I had a group of rowdy necks driving a pickup throw a jack handle at me. I took the jack handle with me in case they came around again to throw back. While riding with my girlfriend and a friends, a group of rednecks parked at Lowes Home Improvement threw a full drink cup and barely missed my girlfriend. I gave him the appropriate signal for her, and he or one of the others jumped in their truck to come after us. I got off of my bike and as he sped up behind us, I turned with a very heavy 55 panther in the air over my head ready to launch at his windshield. He turned quickly and almost flipped his truck getting away. I have had a friend get hit from behind with a gallon water jug almost full from a moving vehicle. I have been missed by rocks,beer bottles, firecrackers, food, a cinder block, metal pipes, pvc, cans, bags of trash, lit cigarettes, cd's, books, pieces of chain, sticks, and plenty of other stuff. Cars always swerve to pretend to hit us, some have actually tried. I have had tires flattened while in the store. Paint jobs scratched, lights busted, even a chain snapped (not sure how they did it, probably stepping on it), racks or fenders dented or bent, seats cut, etc. The rednecks here really hate bikes with a violent passion. The above comments about staying defensive are true for me, but only because the onslaught of violence towards us is equally constant. Stay careful and don't move to northwest N.C. I think however, part of the issue is that there are no bike lanes here, and the few sidewalks we have are not for cyclists and you will get a ticket for riding on them. There are even signs posted informing you to keep bicycles off of sidewalks in certain areas. My friend almost got a ticket because he works on a road with a sidewalk and he rode up onto it for a moment to get to his work entrance. As a result we are always in the roads, which are pretty narrow here.