Baltimore Velo has recently heard reports of incidents involving violence against cyclists. Here’s one:
I came upon a dude crouched in the bushes, directly behind the road barrier on Falls Road tonight. He was on the lefthand side of the curve just above the bike trail and under the bridge. I saw the top of his head facing the road when I was 4 feet away from him, got back on my bike and bolted back down the hill. I hear a dude (this guy i assume) is into jamming sticks into people’s spokes and then mugging them once they crash.
And another, from L’équipe de Cyclisme, Baltimore County
On Monday, an unfortunate event occurred where one of the LCBC riders was assaulted on Franklin Ave during the Fed Hill Race Pace Recovery Ride. During the downhill descent on Franklin Ave, heading back into the city and towards Pratt, a group of kids jumped into the middle of the street, forcing Andrew Stroup to slow down. As he reached them, one kid grabbed his bike while the other hit him in the head and was then thrown into a parked car. Fortunately, Andrew wasn’t badly injured and his bike only suffered a crooked shifter.
As Andrew composed himself from the incident, he went to confront the kids who quickly ran off. The neighbors came out and helped him clean up before he got back on his bike and headed into Baltimore and then home. It’s sad to see this type of random act of violence in Baltimore and even worse when people accept these events as commonplace circumstance. Andrew was told these type of occurrences aren’t uncommon when the kids aren’t in school, noting “kids in July.”
Be extra cautious out there.