I've been pulled over twice. Once was in the 70's when I was stationed in Germany, for not having a bell on my bike - I went out the next day and bought a Mickey Mouse bell, which I still have. The second time was on campus in Santa Barbara - I had walked my bike down a sidewalk, got to where it crossed a service road, turned down it and walked a short way from the pedestrians and mounted my bike - and was immediately stopped by a foot cop who told me I couldn't ride there. I asked where the sign was and he pointed 50 feed down the road to worn, greasy, nearly invisible 'walk bikes' sign painted on the pavement, in the right lane approaching the road crossing and facing the other way. As we talked, dozens of other bikers did exactly as I had done and rode away from us over the backward 'sign', so I asked him why he wasn't stopping them. His reply: "Ever been duck hunting? You can never get all the ducks. I got you." Since it was such a bogus stop and the cop was a dick, I went to court to contest it on the grounds that the sign was obscure and poorly placed, that it was in fact a road, and I think I got the fine reduced from $50 to $10. On Saturday, September 12, 2020 at 7:43:23 PM UTC-4 Joel wrote:
> I was out today riding one of my usual routes. I had just gotten back on > the bike (my Bleriot) after stopping to adjust the angle of my Albatross > bars. I was pedaling and all of a sudden out of my mirror I saw some lights > flashing and I pulled over. I got off the bike as a very young officer > walked over to me. I asked him if I had done something wrong, maybe riding > to fast (yeah I know being a wiseass is not really a good things). He asked > me if I had just come from a street which was one I was actually heading > towards.. I told him no and explained where I had ridden. It seems some guy > asked a lady for directions, there mush have been more to it, he was on a > bike, and I fit the description I was told. I was wearing a short sleeve > gray sweat shirts as it was an unusually chilly day today and a Rivendell > cycling cap from years ago. Another officer arrived smiling, he was the > officer in charge. I put up my hands and said it wasn't me and he started > to laugh.He explained to me they were looking for a guy in a gray members > only jacket and a baseball cap with dark hair, my hair is silver/white. > > We talked for a few minutes, they apologized and I said no need. I went > back on my ride and now was on that street wondering if a woman would come > out of her house chasing me. > > In a way I had a good laugh but I wonder what this guy did to make this > woman call the police. This was not my town but 2 towns away in CT while I > live in MA. So something was up. > > So I wonder if any of you have ever been pulled over on your bike? > > Joel > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/62da45a8-30e1-4376-ad9b-3b762843026an%40googlegroups.com.
