This is why I ride with dynamite lining the tubes of my bike. You have 30 seconds to deactivate it once I'm off the saddle. If I go down I'm taking those 'lil bastards with me.

With that being said, I know a fellow commuter here that carries a can of Mace where she can quickly access it. She says she's had a few close calls where she thought she might need it. Mostly from fat angry motorists.

Being a dude, in Boise ID, I'm not to concerned. I've never been threatened on the MUP or the Streets, but I don't ride through shady areas either. The closest I've come to being in a fight with a punk was on the MUP - this guy on what looked like a large BMX or smaller mtn bike was hopping around, doing 360's on his back wheel. His buddies heard my loud "PASSING LEFT", and he started going in a straight line again, so I thought I was good. Little do I know right as I start to pass him and he launches into another 360, I swerved away and his front wheel came about 8 inches from my face. I put the hammer down and left them in the dust after that.

My eyes, my head and my legs.

Keep alert and avoid what you perceive to be sketchy groups of people. That's the best advice I've got.
Back in my courier days, I got jacked for my gear once. (Bike was too big for the kid who took me down and it was about a block away on the sidewalk after I came to. Bag was long gone, though.)

At the time, I rode with the heavy end of a pool cue in a velcro holster on my top tube, ready for a quick draw... but when you get clubbed with a section of lumber by a kid who pops out from between a couple of parked cars, there's no time to react. Any weapon you're carrying just ends up being something else which can be used against you in a situation like that.

Never had a problem in Seattle. Every now and then I rode through some of the less gentrified neighborhoods, and never had an issue.

Now I live in Victoria, BC.... so long as I'm not carrying a huge cache of tea and pastries, I'm safe.

+1+1 As long as I have been riding throughout many neighborhoods in LA, no one has ever approached me nor have I felt threatened. Not even by dogs.

Word!

+1

As for outcycling the pack of 16 on bmx bikes, if one is a commuter and has good stamina, the kids will not be able to keep up. Kids on small bikes jump, pedal standing up and usually ride on under inflated tires so one on a larger bike will have the advantage.

I should clarify my story:

My courier days were not here in Seattle metro area. They were in the early 90s in downtown Cleveland, OH.
I haven't encountered anything outside of the ordinary hassles of daily commuting here in the PNW.

I commute on a tandem; here's a picture of my stoker:

http://www.angelfire.com/movies/Godz...ctures/ed1.jpg

No one's ever bothered us.

Punks in my area would be bear, wolf, lion etc. Grizzly strength pepper spray ftw! Never had to use it fortunately.

That's hilarious. It fits my perception of Victoria perfectly. :lol:

Exactly. When are you going to use a weapon? Unless you're a bike polo devotee it's pretty hard to handle something while you're on the bike and moving. Stopped, you're pretty much toast and you've thrown away all your advantages. It's just like the tactical driving courses they teach--keep moving. The extreme lighting mentioned above can help with the "jumped from behind a parked car" bit. You should be totally focused on the parked cars anywhere 'cause that's where the door prizes come from. It's gonna be tough to take a helmet light off an unwilling victim, and as long as it's still on it's gonna be tough to approach and see said victim.

I have a lot of second hand experience. Friends and acquaintances being jumped and beaten up, or attempts to do so, for their bike, or just for fun. Without fail, the ones who stood their ground fared the best even without weapons, if they were male.

So, I would say in my town, females should get trained and licensed to carry firearms. They should be required to carry one. Or never leave the house, and have a gun on hand anyway.

Male, if you are an action freak, or ex-military, or big, or fierce - probably no gun needed. The problem with firearms, if the thing is not in your hand....worthless. Most likely it will be hard to grab in time of need, but hey, you got training and a carry permit - I'm cool with the gun thing. It won't work for me on my bike.

I used to carry pepper spray. Maybe 20 years now. I had to show it to some folks, and they knew what it was and backed off, but it's been years. I try to avoid areas/times of night when crime is high now. I gave up the pepper spray last month in favor of an collapsible ASP alloy baton of 21" like a previous poster on this thread. I keep it in my front right pocket where my pepper spray has been clipped all those years. I will probably be knocked away from my bike, so the thing must be on my person. It is shiny and silver. It sounds b@d@$$ when it opens, glistens in the light, and feels good in my hand. It looks like NOTHING folded up.

Given my experience, most likely some kids will knock me off the bike by surprise from a hidden crouch - behind a car or some object. (I make a U-turn if I see anyone walking toward me in the street, especially groups of kids/teens). Then his buds will join him from another hiding place. They intend to beat me up no matter what, so I don't have anything to lose by fighting them. So assuming I can get up, I will deploy the baton and charge the kid who hit me. If he has a gun, I was dead anyway. If not....I have a chance. Usually the bigger kids get the younger ones to knock you down - minors who won't go to jail. Then they all jump on. So the closest kid gets a baton sandwich. Then the biggest kid if possible.

Most likely, they all run away shouting profanity and threats once they see I am prepared to do battle. If not, I am going down fighting, not begging.

WTF?!

Has New Orleans really gotten so bad that this is considered reasonable?

Seriously, I wouldn't even have come close to recommending that sort of behavior even in Harlem in the early 1980s where it was definitely a bad, bad area.

Bring 2 things:

#1 Your Brain
Don't commute through trouble areas and avoid any punks you see up ahead by going around the block or threw an adjacent alley. Not looking like a target is good, but that it another step and look to be more trouble than it's worth, my scraggy appearance and military surplus "riding gear" seem to suffice. You best bet is to avoid the situation at all costs. Should you end up face to face with punk(s) your best option is to run (ride) away, most likely your faster on bike and on foot.

#2 9mm or larger compact pistol
I know most people here are anti-guns, but if the bad guys aiming for you are armed do you want to wait for the police or throw pepper at them (drugs affect the way people react to pepper spray they may not react at all, and how good is your aim with that can, ever shoot it?). A weapon should not escalate the situation, it should finish it; the only time to draw is if you are put into a inescapable life threatening situation. It's about the right tool for the job, I wouldn't take my mtb to the velodrome, likewise I wouldn't use a sporting implement or table seasoning to defend myself. Of course get trained and licensed according to your state laws.

* for the record I do NOT carry a pistol on my commute, although I am capable and equipped enough to defend myself, my commutes biggest treats are cars, dogs, skunks, and city bus drivers.

They had better stay the he!! away from my Cafe du Monde bag.... mess you up!

That was one badass post. lol

So the general consensus is don't get in trouble?


New questions. You are hit, you fall and 3 kids (all medium build 5'5-5'10) what weapon/strategy do you use?

I would agree. Avoid physical confrontation at all costs, unless you are left without choices. Be smart and alert. Have a contingency plan of SOME sort other than prayer.

Strap a shotgun to your back(think Ash in Army of Darkness) and ride around town, you might not have too many problems with anyone(except maybe some police harassment).

Holy crap, your town sucks! It saddens me that there are places like this anywhere, more so in my own country.

How can you be so sure as to your assailant's motives? Last summer, there was a pack of young men on bikes who mugged several people along a popular stretch of MUP in about an hour. They cruised along the trail and picked out only single males, and jumped their targets from behind. They were caught pretty quickly, and the only victim to end up in the hospital was also the only one who fought back, as his mugging turned into a beat-down. The others just suffered the initial attack with minor injuries and handed over their valuables without further fighting.

If it's apparent that an assailant is just after my bike or my wallet, then I'll hand it over. I'm not gonna get shot or stabbed over a bicycle. Even if I lived through a potentially lethal attack, my bike costs less than my health insurance deductible.

History

Excuse me sir, but do you intend to steal my wallet and bicycle, or is this a gang initiation affair that involves beating up a white dude?

Thanks so much for the input GC. If someone ever sucker-punches me off of my bicycle, then approaches me in an aggressive manner, I will observe just how APPARENT his motives are and let you know.

Carry something only if you intend to use it if necessary. The best thing as mentioned before is your brain. Be aware and do your best to get away. Evidently if you see an attack coming, prepare for it the best you can. However, it seems most attackers don't let you know ahead of time what their motives are.

I would say the opposite of the people that think you should just keep your head down. if you see someone that looks like a threat look them right in the eye. if you are a mean looking fairly big person like I am you can just stare them down, they wont mess with someone who appears willing to take their challenge. if you are not then just say hello and be friendly to them. that will usually catch them off guard long enough to get away. ive been riding all around detroit for the last 5-6 years and i have never run into any problems.

I hope I don't run into punks like this. :D

In the incident I was referring to, the only person seriously injured was the one guy who fought back. I'm not saying that he wasn't right to defend himself, but he basically escalated a robbery into a four on one fight that he wasn't able to win. The assailants' motives were clear according to the article and the statements of the victims, as the assailants demanded the victims' wallets after the initial attack. I only posted this to illustrate that just going straight into combat mode might not be in your best interests. Would you rather run like hell and lose your bike, or be hospitalized/killed and lose your bike?

If someone is obviously out to hurt you, then fight away. Like you said, you've got nothing to lose if the attacker's intent is just to cause damage. That's why I said apparent motives, i.e.- motives you can decipher. If you can't figure out what they want, your responses will vary according to how the situation plays out. Maybe I'm a coward, but if I'm facing a group of young men and I've a decent exit, then I'm running. I can run a 16 minute 3k, without a potential asskicking behind me. I imagine I'd could do better with a good burst of fear adrenaline. If I end up surrounded, I'll see if I can remember anything from those Aikido classes I took 5 years ago.

If you're a coward, so am I. If I can avoid an altercation and avoid getting hurt...I'm going to. We're adults...the rules of the play ground don't apply and not getting hurt or killed seems like a sensible motivation to me.

But you forget that we're posting on the internet, so you must exhibit as much bravado as textually possible.

Huh? Wanna say that to my face?

http://www.boreme.com/media/yr2004/i-body-builder.jpg

Holy ****.

*pees self, flees on BMX rather than messin with a TOUGH DUDE!!!*

You might think that, but I've discovered that given the right circumstances, ie the proper hill, your road bike may have no advantage at all over a bmx.

Meh. What do you know? You're a goat!

I do not understand it at all...but a kid on a BMX pulled up to me while I was on my 1978 Raleigh Professional. He commented that it looked like a fast bike...and proceeded to keep up with me, and even over take me...for the next mile or two. What I noticed was that if there was any incline upwards, he fell behind...but when it was flat, or downhill, he was right on me, or even a touch ahead. Either that kid was just a hell of a lot better than me (possible) or there is something about BMX bikes that I don't understand. It was a huge blow to my pride....I'll say that.

I should add...I was not riding hard...just doing my normal pace...and he was clearly in competition.