tom o

I waited a few extra minutes at work for the rain to stop then was delayed 15 minutes while I repaired a flat. As usual I took Halsted South from the River West area. Halsted is torn up for road work from around 58th street to around 65th street so there is loose gravel all over.

I slowed then stopped to avoid falling as I passed a deep pile of gravel and as I was looking down I saw something hit me in the left side of my right quadricep (muscle right behind the knee). Whatever it was hit me and fell to the ground and when I looked up to see if it was a rock kicked up by a car a second projectile came out of a clump of bushes across the street.

I heard some laughter and as I accellerated out of the area a 3rd shot passed behind me. I am not sure but I think it was a pellet gun shot by a person kneeling in a vacant play lot. It did not break the skin but left me with a painful quarter sized welt and a bruise the size of a pencil eraser.

If it had hit me in the knee cap the damage could have been serious.

I called 911 and talked to the patrol officers when they arrived so at least there is a report on file.

Please avoid this section of Halsted for a while.

Tom O.

PS: Yes, Halsted is a designated bike route.

kf5nd

Off-topic food for thought:

Handguns are illegal in Chicago.

Here in Houston, citizens can be licensed to carry concealed handguns.

Last time I checked, the murder rate in Chicago was way higher than in Houston.

tom o

I fully agree and there is good evidence for that position to be found in a study by the University of Chicago. I am not going there at this time. This was an isolated incident and pepper spray may be a better alternative as concealed carry in Chicago is illegal.

I appreciate the tip though.

Tom O.

tom o

I realize that I have a friend who lives about 6 blocks from 59th and Halsted. She attends all of the CAPS meetings and is involved in community affairs.

She told me today that there was a group of kids shooting out the windows of passing cars with pellet guns on that block. Apparently this was not an isolated incident.

Tom O.

shankton

I have lived in Chicago for 51 years. I don't go south of 47th St on Halsted unless I am in my car. You could have just as easily been shot with a real bullet instead of a pellet.

tom o

Yes, I have come to realize that. I shall reroute.
What neighborhood are you in? Do you commute?

Tom O.

Guest

I've taken Halsted with no incidents so far, thank goodness, but if you need to reroute, how about Torrence or Western or Ashland?

Koffee

tom o

I had been taking Ashland till it got really torn up, by construction, in a couple of stretches. I will try it again. I live in Beverly (far Southwest side) so Torrence is not too helpful. I took Western going South today. It is too bumpy. I will try it again anyway.

I will keep looking. I have my bike route map out.

Tom O.

Thanks for the input.

Mr. Stacey

I used to take Halsted until this one incident in April during borderline winter/spring weather, oh and plus the construction sucks.

1:30AM in winter gear.

I was riding south on Halsted a little before Greek Town. This car filled with 4 people was speeding as close to me as possible, nearly side swiping me. I thought it was an honest mistake but I had a red flasher on my back. I could see them look back at me. They slowed down to get next to me and one of the passengers opened their door repeatedly trying to hit me. They were all laughing. They drove away.

I went east on Jackson thinking that they might had disappeared there. Besides, it was my regular route. I stopped and looked around. I assumed they're probably in the Mr. Beef parking lot. I took off my hood and winter hat. I took out my cell phone to check out the time. One of the guys probably thought I was calling the cops and began to approach me. Yep, it was them.

I yelled out, "WTF, man???!"

He replied, "Sorry, DAWG! I thought you were one of them cracka's. My bad."

tom o

It is not any better when they did not mean to hit you personally.

Tom O.

shankton

Tom,

I am in Bridgeport. I occasionally commute to Evanston along the lakefront. I lived in Beverly on Longwood about 25 years ago. Western was the route I used for commuting at that time.

tom o

I lived on 102nd and Longwood for a few years. Grew up on west 102nd. We now live on Damen.

Small world.

Tom O.

Merriwether

Nasty. Urban blight and cycling... ugh.

I don't think you were shot with what is usually called a pellet gun. A pellet gun is an air rifle that fires either .177 or .22 caliber pellets at near 1000 fps, or close to the speed of sound. Those rifles can easily put a pellet all the way through 1/2'' of plywood at 20 feet, with velocity to spare. People kill grey squirrels from a hundred yards away with those things. If you had been shot with one of those, you'd have had a deep penetrating wound, and you likely wouldn't have been riding anywhere. Surgery, anyone?

Probably a lower powered BB gun, to leave just a welt.

This isn't to say that what happened wasn't dangerous or infuriating. I'm just providing some more information.

catatonic

some pellet guns fire far lower velocities, especially dual ammunition types that fire either pellets of BBs.

I know about pellet rifles I used to have a sheridan .20 pellet rifle that would blow through a full 2-liter and the license plate behind it. If memory serves, that was the only maker of air rifle that was actually legal for hunting small game, while the rest were merely used as varmint guns.