Ever been bikejacked?

"Dan Cosley" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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?

-- Dan

I used to do a little training loop that went by a low-
income housing project. My wife called it my "Superman Loop"
'cuz she figured I'd have to be faster than a speeding
bullet to survive riding by that place every day. I learned
other, safer loops and stopped doing that ride, but shortly
after, I met a guy who told me he used to ride by there
regularly until a gang came out of that project and grabbed
him (there's a hill there and he was going up the hill, not
down it the way I used to go). A passing motorist with a gun
saved the day in his case.

Bob C.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

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?

Other than pulling out a gun and blowing one of them away
(so they don't hassle bikes in the future), I can't think of
much you could have done better.

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in
the newsgroups if possible).

"psycholist" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Dan Cosley" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

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.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

-- Dan

I used to do a little training loop that went by a low-
income housing project. My wife called it my "Superman
Loop" 'cuz she figured I'd have

to

Quoted message said:

be faster than a speeding bullet to survive riding by that
place every

day.

Quoted message said:

I learned other, safer loops and stopped doing that ride,
but shortly

after,

Quoted message said:

I met a guy who told me he used to ride by there regularly
until a gang

came

Quoted message said:

out of that project and grabbed him (there's a hill there
and he was going up the hill, not down it the way I used
to go). A passing motorist with a gun saved the day in
his case.

Bob C.

We used to take this bike path that was part of the network
but was very uncrowded, mostly used by commuters. However,
there were a couple of scuzzy parts. One was a little
underpass which was frequented by scabrous looking drug
dealers and such, and was often littered with broken glass
and crack vials. THen there was another area which was
obviously used at night by locals, probably kids who went
there to do dope. It was also littered with junk, crack
vials, condoms and beer bottles. Long stretches of the path
were very isolated and there was nothing around. Once, we
had a minor mechanical there and were lucky, since that
particular stretch was not far from the local mall. In some
ways it was a nice path because it was quiet but I often
worried about that underpass, and all the glass and junk and
creeps hanging around. SO we don't go there anymore, and I
would never take that path alone, even if I was on my old
beater bike.

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]...

Quoted message said:

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?

-- Dan

--
Dan Cosley ([email hidden] *
cs.umn.edu~cosleyOpen ↗) GroupLens Research Lab,
Univ of MN (movielens.umn.edumovielens.umn.eduOpen ↗ *

612.624.8372)

Quoted message said:

*** Just a foot soldier in the Army of Truth
***

David Kerber ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net said:

Other than pulling out a gun and blowing one of them away
(so they don't hassle bikes in the future), I can't think
of much you could have done better.

if you can't avoid, accelerate, and hit him center of mass
at full speed.

.max

--
the part of <[email hidden]> was played by maxwell
monningh 8-p

Max said:

David Kerber ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net said:

Other than pulling out a gun and blowing one of them away
(so they don't hassle bikes in the future), I can't think
of much you could have done better.

if you can't avoid, accelerate, and hit him center of mass
at full speed.

But then his friends would have grabbed him. I'd elbow him
in the throat/solar plexus.

--
Scott Johnson / scottjohnson at kc dot rr dot com

Some of the replies seem a bit classist. This implicit, or
not so implicit, association between poverty and crime just
doesn't hold true from my experience. I live on the east
side of Austin and virtually my entire commute is through
lower income minority neighborhoods, including my own. I
ride home in the evening sometimes and go by two housing
projects and several low income apartments and have never
been hassled by pedestrians. I have about the same issues
with drivers I have in any other part of town, maybe a
little less.

In case you're thinking I "fit in" or don't have a bike
worth stealing, that's not the case. I'm a middle aged white
guy (the only one living in a 10 block radius) and ride
either my custom One-Off Ti touring bike or my custom Spicer
Ti fixie. We decided to live in the neighborhood we do
because we feel perfectly safe (in the 5 years we've lived
there we've had zero problems with crime, unlike in the
"better" neighborhood we moved from). We also felt silly
paying the insane price of residential real estate in other
parts of town, especially when we could buy a brand new home
and spend the disposable income on bikes, travel and other
recreational interests.

As far as the OP's question, I think he responded
appropriately. Discretion is usually the better part of
valor. Actually, though, it sounds more like some guys
drinking and one in particular acting stupid kidding around
in an inappropriate manner.

Dan Cosley said:

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.

You should have insisted on filing a formal report. That
way you know the incident has been logged, descriptions of
suspects noted, etc., in case someone else has a problem.
Otherwise, there's a risk it will be forgotten among the
piles of other "random" crime reports the police hear
every day.

BTW, where was this, so others can beware?

Quoted message said:

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?

I've had people try to grab me as I rode by, both in the US
and Australia, but fortunately I was able to keep going.
Bike jackings were pretty common for awhile in southern CA,
along the river trails through Santa Ana, Orange, and Long
Beach. I don't know what it's like these days, and I never
rode those particular routes very often.

Matt O.

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...

Matt O.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Robert Canon said:

Some of the replies seem a bit classist. This implicit, or
not so implicit, association between poverty and crime
just doesn't hold true from my experience. I live on the
east side of Austin and virtually my entire commute is
through lower income minority neighborhoods, including my
own. I ride home in the evening sometimes and go by two
housing projects and several low income apartments and
have never been hassled by pedestrians. I have about the
same issues with drivers I have in any other part of town,
maybe a little less.

While I share your opinions about 'profiling' and
arbitrarily linking poverty with crime, I really don't see
any classism in the posts. I note the original post mentions
the incident occurred in an industrial area, rather than a
residential neighbourhood.

The railroad tracks evokes an image in my mind with
warehouses, factories, etc -- the sort of place with lots of
hidy-holes, shadowed areas and escape routes, where the more
unsavoury types like to congregate at night, to try to evade
the scrutiny of the police.

Sometimes off-street bike paths can provide such hidy-holes,
too. Especially if they're far away from residences and
traffic, and/or closed-in by bushes and trees.

...

Quoted message said:

As far as the OP's question, I think he responded
appropriately.

I think so too. The only other option would have been
confrontation, and I wouldn't have liked the numbers.

cheers, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

curt said:

I carry a 380 with me. I don't have time to mess around.

"I been to the edge, an' there I stood an' looked down You
know I lost a lot of friends there baby, I got no time to
mess around"

the rest of it can be found here:

lyricstime.com33640.htmlOpen ↗
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

In article said:

As far as the OP's question, I think he responded
appropriately. Discretion is usually the better part of
valor. Actually, though, it sounds more like some guys
drinking and one in particular acting stupid kidding
around in an inappropriate manner.

That was one of my hypotheses, but it seemed better in the
course of the action to assume they meant it to some degree.

-- Dan

--
Dan Cosley ([email hidden] *
cs.umn.edu~cosleyOpen ↗) GroupLens Research Lab, Univ
of MN (movielens.umn.edumovielens.umn.eduOpen ↗ * 612.624.8372) *** Just a
foot soldier in the Army of Truth ***

So "curt" <[email hidden]> says:

Quoted message said:

I carry a 380 with me. I don't have time to mess around.

Apparently common practice for the Columbian National Team.

jeffb

In article said:

You should have insisted on filing a formal report. That
way you know the incident has been logged, descriptions of
suspects noted, etc., in case someone else has a problem.
Otherwise, there's a risk it will be forgotten among the
piles of other "random" crime reports the police hear
every day.

I asked the officer if a crime had been committed based on
my description and he never actually answered the
question. He claimed that they'd send a squad out, which
I'm assuming would be logged. As for a formal report, I
didn't think about that; if he'd said there was a crime
involved, I'd have probably tried to be more formal. I've
never had to file a police report, though it sounds like a
bit of an ordeal.

I did call for the reason you said, what if some 12 year old
was riding along later that night?

Quoted message said:

BTW, where was this, so others can beware?

Minneapolis, Marshall Street, between Broadway and Lowry.

Quoted message said:

I've had people try to grab me as I rode by, both in
the US and Australia, but fortunately I was able to
keep going.

Did you do anything besides ride off? Did you file
report(s)?

Quoted message said:

were pretty common for awhile in southern CA, along the
river trails through Santa Ana, Orange, and Long Beach.

There was a report last year about the Cedar Lake bike
trail, which goes from the west side into downtown, that
some kids were hanging out in an isolated overpass area and
harassing people. I rode it occasionally and never
encountered them, but trails in general seem like places
with lots of isolation and thus suitable for thuggery.
Another reason for the MUP-haters to hate on, I guess. 🙂

-- Dan

--
Dan Cosley ([email hidden] *
cs.umn.edu~cosleyOpen ↗) GroupLens Research Lab, Univ
of MN (movielens.umn.edumovielens.umn.eduOpen ↗ * 612.624.8372) *** Just a
foot soldier in the Army of Truth ***

In article said:

David Kerber ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net said:

Other than pulling out a gun and blowing one of them away
(so they don't hassle bikes in the future), I can't think
of much you could have done better.

if you can't avoid, accelerate, and hit him center of mass
at full speed.

I actually considered that if I didn't think I could get
around him. You'd suspect that in a game of chicken they'd
leap out of the way at the last moment, but maybe not -- and
that would have been dicey with the other people around.

-- Dan

--
Dan Cosley ([email hidden] *
cs.umn.edu~cosleyOpen ↗) GroupLens Research Lab, Univ
of MN (movielens.umn.edumovielens.umn.eduOpen ↗ * 612.624.8372) *** Just a
foot soldier in the Army of Truth ***

"Dan Cosley" wrote

Quoted message said:

Robert Canon said:

As far as the OP's question, I think he responded
appropriately.

Discretion

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

is usually the better part of valor. Actually, though,
it sounds more

like

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

some guys drinking and one in particular acting stupid
kidding around in

an

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

inappropriate manner.

That was one of my hypotheses, but it seemed better in
the course of the action to assume they meant it to
some degree.

You bet! That's not a hypothesis you want to test! Ha ha!

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]...

Quoted message said:

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...

Matt O.

Dan Cosley <[email hidden]> wrote: [snip]

i just caught that you're from minneapolis/saint paul. where
was this (assuming this was where it happened)? mostly
curious, i've never had a problem in the cities and i used
to live in the phillips neighbourhood and later powderhorn
and fields/regina and rode through north mpls to work in
plymouth daily. iirc, you said it was an industrial area.
yikes, do we have any of those in the cities?

i'm gonna try it make it back for may day this year, too.
haven't missed that since 1990.

heartofthebeasttheatre.orgindex.htmlOpen ↗

gotta get me some, uhh, brownies.
--
david reuteler [email hidden]

Dan Cosley said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Matt O'Toole said:

You should have insisted on filing a formal report. That
way you know the incident has been logged, descriptions
of suspects noted, etc., in case someone else has a
problem. Otherwise, there's a risk it will be forgotten
among the piles of other "random" crime reports the
police hear every day.

I asked the officer if a crime had been committed based on
my description and he never actually answered the
question. He claimed that they'd send a squad out, which
I'm assuming would be logged. As for a formal report, I
didn't think about that; if he'd said there was a crime
involved, I'd have probably tried to be more formal. I've
never had to file a police report, though it sounds like a
bit of an ordeal.

Hmm. Consider whether they'd have offered to file a report
if you'd been behind the wheel of a 1500lb deadly
weapon...er, wait. ;->

Seriously, though, a threatened 'car jacking'; would that
not be a crime or incident worthy of a formal report? Why
not on a bike - the citizenry is similarly in jeopardy, eh?

I'm surprized, though, that nobody's played the Kryptonite
Lock card, heh, or at least suggested wild brandish of a
sturdy hand pump.

Best solution, though? When you get home, why not round up
the homeys and get in the car and come back and see if you
can't discourage such behavior for the future. ;-)

-B