artblur@artblur

there's this rather large cop in miami that used to watch me ride as i left my building (i live in a shopping mall that he patrols). well, after a week or so of him quasi-stalking me, i decided to give him a polite head nod. even though i have a strong dislike for cops, he seemed nice (and kinda scary because he's like 6'8" and 400 pounds). so, one day i was at my LBS & he & his partner walked in & he couldn't stop asking me questions about bikes... turns out he wants to be a bike cop, all 350 pounds of muscle & about 50 pounds of tubbiness. it's kinda cool, i guess, except now i see him on his waaaaaay too small MTB & he always stops me to talk... it's like, i would totally avoid him if he were just that annoying friend who interrupts my ride but, since he's got a gun & a badge & i've had too many run-ins with the law already, i'm afraid he'll get mad if i ignore him and eat me for lunch.

kylehutton

I have never seen a bike cop on one of those.
I've only ever seen them on white mountain bike hybrids with suspension forks.

A couple weeks ago i passed two of them who decided they didnt want to ride in the snow of the curb lane, so they were riding down dundas (at spadina) in the centre lane, at 5pm, on a Friday.
SO many pissed off drivers too scared to honk at a bike cop.

NewYorkMantle

all i know about the bike cops in nyc is that they all ride the same sluggish fuji mtb with fat knobby tires, 3 foot wide bars and can be evaded fairly easily.

loser

Reminds me of a story that happened to me last summer. I was riding with my friend downtown. We were going to an outdoor music festival with a colt45 in hand. We weren't going that fast since there were a lot of pedestrian around, right after crossing a red light two bike cops stopped us and we were like: **** we are going to have a 185 ticket for drinking so we weren't even trying to hide our cans. Then cop one said: Do you guys want to kill yourself ? And we were like: euhhh no. And cop two said: Then you better start respecting traffic lights. And away they went. They didn't even notice the beers. ha.

On our way home, we played a game that consist of claping your hands in front and in your back a many times as possible starting at 1, then you try two.....

At 9, I lean to the left, my bars got stuck in my friends drops and I flew over my bike. I was too drunk to put my hands so I scraped my forehead very badly on the pavement.

frankstoneline

rawr.
chill out man, we're talking about bike cops, not who you hate, or what sf has said in previous posts. If he really is being malicious, you're just giving him more reason to do so by getting pissy. But my guess is he isnt, because his comment was on topic and not offensive at all. He was simply stating that he knew a bike cop who was a very capable rider. I've met a couple who could have easily caught me, or at least given me a run for my money. Ery body just needs to chill. Simma down nah, ya hear?

P.S. CAPS LOCKS IS CRUISE CONTROL 4 COOL111

sfcrossrider

Most of my other posts are in cyclocross racing, and training and nutrition. I'm glad to see you read outside SS/FG and are growing into a mature cyclist.

BTW, if I was a dick... I would just tell you to go fu(k your mother. Good thing I'm a nice guy.

frankstoneline

If you were a dick, you wouldnt be typing. Penises dont have hands, honestly. And if you were, well, I'd just be impressed with the gusto of whoever was your owner and capable of typing with you.

ThunderChunky

i'd just be grossed out for the next person that used that keyboard.

wroomwroomoops

Why, though? He said he wasn't talking to/about you. Besides, if this little is enough for you to put someone on iggy, 70% of us are on your list already.

roadgator

You are correct, but they have radios. Trust me, you cant out-run the radio.

bike cops are like any other kind of cop. some of them are reasonable, some of them are ass-holes, but you tend to run into the ass-holes more because they are the ones that like hassling people.

reckon

no

acoldspoon

Can we assume this watching of sixes went both ways, brother Medic? If not, West Oakland EMS is very different from NYC EMS.

reckon

nope

roadgator

so next time i want to outrun a bike cop i'll reach into my backpack and flip on my jammer.....

interesting, but what i was getting at is that like it or not cops have plenty of tools to get the upper hand in a pursuit. And then you just made your life a whole lot more difficult than if you just stopped and met the cop in court.

reckon

nope

doomkin

my shop does repairs for several police departments in the area - so i'm gonna say no, they don't work on their own bikes.

TimArchy

same where I used to work.

Most of them seem to see their bikes as merely another piece of equipment and hence, knew just enough about it to pass the test at the end of the weekend training course. They have the bike handling skills of a 15yr old and can ride down stairs or use their bike as a shield, but couldn't keep up a good cadence or ride in close quarters for 100m.

We had four different precincts bring their bikes to us (mostly b/c the owner was a city commissioner). They were generally poorly kept and always ill fitting.

There was always one guy on each group that either rode before or became a rider after being a bike cop. They knew some stuff. They used to come in the shop like those parents who try to impress their kids, explaining to all the other cops what aerobars and TT helmets are and why they would all be faster on their mountain bikes if the force would just buy them for them.

Never tried to out run one of them. There was generally a car close enough to call in and run me over.

grxnt.

i also hate the sidewalk riding..

i'm also not impressed with seeing them ride up onto the sidewalk and then jump off the curb again and again..

OR riding at night with no lights.


one night i was making a beer run (sober) and passed 2 bike cops stopped on the sidewalk and gave them a knod.. they then proceeded to ring their stupid bells non-stop til i'm out of view..

bells are apparently required in my area.. go ****ing figure.

fungis

i ran from a cop the other night, and got away. it was raining, so i decided to take the shortest way to my friends' house. as i was riding the wrong way down a one way, i saw him turn the corner ahead of me. i quickly swooped into a motel parking lot, and hid in the breezway between the office and the rooms. sure enough, he pulled into the parking lot after me, so i went around the office to his backside, hopped back on my girlfriends' bike (which is too small for me, but i had a flat on mine), and continued the wrong way down the street. i heard him yell at me, and saw him trying to turn around in time to effect a stop, but the parking lot was pretty small, with several other vehicles in the way. luckily my friends' house was a block away, and i was going there anyway, so i hit the first side street, and looped around the block to his house. i quickly throw the bike into his house and remove my rain jacket and we all spent the next 20 minutes sitting on his porch drinking beer watching as 3 more cops show up on scene and start driving around looking for me. this is probably the only way to get away from the radio, and luckily i was close enough for it to be effective.

BMonei

I ride single tracks with a DC bike cop that comes in our shop all the time. According to him, a lot of people want to get into the bicycle class to avoid sitting inside cars all day long. I've had no issues with any of them ever.

~Stuart~

i like the guys in Toronto... as of yet i haven't had any problems with them, but i have raced them up the escarpment... i was on my touring bike with most of my gear (taking it from my work, to home... like maby 15-20lbs of food on a 30lb bike), so i figure our bikes weighed about the same, but i still left them for dead. That wasn't me trying to our run them though, it was just a race for ****s and giggles.




but i saw the funniest thing the other day... some homeless guy riding a police bike, with the bags still on it

teiaperigosa

CAT means nothing on the street...

lance armstrong couldn't catch me in traffic....

acoldspoon

Maybe not (though I'd beg to differ), but Lance might stumble into you while trying to cross the street after partying with an Olsen twin.

wroomwroomoops

..or after partying with the Skidmarxxx dudes, while peddling on a tallbike.

vocaltest

the ones here aren't too nice, but when I was underage they would harrass me about things like "Shouldn't you be inside."

They give you **** still, on south street. In the summers they're out till like, 3.