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news
Devon Road Bridge on Bristol and Bath Railway Path (licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 by Derek Harper)Cyclists threatened with knife by gang of youths on Bristol & Bath Railway Path
Cyclists using the Bristol & Bath Railway Path were threatened with a knife by a gang of youths on Saturday afternoon.
Police were called to the incident on the popular shared-use path, with one of the riders sustaining a shoulder injury when he was hit with a D-lock by a member of the gang.
A cyclist who arrived on the scene as the incident was unfolding in the Whitehall district of Bristol described what they had seen to the Bristol Post.
"Basically I got onto the path at Whitehall, heading towards town, and within seconds saw a big commotion happening on the far side of the Devon Road bridge.
"I kept cycling towards where I was headed and then saw bikes being thrown around and a bunch of teenage kids in the middle of it.
"About a dozen or so other cyclists stopped seeing that the path ahead was blocked, I continued on and saw the tail end of the incident.
"The [youths] headed quite calmly away from the scene towards the Greenbank/Whitehall turnoff, I'm not sure which exit they took.
“One of them confronted me saying 'what the fuck are you looking at?' and being generally threatening. Another of them said to him 'come on! The cops are coming'. Away they went.
"The cyclists who'd been attacked were obviously in deep shock, one had a painful shoulder injury, another had been hit in the head with the attacker’s D-lock and had a hand injury from where he fell off onto the ground.
"I think there were four cyclists in the group that was attacked, two of whom were on a day-trip cycle from Bath and were heading back that way.
"A local resident had heard the whole thing happening and called the police and ambulance immediately. About a dozen or so other locals were helping where possible too.
"Once I was sure that the injuries weren't overly serious, I headed off in the direction that the attackers left to see if I could find them but to no avail.”
"Incidents like this happen all too often on this section of the bike path, but they're usually in the darker hours. It was quite the surprise to see it happen in broad daylight."
Police confirmed that they had recovered a knife from the scene, but to date no arrests have been made.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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32 comments
"His stick-based self-defense was more practical and he ended up teaching ninja suffragettes" - - Now there's an epitaph to be proud of...
I feel the need for Tweed:
Mg.jpg
Is that Michael Palin in the 1971 sketch “Hell’s Cyclists win the Battle of Amiens”? Or have the Tour de France anti doping people got serious?
i also loved the cyclist’s pistol advert “I fear no tramp”.
Back to the OP, it seems to be saying that a group of ?four people were attackec by these ruffians in daylight??
And - may be of interest:
http://www.bartitsu.org/index.php/2014/12/self-defence-with-a-bicycle-italian-style-1905/
I did a bit of research into Barton-Wright and Bartitsu - he was ahead of his time. However, that bicycle self-defense is ridiculous; how are you going to position a bike quicker than someone can attack with a knife? (excepting Jackie Chan of course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SggXYXM0c8). His stick-based self-defense was more practical and he ended up teaching ninja suffragettes: https://vimeo.com/275968947
The bar mounted machine gun does look rather splendid (I want!) but it looks neither light or aero - may I reccomend:
Pistol.jpg
Surely this story serves as a timely reminder that a central database should be set up of all registered D lock owners.
Responsible D-lock owners always keep them in a securely locked cabinet for safety.
I think you will find that there is a dedicated D-lock police officer who checks that said cabinets are secure and appropriate.
I once made the mistake of using a D-lock to secure the D-lock cabinet and had the recursive police contact me.
There's a post on "Bristol cyclist" Facebook page dated 7th Aug 20:38, someone was confronted by about 10 black kids under 17yo near speedwell, and nearly kicked off his bike - description matches the youth involved in this attack apparently.
Be careful people.
I'll see your D-lock and raise you a potato masher
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It does not surprise me that this has happend. There are a number of kids who are afraid of more competent people riding faster than they can and overtaking them. Their fear manifests itself as agression towards anyone else using the path. They actually think they are policing the path. The adults who are responsible for them show the same ignorant behaviour and ride aggressively towards anyone who is moving faster than they are. Doing their best to block peoples way.
I say this as someone who uses the path every day. Something has to be done about peoples consideration for others. Pedestrians walk with their backs to the oncoming traffic and then paint 'shared path respect' everywhere. Do people not know there are pavements alongside almost every road? Do they have to use a shared path when they have a dedicated pavement just for them?
Careful with that logic or you'll argue yourself off the roads.
You're right. I have considered that. We are the lowest on the pecking order. Pushed off the roads by motorised vehicles onto cycle lanes that become 'shared use' then the pedestrians invade them and we have to deal with those hazards along with morons like those in the article.
Surely this is just about theft and violence for kicks with cyclists being an easy target rather than some sort of persecution of cyclists angle.
I really doubt that this is their motivation. It's more likely to be "People ride along here. People ride shiny bikes. Therefore people have money. I have a knife/gun/big stick and my mates. Therefore, I will take their money."
.
gun-bike-807x500.jpg
Spent so long attaching the gun that they put the saddle on back-to-front.
Just a guess but probably bored school hol 'yoof' just hanging out on the path and there was a minor collision/obstruction with the other cyclists that 'escalated'. That is the 'bandit country' section of the B2B path though. These incidents are pretty rare; gives people an excuse not to cycle to work though, "Bath to Bristol Bike Path....oooo, it's dangerous on there!". Ok 'chubby', you stick to your car then.
he was hit with a D-lock by a member of the gang
So it's cyclist on cyclist violence, nothing to see here. move along.
_
squirrel-with-m16-and-m203.jpg
This is what happens when you ban firearms.
This is what happens when you didn't ban fireamrs.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/03/02/us/school-shootings-2018-list-trnd/in...
WHOOOOSH!
Forgive me for asking (I'm a bit out of practice) but are you being sarcastic or are you just really stupid?
No, no, velo-nh has a point. The roles and expected behaviours are so much clearer to all parties when being robbed at gunpoint.
I know - it's incredible isn't it? It's like they were just waiting for guns to be banned and then WHAM, STAB!
If only there was some way we could un-ban guns now that we've learned our hard-won lesson.
The real reason we have banned guns is squirrels.
Fixed that for you, you missed a couple of nuanced points to your argument, but I've got you covered.
As an aside, I fail to see how the introduction of firearms would have helped in this situation; the youths are clearly below the age of holding a firearms licence, and even the most svelte 9mm pistol is still going to take up valuable jersey pocket space. Unless of course you're inciting an uprising against 'news' sources who fail to cite peer-reviewed sources nor implement spell-checkers.. *ahem*
Viva la revolution!
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