The Milkman (and other hazards of bike commuting)

For the first time in years, I've started biking to work on a regular basis. It started out of necessity -- moving totally cleaned me and Baby out so we didn't have money to fill up the car or ride the bus -- but in the last few days I've come to enjoy it. There is a huge hill (well, huge for me -- 130' rise in 3/4 mile), but I've even come to appreciate that.

But a funny thing happened on the way to work today. My housemate (THE QUAKER) and I were riding in together. We had just come over the hill when a man in a late 60's / early 70's American convertible (read: a land whale) driving next to us started yelling "You're too far over! You're too far over!" at us. We were probably taking up most of the lane we were in, but we were on a four-lane road, so I didn't think it was much of a problem. Anyway, as we rode past the dude -- we'll call him the Milkman for reasons that will become apparent -- while he was stopped at a light, I responded "Hey buddy, your car's eight feet wide!" and rode on.

Needless to say, this is not where the story ends. The Milkman at this point changed his course and quickly caught up with The Quaker and me. As he passed, something soft hit my left quadricep and a lukewarm liquid splashed my arms. I looked down and realized I'd been pegged with a nearly-full pint of moo juice. The guy had pretty good aim to hit me from a car going about 15 mph. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get his license plate number (not that I would do anything with it), but I've felt oddly amused by the whole incident. I guess I should have known not to taunt the guy in the first place, and I know that he could have done a lot worse.

Next time I'm just going to say "nice car."

P.S.: Here is a very long video of a bear in a hammock.