Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Assaulted riding home...

Holy ****?!? I know there was a recent thread about eggs, but this was above and beyond eggs...

So the cops just left my house after listening to my tale of aggravated assault while riding home from work this evening.

I turned onto my street in quiet El Cerrito (SF East Bay Area) and could literally feel the heat from the headlights of this enormous friggin' four-door pick-up shining on my backside. Next thing I know, this jerk-off is leaning halfway out of the car and cracks me right on my shoulder blade with either a bat or a 40 oz. (i couldn't tell in the dark) and screams "Give me your money ******!" Really. That's what he said. Can you think of anything wierder to say to a jewish kid from suburban NJ?

Somehow, I manage to stay on my bike, jam a quick skid and turn around before they were able to cut me off...I spun back the other way towards the front stoop of a cafe nearby where I knew I'd find people.

About 30 sec. later, I saw them cruise out from my street and head back down the way they came. All four of them tucked up high away in therr monster truck...I have no idea what nationality they are, nor do I care.

Here's my long winded question/poll...

With a fresh 4in bruise/laceration on your left shoulder blade sending throbbing sparks of pain down your left arm, would you have chased them for two miles hoping to get a license plate number, or what?

I'll be the first to answer.

Yes.

Did I get it?

No.

Was that the dumbest move I made all day? Definitely.

When did attacking guys on bikes become cool?

****ING **** THIS SUCKS!

That is ****** up, man. I would have given chase too, though. They probably just went after another target. :(

I probably would have fallen and been run over.









+1 to you for not falling.

Holy Crap!!

Hope your shoulder heals soon.

Something very similar happened to me this last Halloween night, except he hit me with his fist.
They zoomed off before I could recover enough to look at the license plate.
It made my night rides a little uncomfortable for the next week or so.

That is why I carry a gun.

http://media.movieweb.com/galleries/3033/posters/poster1.jpg

hey, el cerrito! dang, you're hardcore riding the hills out there on your fixie.

F**ckers probably needed gas money.

heal well.

I turned onto my street in quiet El Cerrito (SF East Bay Area) and could literally feel the heat from the headlights of this enormous friggin' four-door pick-up shining on my backside. Next thing I know, this jerk-off is leaning halfway out of the car and cracks me right on my shoulder blade with either a bat or a 40 oz. (i couldn't tell in the dark) and screams "Give me your money ******!" Really. That's what he said. Can you think of anything wierder to say to a jewish kid from suburban NJ?



sorry to hear of your run in, there's safety in numbers...

i just got back from the friday night ride, 12-15 bikes and we were right near you over behind the race track then up the bay trail.

That sucks ... did you get the licence plate?

Aggravated vehicular assaut (or something like that) will work pretty well.

be thankful it's not the sort of gang initiation where they walk up behind strangers and shoot 'em in the head. It's happened twice here, randomly, but to friends of friends. they weren't on bikes but I'm just saying it could've ended worse.

I'm glad you made it out ok. most of the time being careful isn't enough.

Thanks for proppin' me up - I figure one more good reason to wear a helmet. They probably would have knocked me in the head if I wasn't wearing one...

I've seen that 50 Cent poster in the train station. That's some 'effed up "Live by the gun, die by the gun" bullcrap messaging.

Stay away from the television!

Live by the BIKE. Die by the BIKE. That's my new motto.

The cop that came to take the report was totally cool about it though - Took digital photos of the bruising. He wouldn't agree to sending me copies though!

I've seen that 50 Cent poster in the train station. That's some 'effed up "Live by the gun, die by the gun" bullcrap messaging.

Live by the BIKE. Die by the BIKE. That's my new motto.

glad you're in good spirits.

don't believe the hype from that .50 movie, i think its all mtv over hyping marketing thing because this movie will rack in the bucks once its released on dvd, since it is a mtv movie... maybe i'll burn copies of the dvd i have and give them away before the offical release and see if i can flood the market-

menace II society was wayyyyyy harder, or i'm bout it by master p, neither of those movies made me laugh as get rich or die trying did, but in the end .50 laughs all the way to the bank so it really doesn't matter...

yeah, live by the bike die by the bike, the ultimate user error...

Driving in their POS lifted truck makes them feel "high n' mighty" . . . recently I was riding when two guys (also in a lifted truck) came up from behind and slowed down equal with me, since this was abnormal I glanced over to my left just as the passenger was reaching his arm towards me. I didn't know if he wanted to punch me, push me, or grab my bag . . .but I just hit the breaks and pulled over. I didn't really know what to do after that, so I continued riding.

But your cases was obviuosly much more serious than mine, I'm glad you made it out semi-okay.

perhaps you should say hagomel!
quick & complete recovery!

Lifted trucks = forest gump chase style

I pledge the second ammendment

Geez, I got spit on and yelled at last week. I can't believe this happens to so many of us.

The solution? We need to start carrying flare guns.

Geez, I got spit on and yelled at last week. I can't believe this happens to so many of us.

The solution? We need to start carrying flare guns.

Molotovs in bar mounted water bottle cages.
Somebody devise an ignitor device please.

something...i've never been assaulted, and i'm in boise here...though i did have people in two cars simultaneously yelling at me about how they were going to come out and kick my ass if i didn't "get off the road"...

they were stuck in gridlock, i passed them and just took the next turn and never saw them again. bastards.

you said you didn't get a license plate? well, i hope what you were able to tell the cops gets someone in hot water. when people are bastards like that, they ought to get ****ed to whatever extent is possible.

Just last saturday night I was riding home from a party with a friend when a truck drove by and threw a bottle of something at me and missed. I chased the bastards down and came damn close to giving the truck a wrench in the window when they saw me and sped off, after my friend caught up I found out he actually was hit with a bottle. He knows one of the people in the car and next time we see them.....

just remeber WW50D

I almost got in a fight with some jerk in a pickup in Albany, California maybe 4 months ago. Things get wierd North of Berkeley (no offense, there's just more people cruising around in pickup trucks up there.)

I once had someone throw a grapefruit at me from a moving car, but that was the only time I've been hit from a car (It bounced off my helmet).

I almost got in a fight with some jerk in a pickup in Albany, California maybe 4 months ago. Things get wierd North of Berkeley (no offense, there's just more people cruising around in pickup trucks up there.)

I once had someone throw a grapefruit at me from a moving car, but that was the only time I've been hit from a car (It bounced off my helmet).

Interesting, the assault that prompted my OP happened two blocks from the Albany/El Cerrito line.

I think the pick-up density definitely increase as you move up San Pablo Ave.

my run ins haven't been that bad... i hope you heal up well.

i had a guy spit his dip wad at me this summer... i caught up to him and started yelling at him and he rolled up his window and sped off.

one night another guy was coming down a 1 way the wrong way, yelled "get out of my way bike ***" and swerved to try and hit me... his windshield is a spider web now.

Sounds like you need to move or take an alternative route.

I had a gang of thugs ask me to stop so they could "holla at" me, as they put it. I wasn't sure what that meant, so I kept riding. When they realized I wasn't going to stop, they rushed me from the sidewalk and tried to knock me off my bike, kicking at my rear wheel. I managed to stay upright and rode away as fast as I could. I doubt I ever rode that fast in my life. Same neighborhood, two weeks earlier, I was chased by a pitbull for about half a mile.

riding home from work at 10pm through the worst crime area in town. A+ for adventure.

I once had someone throw a grapefruit at me from a moving car, but that was the only time I've been hit from a car (It bounced off my helmet).

I've got one to add to the "thrown food from cars" list.

A friend and I were cycling just past Sherbourne and Bloor (Toronto, Canada) a while ago. It's not high crime or anything, but it's not exactly rich either. Anyways, we're on the right side of the road riding 2 across, because that's pretty much the only way to get a lane in this city without cars coming 5mm from clipping you. This pale blue Honda Civic comes up, screams something unintelligible at both of us, and tosses *three eggs* out of the window at us. We both weave out of the way, one of the eggs clips my helmet, and we take off after the cagers. We booted it to try to catch up -- I swear I was in big/tiny all the way. At the bridge crossing into downtown, they run a red light, presumably to avoid us (a wise idea, because we were both in a very bad mood due to the incident, one of those moods that nobody really wants to admit to having felt, wherein you feel smashy-smashy), nearly causing several cross-collisions at the intersection. We, being law-abiding citizens, stopped for the red, causing us to lose the license plate number.

Regarding peds kicking cyclists, I've also had a member of a film crew come kick at me for kicking their pylons out of the middle of the bike lane. She was pretty fierce about it, yelling "how would you like it if I kicked you?", but I bet she learned not to kick a moving spoked wheel while wearing sandals pretty quickly after, heh.

I shoulder checked some film crew that was blocking the bike lane in Philly last summer.

Bike and rider weight = 250 pounds
Speed = 14 mph

Energy = A LOT

It still takes a lot of energy to move a cyclist enought to tip him/her over. A moving mass tends to keep moving, a freestanding equal or lesser mass being impacted tends to move.

.... Or I am not playing pool anymore

Or

I shoulder checked some film crew that was blocking the bike lane in Philly last summer.

Honestly, what's with film crews thinking they have god-like powers over the roads?

Yeah, OK, so the city said they could film here, but that doesn't mean they get to impede traffic flow, and thus break the law.

No ... they think that they are immune to 500 people buzzing by and yelling "WTF!!!!"

Try riding in Richmond. Be sure to wear a helmet.....and Kevlar. It's the most dangerous city in CA. I used to bike commute to my job there, but I had one too many close calls. Now I drive my pickup truck.

Molotovs in bar mounted water bottle cages.
Somebody devise an ignitor device please.

Personally, I'm not too inclined to get my head blown off after chasing some wanna be gangsta down.

In the seige of Stalingrad during WWII they had these little beauties which were a sealed pop bottle with benzene, liquid rubber, and phosphorus. When exposed to the air after breaking the bottle, everything ignites in a big gooey mass.

gregas: just find the car, dump a load of iron oxide and aluminum powder on it, light with a sparkler -- instant thermite.

perhaps just carryng a carton of eggs for the throwing would help. as long as you don't break them. hmmm....

Honestly, what's with film crews thinking they have god-like powers over the roads?

Yeah, OK, so the city said they could film here, but that doesn't mean they get to impede traffic flow, and thus break the law.

We've been at work for seventeen hours already. It's cold. We've been working long days for the past few weeks. We just want the goddamn director to get the goddamn shot so we can go to the next location and do it all over again.

Honestly, most film crews are so fried they're not noticing a thing. It's not a godlike powers thing, it's a 'dear god i wish i was dead' thing.

Honestly, most film crews are so fried they're not noticing a thing.

... and there's the problem. They're not noticing a thing except what they want done.

It's all well and good to say "I've had a long day", and everyone has felt that way at one time or another -- perhaps the film crew occupation is predisposed to longer days than others, I wouldn't know.

But consider that if those pylons had caused me injury, "we weren't paying attention" wouldn't have worked in a court of law. Regardless of what your occupation is, every human being is obligated to be treated with respect and civility, whether that means preventing possible accidents by moving your pylons elsewhere, or not kicking at my bike for preserving my safety. This particular film crew did neither, and I'm not attacking everyone in the profession. It just seems to be a common thread here in Toronto.

I was on Morocco recently and saw a guy riding with probably about a thousand eggs on his bike. Though I would never wish harm on another cyclist I secretly wanted to see him fall.


perhaps just carryng a carton of eggs for the throwing would help. as long as you don't break them. hmmm....

The solution? We need to start carrying flare guns.
These work pretty good, too:
http://www.bulldogpaintball.com/armotechzeus.html

Non-lethal, but they HURT when they hit, and they make a helluva mess when they explode on the inside of somebody's windshield. If you've never been hit by a paintball at close range, trust me that they are an effective deterrent to an approaching would-be attacker. Careful though, you will permanently blind somebody if you shoot them in the eye. (Not that some people wouldn't deserve such a fate.)

I wish I had that durring a few of my rides downtown recently. People are getting crazier.

i had some on-the-corner type kids jam a stick in my spokes last winter as i rode by. it broke the stick, and only caused me to make a tiny, tiny fishtail. damn stupid hooligans.

riding home from work at 10pm through the worst crime area in town. A+ for adventure.What area of Sacto? I want to make sure to avoid it.

For those who don't have a rear-view mirror, GET ONE. They are invaluable at spotting problems approaching from the rear.

+1 on the mirror

In the event of an attack I see coming:
Plan 1: ride like the wind, preferably someplace they can't follow
Plan 2: long blast on my AirZound horn (http://urbanscooters.com/cgi-bin/urbanscooters/AirZounds.html) (works great for dogs; I hope it'd also work for human curs)
Plan 3: collect as much information about the attackers as possible (license plate #, physical description(s), et cet), and report attack to police ASAP

Note there is no "Plan 4: pull out pistol and pull a Dirty Harry." Though, like most critters in nature, if cornered I will defend myself, I always want to de-escalate any situation. That's for my own safety. Do I even carry a pistol? That's for me to know and for punk to find out. Do You Feel Lucky?

Plan 3 is also in effect in case of an attack I don't see coming.

Those are plans, and I mentally rehearse them fairly regularly. I practice memorizing license plate numbers and describing people I see from quick glances. Practice really helps.

In reality, the one time I was attacked (beer poured on me from a car full of yuppie puppy teens), I was lucky enough to be able follow them undetected through city traffic to their destination, a movie theater.

After they went in, I used a key to let the air out of all four of their tires. This was risky: it took several minutes, made more noise than I'd expected and I could've gotten caught. Now I always carry a small pair of tweezers for quickly removing valve stem cores. :D

But this will only work if you can follow them undetected. I don't recommend it anyway. Plan 1, 2 and/or 3 all the way.

I started riding back in the early 70's and would have thought this kind of crap would have stopped by now! I could rant on and on about by horror stories with over 30 years of riding here in good ol West-by-god-Virginia.One of the worst was a bunch of punks got out of their car and tried to cut me with broken soda bottles (32oz returnables pre-2liter,like I said I've been riding for years) lucky for me some buddies happened by.......I haven't had on incident though since I've been carrying a cell phone pouch on my messenger bag strap,,,just point it at em like your taking their ever lovin picture,and then call 911. Damnest thing nobody likes to get caught. 4 on one ain't cool though, being a tree huggin hippie type I never thought I would tell anyone this but,,,,,I'd consider carrying a gun for awhile.
-------JJ

when i was, say, 11, i was biking home from school and some punk in a car decided to simply reach out, grab my backpack, and shove me to the ground. but hey, i actually got the license plate! after my dad talked to the cops, they went over to the guys house to have a little talk...

I've got (car)valve stem removers on as my valve caps now just in case I manage to track someone to their final destination. Havn't had the opportunity to use one yet.

my run ins haven't been that bad... i hope you heal up well.

i had a guy spit his dip wad at me this summer... i caught up to him and started yelling at him and he rolled up his window and sped off.

one night another guy was coming down a 1 way the wrong way, yelled "get out of my way bike ***" and swerved to try and hit me... his windshield is a spider web now.
you rule. i don't really have that kind of balls. but reading all of this i'm starting to wonder if i should be carrying rocks in my pockets for throwing at car windows...

to the op: i'm so sorry and so glad you are in one piece. may your shoulder heal normally and may you not ride in fear of ****ing *******s who deserve to flip their trucks. *tips glass*

this really angers me, and makes me want to start carrying weapons. it sucks when i feel that way.

ps: i love the molotov in the water bottle cage idea

pps: on a more serious note, can you KILL someone with a flare gun or just **** them up? because that would probably be a pretty sweet thing to ruin someone's day with. i don't want to cause serious harm to people. i just want them to know the need to **** off.

i really let my emotions show through when i read this kind of stuff. i am so easily frustrated with people that have power over me.

In Chicago Hand guns are illegal,but...
you can own a musket if it is an antique.

Make sure to keep your Flint dry this time of year, I have found wrapping the whole thing in saran-wrap (TM) helpful. Also, When refiling, just go ahead and bite off the top of the paper charge packet with your teeth, no need for scissors or a knife. Growing up on the east coast, I used to go to Antietam and Gettysburg and study the technique of those in the garrisons. Even a noobie can get off a round every 2min with a couple months of practice.

Never been in a dispute that this couldn't handle, and a bike is so much smother to fire off of while moving than a horse.

good luck in your conflict resolution.

this really angers me, and makes me want to start carrying weapons. it sucks when i feel that way.


Please don't start carrying weapons.

Granted, I am a peacenik Canadian. However, should the trend catch on, we'll get a reputation similar to (and perhaps worse than) the kids who throw sticks into your spokes -- cagers will think we're out to ruin people's days and treat us similarly.

Remember, you always have a bike between you and a threat. Non-violent resistance like parking in front of a person for a minute or so has worked for me in the past. When the person got out, the societal implications of stopping traffic like that made the people behind him really dislike him and begin to honk. He threatened to start a fight, so I made sure that every car behind him (whether they disliked me or not) knew this fact rather loudly.

Sometimes the best offense is really a good defense.

I'm not sure what I'd do if confronted with a violent attacker. I mean, I have a bike I can lift and use as a weapon if I have no other option. And a U-lock. Fortunately, violent outrages seem to be a rare occurrence on the roads here.

Edit: Just to add, make sure you pick your battles wisely if you do decide to confront a driver. Have a workable escape plan just in case. For example, confronting a driver on a busy street with many alleys and cross-streets is more likely to get you out of there ASAP if he or she turns out to be violent.

I started riding back in the early 70's and would have thought this kind of crap would have stopped by now! I could rant on and on about by horror stories with over 30 years of riding here in good ol West-by-god-Virginia.One of the worst was a bunch of punks got out of their car and tried to cut me with broken soda bottles (32oz returnables pre-2liter,like I said I've been riding for years) lucky for me some buddies happened by.......I haven't had on incident though since I've been carrying a cell phone pouch on my messenger bag strap,,,just point it at em like your taking their ever lovin picture,and then call 911. Damnest thing nobody likes to get caught. 4 on one ain't cool though, being a tree huggin hippie type I never thought I would tell anyone this but,,,,,I'd consider carrying a gun for awhile.
-------JJ

4 on 1 isn't cool--ganging up is never cool, period. it doesn't even reflect well on the person(s) perpetrating it..."yeah, there was this dude and me and 4 buddies ****ed him up good"...wow. aren't you the tough guy?