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Yesterday (Sat., 8/22/09) while biking on the mountain road up to Las Nubes, Costa Rica, I was almost hit by a taxi driving backwards. Then the taxi driver intentionally tried to hit me 3 more times - twice with his car and once with his fist. Unfortunately for him, he didn't know I'm trained in threat neutralization ... but he do now ;o)

The taxi driver became disgruntled when I smacked his car’s hood to get him to stop before hitting me as he turned the wheel  of his car while driving in reverse in the roadway to line-up an attempted and illegal u-turn in heavy traffic.

It was broad daylight, I had a bicycle LED strobe light flashing on my handle bars, was wearing a yellow reflective vest & I yelled 3 times but he just kept coming.  Hitting his car with my hand instead of my cranium was all I could do to stop him from running me over.

After getting past the taxi I was again peddling up-hill when all of a sudden the same taxi driver blindly overcame me from the rear and cut directly in front of me - causing me to brake hard and drop my bike.

Words were exchanged and the taxi driver took off in the same direction I was traveling.  Due to traffic congestion I quickly overtook the taxi and passed along the side of the road without incident. Then out of knowhere the taxi driver again overcame me blindly from the rear and tried sideswiping my bike as I peddled.

In between the first and second attempt at hitting me with his taxi - this 'taxisto' had actually picked up a young woman as a fare (business he wouldn't have gotten if he hadn't chased me ;o). This woman was in the back seat when he tried to hit me the 2nd time. She looked at me wide-eyed out the back window as I stood with my dropped bike on the side of the roadway.

But this young passenger's ride was as short as it was eventful - after the taxi driver got out of his car and threw a punch at me, he was no longer in any shape to drive.

In my past career I was trained and successfully practiced 'threat neutralization'.

I would always advise the other party I was not paid to fight, I was there to resolve the situation.

5.3 million Scoville Heat Units (SHU) of Fox Labs Law Enforcement Formula oleoresin capsicum (OC) to the nose and mouth always ends the aggression - and in this case, the work day of a very dangerous taxi driver!