Ever been bikejacked?

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 * http://www.cs.umn.edu/~cosley/)
GroupLens Research Lab, Univ of MN (http://movielens.umn.edu/ * 612.624.8372)
*** Just a foot soldier in the Army of Truth ***

"Dan Cosley" wrote in message
...
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.

"psycholist" wrote in message
...

"Dan Cosley" wrote in message
...
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.



-- 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.


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.

In article ,
says...
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).

Max wrote:

David Kerber wrote:


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

David Kerber wrote:

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
was played by maxwell monningh 8-p

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

Curt

"Dan Cosley" wrote in message
...
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 * http://www.cs.umn.edu/~cosley/)
GroupLens Research Lab, Univ of MN (http://movielens.umn.edu/ *
612.624.8372)
*** Just a foot soldier in the Army of Truth ***

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.

curt wrote:

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 wrote:

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?

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.