Well, the violent side of Chicago has not forgotten me before I left.
As I was riding my bike to Saturday's SGC Meet-N-Greet, three kids were on the sidewalk of the Damen bridge over the North branch of the Chicago River. I was riding by on my bike around 20 mph not thinking at all about the pedestrians as I rode by. Suddenly, my head was forced back with a very dull hitting sound and my right side of my jaw & cheek was numb. I looked back and one of the kids was in the street looking up at me as I continued to riding over the bridge.
I never veered out of the bike lane and easily continued riding in a curiously stunned state; I've never really been hit before. I thought about turning around, but no other confrontation was worth my time; I had better places & people to be around. As I was not really angry about the occurrence, I was more offended by the sheer pointless stupidity of it. So, I know now two more things: I can take a high impact hit to the face, the force was greatly magnified by the speed I was traveling, and an actual hit to the face does not sound as it does in the movies.
I asked notoriousDUG, at the meet-n-greet, if he heard of any bikers getting hit by a pedestrian, and he commented that he heard of a couple getting mugged after dis-biked. So, perhaps I had my first attempted mugging. Yet, overall there are many more easier ways to make a bike rider fall as they are going by. My cheek is still a little swollen but not as tender anymore, and there was never any bruising. I definitely could have done without this Chicago experience.
As I was riding my bike to Saturday's SGC Meet-N-Greet, three kids were on the sidewalk of the Damen bridge over the North branch of the Chicago River. I was riding by on my bike around 20 mph not thinking at all about the pedestrians as I rode by. Suddenly, my head was forced back with a very dull hitting sound and my right side of my jaw & cheek was numb. I looked back and one of the kids was in the street looking up at me as I continued to riding over the bridge.
I never veered out of the bike lane and easily continued riding in a curiously stunned state; I've never really been hit before. I thought about turning around, but no other confrontation was worth my time; I had better places & people to be around. As I was not really angry about the occurrence, I was more offended by the sheer pointless stupidity of it. So, I know now two more things: I can take a high impact hit to the face, the force was greatly magnified by the speed I was traveling, and an actual hit to the face does not sound as it does in the movies.
I asked notoriousDUG, at the meet-n-greet, if he heard of any bikers getting hit by a pedestrian, and he commented that he heard of a couple getting mugged after dis-biked. So, perhaps I had my first attempted mugging. Yet, overall there are many more easier ways to make a bike rider fall as they are going by. My cheek is still a little swollen but not as tender anymore, and there was never any bruising. I definitely could have done without this Chicago experience.
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It's good to know that you're there too.