Nothing I do on a motorcycle gives you the right to try to kill me.

This past Saturday around noon, someone decided I deserved a potential death sentence for having the nerve to make an improper pass while riding a motorcycle. And they should be the Judge, Jury, and Executioner.It's a classic tale: Boy likes to ride fast in the mountains. Boy encounters some slower traffic. Boy waits for enough visibility to safely execute a pass, without concern for the solid yellow line or speed limits. Only this time, there are two vehicles to pass and they're spaced far enough apart that they can only be safely passed one-at-a-time.So I make my first pass. The person being passed takes great offense at this. Accelerates in the opposing lane to come along side me, then violently veers into the space that I am occupying. Naturally, I grab a fist full of brake to avoid being forced into the trees.But that wasn't enough for the offended driver to feel satisfied that I'd been properly shown up. They repeatedly brake-checked me. Emptied their windshield washer fluid spraying me. Slowed down until I was stuck between them and another vehicle behind us, so an evasive-and-fast pull over was not safe -- I risked causing an accident from behind or creating more exposure to the aggressor in front of me. And, of course, I would not dare risk my life attempting another pass.I'm stuck. I'm mad. And I'm fearful for my life.And here's the thing: I'm not just a motorcycle enthusiast. I had parents (RIP, Dad). I have two future step-children. Their mother loves me dearly. We have four fur-babies, two feline and two canine. We take care of my elderly mother. On this particular Saturday, I'm most looking forward to dinner with 10 family members back at the cabin we rented for the weekend. They don't deserve to lose me, or to have to deal with the future consequences of my being seriously hurt, just because some rando took extreme offense at my motorcycle riding.We finally approach a traffic light, where I will have the opportunity to go in whichever direction the aggressor is not. They appear to be proceeding straight, I quickly veer right... but not quickly enough to avoid them seeing, veering in front of me, and brake-checking me again.This is it. I'm done feeling scarred for my life and helpless as I'm stuck around this maniac. Now I'm being stalked...Here's another thing: It takes about 3 seconds for me to execute a pass on a curvy mountain road. Another 30 seconds I'd have passed the other vehicle and we'd have all been gone from each others' lives forever. Instead of getting all homicidal for several minutes, road-ragey driver could have just noted my quite memorable vanity tag and called the cops. But no, they had to keep attempting to engage in violence.I'm not entirely helpless. At this point, aggressor gets along my left side with an empty lane between us. I raise the left side of my jacket and rather conspicuously wrap my hand around the handle of the handgun in my outside-the-waistband holster. The laws of the state we're in, and really of any state, allow me to defend myself with lethal force against someone who, as best as I can tell, is determined to kill me or cause me serious injury.I don't want my name associated with that headline in Google forever, but at this point, IDGAF about them: My life means more to me and my family than theirs. Killing this shithead who has been trying to kill or seriously injure me for at least five minutes will only be regrettable in that the subsequent interaction with police might ruin my family's dinner plans and memories of this gathering.Thankfully, this raging cager realized they'd picked, and continued, a fight that they were now about to lose with great prejudice, and about caused a series of accidents with other cars trying to get away from me. I hauled ass and made a bunch of turns until I found a place to stop where I could feel safe that they couldn't resume the fight, and spent the next half hour calming myself.IT'S NEVER OK TO USE YOUR VEHICLE AS A WEAPON AGAINST OTHERS! FOR A MOTORCYCLIST THIS IS ESPECIALLY FRIGHTENING: YOU CAN KILL US, WHILE THE WORST WE CAN DO IS MAYBE SCRATCH YOUR PAINT OR BUST A MIRROR! WE'RE NOT JUST SHITHEADS ON TWO WHEELS. WE HAVE FAMILIES AND LOVED ONES AND PETS AND CHILDREN. IF YOU'VE EVER ENGAGED IN THIS SORT OF BEHAVIOR, OR THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY WHEN SOMEONE ELSE HAS... I HOPE YOU CAN LEARN THAT IT'S NOT OK. OTHERWISE, FUCK YOU. IF YOU WANT TO MURDER THIS MOTORCYCLIST, GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME 'CAUSE EVENTUALLY I'LL DECIDE TO FIGHT BACK WITH HOLLOWPOINTS.To the owner of the baby-turd-gold Subaru with the distinctive collection of stickers on the rear window that remind everyone you aren't a native of Asheville: If I ever come across your car in a parking lot... I'll leave a friendly note to remind you of our encounter before I remove all the drain bolts and break all your windows. Fuck you very much. via /r/motorcycles https://www.reddit.com/r/motorcycles/comments/d8ift5/nothing_i_do_on_a_motorcycle_gives_you_the_right/?utm_source=ifttt