Saw a cop car driving the greenway in this area Saturday night around 11:45pm so seems they are patrolling the area more. Unless it was a dream? I feel like I also saw one of the portable surveillance camera deals the city has.

I think it's also important to note that it's probably highly advisable to take out the earbuds when riding on the Greenway at night. Having the ability to hear your assailant(s) may make the difference between a clean escape and having your shit harshed in a big way.

A buddy of mine got jumped while on foot walking home late one night a couple of years ago and he still talks about how he wished he'd not been tuned out on his iPhone. He couldn't hear them coming and got pistol whipped pretty bad from behind. Having your senses about you is critical.

Define "watch."

I watch the trail very closely commuting home late at night. I also have been turning around too frequently if clusters of people are gathered on the trail ahead of me. Especially if there are people on both sides of the trail who are obviously together, or a group who sees my light and parts to both sides of the trail.

I have taken to going "lights out" on the lit portion of the Greenway, and only turning on my lights going west at Calhoun. It allows me to see people "hanging out" before they see me.

That said, I am not out in a "trail watch" type of capacity when commuting alone late at night. I am in "observe and avoid" mode. The people aforementioned in this thread who were assaulted while wearing headphones or surfing on an iPhone are skipping the "observe" part of the "observe and avoid" equation, making the "avoid" part pretty much impossible........

I do not believe that was Volsung's intent, and it certainly wasn't mine. My only point is that you should keep your eyes open, and if you see something suspicious, you should call it in, because that not only helps keep you safe, but everyone else too. It's true that you can't always keep yourself safe, and shit does happen sometimes, but you can keep your eyes open, and lower your odds.

The student you referred to has the right idea, though. The most useful thing you can do is ride with other people. In all the time I've been paying attention to crime on the Greenway, I can only recall one incident where there was an attack on more than one rider. I know of none that involved three riders or pedestrians. This is why we have tried to put together the Buddy Up program, where-by we identify people who are safe to ride with. Unfortunately, the amount of time it takes to get that program really up and running is beyond our capacity at the moment, so we have been forced to kind of put it on hold. There are still about 50-75 people out there who have the spoke cards, and whom we feel confident about, but in order for it to be a really useful program it would probably take more like 500-600 people, and each one needs to be individually referenced and approved. Add to this, there are other activities (Trail Watch, among others) that we and our police contacts feel are more effective at crime prevention.

We are currently looking into some other areas, and we are looking for volunteers who are interested in helping out. I'm looking into improved lighting (though, that is certainly a long term project), we have another person looking into the possibility of having private security companies do some patrols down there (short and medium term project), and we are looking for two volunteers who would like to look into the issue and costs involved with improving the cameras on the Greenway (medium term), and another to help improve the signage along the Greenway (most importantly, we want signs that identify the cross streets better, as it can be very hard to figure out exactly where you are, which can be rather important at times. Medium to long term project). We don't have time for our paid staff to research these, so we are looking for volunteers to do the job. (If you are interested in any of these, let me know!)


Gabriel

I wasn't bkaming victims, but some people make themselves targets. We've all had joggers with headphones go directly in front of our bikes and almost get run over. Without any sort of situational awareness you're just inviting something to happen.

The Zombie Survival Guide says wear form fitting clothes so zombies can't grab on to you. Same goes with regular cycling surviving. There's NO reason to wear a scarf. It's just a handle that can be used to pull you down and choke you out. This is why cops wear clip on ties.

A few weeks ago a friend bet I couldn't choke him out. He went to sleep faster than he could tap. It doesn't take much, so don't make it easy for an attacker.

What I was really getting at is always look out for yourself and others. Know what's going on a block ahead and behind you. If you do this you'll look like less of an easy mark.

I hope for the sake of public comedy this event occurred on a bus

No but there might be a buck to be made there. I'll ask him if he wants to take this show on the road.

This is how I find myself riding a lot, at least when I'm on trails at night. There's such a huge amount of pressure to "BE SEEN!" that we forget that is sometimes a liability. It helps if you have a remote switch for your light that can be operated with your hands in their riding positions.

Riding "lights out" on the Greenway doesn't make sense to me.

You can't be easily seen by a biker going the opposite direction, true, but to a person standing on the Greenway it's easy to see an unlit rider approaching.

All you are doing is making the situation more dangerous to other bikers.

how do these people get the riders off their bike? do they push them off? throw something at them? Do they get them to slow down first? I'm trying to understand that portion as I've always assumed I'm somewhat safe while traveling at 15-20+ MPH and encounter someone trying to do me harm. The whole physics thing and a body in motion and all that.

My understanding from reading assault reports is that they give a sideways shove as you pass at speed, and that is enough to send most riders down, and then you are kicked a couple times while still ensnared in your bike. Sometimes they act like a team - one jumps out as you approach, effectively driving you closer to where their partner is ready to shove you.

I have wondered if a prepared rider could joust them out of the way, but I thinks it's the lateral shove that does people in. Two-wheeled vehicles are really vulnerable to that.

It just occurred to me...is this something that bike cops are trained to resist? Is there some maneuver they're taught to resist being shoved off their bike? Maybe Gabriel Hoffman could ask them about this?

You know, I've never asked them about it, but it would be an interesting question to ask. Hokan has spoken to several bike cops, so he might know.



Gabriel

You do it your way, I do it mine. The part of the Greenway I ride "lights out" has lights on it. It allows me to see people ahead hanging out at about the same time that they can see me. That is not the case when running a headlight. It has been my experience that punks can see a bright light and move off to the side before you can see them up ahead.

I am much more concerned about seeing said punks so I can turn around and avoid them than I am about other bikers on portions of the Greenway that have lights.

I prefer to have hypothetical discussions on MBL forum to being the subject of a story in the paper. Avoidance is my key to ensuring that it all stays hypothetical.....

Its called bike polo.