Epiphany #2

[betagirl]

Well today was interesting. As you may know I commute through a rough neighborhood in Chicago. The stereotypical "south side" of chicago as being the bad part of town isn't all that accurate. The west side, where I go, will give the south side a run for its money. Though the route I take has gotten better over the past 5 years. 5 years ago I'd never have gone the way I do. It boils down to being lazy or procrastinating so I can't take the "safer" route which adds 5 to 6 miles to my 10 mile commute, each way. The safer route is less ghetto but more congested.

Anyway, today I had a flat from my previous commute at home. So I located the glass and changed out the tube. I've had several flats since I started this route because of the piles of broken glass that litter most of the bike lane. This one was on the front tire, which was a first. The rest have been rear and happened on the road. Ok, so new tube ready time to haul butt into school. I had a hard time getting the tire off (see my "dirty" thread on the open forum). I thought to myself "should I bring my tool just in case?" Nah - what are the chances of getting another flat? Yeah that was dumb.

I was only about 3 miles into my commute when I got that familiar wobbling feeling. Front tire is flat. Of the entire route, I was in the absolute worst part. I try to ride close to the train so in case of emergency, I can get over to a station pretty quickly. This spot (Lise - 1 block east of Cicero and Washington) was in a section at the furthest point from the 2 train lines I have available. All I could think was "oh sh*t." I couldn't get my front tire off very fast. As I stood on someone's front lawn, I started to draw a LOT of attention. One guy came out of his house and asked me from across the street if I needed help. I was like no I'm ok, thanks. A woman came up shortly after and said "girl you better hurry up" and offered to stand with me as I changed the tire. After that it dawned on me I had to get out of there. But the blue line (train) was 4 blocks south. Walking it was out of the question. So I pumped up my tire and knew it would only hold for a little while. I got more unwanted attention as I slowly pedaled to the train straight south down Cicero Ave. I was going 9mph on my rim :D

I get to the train, and it's 8:50 am. My class is at 9am, and it's the first day. Thankfully I know the professor so I'm not too freaked. You can't take your bike on during rush hour, which goes til 9. I tried to schmooze my way on without any luck. So I agreed to wait. Then it dawned on me that my farecard was probably empty. I checked it, and had 5 cents on there. I had no cash. It's not like I could go to an ATM. So I had to call my boyfriend to come get me and drive me to school. I ended up 45 minutes late, dirty, and a combination of annoyed and shaken. I don't get spooked very easily, but today I was just happy to get out without incident. My other flats occurred in less shady areas or really close to the train where I could walk quickly and be there in a few minutes.

So I've officially thrown in the towel on that route. When I commute, I'm taking the long way. It may be more congested, but it's better than the bi-weekly flat tires that leave me in potentially dangerous spots. It only took me 8 times to learn :D

[mimitabby]

wow, sounds like newark, nj (my place of birth)
I stopped at a gas station for gas once right off the garden state parkway on one of my many trips to the east coast to visit my family and this nicely dressed gentleman came up to me and said "you really shouldn't be here!"
my response was HECK I WAS BORN HERE, but he looked so concerned that
I just left.

[Geonz]

Whew...... yea.... sounds like you should proceed in life as if those roads don't exist. It's occupied territory.

[Lise]

OMG, beta. OK. 8 times and you figured it out without major incident. Good. Perhaps the scariest part is the lady saying you'd better hurry up. It makes me think of jackals around a wounded animal. MAN it pisses me off that we have to be afraid in our own city. Afraid to ride our bikes.

Back when you were first talking about taking that route, we never thought of glass in the street = flats = being attacked. Interesting that it's that which made your decision, ultimately. We always assumed you'd be able to keep moving.

So you've convinced me to:
1. stay off the iffy streets when I ride to OP
2. always carry all the tools I might need
3. keep that $20 hidden in my bike bag, no matter how much I think I need to "borrow" it one day.

Good thing the BF could come pick you up. What a crappy feeling to be at the CTA with .05 on your farecard and no cash, a bike with a flat, in hostile territory. Do you get the same number of flats when riding the longer route? I'm guessing no.

I'm glad you made it through, ultimately OK. (((beta))) L.

[annie]

Sounds like a dangerous jungle out there, Beta! So glad you escaped undamaged! Makes me appreciate my little town all the more........

annie

[Duck on Wheels]

Sounds like a dangerous jungle out there, Beta! So glad you escaped undamaged! Makes me appreciate my little town all the more........

annie

And yet, at the same time, there's a strong element of neighborliness in that lady standing by you and advising you not to spend more time there than need be. Also the guy across the road offering to help. Yeah, it could be he was offering to "help", but it could also be he was actually offering to HELP.

I was just in Durban, ZA, for a conference. We were constantly getting warned NOT to walk ANYWHERE, at the very least not ALONE and NEVER after dark! And yep, sho 'nuf, 10 conference attendees (out of 3000 or so) got mugged in the course of the week. But then too, one of my grad students (who at 2m tall doesn't feel threatened by much) did walk around the iffy neighborhood where his cheap hotel lay, and complete strangers came up to him, asked if he was from the conference that had had those muggings they'd read about in the paper, and apologized on behalf of their whole city. So there are good folks out there too. And most of the "bad" folks are not so much bad as desparate. So maybe there's hope for the world if we could just do right by one another. Like, maybe it would help if the city would send in street cleaning equipment, if only as a symbolic gesture that folks there deserve clean streets too.

[betagirl]

Hey Duck, you're take is pretty much mine. I didn't want to not ride through there because of the bad element. It's a very residential neighborhood, with families and children. It's just poor, and the societal ills that come with that. As for the street cleaning, the city does sweep through there. I've come up on street sweepers before. The residents also try to sweep in front of their homes on the street. I just don't think they can keep up with it.

The guy who came out of his house to help I don't really doubt that he wanted to help. I just didn't think there was anything he could do. I did say no thank you very nicely and resumed working on my tire. The same with the woman who stopped by me. There were times I wondered while riding if someone knocked me off or the like, would people come to my aid. Part of me was sure they would.

Speaking of getting knocked off, as I relayed my story to a friend at school she told me about another student who was riding a few blocks north of my route, and got knocked off his bike by some teenagers. When he got back on to ride away, they knocked him off again. They apparently shot a paintball gun at him initially and he thought he'd actually been shot.

So, while I don't want to shy away in fear, there's a fine line between being open minded and stupid :) Today I start my 15 mile commute instead of 10.

[Bex]

This isn't a bicycle story, but one time when I was traveling alone, I stopped at a gas station in a bad part of Birmingham, AL. I guess I was just stopping for something to drink, because I'm now remember that I was parked on the side of the building. Before I took off, I popped some sort of herbal pick-me-up (I used to be big into the herbal stuff), and I hear this "psst ... psst" ... I look up and there's a "gentleman" in another car behind the building, and he asks me if I have any more pills. WHAT??? I told him it was a vitamin, and got myself out of there quickly.

I recently had a problem with my rear wheel on my way in to work, and not having the proper tool with me (shame on me) and this being the second time I had to stop and try to fix the problem, I called work and someone was coming to get me. While waiting, a gentleman pulls up and asks if something's wrong with my bike. I told him I had a ride coming, but thanks. He went on, circled the parking lot, then approached me again in his car, asking if I needed help. I said, "No, I'm fine, I'm fine" - he yells out, "Yeah, I know you're fine, that's why I came over!" OK, bubba, BYE BYE, go away!

[Kitsune06]

Just curious... Do you guys use Slime in your tubes?
I've noticed that while, yeah, it does add some weight, I feel totally naked without it. I've never had a flat while running tires with it in (or have gone flat only to pump it up again, go a mile, and have it sealed)

I just can't imagine not using that or kevlar belting or SOMETHING on routes that shady/dangerous/whatever.

a few grams of protection are worth lots of oz of mace, I think

[betagirl]

I don't use slime. I've heard mixed reviews on it, mostly bad though. The kevlar tire does a better job, but even with that I've gotten 1 flat. But that one is one of those was it glass through the tire or a valve stem issue. What I do know is I don't need to use performance tubes any more.