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Janet Lee said she snapped this photo of a bicyclist throwing a bike lock at her car during a confrontation on Tuesday evening. Her teenage daughter was driving the car.

(Photo by Janet Lee)

Update: The second (non-bike-lock-throwing) bicyclist in the photo has contacted The Oregonian/OregonLive with his version of what happened. Read it below.

Dear Portland bicyclists: Bike locks are for locking up your ride, not hucking at cars during the evening commute.

A Portland woman says she has filed a police report against a bicyclist who she says threw a bike lock at her car and kicked her in the arm during a heated exchange east of the Hawthorne Bridge on Tuesday night.

Janet Lee said her teenage daughter was driving their 2000 BMW when she snapped a photo of the cyclist heaving the heavy U-lock at the vehicle.

Lee, who sometimes commutes by bicycle to her downtown job, said she was a "little embarrassed" by her behavior during the confrontation.

"But I don't want to be a wallflower," she said.

The confrontation, she said, started at Southeast Martin Luther King Jr. and Clay Street, when the man on the tall bike began berating another motorist who was trying to turn right on a red light. Because of the Portland Streetcar tracks on MLK, there is a big "no turn on red" sign at the intersection.

Lee said the bicyclist was repeatedly shouting those words at the driver in the turn lane next to her. She said it was as grating as a motorist constantly honking his horn at someone in anger.

"I felt like (the bicyclist) was being abusive, like he was baiting the driver," Lee said, "so I said something through my open window."

Lee said she told the tall-bike rider that his behavior was making all bike riders look bad. He responded by spitting on her, she said. So, she spit back and rolled up the window.

The light turned green and the bicyclist kicked the BMW's driver side mirror before turning toward Hawthorne Boulevard, Lee said. But a couple blocks later, "he came back to taunt us," she said.

Lee said the man and second bicyclist began to intentionally coast at a crawl, essentially blocking their route.

When Lee's daughter honked at them, the tall-bike rider tossed the lock, which hit the front of the car, Lee said.

Her daughter stopped. Lee jumped out to grab the lock. "He beat me to it," she said of the tall bike rider. "When I tried to take a picture of him and the front of my car, he kicked me in the arm, knocking the phone out of my hand."

David Robinson, the bearded cyclist to the right of the tall bike rider in the photo, contacted The Oregonian/OregonLive to explain that he was "instantly thrust into the interaction" about a block before the lock went airborne.

He was riding home from Free Geek and turned onto Clay as the conflict was boiling over.

Robinson said the other rider, who he knows but declined to name, told him that the people in the car had been harassing him. The car, Robinson said, began tailgating them and Lee's daughter was honking in a hostile manner.

Robinson said the other cyclist didn't kick Lee as much as he "put out his foot" to protect himself from being attacked. "The conflict originated with the vehicle with the most wheels," he said.

So what about the tossing of the bike lock? "I agree that it wasn't the best course of action," he said.

Still, Robinson didn't rebuke the tall-biker for doing it. "That's a discussion we'll have at another time," he said.

The bicyclists rode off. Lee said she called the police and filed a report. Portland police have not confirmed whether a report was filed.

Lee also posted the photo of the flying lock on her Facebook page, where many of her friends responded that the behavior was inexcusable and even dangerous.

"Not saying there isn't equal jerkiness going on with pedestrians and drivers of cars, but come on," one friend wrote.

True. Anyone, regardless of travel mode, is capable of road rage. Unfortunately, we've seen that repeatedly on the streets of Portland. Sometimes, there are happy endings. But no one ever exits a street fight looking good.

When bicyclists and motorists start throwing large metal projectiles at other road users during the evening commute, potentially injuring an innocent bystander, it's an ugliness that deserves to be exposed in this insta-share age.

What are the best ways to react to a road-raging nutjob in traffic? I turned to police officers and conflict-management professionals to get the answers for a column last fall.

Things are tricky enough for bicycle commuters out there.

Geting photographed pitching projectiles and running red lights doesn't make it any easier for other riders.

Let's all (peacefully) share the road out there. Please.

Update 2: For all of the conspiracy theorists who wonder why, if the tall bike rider threw the U-lock, are his hand's the handlebars in the photo. Here's another photo that Lee posted on her Facebook page:

-- Joseph Rose

503-221-8029

jrose@oregonian.com

@josephjrose