I carry a 380 with me. I don't have time to mess around.
Curt
"Dan Cosley" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
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I was riding home on my normal commute last night just after sunset. This is normally a pretty low-key commute through a fairly industrial area with only the occasional hassle from motorists, etc.
This time, though, I got a low-grade attempt to steal my bike. Up ahead I saw a small group of guys near the railroad tracks and one started crossing the street in front of me. It looked like he'd be across well before I got there, but he slowed down mid- street and turned around to talk to the other guys. My radar said "drunks -- trouble" and so I wasn't terribly surprised when, as I approached, he took a step back in the opposite direction to be right in my path and said "give me your bike".
Using the tracks was clever because a lot of people would probably slow way down, but I normally cross at speed, coasting; and my trouble radar went off, so I was able to just ride around the guy with a friendly expletive. Clearly they didn't try hard to take the bike -- they could have spread out across the street and attempted to knock me off the bike -- but it was still pretty scary.
I called the police when I got back to let them know (in case other, less prepared cyclists encountered the same people) and they said they'd send someone to check it out. Probably I did the right thing (rather than being confrontational, etc.), but it left an unsatisfying taste in my mouth.
Funnily, I had read about this exact situation in a book from the library, something like the Urban Commuter's Handbook (not the exact title, I don't remember it), but I didn't expect it to actually happen to me. Anyone else have similar incidents and/or better ideas for responses?
Well they say things go in cycles 🙂. I figure it is going to be like the old west out there....heck the more I think about it, we are already living like that.
Curt
"Matt O'Toole" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
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curt said:
I carry a 380 with me. I don't have time to mess around.
Better not, if you're gonna beat 'em to the draw...
"curt" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
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I carry a 380 with me. I don't have time to mess around.
How do you carry it? I have been considering doing so for a while, but I can't think of an easy draw placement save for a handlebar mount, but that is not really concealed is it. Anywhere on the body is out of question, no? Too much sweat and the telltale bump under the lycra. Inside panniers is too slow, inside a handlebar bag is possible, but I hate those boxy handlebar bags. If it weren't for the concealement factor, I would use a GPS mount from Garmin, very sturdy.
"frkrygow" <"frkrygow"@omitcc.ysu.edu> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
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Robert Canon said:
"curt" wrote
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I figure it is going to be like the old west out there. ...heck the more I think about it, we are already living like that.
Seriously? I seem to be doing OK commuting by bicycle and just
generally
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living life without operating from a siege mentality.
Same here. What makes people so paranoid?
Same here, although.... I have been out and about during the bar closing time. Guelph is a bit of a University town and has a healthy complement of bars. And I have been.... wary might be a little strong; of the rowdies spilling out of said bars.
I guess I'm old enough to complain about young'ins but young enough to rememeber what it was like being a young'in with too much testosterone and alcohol and not enough functioning brain cells.
Fearful of straight criminal attack for gain? No.
Rowdy-ism, Ya, I'm watchful under apropriate circumstances.
-- 'Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos!' -Homer Simpson
"curt" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
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Same here. What makes people so paranoid?
Come on....you know what makes people paranoid. The media!
Curt
"It's the media! It's the media! Bull! All I know is that when I'm at the ATM, I'm not looking over my shoulder for Tom Brokaw" -Paraphrased from Chris Rock
Haha I biked through Guelph last summer from Toronto. What's that one bar? The leather pit or something. That place was much seedier than I would expect from Guelph.
Hmmm the seediest I can think of is... Trappers Alley? Maybe the Trasheteria but that's more Poor Student Chic.
No it wasn't a student bar. We only went cause the lady who served us in some diner recommended we avoid it. One thing I did notice about guelph is that there was a campsite just south (or was it west?) of town, within 8 feet of the freeway and packed to the brim with RVs and cars, but guelph lake conservation area was completely empty (and a really nice place to stay at when empty, too). The staff at guelph lake looked completely incredulous when two bicycles appeared at the gate after dark, asking for a campsite. They did drive some firewood out to the site for us, but it was REALLY tough to find drinking water in that place.
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Actually I ran into some nazis in Guelph, and words were spoken. Not altogether pleasant.
I'm guessing that was a fluke. I could see running into a radical liberal a flat out commie or even a redneck farmboy but a real live Nazi would be a rarity.
Oh I imagine they were just passing through like us. Grr..
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Part of it - boring as local politics is - is the concentration of bars downtown. The combined occupancy of liscenced establishments downtown is ~10,000. For a city of ~100,000 that number of drinking spots could hold 10% of the population. They've had a moratorium on new licences the past coupla few years.
That's really funny. Another thing I noticed about guelph is that apart from the student population (which was largely absent when I was there, guess why) the native population is very old. Not meaning to imply anything about yourself, but the restaurants all seem to have seniors menus but no kiddies menus...
"Jacobe Hazzard" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
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loki said:
Hmmm the seediest I can think of is... Trappers Alley? Maybe the Trasheteria but that's more Poor Student Chic.
No it wasn't a student bar. We only went cause the lady who served us in some diner recommended we avoid it.
The only other I can think of would be the The Diplomat or colloquially: The Dip. Very seedy.
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The staff at guelph lake looked completely incredulous when two bicycles appeared at the gate after dark, asking for a campsite.
I think the've learned a little since you were hear. To the east of the lake is a rather decent system of bike trails maintianed by GORBA [Guelph Off Road Biking Association] on GRCA land.
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That's really funny. Another thing I noticed about guelph is that apart from the student population (which was largely absent when I was there, guess why) the native population is very old.
The town doesn't seem to have a normal age distribution but a double hump bulging at the older and younger. Of course with the double cohort and the University building residences like mad [6 large ones and counting just across the street from me] the young'ins seem to be gaining on the old farts.
-- Ricky: 'What's an aptitude test?' Lahey: 'A suitability test, Ricky' Ricky: 'I'll wear a suit if I have to'
"Rex Vincere" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
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"curt" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
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I carry a 380 with me. I don't have time to mess around.
How do you carry it? I have been considering doing so for a while, but I can't think of an easy draw placement save for a handlebar mount, but that is not really concealed is it. Anywhere on the body is out of question, no? Too much sweat and the
telltale
Quoted message said:
bump under the lycra. Inside panniers is too slow, inside a handlebar bag is possible, but I
hate
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those boxy handlebar bags. If it weren't for the concealement factor, I would use a GPS mount from Garmin, very sturdy.
I don't know where you are, but obtaining a concealed weapons permit isn't easy where I am. OTOH, there is no problem with carrying the gun unconcealed. In this case there were multiple assailants; it might not have been possible to shoot all of them in time.
I know that many mountain bikers in my area carry unconcealed weapons due to problems with mountain lions.
"curt" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
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I carry a 380 with me. I don't have time to mess around.
How do you carry it? I have been considering doing so for a while, but I can't think of an easy draw placement save for a handlebar mount, but that is not really concealed is it. Anywhere on the body is out of question, no? Too much sweat and the telltale bump under the lycra. Inside panniers is too slow, inside a handlebar bag is possible, but I hate those boxy handlebar bags. If it weren't for the concealement factor, I would use a GPS mount from Garmin, very sturdy.
And where do you get the Ti bullets?
Rex
Does carrying a gun while riding an urban bike path seem a little extreme to anyone else? Maybe a can of mace might be more appropriate, or an air horn. Is there any reason to take it to the life/death level over a stupid bike? I love my bike but I'm not willing to kill someone or be killed over it. I'd venture to guess that your chances of being killed or injured in a bike jacking are very very very low.
First off I have been carrying it in a pocket on my wind breaker. I haven't decided where I am going to carry it now. I don't always carry. It depends on where I ride.
As far as getting a gun permit, that was easy. Stop by the county building and apply and you receive it in the mail. No big deal.
Curt
"Steven M. Scharf" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
"Rex Vincere" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
"curt" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
I carry a 380 with me. I don't have time to mess around.
How do you carry it? I have been considering doing so for a while, but I can't think of an easy draw placement save for a handlebar mount, but
that
Quoted message said:
Quoted message said:
is not really concealed is it. Anywhere on the body is out of question, no? Too much sweat and the
telltale
Quoted message said:
bump under the lycra. Inside panniers is too slow, inside a handlebar bag is possible, but I
hate
Quoted message said:
those boxy handlebar bags. If it weren't for the concealement factor, I would use a GPS mount from Garmin, very sturdy.
I don't know where you are, but obtaining a concealed weapons permit isn't easy where I am. OTOH, there is no problem with carrying the gun unconcealed. In this case there were multiple assailants; it might not
have
Quoted message said:
been possible to shoot all of them in time.
I know that many mountain bikers in my area carry unconcealed weapons due
On Fri, 09 Apr 2004 13:30:50 -0500, kantspel <[email hidden]>
Quoted message said:
Does carrying a gun while riding an urban bike path seem a little extreme to anyone else?
The last time I cleaned a firing pin in the military and gave the weapon back to the armory sergeant was the last time I had any interest in handling a weapon (didn't really care much for it then, either). Every once in a while the Army insisted I carry an old Army 45, and they all seemed to show their age - never understood carrying one, because I can snap shoot a M16 a lot faster than a 45, and I was a lot more used to the balance of either a M16 or a M14 carbine.
In any event, I will carry a handgun well after picking up a rifle, and I don't plan to do that again in this lifetime. Have to admit that carrying a three pound brick in my rear pocket is getting old...
Curtis L. Russell Odenton, MD (USA) Just someone on two wheels...
