Pingouin Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 Hi guys, Over the past months, I have mostly noticed positive remarks on riding my EUC, however there were a few situations I wasn't prepared for, some that even made me think twice about getting out on my EUC, and probably what motivated me to get an ACM. So in general, the comments I get, you guys probably get them too, they are from impressed people. Sometimes though, I can get negative remarks especially from cyclists when they weren't able to predict my movements, and almost 100% of the time when they were riding on the bike lane but going in the wrong direction, I usually don't respond as I don't think getting in a fight is going to do any good to the EUC community. I also get negative comments, because of my age, some elders seem to think that I am lazy and don't think twice before telling me, I usually respond by asking them "If I were in a car, would you find it better ?". However, I had three "incidents", a group of young men (18-25) chased me at tried to push me off the EUC, I was with my mcm4 that tops at 22km/h in normal conditions but I tried to push it further that time to escape, one of them managed to push my bag, luckily they became exhausted and came to a stop, but it could have been very dangerous for me if I had fallen off my EUC, this could be considered as an agression, and I don't understand this kind of behavior. The second incident, I was riding my mcm4 on an alley after sunset, a guy came out of his black sportscar, took what I think was a rock, and threw it towards me yelling something I didn't understand, the rock smashed against the wall on the opposit side, according to the sound I heard, it had to weight at least 500g..can't imagine getting that in the face, or even in the body..after that incident I really considered buying a defense tool to keep with me. The third incident, this time I was riding my mcm4 along a bike lane, when a car with youngsters in it stopped at my level and cruised at my speed, spitting out their racist comments at me, moking me, until they decided to try to squeeze me into the cars parked at my right, I immediatly stopped and decided to ride on the pavement, I tried to check the plate of the car, but they accelerated too fast, my heart was beating very fast after that, and it took me some time to be able to get back on my EUC again after that (I took out my e-bike instead as it doesn't attract as much idiots). I also regularly get some racist comments, I did get them while walking or in the public transport sometimes but with the EUC it's more often. That isone of the main reasons I got a faster wheel (I still love riding EUC), to be able to pass people that I think can be agressive towards myself fast, and being able to outrun them quickly, and my ACM just feels safer than my previous wheels, I still have no issue riding with somebody else with my slower wheels or occasionaly, but not everyday for now. I wonder if you guys have had these kind of issues, or know somebody who does ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbfrese Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 That's awful. It's not like that where I live. Where do you live? I take it that it's somewhere in the UK since you call "the pavement" what we in the U.S call the sidewalk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 @Pingouin wow??? Where do you live? The maximum "bad" experience i got are comments like "moving yourself makes you sporty" or "this is not allowed" from some envy, life frustrated bicycle riders..... But that are max 0,1% of the normally nice and happy comments! Never ever experienced some aggressive movements towards me or racist comments...so hell yeah, where do you live? come over to me :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingouin Posted March 12, 2017 Author Share Posted March 12, 2017 19 minutes ago, dbfrese said: That's awful. It's not like that where I live. Where do you live? I take it that it's somewhere in the UK since you call "the pavement" what we in the U.S call the sidewalk. Just now, KingSong69 said: @Pingouin wow??? Where do you live? The maximum "bad" experience i got are comments like "moving yourself makes you sporty" or "this is not allowed" from some envy, life frustrated bicycle riders..... But that are max 0,1% of the normally nice and happy comments! Never ever experienced some aggressive movements towards me or racist comments...so hell yeah, where do you live? come over to me :-) Hi, I live in a french city unfortunately, I don't know if it's only a feeling, but I find french people to be very rude in general (I lived in the US for a while and never had an issue), the best way to avoid trouble is to be stealthy but the EUC ain't the best way to do that. I don't know maybe it only happens to me that's why I'm asking other riders, but I don't think it's very common.. (maybe it's because I'm a foreigner + young + small) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
US69 Posted March 12, 2017 Share Posted March 12, 2017 yip, this is -unbelievable- rude, what you described there!! Sounds more like hunting...then a riding. whatever you look like, how old you are, or whatever appearance you have, this behaviour is just bullshit..if ever possible, leave that place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Eisenman Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 What is Attempted Assault? Attempted assault is when an individual intentionally tries to physically harm another person or means to cause him/her mental distress. It is important for you to know your rights and how the laws can affect you. 3 hours ago, Pingouin said: a guy came out of his black sportscar, took what I think was a rock, and threw it towards me yelling something I didn't understand, the rock smashed against the wall on the opposit side, according to the sound I heard, it had to weight at least 500g..can't imagine getting that in the face, or even in the body..after that incident I really considered buying a defense tool to keep with me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingouin Posted March 13, 2017 Author Share Posted March 13, 2017 I did fill a lawsuit for the guys trying to knock me off with their car, never heard from the police...without the plate number unfortunately they couldn't do much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpong Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 No, this is not anywhere near normal reaction to a rider on a wheel. All of these incidents occurred in the space of "over the past months"? I believe that you are riding in an environment that is more dangerous than I would be comfortable with. I fear for your safety, based on what you have described, and the law won't help you. You may need to seriously consider changing your habits entirely. This doesn't appear to be a safe place to ride. You need to figure out why this is happening and change whatever is causing it before you are indeed seriously injured. Safety first. A defense tool is not going to help you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpong Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 "... they couldn't do much." --- exactly. You can't change the world, but you can only change what you do. Sadly, at this rate you are in real trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpong Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 I'm not a wimp, and neither are you. But if you are regularly getting racist comments, and people throwing things at you, and trying to run you off the road, man, then no fault of your own, you are in the wrong neighborhood. Sadly, these are the facts of life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villac Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 @Pingouin you were subject to harassment and assault (car/rock) in these incidents. It is not cool and I am outraged on your behalf. I live in Pennsylvania, US and the worst I have heard is "you are not allowed to ride that here". I would suggest that you don't ride in areas where you are in danger, but that may not be a possibility. I would avoid times, such as night, when criminal morons are more numerous. When you can, ride in a group, the cowardly will attack lone targets more than groups. Be sure that you have communication with someone at home or a friend so they know where you are if you are attacked and hurt. I use an app called Glympse so my wife can track my location, but it is so she knows how late I am, not because I fear danger more than a cut-out and smacking my head on the pavement! If you keep your phone at close reach you can call police quickly. Also, the phone is good to record video of anyone who is harassing you. If you do choose to carry self defense, make sure it is legal, non-lethal, and you practice with it: anything you carry could possibly be taken and used against you. I think the best defense would be to increase the number of wolves in your pack. The world has shitty people and shitty corners, and we can't let that stop us from chasing joy, but take measures to be safe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meepmeepmayer Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 Holy shit really? 4 hours ago, dpong said: I'm not a wimp, and neither are you. But if you are regularly getting racist comments, and people throwing things at you, and trying to run you off the road, man, then no fault of your own, you are in the wrong neighborhood. Sadly, these are the facts of life. 100% agree. You probably don't, but don't blame yourself for frustrated losers. Maybe you really should have some kind of weapon if that helps you feel safer (not that you would realistically use it, but mental state matters). Something you can visibly and quickly show if necessary. How about a small-ish rock? Nothing stops an asshole driver faster than (possible) damage to the car, for example. Or high range pepper spray? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Eisenman Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 57 minutes ago, Villac said: I live in Pennsylvania, US and the worst I have heard is "you are not allowed to ride that here". I lived in Pennsylvania (Near Sybertsville) and when I was a kid trying out for little league the best I got was sitting on the bench (for a long time) with no uniform. I quit Little League for the Soap Box Derby and haven't really been much of a baseball fan all my life except for when the Sox get into the series (I moved to New England). I'd go with: 5 hours ago, dpong said: You may need to seriously consider changing your habits entirely. because when the guys you describe get provoked a little self protection won't help you very much. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radislav Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 Wow! France has changed... I've never encountered situations you described (plus no racism in Russia and ex USSR whatsoever). People are quite kind and polite here. EUC riders are equaled to pedestrians by law, so we legitimately occupy sidewalks and bicycle ways keeping appropriate speed not to frighten anyone. We don't mess with cars and never ride along roads (except 1-2 known cases) - that's why drivers are not angry at us. The 2 rear cases of human assault I am aware of were when youngsters tried to hit the front of the wheel with a leg while you drive by. In my case, that was not an actual hit but just imitation to laugh in hope I would go nervous and fly out of my wheel (I sent him the "dickhead" and continued riding). The second case of leg stepping happened to my friend, that was not imitation, the youngster did actually hit the front part of the moving MSuper and... got the open fracture of his lower leg as a result. Some youngsters don't have any brain in their heads yet. Or it could be "vodka+redbull" case. I always keep the good distance to pedestrians and never ride much faster than they walk in the crowd - this obvious precaution shows them respect and prevents them from even thinking of possible rude actions, I believe. What bothers me more is dogs assaults. They don't like how the EUCs sound. But this is off topic here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f0dder1024 Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 That is all sorts of fucked up. Never had it that bad in the Seattle area. Not saying it couldn't happen here. There are areas I avoid because of the potential for incidents like yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerbera Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 Bloody hell ! That is way out of order - and on all those different occasions ! A one-off would be more understandable, but if you're getting that habitually, that's really not good ! And if you are in the UK, that really IS a surprise ! I've had idiots kick their footballs at me on 2 occasions (both times they missed, and I resisted the urge to pick up the ball and ride off with it ). I've also had a few of the 'lazy' comments, which are easy to ignore or reply to. Once I was chased by a large group of kids, but they weren't going to hurt me if they caught me; they were entirely interested in seeing if they could keep up and having a laugh - there was no real hostility at any point. Occasionally I ride down in Portsmouth / Southsea, which can be a dodgy area, and, aware of this, on very rare occasions I have stopped and turned round to avoid large groups of drinking youths that I have spotted before they have seen me. Just the once, an angry man deliberately backed into my ride path to make the point that he didn't think I should be riding there (I had permission in this instance), but there was no threat of violence, despite quite a high level of animosity from the guy... There is at least one rather worrying thread in this forum where people have overheard guys weighing up whether to assault the rider and steal the wheel, but generally, IME, it's mostly positive reaction, or limited to passive resistance, eg tutting, and the occasional cat call from the people who find us annoying. Even when I am on the pavement / sidewalk, a few people in cars beep their horns at me, some in support, some in criticism, and some in the hope I will fall off when surprised So you have my sympathy dude - nobody should be having to put up with that for just riding about on a single wheel. I hope we haven't got to the point where we need armour for other that EUC safety reasons !! CBR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jag_Rip Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 Horrible people! Get yourself a Helmet and put a camera on it, if they see your cam they hopefully think twice. And the helmet is never wrong anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerbera Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 23 minutes ago, Jag_Rip said: Horrible people! Get yourself a Helmet and put a camera on it, if they see your cam they hopefully think twice. And the helmet is never wrong anyway. Yeah, good plan ! Whenever I go anywhere that I think might be even slightly dodgy, I've got a GoPro on record all the time I'm riding. It may also help, deterrent-wise, to mount that camera on a big, heavy duty metal selfie stick, although of course that could go very wrong very quickly if someone violent and intent on a fight ever got that off you, and of course I am in no way condoning the use of that as a weapon... merely speculating that it might make someone less likely to choose you as a target if you have one with you. Of course it's always better to run away if you can (Not dogs - you have to stop and face them!) If only the acceleration on my MS3 was a bit more impressive. It can outrun people and animals, and even cyclists, but only if you get a really good head start ! Standstill to 'fast enough to escape running adults' just doesn't happen on my wheel. I was rather hoping I still lived in a society where that didn't matter... apparently not hey ? So what can we do if we feel truly threatened ? Pepper spray ?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Westland Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 12 hours ago, Pingouin said: I also get negative comments, because of my age, some elders seem to think that I am lazy and don't think twice before telling me, I usually respond by asking them "If I were in a car, would you find it better ?". However, I had three "incidents", a group of young men (18-25) chased me at tried to push me off the EUC, I was with my mcm4 that tops at 22km/h in normal conditions but I tried to push it further that time to escape, one of them managed to push my bag, luckily they became exhausted and came to a stop, but it could have been very dangerous for me if I had fallen off my EUC, this could be considered as an agression, and I don't understand this kind of behavior. The second incident, I was riding my mcm4 on an alley after sunset, a guy came out of his black sportscar, took what I think was a rock, and threw it towards me yelling something I didn't understand, the rock smashed against the wall on the opposit side, according to the sound I heard, it had to weight at least 500g..can't imagine getting that in the face, or even in the body..after that incident I really considered buying a defense tool to keep with me. The third incident, this time I was riding my mcm4 along a bike lane, when a car with youngsters in it stopped at my level and cruised at my speed, spitting out their racist comments at me, moking me, until they decided to try to squeeze me into the cars parked at my right, I immediatly stopped and decided to ride on the pavement, I tried to check the plate of the car, but they accelerated too fast, my heart was beating very fast after that, and it took me some time to be able to get back on my EUC again after that (I took out my e-bike instead as it doesn't attract as much idiots). I found your story surprising and disturbing; and I'm sorry that you have had these incidents. Comments I have received when riding my EUCs in Chicago have been only positive, and generally inquisitive. Chicago is a racially diverse community. If you believe our new president, you might think we were always at each others' throats. But this is anything but the truth. I get inquiries and start conversations across the spectrum about my V8 and Zero, and in general how difficult it is riding it, the learning curve, where to buy (I always tell them to contact @Jason McNeil) etc., etc. I'm a 67 y.o. Caucasian, and I would say the majority of questions I get are either from other guys my age, or from teenage to 20-something guys, pretty much from across the racial spectrum (I'm also a hit with grade school kids). Inquiries are enthusiastic, supportive and always very positive. When I had my accident on my Zero last year, the first person to attend to me (and who stayed with me until the ambulance came) was a Latino 20-something who was simply wonderful. Chicago is a great, friendly city, with the sort of engaged, supportive and diverse neighborhoods that would make it difficult for me to consider living anywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodman Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 Sorry to hear things like this still happen in this day and age in a first world country. Aren't we all human beings born on the same blue planet, humans are just bad there is always something to discriminate against be it race, colour, sex, age and so on. I wish you safe travels and never let things like this stop you enjoying what you like. Many people here have all offered some good advice, there is still good left and with that comes hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingouin Posted March 13, 2017 Author Share Posted March 13, 2017 Thanks for all of your replies ! So to answer your questions, it doesn't happen in a specific area, it can be in the city center or the suburbs, it's unpredictable, it doesn't happen often in my neighberhoud, and for now I can't move in another city (maybe it's also the same in other cities btw) I though about pepper spray just for confidence, but it's against the law here, plus I don't think it could help me if there is a bunch of agressors, and I could be charged for assault..for now my only solution is to take chances, or to go with the ACM which can go fast. I don't go fast near people, I do not cut their routes, I do not look at them in an agressive manner...I don't think I'm doing anything wrong, and when I suspect people to react badly, I take another path, but I can't always figure that our before it's too late unfortunately. The idea of having a gopro is not bad, the only issue is that the for long trips the battery will die on me ^^ plus I need to buy one because I don't have any (I do have a dashcam in my car but it needs to be plugged in), but the idea is interesting. For now, I do not dress like robocop because I feel stupid but maybe I'll do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerbera Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 30 minutes ago, Pingouin said: For now, I do not dress like robocop because I feel stupid but maybe I'll do it. I do dress like Robocop, and sometimes wish I didn't While I do feel very armoured up and relatively safe in the event of a fall, there is no doubt that a pressure suit / body armour draws more attention than not wearing it, or wearing a coat on top of it. Like with EUC's themselves, most of the comments you get come from younger kids, who shout things like 'Hey, cool boots !', and 'Yay, space guy !', but there is another group of slightly older and much more cynical youths who will seize on the fact that you look different or a bit 'special' as an invitation to come over and hassle you. Sometimes it's good, interested hassle, and sometimes its belligerent and unpleasant to deal with hassle. Also makes you stand out more to police in countries where EUC is not yet allowed, and makes people think EUC's are more dangerous than they are because why else am I so comprehensively armoured up to go shopping ? So, swings and roundabouts on the robocop look, perhaps best to wear something black and unassuming over the top of whatever riot gear you've got going on underneath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roue Libre Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 I personally live around Brussels. Comments are usually quite good. However people sometimes have strange behavior. Recently a woman walked fast towards me, like she wants to collide with me. I instinctively stepped down the EUC, causing it to fall. The woman went away like nothing happened. Was strange, but I didn't encounter agressions. However I know this might happen. Technology make people curious at first. Later on, they often reject it like "we live better without those gadgets". Especially in Europe where people are not really fast tech adopters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehab1 Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 I am so angry to hear what you are experiencing while trying to enjoy your ride! Thank God I have not encountered in my country what you have been subjected to. It would be nice if a bunch of us could make our way to your French town and ride as a group! It would definitely be a deterrence! I would love to stop and talk to these guys and gain some insight as to what their issues in life are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingouin Posted March 13, 2017 Author Share Posted March 13, 2017 7 minutes ago, Rehab1 said: I am so angry to hear what you are experiencing while trying to enjoy your ride! Thank God I have not encountered in my country what you have been subjected to. It would be nice if a bunch of us could make our way to your French town and ride as a group! It would definitely be a deterrence! I would love to stop and talk to these guys and gain some insight as to what their issues in life are! I haven't ridden in the US, but when I lived there, I never have had any issues, except with french guys once (lol). It never happens when riding as a group, these guys loose there balls when there is a sligt risk for them, maybe the only thing would be to surprise them by fighting back, but I am not a fighter and I don't belive that violence solves anything, and verbal responses are likely to turn into an escalation of violence :/ From what I have seen, it's mostly people of my age or a little more who act stupid, maybe my generation is truly disrespectful, or maybe I lost by objectivity donnow.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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