The Chainlink

Trolls on the bridge.

Late at night as I was crossing on the north side of the Lake street bridge, two young punks, one with a gun, tried to pull me off of my bicycle.

I was aware of something amiss before they approached and managed to quickly turn around and head the other way to call the police.

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Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on April 2, 2013 at 2:53pm

This happened many months ago, I have been meaning to get the word out but have been very busy and it had been too cold for any of this kind of action. Global guy's recent experience and the changing warmer weather prompted me to post a general warning.

spencewine said:

Wait...when did this happen? I was assuming last night, but now I'm noticing snow in the photos.
 
Juan 2-8 mi. said:

Another weekend way after this happened, I noticed some rustling about by some suspicious characters at the same location. I went and told a police officer that was on duty during the Wells bridge reconstruction and he just said OK and rolled up his window...


Douglas Iverson said:

I wonder if there is a safe and/or practicle way to secure one's self to one's bike? That shure would thwart a potential bikejacker. Let's face it, cops are basically worthless.
Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on April 5, 2013 at 12:29pm

Now we're even afraid of leaving a description, for fear of being called 'racist' and having 'stereotype.'


Socially, this is just as scarey. 


Juan 2-8 mi. said:

11:00pm abouts.

A description is not neccessary since it would come off as racist and stereotypical.

Permalink Reply by Kelly Askam on April 5, 2013 at 1:21pm
First and foremost I'm glad you safely got out of that situation.

I do question why you weren't riding on the street instead of the sidewalk. I would think mugging a cyclist would be more difficult due to increased speed and area to maneuver, plus the additional danger to the crook entering a street and increased visibility.

Thanks to your post I will be doing some research on past occurrences to gain some awareness. Thank you for sharing!
Permalink Reply by Juan 2-3 or more mi. on April 5, 2013 at 1:58pm

Good Question, there is no bicycle lane on that portion of Lake street, so I usually take the wide open sidewalk since many late night drivers on that stretch drive like the Blues Brothers on the weekends.

Permalink Reply by Fuegofan on April 5, 2013 at 2:19pm

Some years ago, a guy pushed me into the grass just north of the 4300 South pedestrian bridge on the Lakefront Path.  That evening (approx. 6:30 in summer--I still can't figure how it was desolate there at that hour) I was riding home on my speedy bike, which has the shoes that clip onto the pedals (and is the answer to your question, Douglas).  So when he tried to grab the bike and pull it away from between my legs, I was still attached to the bike.  When a jogger appeared, the mugger ran away over the bridge.

Douglas Iverson said:

I wonder if there is a safe and/or practicle way to secure one's self to one's bike? That shure would thwart a potential bikejacker. Let's face it, cops are basically worthless.
Permalink Reply by Joe Guzzardo on April 6, 2013 at 10:47am

Can we have the site moderator set up a sticky tag for us? Knowledge is power, and I'd like to think we have the ability to use this site for our benefit (e.g. awareness of risky places and times and setting up group rides), in the same way that some people use networking sites for their nefarious purposes.  We already have a sticky tag for stolen bicycles, surely personal safety trumps that. And yeah, thank g-d you're ok.

h' 1.0 said:

Sorry to hear-- glad you're safe and still have your bike!

But glad to know it happened... I have wished for years that there was a site to record attacks on cyclists, but don't have the ability to set it up myself.



Permalink Reply by yai danche on April 7, 2013 at 3:11pm

I completely agree.  I understand OP's wariness.  You should be suspicious of everyone which I believe is his point in posting his story.  What comes to mind are those two teenage girls (14 and 15) who kidnapped that elderly woman and locked her in the trunk of her car for 2 days.  You can't trust anyone!  But yeah let's face it, even if he doesn't give out a description, just like the news coverage of the flash mobs doesn't give out a description, we can all guess what they look like.  

Everyone should be wary of people who are just a little too interested in watching you ride by.  Every time I've rode past pedestrians on the lakefront trail, they give you a fleeting glance and register that you are there and that's it.  People don't usually stop and stare, they are walking to enjoy the scenery. So OP's observation that they looked like they were lying in wait made sense and his prediction came true.  Very glad he is okay and it's unfortunate that the offenders were not caught.  


Bob Kastigar said:

Now we're even afraid of leaving a description, for fear of being called 'racist' and having 'stereotype.'


Socially, this is just as scarey. 


Juan 2-8 mi. said:

11:00pm abouts.

A description is not neccessary since it would come off as racist and stereotypical.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on April 7, 2013 at 4:06pm

I don't think there's anything the current site can offer that would be useful.  The stolen bike "sticky" is seen by almost no-one (you have to select to view only the forum before you see it-- no way around that with the current site software.) Without the ability to poll for specific info you'll end up with scary and confusing reports that don't provide enough specifics to actually educate people on how to avoid danger, and the actual reports will get buried in discussion.

Just look at this discussion-- it wasn't until someone finally asked about the snow on the ground that it came out that it happened months ago and not a week ago Friday night.

Joe Guzzardo said:

Can we have the site moderator set up a sticky tag for us? Knowledge is power, and I'd like to think we have the ability to use this site for our benefit (e.g. awareness of risky places and times and setting up group rides), in the same way that some people use networking sites for their nefarious purposes.  We already have a sticky tag for stolen bicycles, surely personal safety trumps that. And yeah, thank g-d you're ok.

h' 1.0 said:

Sorry to hear-- glad you're safe and still have your bike!

But glad to know it happened... I have wished for years that there was a site to record attacks on cyclists, but don't have the ability to set it up myself.



Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on April 7, 2013 at 4:14pm

The race thing is a reference to a previous thread in which the OP made a reference to the 'primitive urban jungle dwellers' on the west side and I spoke up about it.  If he wanted to make a reference to the jungle in the course of describing these assailants, he'd be within his right to do so, but I'd speak up about it again.   Ideally, the chainlink user base would be representative enough of the ethnic makeup of this city that it wouldn't take a white guy to speak up in response to overt racist postings (and resultant but-patting,) but well, here we are.



yai danche said:

I completely agree.  I understand OP's wariness.  You should be suspicious of everyone which I believe is his point in posting his story.  What comes to mind are those two teenage girls (14 and 15) who kidnapped that elderly woman and locked her in the trunk of her car for 2 days.  You can't trust anyone!  But yeah let's face it, even if he doesn't give out a description, just like the news coverage of the flash mobs doesn't give out a description, we can all guess what they look like.  

Everyone should be wary of people who are just a little too interested in watching you ride by.  Every time I've rode past pedestrians on the lakefront trail, they give you a fleeting glance and register that you are there and that's it.  People don't usually stop and stare, they are walking to enjoy the scenery. So OP's observation that they looked like they were lying in wait made sense and his prediction came true.  Very glad he is okay and it's unfortunate that the offenders were not caught.  


Bob Kastigar said:

Now we're even afraid of leaving a description, for fear of being called 'racist' and having 'stereotype.'


Socially, this is just as scarey. 


Juan 2-8 mi. said:

11:00pm abouts.

A description is not neccessary since it would come off as racist and stereotypical.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on April 7, 2013 at 5:58pm

h' commented in the other thread about a characterization of a neighborhood that could be seen as offensive.  IMHO that is different from a factual description of people who threatened the OP and who had a weapon.  Factual descriptions include race, height, eye and hair color, clothing, and anything else that would allow identification of an individual rather than general characterizations that are not of any assistance.   

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on April 8, 2013 at 10:05am

Juan 2-8 mi. said:

11:00pm abouts.

A description is not neccessary since it would come off as racist and stereotypical. 


How is giving an accurate description of the assailants considered racist?

It's officially spring in Chicago when the flash-mobs/muggings start up again… Glad you're okay, though!

Permalink Reply by Tricolor on April 8, 2013 at 10:38am

Three weeks ago it was the red wing blackbirds returning.  Two weeks ago it was Navy Pier renting out the quadracycles.  And last week it was the return of homeless camping along the lakefront.  Haven't had any problems, yet, though other than getting around the fair weather fitness types and avoiding the Tour de France time trialing wannabees.

On days when I don't ride I usually walk to the top of Michigan Avenue and have noticed a pair of officers hanging out every two blocks or so.  Maybe they're taking this flash-mob stuff seriously.

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