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10-20-09, 11:40 PM
You may recall there were a number of biker muggings in the Mt. Baker bike tunnel (Seattle) about 18 months ago.
I had a "moment" tonight I thought I'd mention.
Was headed home about 7:15 p.m. from downtown, headed East through the tunnel. About 6 young guys were gathered at the western end of the tunnel. They were spread out across the tunnel, so I had to slow down to avoid hitting them. Before I could call out, they look up and saw me...instead of clearing a path, a couple of them started to step out to fill *more* of the space in the tunnel so I had to slow down even more. I was about to abort entering the tunnel, but they were kind of laughing and joking around, so I kept going, and finally one moved aside so I could pass. At that point, another guy started bouncing a basketball off the wall in front of me so I sort of had to dodge the ball to proceed going through the tunnel. A couple of them said something and laughed as I passed through the group, but nothing hostile that I could make out.
No big deal - they were kind of joking around, maybe just having fun with me.
On the other hand, maybe they were out looking for a victim and maybe would have been a little rougher with the next biker coming through, especially someone smaller than I, or a woman.
Headed across the I90 bridge I waved down a couple of bikers who were headed into the tunnel and told them to stay alert.
I dunno. Maybe it was nothing.
My first impression when I saw the guys gathered in the tunnel w/a basketball is that they were just hanging out....but that entrance to the tunnel is a real "choke point" once you enter; if somebody wants to get you there (as has happened in the past), you don't have a lot of room to escape.
I had a "moment" tonight I thought I'd mention.
Was headed home about 7:15 p.m. from downtown, headed East through the tunnel. About 6 young guys were gathered at the western end of the tunnel. They were spread out across the tunnel, so I had to slow down to avoid hitting them. Before I could call out, they look up and saw me...instead of clearing a path, a couple of them started to step out to fill *more* of the space in the tunnel so I had to slow down even more. I was about to abort entering the tunnel, but they were kind of laughing and joking around, so I kept going, and finally one moved aside so I could pass. At that point, another guy started bouncing a basketball off the wall in front of me so I sort of had to dodge the ball to proceed going through the tunnel. A couple of them said something and laughed as I passed through the group, but nothing hostile that I could make out.
No big deal - they were kind of joking around, maybe just having fun with me.
On the other hand, maybe they were out looking for a victim and maybe would have been a little rougher with the next biker coming through, especially someone smaller than I, or a woman.
Headed across the I90 bridge I waved down a couple of bikers who were headed into the tunnel and told them to stay alert.
I dunno. Maybe it was nothing.
My first impression when I saw the guys gathered in the tunnel w/a basketball is that they were just hanging out....but that entrance to the tunnel is a real "choke point" once you enter; if somebody wants to get you there (as has happened in the past), you don't have a lot of room to escape.