The Chainlink

Lakefront Bike Path south of 31st Street north of 47th street

I was attacked last night on the bike path.  Fortunately I escaped. Basically as I was riding my road bike southbound, I had passed the new harbor at 31st, on the path at approximately 10PM I saw a large group of people. I turned on my hand held flashlight, a very very bright light and they all scattered. Once I past a couple of people they all then moved in and WHACK I was hit with something big and hard on the shoulder.  Had it hit my head, arm or wheel it would have knocked me over and the beating would begin.  I rode on, called the police and waited. after a bit of time passed I could see 10 of the mob in the group attempt to surround me. I fled again, called the police and filed a report.  I am one lucky guy!

If I would have hit the ground i'm sure they would have beaten me to a pulp.  I will ride again, just not solo on the south side at night.

PEOPLE WHO RIDE THERE NEED TO KNOW THIS.  

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 20, 2012 at 3:00pm

For those who are skeptical about the effectiveness of calling 911, this is a good argument in favor of calling, even if the offenders aren't caught.  If the police are not aware that a problem is happening and exactly where and how often it's happening, they can't respond to it. 

Please DO call and report incidents.

Randy Warren said:

The police actually have used undercover officers to deal with assaults on the LFT on the south side in the past and this tactic has been effective. There also are some police cameras on the LFT between McCormick Place and 31st Street, but I do not believe that they are in place south of 31st Street. The ones that are in place were a response to some assaults in that area.

Calling 911 to report any hostile occurrence is essential as it is through that reporting mechanism that the police respond with increased uniformed patrols and consider other strategies to keep the Trial safe for all users.

 

Permalink Reply by S on June 20, 2012 at 3:51pm

+1 to this.  I've listened to Brett Goldstein's talks on the city's data management systems and work to open it up.  One of the things the city and CPD is doing is running a predictive analytics group to try to correlate reports to 311 and 911 with crime and try to come up with indicators that allow the CPD to figure out when things are starting to go bad in areas and send more resources to those areas to try to stop things. But it's hard for the city to fix issues that they don't know about.

Anne Alt said:

For those who are skeptical about the effectiveness of calling 911, this is a good argument in favor of calling, even if the offenders aren't caught.  If the police are not aware that a problem is happening and exactly where and how often it's happening, they can't respond to it. 

Please DO call and report incidents.

Randy Warren said:

The police actually have used undercover officers to deal with assaults on the LFT on the south side in the past and this tactic has been effective. There also are some police cameras on the LFT between McCormick Place and 31st Street, but I do not believe that they are in place south of 31st Street. The ones that are in place were a response to some assaults in that area.

Calling 911 to report any hostile occurrence is essential as it is through that reporting mechanism that the police respond with increased uniformed patrols and consider other strategies to keep the Trial safe for all users.

 

Permalink Reply by S on June 20, 2012 at 3:53pm

I don't think it's changed.  I've ridden on the LFP late at night to get home and haven't had any issues with the CPD.  Although it's not like I've run across many of them on the park late at night.

Anne Alt said:

Traditionally, police haven't necessarily enforced the park closing time for those riding through for transportation, just for loitering - at least that's how it was several years ago.  I don't know if that's changed in the last few years. 

S said:

It closes at 11pm but despite that it's one of the most convenient ways to get from anywhere near the loop to hyde park.  Besides, do you think it'll be much safer biking down king drive at 1am?

El Guicho said:

The LFP is park of the park district right? Don't parks close at sunset? Maybe there's a reason for that.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on June 21, 2012 at 12:07am

I follow assault reports closely and while it would be comforting to think the thugs wouldn't attack if they 'just didn't notice you approaching,' the reality is that some are waiting and watching and specifically planning to whack a cyclist.  The only benefit of running without headlights may be that it will help your eyes adjust to the dark to better spot people in/around the path up ahead, upon which your plan of turning tail is by far the best approach.

kiltedcelt said:

The idea of running "silent," ie. lights off actually sounds kinda good. Most of the path is fairly well-lit except for a few spots. I mean well-lit in a relatively-speaking sort of way though. It's lit enough by streetlights, even from Lakeshore Drive that it's seldom ever so dark that you can't see anything. Putting several REALLY bright lights on the front of your bike could allow you to switch them all on and literally blast any malefactors with blindingly dazzling light. Might be enough to disorient a big group and allow you to accelerate around them. I ride a touring bike with 770x32 tires so I don't have any qualms about taking to the grass and have done so on occasion to get around those large groups of rude people who won't move over to let me through. If I had to, I think I could hit the grass. Only thing is there's always the possibility of hitting something in the grass and then you're no better off than before. I think the best bet though is to probably turn tail if you see anything suspicious, and as has been suggested, report any altercations or suspicious behavior to the police.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on June 21, 2012 at 9:38am

+1

h' said:

I follow assault reports closely and while it would be comforting to think the thugs wouldn't attack if they 'just didn't notice you approaching,' the reality is that some are waiting and watching and specifically planning to whack a cyclist.  The only benefit of running without headlights may be that it will help your eyes adjust to the dark to better spot people in/around the path up ahead, upon which your plan of turning tail is by far the best approach.

kiltedcelt said:

The idea of running "silent," ie. lights off actually sounds kinda good. Most of the path is fairly well-lit except for a few spots. I mean well-lit in a relatively-speaking sort of way though. It's lit enough by streetlights, even from Lakeshore Drive that it's seldom ever so dark that you can't see anything. Putting several REALLY bright lights on the front of your bike could allow you to switch them all on and literally blast any malefactors with blindingly dazzling light. Might be enough to disorient a big group and allow you to accelerate around them. I ride a touring bike with 770x32 tires so I don't have any qualms about taking to the grass and have done so on occasion to get around those large groups of rude people who won't move over to let me through. If I had to, I think I could hit the grass. Only thing is there's always the possibility of hitting something in the grass and then you're no better off than before. I think the best bet though is to probably turn tail if you see anything suspicious, and as has been suggested, report any altercations or suspicious behavior to the police.

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth on June 21, 2012 at 10:11am

When I rode through the group that I'm pretty sure mugged the next cyclist coming through, I was running dark -- because my batteries needed replacing, not because of any conscious decision.  Maybe they didn't mug me because they didn't see me coming, or maybe because I didn't fit some profile.  But I certainly didn't see them until I was in the middle of them, and it was really disconcerting to realize that I was suddenly surrounded by shadowed figures.  I think they were three or four deep on the path, covering both lanes, but it was dark and awhile ago.

I ride that path a fair amount, and I've gotten freaked out by ninja cyclists more frequently (i.e. many times) than I've gotten freaked out by riding through ninja mobs (once).  I ride with lights.  If I had had my head light then, I would have seen them, and at least would have had some descriptions or something, and something less nebulous than "a shadowy group on the path".

Like others have said, it's an important path for getting from east Hyde Park to downtown.  It's the "bicycle super highway" that is currently operational, and it works well.  It's something the city has invested in, and they need to maintain it and keep it safe.

Permalink Reply by Joe Schmoe on June 21, 2012 at 10:24am

My philosophy: ride w/lights on unless I see a group of people in a dark area, w/o other around (checking behind me for other riders). Then I click the lights off, and decide if I can scoot by, or need to break onto the grass.  I'll also slow down as I approach.  The thing I look for, is if the whole group is specifically noticing me. Ie, they're talking, and all of a sudden they all turn around and look at me in unison, or they're all silent and staring at me, for no apparent reason.

Permalink Reply by MagMileMarauder on June 21, 2012 at 10:24am

I believe that the streets are a much better alternative after sunset. There are infinite amount of spots than an attacker can hide to mug somebody. Even if you don't get mugged, and I've been on the path at dark, I always get a creepy sensation. I think that there's a misconception by a lot of people that everything south of the loop until Hyde Park is the "hood" and use the path not only as a bike "superhighway", but because they think it's safer than the streets. Not so. Just stick east of MLK and you'll find that most of that area is generally well patrolled, and in some parts by both U of Chicago PD and CPD.

Permalink Reply by MagMileMarauder on June 21, 2012 at 10:38am

I believe that this is a good route if you're coming from the South... There are many other alternatives, but I like this because it also goes through IIT, which also sees a fare amount of patrolling.


Added is another route if you wish to parallel the lakefront.

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth on June 21, 2012 at 10:46am

The lake is gorgeous, especially with a full moon rising over it.  A really enjoyable ride.  I'm not afraid to ride the streets, and I do, but I find the lake front path ever so much nicer.  And my 3 and 5 year olds can ride their own bikes, which we're a little way away from on city streets.  Admittedly, if it's dark and summer, they're probably loaded up and being encouraged to sleep, but still.

The answer to this cannot be just to cede the lake front trail to hoodlums.  The fewer people ride the LFP, the more dangerous it becomes for the rest of us.

Permalink Reply by MagMileMarauder on June 21, 2012 at 11:06am

I agree with not yielding to thugs, as I still use the path. Maybe I should rephrase it as, "there are other alternatives besides the lake front". When I think about it, the creepiness is more from the desolation, not from the prospect of getting mugged. Also, I'm the type of person that can't handle too much repetition. Even if the lake is gorgeous, riding it every day seems boring to me. But that's just me:)

Permalink Reply by Chris Hainey on June 21, 2012 at 1:26pm

As someone who was mugged on the Illinois Prairie Path going through Bellwood one night, here is my suggestion on avoiding trouble:

Avoid any situation where a group is either forcing you to go off the pavement, or tries to funnel you into the middle of the group.

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