Cyclist shot during Tahoe ride

Avid cyclist Jim Shultz has always been one to understand a motorist's frustration with bicycles on the road.

As a motorist, he's had swerve to avoid hitting a bicyclist who took more of the road than the shoulder.

As a cyclist, the Kingsbury Grade resident has had motorists honk and give him the middle finger.

Yet on Tuesday, someone took their hostility too far.

Shultz, 50, was shot in the thigh with either a BB or a pellet at the corner of Al Tahoe Blvd. and Highway 50 at about 7 p.m. He was training for the upcoming competitive bicycling season.

Though he didn't see the face of the assailant, he did see the person was driving an older model maroon-colored Toyota pickup truck.

"I heard this pop sound like you'd hear from an air rifle or pistol and then I had this sting in my leg," Shultz said. "My first thought was, 'I can't believe it. Someone just shot at me' and my next thought was to get a license plate number, but by then it was too late."

Fortunately, Shultz was wearing cycling pants. The pellet or BB did not penetrate the skin but did leave a welt.

Instead of ignoring what happened, he went straight to the police a couple blocks away and filed a report.

The assault left Shultz wondering about the degeneration of rules and ethics of the road - and a hostility among motorists - especially at the Lake. Cycling for most of his life, he adheres to the "share the road" philosophy but has discovered motorists have become increasingly hostile and mean-spirited over the years.

"You know, I can understand when people are having a bad day, but it seems more people are having a bad day these days, and they are taking it out the wrong way," Shultz said. "And that scares me, because I think of my 10-year-old daughter. What if someone took a pellet gun to her?"

Yet from a motorist's perspective, time and time again Shultz has seen cyclists dart in and out of traffic without regard for motorists.

"I've talked to cyclists who I've seen ticked off drivers and told them 'hey, you shouldn't do that. That's dangerous,'" he said.

With South Shore promoting itself as a bicycle-friendly destination, it's important for both sides to have some sense of solidarity, said Shannon Laney, traffic officer for the South Lake Tahoe Police Department.

Though he has not seen much open hostility on the road between cyclists and motorists, both should be cognizant of each other, Laney said.