On Tuesday, May 15, 2018 at 7:51:10 AM UTC-7, sms wrote:
On 5/13/2018 2:32 PM, jbeattie wrote:

snip

The real threat, however, is pedestrians. On SW 4th in downtown PDX, there is a cross walk every ten feet and not just at the lights. There are far too many cross walks, and the pedestrians should put down their double-venti mocha frappucinos and walk an extra thirty feet to a light and burn off a calorie or two. Anyway, if you're squeezing up the right or left through stopped traffic, you can end up with pedestrians launching off the curb that you can't see. My strategy is to hit them . . . hit them hard and then ride off. Most of them are looking at their phones and couldn't ID me anyway. I try to snatch the phone and whatever other valuables are within my grasp.

Bike-by phone grabs are very common in the SF Bay Area, and apparently
Portland as well. Now we know one perp. Stay out of my city Jay. And
remember, iPhones can be remotely disabled, and remotely located, so
there's no resale value of an intact stolen iPhone.

When it comes to cell-phones held by hypnotized pedestrians, my only desire is to smash them with my heel. It has gotten ridiculous. Downtown PDX is like phone zombies and Night of the Living iDead.

And further to my last rant, the f****** westside cycle track is a gaggle of dopes now that the sun's out. Swarms of cyclists on a two-way cycletrack with intersecting car and pedestrian traffic. It's like demolition derby. I'd rather ride on I-5.

-- Jay Beattie.