Epiphany #2

[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!