An Ironman- honey mustard road incident

     WILMINGTON — On July 6 Todd McAuley, a cyclist from Colonie, was riding his bike on state Route 86 in Wilmington near the A&W when he was hit with something thrown from a vehicle. It was a container of honey mustard.

    "It hit me in the face and covered me pretty much from head to toe in honey mustard," McAuley said in an e-mail. "It also hurt ... from the impact. He was flipping me off as he drove away."

    McAuley did not get the vehicle's license plate number, but said it was a full-size black Ford pickup truck. The word Ford was in white letters on the tailgate. McAuley then went to a gas station in Wilmington to see if anyone there knew who was the driver of the truck. Here, he said he was met with more hostility.

    "...the woman who works there told me that I deserved it and that us bicyclist(s) think we own the roads," he said. "We come up there with all of our expensive equipment and they only make $8 per hour, and on the day of Ironman she cannot even get to work."

    Conflicts between motorists and cyclists have been heating up this year and, with Ironman Lake Placid just around the corner, a local cycling club is encouraging people to safely share the road. Team Placid Planet, along with Placid Planet Bicycles, has been leading the charge to mitigate the negative sentiments between cyclists and drivers. The club and the bike shop have purchased 50 signs that are going to be put on the Ironman course, reminding cyclists, especially the big clubs and camps, that they, too, need to share the road. After a recent incident in the Wilmington Notch, club president James Walker circulated an e-mail to club members emphasizing the importance of safety and riding on the shoulder whenever possible.

    "The officers of the club are very concerned about the situation, which seems like it's been deteriorating pretty fast," Walker said in an e-mail. Wilmington town Supervisor Randy Preston agreed that tensions and feelings of resentment between cyclists and motorists are growing. He added that, on weekends, Wilmington's Haselton Road, which is on the Ironman bike course, is often filled with cyclists.