What would you have done--creepy follower (long)

[skinimini]

This is such great advice for all of us, and advice I've already taken to heart. I've programmed the local PD number in my phone. Fortunately, the 911 operators stayed on the phone with me until my husband arrived. We only live about 5 minutes away by car, so my husband arrived quickly. In fact, the local PD called last evening just to check in. After I made the call, they surveilled the area, but of course, no one was to be seen. The interstate is only a couple of minutes away.

I've talked to my friend and asked her to pass on the information to her neighbors. I never thought to take his picture, but it would have been very easy and my phone is very accessible, right on the handlebars. The confrontation scenario sounds like a good idea, and probably just enough to make him turn tail and run.

I won't let this one incident interfere with my future rides, but I will certainly be more vigilant. I don't have a set schedule or route, so I'm not so worried about people picking up on a pattern. Of course, I can't really know his motivation or intentions, but he probably wasn't targeting me specifically. More likely, he thought he would have some sick fun scaring the pants off of a middle aged woman.

On an entirely different note: one good thing to come out of this is I learned very quickly how to get my front tire off and back on securely (no bike rack on DH's car) As many times as I've seen it done, never had to do it. There's a first time for everything!

[redrhodie]

We are all vulnerable to attack once in a while. During my vacation to Spain last week, I had a situation which luckily ended well. A man approached me, asked if I spoke English, and asked me to help him find a street on his map. My guard was already slightly up, but I apprehensively began to look at his map. We were suddenly approached by another man, who held out a badge and said "police" and asked to see our passports. I immediately got a rush of adrenaline and fear. Somehow, I got control of that, and asked to see the "policeman's" badge again (he had put it away really quickly). He took it out, and it was not a metal badge, but a patch. He was not in uniform. It just felt wrong, so I said "no!" really firmly, and quickly walked away.

I did not look back at first, but I was ready to run and/or yell my head off if I heard them coming towards me. I got out of there safely. When I did look back, they were gone. I have since read about similar scams, where they impersonate police to rob tourists, on the State Dept website.

You did great. Going to your friend's house shows you were thinking, considering your options, and you chose the one that made the most sense. The rush of adrenaline can be either incredibly powerful or immobilizing for me. I have been "frozen with fear" once in my life when I was a teenager, and I've held my head on several other occasions since then.

Always, always, always trust your instinct. When you feel like you're being followed, don't talk yourself out of it, and convince yourself it's your imagination. That's really easy to do. You're better off being embarrassed for being wrong than finding out you were right.

[papaver]

redrhodie, police badges in Europe are never in metal. But your instinct was right, a lot of crooks present themselves to foreigners as policemen.

[redrhodie]

redrhodie, police badges in Europe are never in metal. But your instinct was right, a lot of crooks present themselves to foreigners as policemen.

I did not know that. As I was walking away, I though if this guy is an actual cop, he might arrest me, but then at least I'll know he's legit.

[papaver]

I did not know that. As I was walking away, I though if this guy is an actual cop, he might arrest me, but then at least I'll know he's legit.

You don't get that easily arrested in Europe. But I'm pretty sure your insticts were right, so you did a good thing.

[papaver]

Another story (not cycling related), one of my best friends got assaulted one day when she wanted to retreive some money out of the machine. But she had a rubbish day all day long, and a guy had the genious idea to try to rob her with an iron stick. Before he even got the chance to take a swing she just grabbed this iron bar and hit him with it. He ran as fast as he could, and now that bar is hanging on her wall like it was a trophy.

And you have to know, she is a petite skinny little thing.

[Duck on Wheels]

A colleague once poked Trek in the back pretending to try to rob her while Trek was at an ATM. Trek has a 2nd degree black belt in Aikido, so in a fraction of a second that jokester gal was on her face on the sidewalk with her arm bent behind her back getting an earfull about what does NOT make for a good joke.