Sure, we here in San Francisco think we have it bad, what with bad drivers and menace-level cab drivers and Muni malpractice, but cyclists in Chicago have to deal with ROVING GANGS OF ARMED BIKEJACKERS:
His swing missed thanks to a tight swerve and when he threw the chair, it went wild over and behind me. Turning up Damen, I saw another guy running toward me. There was no way I’d get past him, so I cocked my leg for a kick and gave him my best. I don’t know if I connected. His elbow went right into my chest and stopped the bike hard. A couple other guys came up from behind and waled on my back until I hit the ground, my head bouncing off the pavement.
As any cornered animal will tell you, adrenaline’s a hell of a thing. While a few guys kicked me in the chest and back, two other guys tried to steal the bike, and I wasn’t letting go.
It’s like a Cormac McCarthy novel or something! Read on.
[via Sea of Static]
Problem, meet solution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eg6lGoRQQ8
This will be the next big epidemic in SF. Especially with the apathetic population we aleready currently have regarding other people and others’ property.
Thieves’ll always take ‘em. Doesn’t matter that they’re being ridden or locked up.
I don’t think it’ll be an epidemic here in SF. Most of us judge the value of a bike to be less than that of our health or our life.
I lived in Chicago too (Wicker Park–nowhere near the wild West Side) but hadn’t heard of bikejacking being a common occurrence.