Bikes in the news again. And again.

If you read this site (or several other local forums) you know there's been a lot of debate going on lately over whether or not the Austin Police Department has been "cracking down" on the local cycling community, specifically in the downtown area. From one officer we hear threats of a crackdown, from another, denials, yet another, confusion. Honestly it's hard to know WHAT'S going on in the minds of the cops these days. I've never been the most fair OR balanced (I'd say I'm rather imbalanced at times) in my reporting of the situation, but finally someone whos opinion I actually respect and like to read has weighed in and reported on the situation. Daniel Mottola of the Austin Chronicle mentioned that he was investigating the issue last month, and here are the fruits of his labor:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A702481

Since Daniel is an ACTUAL NEWS REPORTER (and not just one of those pretend internet ones) he has SOURCES and counter-points in his story. With quotes from the APD, the League of Bicycle Voters, and the League of American Bicyclists, he's been able to cover all the bases and provide an honest, even report of the current downtown law enforcement situation. Without regard to right or wrong, I think his final sentence correctly sums up the overall attitude of the cops:

...there is one thing that's guaranteed: If you break the law in front of APD, you're getting busted.

This seems to be the bottom line, kiddos. Watch your 6 and if you're gonna run that light, make sure the po-po is nowhere to be seen.

Next up, a bit of harrowing news and this time it's ANTI-cyclist, and for good reason. It looks like there's a biker who's assaulting women runners on the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail. I'd heard about this guy last week via The Blotter, but it sounds like he's getting even more aggressive. The awesome ladies over at the Austin Ride Like a Girl Forum on BikeMojo passed this on from one of their running lists:

Below is a message that is posted on my running team;s weekly report. It was sent to our running coach earlier this week from Paul Carrozza, owner of RunTex. Please take his message seriously and be safe!

And PLEASE forward it to your friends who run or friends who have friends that run.

Runners,

A woman runner was assaulted at Town Lake Tuesday morning while running WITH HER DOG at 7am.

The assailant had followed her for a while on the trail, followed her to Auditorium shores and then waited (on a bike, watching her) until she went to the parking lot and attacked her there.

The police responded and said there have been several reports of the same person (fits the same description), and that he is getting more and more aggressive each time.

Description that I have obtained: thin, Hispanic, late-20s, riding a bike.

Be careful when you run (and please alert your friends about this report).

And note that running with a dog does not necessarily protect you - the latest victim was running with her dog. Run with a group of friends, or a MALE running partner, if you can. Lately I have been on the trail a lot at night (in fact, just last night I was out there in the dark), and the number of women I see who are alone on the trail in the dark is alarming to me.

The Blotter mentions that the assaulter was on a BMX bicycle, but 20s, hispanic, on a BMX unfortunately describes a rather large slice of the local biker population. Regardless, be vigilant on the trails and if you see something going down, it's U-Lock time.

P.S. Full Moon Cruise was AWESOME, and Mt. Bonnell AIN'T SHIT! Great ride y'all! It was good to see everyone who showed up, and I'd like to send out a special thank you to Kevin for organizing the route AND the keg.

Hope you heal up quick, Bruce!