I don't get it...

[betagirl]

So, part of my ride - about 3 to 4 miles - goes through the west side of Chicago. It's not a great neighborhood at all, but I seem to be able to get through it without many issues. It all depends on the time of day. Mornings are quiet and event free. Afternoons....now that's a different story. It's not adults I have problems with, it's kids. I'd say 1 out of 20 rides I have a kid think it's a great idea to stand in front of me/run out in front of me/ride their bike at me or in front of me. Today I was cruising at about 19 mph and this kid was coming across a crosswalk on a cheap bmx bike. I had a green light. I looked over at him as he weaved toward me and he goes "boo". I was like are you f-ing serious? No helmet, I had about 40 lbs on him, and I'm going 20mph. Who's going to win that little encounter? I also know how to throw an elbow if need be. But my god, who wants to do that?

WTF are they thinking? Or are they just not?

[Eden]

They are just not thinking.

There's a spot where I ride often that I have to cross a bridge. Bikes take the sidewalk here as a. the bike path feeds onto it and b. the bridge would be very dangerous - very high traffic with lots of merging and metal grating deck. Even on the sidewalk its still a place to be careful - its narrow and there are lots of pedestrians and other bikes, there is no railing separating the walk from the cars and there is a large drop of probably a foot or so to the roadway. I had some a$$ teenager (it was a girl none the less) lean out of a car window and scream just to see what my reaction would be. Jeezus if I was a jumpy person - or the woman I was riding with - but she's deaf in one ear and didn't even hear it. If the girls in the car had to stop at the traffic light the little chickee would have found out just how scary a very angry 5 foot cyclist could be.

I highly doubt that she had any idea that she was endangering my life and the person I was riding with. She just thought it would be fun to try to scare the bicycle rider. People like that (and especially kids) don't really think that their actions might have consequences.

[Veronica]

They don't see you as part of their group so it's okay to be rude, try to intimidate, etc. Anything they feel they can get away with. Next time say boo back or some other goofy thing, but say it with authority. Straight authority however gets their hackles up. Most kids like adults with a sense of humor. But they are like dogs and they want to know where their place is and what's your place. Are you above or below them... because you're not part of the group, they want to intimidate and put you below.

It reminds me of when my classroom window got broken and I asked my students - 5th graders - if any of them had done something similar, broken windows, grafitti, to someone they didn't know. Probably 10 hands went up. And this is a good part of town. :( But it's okay in their minds to hurt someone you don't know. They are not part of the group. And it doesn't occur to them that someone they don't know may have feelings.

Communities are fractured, people are now afraid to discipline other people's kids, so the kids feel like they can get away with more.

Not all kids are like this of course. There are a good number whose parents are raisng them to have respect for all others, not just the members of their group.

V.

[tulip]

Do you change your route regularly? These kids might be waiting for you to have some fun. Change your route, even by a street or two, and keep things fresh and unpredictable.

I go through some rough areas, too. Having alteranate routes is a good, safe thing.

[Lise]

Tulip makes a good point, beta. Afternoons, those kids have nothing better to do. Even when they're back in school, they'll be out by the time you're riding. Be very unpredictable, and deny them the fun of planning what to do the next time you fly by!

[betagirl]

Yeah, I really should ride up to Diversey in the afternoon. Or at least take Lake street. Some days I just want to get home and my normal route is the quickest. Guess I should suck it up :D I do alter the times I go through though. But it's usually in the same range between 3 and 5pm. I don't think I'd want to go up or down 1 or 2 blocks though. The neighborhood is really sketchy, and Washington has a bike lane. Often there are crossing guards and chicago cops around. I'm not sure 2 blocks north would be better. The streets I mentioned above are other major thoroughfares that I've ridden, and certainly have fewer problems on.

[farrellcollie]

I have found that if I take out my cell phone and pretend to take a pciture of them - it tends to discourage them (My phone has no camera) - it does take my time and slows me down - but worth it to me - if I had a real camera phone I would take a real picture in case something did happen to me. I know I would almost never be able to pick anyone out of a lineup -kids usually wandered off muttering when I explain to them what I am doing and why (taking your picture to show police)

ps - I am a lawyer who does criminal defense - the girls are becoming more and more like boys in some types of crimes that they were not usually involved with in the past.

[Lise]

Beta--I agree that going N or S a couple of blocks in that neighborhood is a bad idea. I would have thought that Lake St. would suck for bike riding because of the train tracks over head. (or, more to the point, the beams that hold them up. Major obstacle course) Diversey, or, how about North Ave? That's what I take in the car when I go to my sister's. No bike lane, but it is a wide street.

Yeah, there are cops and crossing guards, but you know how it would play out. Doesn't matter if some kids stake you out and run in front of you deliberately. If you run down one of the kids, you're another rich suburban so-and-so who rides with reckless abandon, endangering the lives of inner-city angels. etc. :mad: Pisses me off that they mess with you that way, but it is the reality.

I love the cell phone idea, "I'm taking your picture to show the police".

[Geonz]

LIke Veronica said, you're "not in their group." (Or gang, as the case may be...)

[recycle613]

Way up here on the north side and into Evanston I have seen more and more street daredevils riding BMX bikes, wrong side or middle of street, no helmets of course. They run stop signs and lights, taking the middle of the street even with oncoming traffic. Usually it's groups of 3-6 riders together. Pretty stupid stuff. I haven't gotten any trouble from them when I'm biking.

I don't think they are thinking. They are just trying to seem cool to their friends. I haven't seen kids doing it alone.

[tulip]

On one of the street I take there are frequently lots of teenagers hanging out. One time, there were ALOT, and they were spilling into the street. I passed by, they saw me, and one put his hand out. I don't know if it was to me, or it was just a gesture, but whatever, I gave him a high five as I passed and he said, "She gave me a five!". Now I'm cool.

Of course, he could have easily taken me down, but I don't think he expected the high five.

[mimitabby]

good thinking Tulip!

[Sheesh]

I have a coworker who used to ride his bike through the West Side on his way to work, and the kids would sometimes throw rocks at him. Be careful!

[massbikebabe]

Boy:

Even our future society is screwed up eh. I'd grab the little ba$st@rd by the arm and drag him home to his loving mother. I have no time for cr@p like that and if my kids were doing it I would want to know about it. We have a little
creep like that in my area...cept he likes to play "chicken" with on coming cars. His mother thinks he is cute. Someday he is going to lose this game and I am going to have to limp out of my house and play nurse on his sorry butt.
I just hope nobody I know is the one to hit him. The person who does will never recover because he jumps out so quickly that they would have to have great reflexes not to hit him. We have called the police, etc., yet the game continues. Someday he will prove to his mother that he ain't that cute...sadly
it will happen when he is pinned under the wheels of a car. Today when I was trying to walk he tried to kick my crutches out from under my arms. I gave him the "mommy death stare" that my kids get and he took off. I am sorry to say I hate that kid!!!!

karen
blood still boiling over the crutch thing!!!

[Veronica]

That sounds like a seriously sick kid. How old is he?

V.

[massbikebabe]

V;

I totally agree, and have expressed my concerns to his mother who told me it "is a boy thing". I think he is about 12 or 13, he is two or so years younger than my son. My husband thinks this kid is responsible everytime a cat or dog is missing, sadly I fear he is right!! :eek:



karen

[Veronica]

I wonder if you could have called the cops for attempted assault when he tried to kick out your crutches.

I think his mother is living in Egypt on a big river.

V.

[Lise]

I have a coworker who used to ride his bike through the West Side on his way to work, and the kids would sometimes throw rocks at him. Be careful!
I used to live on Taylor and Racine. It was time to move when the kids from the projects across the street started throwing rocks at us. When I have to run to dodge the rocks being thrown at my head...I'm outta there. Huge irony: They tore down the projects. Now they're condos.

A lot of these kids have nobody to be hauled home to, or nobody who cares, or you'd be killed before you got to wherever you were trying to drag them. Some of those kids wouldn't mind using a cyclist for target practice, not at all.
.............................
Karen, I'm with you, that's not a "boy" thing, that's a sociopath thing. 12 or 13 is not too young to be charged with assault and battery.

[Sheesh]

Lise - I work at UIC and am amazed at the change in the neighborhood just in the three years that I have worked here. I can't even afford any of the condos that are going up where the projects used to be.

[Lise]

Lise - I work at UIC and am amazed at the change in the neighborhood just in the three years that I have worked here. I can't even afford any of the condos that are going up where the projects used to be.
I ran the Marathon last year, which took me right through that intersection. I was stunned to see that the projects were gone, and in their place there were...yuppie housing projects! Starting at 1/4 million $. WOW. How the times change. I lived there when Mayor Washington was first elected. Tense times.

[tulip]

V;

I totally agree, and have expressed my concerns to his mother who told me it "is a boy thing". I think he is about 12 or 13, he is two or so years younger than my son. My husband thinks this kid is responsible everytime a cat or dog is missing, sadly I fear he is right!! :eek:



karen

sounds like a call to DSS Child Protective Services to report neglect might be in order.

[betagirl]

Sheesh, I graduated from UIC in 1996 and too am amazed at the transformation of that area. I live in Oak Park, so my ways to get to school and work are limited. Honestly I can go up to Diversey and it's safer in terms of the "hood" element, but it's much more commercial and congested. So instead of kids it's cars. I don't know what's different about that stretch than the loop, where I have no problems riding in traffic. It also adds 3 miles to my commute, which is fine unless I'm in a hurry.

The west side has really changed in the past 5 years. The new condo construction goes all the way out to Homan now. The worst stretch for me is between Pulaski and Austin. I tend to have the most incidents around Central, where there's a stretch of apartment complexes. Thankfully I've never had anyone throw rocks at me! (knock on wood).

I really should take washington in the morning and diversey home. Perhaps this week I'll force myself to not take the "easy" shorter route home. I mean getting down to brass tacks, it is kinda stupid to ride through there :D

[Lise]

Unless you can perfect that vulture self-defense technique of projectile vomiting...:eek: ...now wouldn't that be a surprise on Washington and Central??!

[betagirl]

Well, I do have crohn's so I can projectile many things :D Ok, that was gross.

So today I took Diversey home. I don't know which is worse. I about got hit by a bus, a limo, and had 3 pedestrians walk in front of me. And that was all on LaSalle :D I literally said to the 3rd pedestrian "what the f--k?" Maybe it's a bad karma day. Though I don't think I did anything recently to set that in motion.

[Lise]

Well, I do have crohn's so I can projectile many things :D Ok, that was gross.

So today I took Diversey home. I don't know which is worse. I about got hit by a bus, a limo, and had 3 pedestrians walk in front of me. And that was all on LaSalle :D I literally said to the 3rd pedestrian "what the f--k?" Maybe it's a bad karma day. Though I don't think I did anything recently to set that in motion.
Hey, man, if they threaten you, I say they deserve whatever you can projectile at that moment!

I know, I had wierd traffic encounters today, too. A car that turned left with me next to him, and then just stopped dead in the middle of the lane once we'd made the turn. :eek: A number of near misses with pedestrians and bikes. I've taken to saying loudly, "Do NOT walk in front of me! Do NOT walk in front of me!" as they wander mindlessly into the street. Let's see, is it the moon? Sorry to hear it was a sucky ride home for you.

I tried to ride north on Sheridan, just for fun, but the pavement was so bad that I turned around at the B'Hai temple and rode back on Ridge/Western. I thought I was going to have to tighten every screw on the bike after that bone-jarring jaunt.