case of the leashless dog, actually illegal) things, and thinking their actions don't have consequences.  I know I'm no exception to this, and I've exhibited the same behaviour from time to time.. but I am seriously OVER IT.  I swear, the next dog owner I see who thinks that Fido will actually come when called, is going to get a fucking earful.  And I hope, when they call the cops on me, that they get hung up on.