TRAIL RAGE: Cyclist says stranger hit her in the face on Madison bike trail

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - A local woman says she was attacked Monday in Madison during a group bike ride by an angry cyclist who was not part of her group.

It happened in the early evening on the Capital City Bike Trail. Lisa Klueppel says she was riding with a group of cyclists when they noticed a man on a bright orange bike approaching from the opposite direction.

“People were calling “rider up” as common etiquette. I moved over further to my boyfriend...as the rider passed he hugged into the yellow line and hit me in the face intentionally,” she said.

Klueppel believes the man who hit her was angry about sharing the path with a group. “Right before that the head of the group heard him say ‘someone is gonna get popped’ as he approached our group,” she recalls.

Though she wasn’t injured, Klueppel says the assault left her feeling shocked and terrified. Immediately after, she says members of her group chased the man down to confront him.

“He admitted that he gets enraged on the path and often avoids taking it.” Klueppel says she never got an apology.

“He did say he didn’t know it was a woman but we all have the expectation that when we go out for a bike ride we’re not going to be hit in the face...man or woman,” Klueppel said.

She filed a police report and says she wants the man held accountable.

NBC15 reached out to Madison Police regarding the incident. A spokesperson confirmed this to be an active investigation and declined to provide further details.

Klueppel says she doesn’t know the identity of the man who hit her but describes him as being in his late 20′s to 30′s, at least 6 feet tall, thin with light colored hair and a beard. She hopes anyone who knows him will come forward with information to Madison Police.

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