this is an email i sent earlier today to the teacher / mod of tonight’s #bikeschool tweetchat – this doesn’t give all the issues or details i’m dealing with, but it’s the thrust of the problem. posted here for background for the #bikeschool crew.
Darryl -
Long story to a short question:
I bought a great road bike (2004 Klein Aura V) back in November with several intentions, the main one being commuting the 7.5 miles from home to the high school I teach at here in Pensacola.
After 6 weeks of commuting (and loving it) I come to find out that I’m being targeted by a local gang that several students in my school belong to. A teacher at the school next to mine was severely beaten, bike destroyed, money, laptop, etc. stolen 2 years ago and left for dead in this neighborhood during his morning commute.
The problem: to go around this neighborhood makes it a 14 mile ride (one way) and takes me through an even worse neighborhood to the south. To the north is I-10. This neighborhood is bottlenecked through this gang’s territory and there’s no way around it.
I’ve searched high and low for sites with info on how to physically protect yourself while riding, but have found little to nothing on the situation I’m facing.
My wife, the school-based gang expert, the school-based sheriff’s deputies, and my vice-principal are all telling me not to ride to work. The teacher who was beaten two years ago says he’ll never ride to work again through that neighborhood. The guys at my local bike shop say a) carry a gun (no thanks) b) carry a knife (again, no) c) get pepper spray d) ride really fast and stop for nothing. (I should mention that being a high school teacher, it’s illegal for me to have a gun, knife, or pepper spray on my person on school property).
Dude – is there a solution to this problem that doesn’t involve not riding the bike to work?
Seriously, this has been breaking my heart.
Scott
Scott- although I haven’t had any incidents yet, I totally understand what you’re going through. I live and work in Akron, Ohio and unfortunately it’s far from safe in most of the neighborhoods I ride through. My solution has been to take the long way round but many times I can’t avoid the bad spots. It’s been suggested that I also carry a gun or a taser, but I’m not comfortable with that either. Plus, I’m also not permitted to have a weapon at my work. Since I’m a girl I feel even more vulnerable. I decided that as much as I love to ride, it’s not worth dying for (cars are enough). I will not ride through high risk areas alone. The rest of the time I dress like a bum and keep my eyes open and the cell phone ready. Good luck to you, I hope you can find a way through this.
Scott-
This is sad on a lot of levels, but that’s another discussion! Thought about this overnight. Couple of ideas for you, I hope:
1. You know who these kids are & your wife works with them. Is there any way to have a discussion with them on school grounds as to why this is important to you & how can they help you make this happen? It won’t be easy, I’m sure, but it could help.
2. Safety in numbers. Can you talk to some of the local bike groups/clubs & ask them to basically ride with you through the area each day you ride? Bike folks get your desire & reasons to want to continue riding this route more than anyone. Maybe you could even find an off duty cop to be in the mix who could carry a gun. And more than two of you, at least 5-6 of you.
3. Could you work with an organization that can offer these a way to get involved with cycling? Obviously they’re probably not interested in this route of structured activity, but thought I’d toss it out there. :)
Good luck – keep us posted on what happens!
Wow, that’s a tough situation – sorry to hear it. My first instinct was to say a combination of (1) safety in numbers (if possible) and (2) some kind of non-lethal weapons, if not a Taser then perhaps a heavy bike chain to swing, and double check whether a pepper-spray dog repellant like Halt or Mace Muzzle (I believe very similar to self-defense spray), and a kubaton-type pen, might pass muster at your school; and also (3) a bright helmet-mounted light like the MiNewt 250 lumens set to strobe could be effective pointed into an attacker’s eyes.
However, it partly depends on just how “serious” these gangs are — sounds bad, but not clear if most of them are gun-toting or not. If so, you could be hijacked before you ever get the chance to use your non-lethal weapons. Be safe.
Best,
Rob
Scott,
The more and more I think about this I can’t help but think how much this sucks! While I think a non-lethal situation would be best (school assembly addressing gangs led by leadership), it might make it worse…I don’t know. Does the community have a neighborhood watch group? You need to take some basic self defense classes, not one-on-one self defense either as there are different techniques to defending from a group as to an individual. Even then, those take months to master. Sound can be a great deterrent. If you can have some type of electronic noise devise (personal security alarm?) that blasts loud enough, it would help. Don’t know if that helps.