Mayor Don Iveson to meet with cyclist who endured abuse and racial slur

Mayor Don Iveson has condemned the actions of a man and a woman who hurled abuse and a racial slur against a cyclist as "unacceptable racism," and has agreed to meet with the cyclist.

Bashir Mohamed was riding home near the arena construction site downtown Friday when a pickup truck behind him honked. He said a woman in the truck rolled down the window and yelled at him to "get off the f--ing road."

A man in the truck called him a "f--ing n----r."

Mohamed caught the next part of the altercation on video.

On Monday, Iveson took to Twitter to say what happened to Mohamed was "awful," and said he would meet with the cyclist.

Mohamed said he routinely endures insults and abuse from drivers while cycling on the road.

He began recording his rides because people have gotten out of their cars to intimidate him, curse at him, even throw things and spit on him.

"This happens often. I have people yell and scream at me when I bike and that's just because there are no bike lanes up here and I have to ride on the road," he said Saturday.

In the Globe and Mail on Friday, Iveson admitted his inability to build new bike lanes has been the greatest disappointment in his first three years as mayor.

Over that time, council voted to remove four existing lanes, and approved only two new ones on 83rd Avenue and 102nd Avenue, which won't be completed until 2018 and 2020 respectively.

The city recently partnered with engineering consultants Stantec to study a plan to build a temporary downtown bike network. There are no timelines for when that network could be installed.

Mohamed said he was told police have not let looked into it yet. Police have not replied to a request for comment.