Re: Ever been bikejacked?

[Steven M. Scharf]

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

 

[Jym Dyer]

> 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_>

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>, Jym Dyer <[email protected]>
wrote:

> > 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.

> =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 protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine/wiredcola/
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Chris B.]

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

<snip>

>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!

 

[Steven M. Scharf]

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

> =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.

 

[Douglas Landau]

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

 

[Steven M. Scharf]

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

 

[Jym Dyer]

> So...The helmet saved your bike??

=v= Yep.

> 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