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Cyclist shot in Terry Hershey Park



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 8th 09, 02:47 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
Scott F.
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Posts: 11
Default Cyclist shot in Terry Hershey Park

Cyclist shot in Terry Hershey Park

02:47 PM CDT on Tuesday, April 7, 2009

KHOU.com staff report

HOUSTON -- A cyclist was shot in Terry Hershey Park Monday night.

Houston police say a man was riding his bike in the park around 8 p.m.
when he was approached by two robbers. The man attempted to ride away,
but one of the suspects allegedly pulled out a gun and fired.

Cyclist shot in Terry Hershey Park
April 6, 2009 View larger E-mail Clip More Video The victim was taken
to the hospital by ambulance.

Officials say the bullet only grazed the man, and he will be OK.

The two suspects are on the run.
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  #2  
Old April 8th 09, 05:21 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
Papa Tom
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Posts: 369
Default Cyclist shot in Terry Hershey Park

I'd imagine this is going to happen more and more often as the economy gets
worse and "amateur" thieves start going after the easiest targets. Last
summer was the first time I began to feel a little uneasy riding in certain
areas -- and I live on Long Island, historically one of the safest places in
the country.

Although this is a little off the topic, I can still see the look in the
eyes of a guy in full camoflauge that I encountered during a solo mountain
bike ride about fifteen years ago. I was deep into a 12-mile trail in a
place called Rocky Point, far beyond the point where a scream, a holler, or
a gunshot could be easily heard by another human being. It was a
breezeless, muggy Sunday afternoon and there wasn't another bicyclist in
sight, nor another vehicle in the parking lot outside the trail. Suddenly,
the bushes began to rustle in front of me and I prepared myself for a
face-to-face meeting with a deer or a fox. Instead, out from behind a
cluster of leaves, Bearded Action GI Joe appears, walking in my direction
with a serious-looking shotgun pointed up at the air. The anger (or
drunkeness) in every pore of this guy's face was enough to send a
debilitating chill into my colon, nearly causing me to crap on my saddle,
right on the spot.

As a reverse-adrenalin effect set in and my bike began to slow down due to
my greatly diminished ability to pedal, I made sure to lock my eyes with
this creature, never straying regardless of how badly I needed to blink. He
was a grizzly, bearded dude, about 6 foot something tall and almost as wide,
wearing a full army combat uniform. 'Didn't look to me like a Wall Street
trader out for some relaxing Sunday afternoon recreation. In a panic, I
attempted to reassure myself that this is exactly how all the weekend
warrior deer hunters who use this preserve in the autumn and winter must
dress for the occasion. However, I had never actually seen a deer hunter in
these woods, so what did I know? Besides, deer hunting season wasn't
scheduled to begin for another three months.

Soon, I had to make the decision as to whether I was going to acknowledge
this psycho-looking person -- perhaps say a word or two to him. In
hindsight, if he really WASN'T just a deer hunter sneaking a few shots out
of season and he WAS out there to blow a cyclist out of the saddle, this is
probably what saved my life.

"How YOU doin?" I asked, because that's how all of us New Yorkers talk.
(You got a problem wit dat?)

His response was far from reassuring. In fact, I may have only imagined
that he nodded his head in acknowledgment, but I'm SURE he didn't open his
mouth and speak as he continued to walk toward me with the shotgun on his
shoulder. That's when I knew I either had to stop the bike and attempt to
convince this guy not to shoot me OR to look for a patch of thick brush I
might be able to ride off into and make my escape.

Of course, this whole incident occurred in less than fifteen or twenty
seconds, but felt like an hour as it was happening. Ultimately, I resigned
to the fact that, if this guy intended to murder someone that day, I pulled
the short straw and would be the sacrificial mountain biker. As we brushed
shoulders while I steered around him and back onto the two-foot wide dirt
trail, I remember saying something like "Have a nice day!" or "Have a good
one!" (Of course, when I told the story to other cyclists later that day,
it was "So I says to da f-in' guy 'Ay buddy, huntin' season don't start til
Octobah!'). Whatever the truth is, he didn't respond, and I knew I might
never see my wife again or even get to empty the water bottle attached to my
frame.

The next five seconds were among the most intense of my entire life. Once I
passed this dude, I could no longer see him and had no idea if he had
assumed crouching position or was centering the back of my head in his view
finder. I suddenly wished I had told all the bikers who'd made me too
self-conscious to install a rearview mirror on my bike to go F themselves.
I continued moving forward, keeping my speed at a moderate pace so that I
might be able to keep the bike under control if he took a shot and missed or
just grazed me. After a second or two lapsed, I tensed up my butt cheeks,
preparing for the impact of the bullet and shrapnel. I thought to myself
for a second, "Someday, mountain bikers will all have wireless telephones to
carry out here in the woods." But I was pretty certain I wouldn't be around
to see that, or even to reach the payphone in the lot where I parked my car.
"Goodbye life...but what a way to go out!"

The next thing I remember, I reached a wide open field in which bees were
buzzing around vivid yellow dandelions and the sun was shining on my face as
if I had just awoken from a terrible nightmare. Minutes later, two bikers
passed me from behind, moving too fast for me to ask them if they'd
encountered the same monster in the woods. These were the first cyclists I
had seen on the path all morning. I realized I should probably never ride
out into the woods alone again, and I don't think I ever did.

When I returned to the parking lot, I conveyed my experience to the park
rangers and got a reaction that I can only describe as indifferent, at best.
I never heard anyone else describe a similar experience on that trail and
there have been no reported shootings at Rocky Point in the years since this
incident. Perhaps I had made too much out of a deer hunter who had simply
snuck into the preserve outside of the season; or perhaps this WAS all a
dream.

Anyway, my sympathy goes out to the family of the cyclist shot in Terry
Hershey Park. And to the rest of us, I urge that we all use good sense
whenever we get on a bike.


  #3  
Old April 8th 09, 08:47 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
Tim McNamara
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Posts: 6,945
Default Cyclist shot in Terry Hershey Park

In article
,
"Scott F." wrote:

Cyclist shot in Terry Hershey Park

02:47 PM CDT on Tuesday, April 7, 2009

KHOU.com staff report

HOUSTON -- A cyclist was shot in Terry Hershey Park Monday night.

Houston police say a man was riding his bike in the park around 8
p.m. when he was approached by two robbers. The man attempted to ride
away, but one of the suspects allegedly pulled out a gun and fired.

Cyclist shot in Terry Hershey Park April 6, 2009 View larger E-mail
Clip More Video The victim was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Officials say the bullet only grazed the man, and he will be OK.

The two suspects are on the run.


Now *that* would be attempted murder in my book.
  #4  
Old April 8th 09, 08:53 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
Tim McNamara
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Posts: 6,945
Default Cyclist shot in Terry Hershey Park

In article ,
"Papa Tom" wrote:

I'd imagine this is going to happen more and more often as the
economy gets worse and "amateur" thieves start going after the
easiest targets. Last summer was the first time I began to feel a
little uneasy riding in certain areas -- and I live on Long Island,
historically one of the safest places in the country.


Locally we have the Minneapolis Greenway which has become something of a
haven for gun-wielding types to rob cyclists riding the trail at night.
This is a paved trail through the heart of south Minneapolis that sees
thousands of users a day, but is also in a trench for some of its length
and thus isolated. Plenty of hiding places which make it a magnet for
kids drinking and getting high, drug deals, etc. Riders have to keep on
their toes.

http://www.mplsbikelove.com/forum/se...nway+attacks&t
erms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st =0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Se
arch

or

http://tinyurl.com/ccdcm2
 




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