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Re: Ever been bikejacked?

Started by Steven M. Scharf · · Last activity · 8 posts · 733 views

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Road Cycling
Published
9 April 2004
Last activity
17 April 2004
Original author
Steven M. Scharf
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  1. "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.

    <snip>

    There was a case in San Francisco, in the 1980s, where someone tried to
    knock someone off their bicycle to steal it and/or to rob them. The cyclist
    pulled a gun, shot and killed the assailant, and took off. The police never
    found the cyclist.

    Nowadays I'd hit my police siren/horn, which tends to startle people long
    enough that they'd be off guard. Hell, it startles me when I hit it by
    accident! It's extremely loud.

    Yesterday I used a new railroad undercrossing in Sunnyvale that just opened.
    But now that I think about it, it's not in a great area, and it's a perfect
    place for a bikejacking. On normal my route to work there are several
    bicycle/pedestrian bridges that would be a perfect place for evil-doers as
    well.

  2. Quoted message said:

    There was a case in San Francisco, in the 1980s, where someone
    tried to knock someone off their bicycle to steal it and/or
    to rob them. The cyclist pulled a gun, shot and killed the
    assailant, and took off. The police never found the cyclist.

    =v= The cyclist fled on foot, and a third party arrived in a
    truck and stole the bike. All a waste. And this was in the
    ritzy Pacific Heights neighborhood!

    =v= I was once subjected to an attempted bikejacking in the
    Western Addition neighborhood. I was biking uphill, and a
    guy jumped out in the street and hit me on the head with a
    2x4. I had a helmet on, and I could feel the force of the
    blow dissipating and flowing down my neck -- just like in the
    helmet ads!

    =v= Anyway, I had a rush of adrenaline and escaped by riding
    uphill, which the guy was not prepared for.
    <_Jym_>

  3. In article <[email hidden]>, Jym Dyer <[email hidden]>

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    There was a case in San Francisco, in the 1980s, where someone
    tried to knock someone off their bicycle to steal it and/or
    to rob them. The cyclist pulled a gun, shot and killed the
    assailant, and took off. The police never found the cyclist.

    =v= The cyclist fled on foot, and a third party arrived in a
    truck and stole the bike. All a waste. And this was in the
    ritzy Pacific Heights neighborhood!

    In the grand tradition of Graham Greene's "What happened to the pig?", I
    ask, what kind of bike?

    And while I don't normally condone violence, the death penalty, or
    fleeing from the scene of a crime, I count one redistributed bike (bad)
    and one less bike thief (good).

    Unless of course, the ultimate absconder of the bicycle was
    opportunistic, thus creating one bike thief just as another died.

    And why did the cyclist flee on foot? This is better than a Sherlock
    Holmes tale. I half expect to hear about a dog that did not bark.

    Quoted message said:

    =v= I was once subjected to an attempted bikejacking in the
    Western Addition neighborhood. I was biking uphill, and a
    guy jumped out in the street and hit me on the head with a
    2x4. I had a helmet on, and I could feel the force of the
    blow dissipating and flowing down my neck -- just like in the
    helmet ads!

    =v= Anyway, I had a rush of adrenaline and escaped by riding
    uphill, which the guy was not prepared for.
    <_Jym_>

    So...The helmet saved your bike??

    I feel the start of...
    Best! Flamewar! Ever!
    --
    Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine/wiredcola/
    President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

  4. On Fri, 09 Apr 2004 15:41:27 GMT, "Steven M. Scharf"
    <[email hidden]> wrote:

    <snip>

    Quoted message said:

    Nowadays I'd hit my police siren/horn, which tends to startle people long
    enough that they'd be off guard. Hell, it startles me when I hit it by
    accident! It's extremely loud.

    I knew it! Like I guessed last year, you really *do* have a siren on
    your bike!

  5. "Jym Dyer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:
    Quoted message said:

    There was a case in San Francisco, in the 1980s, where someone
    tried to knock someone off their bicycle to steal it and/or
    to rob them. The cyclist pulled a gun, shot and killed the
    assailant, and took off. The police never found the cyclist.

    =v= The cyclist fled on foot, and a third party arrived in a
    truck and stole the bike. All a waste. And this was in the
    ritzy Pacific Heights neighborhood!

    I searched for accounts of this on-line but couldn't find any. Well it was a
    waste that the bike got stolen, but the assailant won't be stealing any
    bikes.

    Quoted message said:

    =v= I was once subjected to an attempted bikejacking in the
    Western Addition neighborhood. I was biking uphill, and a
    guy jumped out in the street and hit me on the head with a
    2x4. I had a helmet on, and I could feel the force of the
    blow dissipating and flowing down my neck -- just like in the
    helmet ads!

    Ouch. Maybe there's a new angle for helmet manufacturers to convince the few
    remaining recalcitrant anti-helmet zealots to come over from the dark side.

  6. Wow. I was a bit nervous riding through south oakland on Friday.
    But it never occurred to me to worry in Sunnyvale. Where is the
    new undercrossing?

    "Steven M. Scharf" <[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.

    <snip>

    There was a case in San Francisco, in the 1980s, where someone tried to
    knock someone off their bicycle to steal it and/or to rob them. The cyclist
    pulled a gun, shot and killed the assailant, and took off. The police never
    found the cyclist.

    Nowadays I'd hit my police siren/horn, which tends to startle people long
    enough that they'd be off guard. Hell, it startles me when I hit it by
    accident! It's extremely loud.

    Yesterday I used a new railroad undercrossing in Sunnyvale that just opened.
    But now that I think about it, it's not in a great area, and it's a perfect
    place for a bikejacking. On normal my route to work there are several
    bicycle/pedestrian bridges that would be a perfect place for evil-doers as
    well.

  7. "Douglas Landau" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    Wow. I was a bit nervous riding through south oakland on Friday.
    But it never occurred to me to worry in Sunnyvale. Where is the
    new undercrossing?

    Lawrence Cal Train station by Costco. They removed the pedestrian overpass
    (stairs only), and put in an underpass, with a ramp. There are 90 degree
    turns underground, so you can't see someone hiding in the tunnel (there are
    mirrors, but it'd be too late once you got close enough to the mirror). My
    regular route goes right past this underpass, and it's one option for a
    route to work. I don't think I'll use this route at night, but in the
    daytime there are enough people around that it's okay. I normally use a
    frontage road near the tracks, which has two pedestrian/bicycle bridges, and
    there are often people hanging out there at night that look unsavory, but
    they've never bothered me. I think that they are unnerved by a bicycle with
    lights as bright as a motorcycle! Maybe they think that I'm a bicycle cop.

  8. Quoted message said:

    So...The helmet saved your bike??

    =v= Yep.

    Quoted message said:

    I feel the start of...
    Best! Flamewar! Ever!

    =v= Should I mention that I was in a bike lane, in gross
    defiance of Effective Cycling(R) principles?
    <_Jym_>
    talk.politics.guns.vs-helmets

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