Minneapolis MUP riders- y'all take care now, ya hear?
 

Spotted this on facebook and thought I'd share where the link pointed to in case someone doesn't have fb.

Wow, This makes me really mad!! -- WHat the *&%$ is wrong with people... Unfortunately, I ride alone more than I do in a group & It's a good reminder to try and take as many safety precautions as I can. I hope she is okay...that's gotta be horrible !! I think I will be riding with pepper spray now.

Grrrr, this still ticks me off!

That's why I have a concealed carry license and I carry when I bike.

Muggers beware!

Glad she's OK, as it could have ended far worse for her.

I had some **** try to clothesline me off my bike with an empty jerry can years ago because he "was out of gas" Fortunately for me, I was going at a good clip, as well as managing to avoid this dude.

Just makes my blood boil. WTF? As if riding a bike in the winter in the dark and cold and snow isn't challenging enough, you have to worry about some punk ass cowardly maggot thugs now too?

My regular commute is on the Cedar lake not on the Midtown, but still these ******** have cars and get around. Stuff has happened in the past right under 394. I only ride alone on my commute especially this time of the year.

Ok then, I'm now on alert. Dammit! The only thing I have going for me is that I'm a big man, a pretty strong guy, and I'll be warmed up and alert, so I'm gonna fight back. But I'm not a conceal and carry guy.

"Say hello to my little friend."

I carry when I ride. Actually, I carry all of the time. The world can be a dangerous place, so, you may as well be prepared if you can.

I've got no problem with concealed carry, but who's really going to mug you in SE Oklahoma? There's like 4 people other than you that live there. :P

Nomadic herds of gangsta prairie dogs.

Yeah, and I don't trust any of em.

I'm thinking of joining one of the patrols, even if only once a week. Would give me another excuse to ride.

The Midtown Greenway kinda sucks. During the daytime in warmer months, it gets crowded to the point of being more dangerous and slower than the streets that run parallel. Aside from bicycle traffic you get tons of ignorant/entitled pedestrians walking down the bike lanes, joggers, the occasional scooter, rollerbladers, XC skiers, and inattentive parents letting their children run all over the place.

Then at night when it is not overcrowded you have to worry about thugs hiding under the bridges. I personally have never had a problem with crime on the Greenway, but it is always on my mind when I use it at night.

Really? I'd estimate the Greenway to be 15-20feet wide on average in the busiest areas of the trail (Hiawatha Ave to the edge of Uptown).

There are some runaway kids, and a few skiers, but there is ample room to avoid most traffic jams. It's certainly faster than taking Lake Street or 94 across town (I've timed it on multiple occasions).

Maybe I just have worse luck? The Greenway is certainly quicker when there is little traffic but during peak hours it can be BUMPING in both directions, with most of the riders not exceeding 15 MPH.

That is because Bigdaddy021970 scared all the muggers into your neck of the woods.

If I lived there, we could set up a mug-the-muggers club. One rider goes down the the path with a good size group of cyclist not too far behind. Muggers come out and they get their dues - then handcuffed and put in jail. What they did to the lady cyclist desrves a severe beat down.

It does get kind of clogged up between Lake Calhoun and Lake of the Isles. That section is not part of my normal commute, so I forget about it.

I'm in the western side of Minneapolis and don't get on the greenway much. Too bad it's been in the news more than a few times with this crap going on. I hope she has a speedy recovery.
If you (and others here in Mpls.) do decide to join the patrols, please post what's invloved and your experiences.

I commute on the western end of the Greenway nearly every day. I've done a few of the TrailWatch rides. It's basically an eyes-and-ears-open ride of two or more riders (vetted by the Midtown Greenway Coalition). We wear vests with the TrailWatch logo, hand out free blinkies to those in need, and look for opportunities to help or call for help.

The rides I've been on vary in exact route, but often loop from Midtown Exchange building to Lake Calhoun, back over the Sabo to the LRT trail, into the city, and back to the Midtown Exchange building. When I did them in the fall, there were sometimes folks who needed minor mechanical help. Once in a while someone needed more authoritative intervention (folks passed out and/or crashed). Or maybe there was glass to sweep up...whatever was helpful. It would be great to have more volunteers; the more eyes and ears the better.

I think the Greenway is a great example of bicycle infrastructure. I agree that when it is busy, it isn't the best place to go bombing around at 25 mph, but for commuters, it works well.

A couple years ago a man was walking on the Greenway when two teenage thugs tried to overpower and rob him. He stabbed one of them and the other ran off. The boy who got stabbed ended up dying. It was a clear cut self defense case because the intended victim tried to run away first. The surviving attacker basically admitted to everything and I believe he was even charged in the death of his friend.

The death hit a lot of trail users pretty hard. Self defense is no joke, a boy is dead now even if he brought it upon himself. There was a bit of an outcry in the Native community, with people saying the guy went too far by stabbing the boy, but I think at the time it really made a lot of young people stop and realize that the choices you make can have deadly consequences.

Thats great, Thanks for the link. I'm going to see if I can carve out some time to help out. I am really proud of what this town has been able to achieve as far as infrastructure goes. The greenway should not be known as "that place where bikers get mugged" I can give something back. Hopefully the local media can cover the bike patrol activity and not just the thug activity.

Obviously the current thugs, who's attack on the young lady could have resulted in her death, did not learn the lesson. Nothing wrong with a short refresher course.

It sounds like Minneapolis could do with some bike police.

Now, that you mention it....
This summer I rode the Greenway a lot to get out to St Bonifacius, and I only saw a bike cop 3 times and that was on the same ride...but never after or b4 that.

Hmmmm, I guess their shifts are once a season. :D

http://www.mplsbikelove.com/forum/vi...436&start=7470

Scroll down for a first-person description by the gentleman on the scene, as well as picture. Wish he would have connected with the u-lock a few times.

Look for user name "ebbmart". Also looks like that site doesn't enjoy the language filters in play as we do here on BF, either...