Baiting? By riding on the road legally? If that cop didn’t think it was legal for bicyclists to be out on the road and the bicyclist intentionally road their bikes past that cop to instigate a confrontation then, yes, you could call it baiting. But then how did the bicyclists know this cop didn’t think bicycles should be on the road?
No from reading the story the baiting occurred after the initial confrontation.