My commute takes me down a nice mup that makes its way through suburban parkland with kid's play areas at regular intervals, probem is that after dark these areas seem to attract bored local teenagers.

I was on my way home just on dark last Friday night when a froup of 4 of these locals tried to convince me to stop. Fortunately they were far enough away from the mup that by the time they realized I was not stopping it was too late for them to react. I thought nothing of it and just kept going.

I had a late start today and went through that spot mid-morning.... and there they were, the same 4 teenagers that should probabkly be in school but decided it might be more fun to mess with cyclists. They were loitering just off the mup and as I approached they quickly formed a group right in my path. I anticipated something like that and went off into the grass and around them, as I did so the one on the end lunged in my direction and swung a punch that missed me - only just.

I called the police station once I got to campus and guess what?.... unless I can identify them and know where they live there's nothing they can do. Bottom line, they couldn't care less. Next time I see them there's going to be a big Kryptonite u-lock in my hand and a 4 inch blade ready to be deployed....