Channeling my inner-thirteen-year-old girl self

Pretend this is a tree or outer space. It's less gross that way.

I’ve been channeling my inner-thirteen-year-old girl and obsessing over how I’ll look to a group of dear friends I see very infrequently. Our gathering has been planned for months, and I’ve spent the last many weeks gong from 168 to 145. I’m really rather proud of my aging self. I don’t have six-pack abs, but I don’t look bad for an old guy.

Then I got mugged. When I was knocked from my bike I knew I’d cut up my leg and broken some ribs. But I just realized I was also badly bruised on my left side around the waistline. I’m very swollen there. So swollen that it looks like I have a big ol’ pile of ugly blue muffin top fat exactly where I just lost it. Sure, it’s asymmetrical. I’m fine on the right side. But it’s still enough to disrupt the delicate draping of my tee shirts and creates a less than ideal impression.

I want a custom shirt with an arrow pointing that to my waist that says "NOT FAT" or to have Tricia quietly explain to my friends that it’s bruising. She’s offered to say “Curtis wants me to say…” which isn’t exactly the effect I was looking for.

This being a thirteen year old girl is sure mentally exhausting.

Antioch Police respond to my letter, and a book recommendation

Because I'm pretty much immobile I have plenty of time to meditate on my assault while bike commuting and even read a bit. Jennifer, a student from years ago and now a friend as well as an ace journalist, sent me a "recover-well" gift: The wonderfully interesting "Lanterne Rouge," a fascinating book about the men who come in last during the the Tour de France. It's well researched, well written, and a lot more compelling than you might guess. I'm enjoying it a lot.

I've also had time to write letters and emails. I wrote one to the Antioch Police Department with some questions about my incident and crime in general. I'll include it at the end of this post. Much to my surprise I got a response in the form a phone call from a Police Department representative.

I was surprised when she told me that my case isn't an Antioch Police Department case. The Delta DeAnza Trail is not in their jurisdiction. It's under the East Bay Regional Parks Police. The Antioch PD officer who took my report was taking a "courtesy report." It's not an Antioch case, so there is no Antioch investigation or followup. I didn't ask, but I'll bet it doesn't end up as a violent crime in Antioch's crime statistics. She told me that the report was forwarded to East Bay Regional Parks Police. Being relatively immobile right now, I may have the time to write them and ask some of the same questions.

I asked how big a deal a robbery with a gun resulting in an injury assault was. Her careful response was that being as this isn't an APD case it won't receive any further attention from them. When pressed, she said this is not an unusual event for Antioch.

I want to be clear I have no complaints about the Antioch Police. I don't know what more they could have done. I'm more concerned that I live in an area where a crime like this is not noteworthy in any way. I don't need to be the center of attention, but I wish I lived somewhere that this was so unusual it warranted  a newspaper story, warning flyers posted along the trail and just a touch of public outrage. Alas, that isn't the case.

At least I have a book to read...

Letter to the Antioch Police

Dear Antioch Police Department 

I was assaulted and robbed at gunpoint on Wednesday, July 29 as I bike commuted on the Delta De Anza Trail behind Turner School. The encounter left me injured and required a hospital visit. At this point I am still barely mobile. Antioch Police officer Amel Sahnic came to the scene and took the report, case number 15-7492  For the record, I suffered three fractured ribs, a large wound on my knee that required stitches, an odd shoe-sole cut on my head as well as other cuts and massive bruising. I hope to be able to return to teaching when the semester starts, but don’t know for sure. 

As a “regular old citizen” of Antioch I have little understanding of police procedure or perspectives. I really don’t know how you approach your jobs, or even exactly what that job entails. I don’t have any complaints, but I have questions and I’m hoping you might have time to answer a few.

I’m not sure how to word this so it has the right tone, so please read this with an open mind. 

How big of an event is this for the police and Antioch? I know it is for me, but have we reached a point where having a 61 year old college professor attacked, robbed at gunpoint and sent to the hospital is hardly news? That crimes like this are common enough that this one doesn’t even stand out? I have no expectations about what you should do, but would like to know if it’s now something unfortunate that happened in the past, or is this case a continuing concern. 

I’d also like to know if I’m part of a trend. Have there been other robberies or attacks along the trail there? If there have been, does it appear to be the same people, or different perpetrators? 

Has APD been able to make any efforts to increase safety along this trail? As a bike commuter, I hope to get back in the saddle as soon as I heal. The nearby roads aren’t bike friendly. I’m looking for information that will help me make decisions about my commute. 

Does APD coordinate or share information about incidents like my attack with other agencies connected to the trail, like East Bay Regional Parks or Pittsburg PD?  

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks in advance for any reply you’re able to make. 

Just in case you’re interested in my details, reactions and comments, I blog on my Curtis in Bicycle Land blog 

The story of my attack: http://tinyurl.com/onfftmh 

Followup: http://tinyurl.com/oald4oh 

Assault updates and some happier news

Tricia was on a mission in July. She wanted to see if she could average 30 mile a day. Tricia managed to ride every day, and also rode, if not 30 miles, almost 30 and often more. By the time August rolled around she'd logged 1012 miles — 1628 kilometers for you euro-oriented statisticians. That's about like riding Antioch to Yellowstone National Park –  a long way. I didn't photograph her accomplishment at the end as I was busy being a lay-about do-nothing. She had to shoot her own selfie out on Empire Mine Road.
 

In less interesting news, I visited Kaiser Hospital for follow a up on the injuries I suffered after being mugged on my bike commute. It turns out my cracked rib is actually three fractured ribs. Somehow having a larger number, and using the term "fracture" rather than "cracked" makes me feel better. It means that all this pain is real, and I'm not being a total wimp. It just sounds more serious.  I recieved this information when I visited Kaiser's "Minor Injury Clinic." Minor Injury? Really? Why can't they call it the "OMG, That Must Really Hurt Clinic" or something a little more supportive. Think how cool that would look on their sign, or a business card.

I've been through enough that I deserve a treat, right? So, with my breakfast Peets coffee and New York Times I'm having a slice Jaime's peach pie. #breakfastofchampions

A photo posted by curtis corlew (@cccorlew) on Aug 5, 2015 at 8:24am PDT

Bike commute assault followup

I was assaulted while bike commuting two days ago. I posted about it on this page. This is a followup to that post.

Tricia pointed out I always wanted a tribal tattoo or some cool ritual scarification. This weird mark, perhaps a shoe print, on my head, has me covered.

Questions I've been asked:
How are you doing? You rode your bike away afterward, so not too bad, right?
I think shock must have helped me ride away. I sure couldn't come close to riding now. Standing up it a real challenge. Walking hurts.

I foolishly didn't take pain meds last night (I guess I want to be tough.) I couldn't get out of my chair. I am amazed how much I hurt. Here's a photo of my bloody knee (as link rather than embedded image so you can skip it.) My cracked rib three fractured ribs aren't as visually dramatic, but it's what causes the most pain. It seems almost every movement we humans make connects to our core, and involves that area.

We all know the definition of "minor injury" is an injury that happens to someone else. I'm sure legally I'm "minor." But it happened to me, so it sure doesn't feel minor. It's difficult to predict the future, but I'm worried about the start of the Los Medanos College semester in two weeks, and wondering how I'll negotiate all that entails.

How am I doing? I wouldn't call it "OK." But I could be a lot worse.

Why didn't you get a better description?
It was all so fast. I rode almost past the two people, seeing only their backs. I could feel, or see in my peripheral vision an explosive move toward me, then boom, I was on the ground, and hurting.  All my memories from this point are disjointed and blurred, like an action sequence in a bad movie. I remember them yelling "Where's your wallet," waving a gun, and reaching into my jersey pocket to grab my phone. I have a flash of a shiny gun, and — this makes no sense — the other person holding, perhaps fumbling, with a hand full of bullets. The next thing I remember was them quickly moving away across the Turner School field, glancing over their shoulders.

I'm not military, nor do I have police training. My athletic-processor brain just isn't that quick (ask my tennis partners) and I wasn't expecting it. I just didn't see much, and I processed even less.

I did get a crime-stopper tip that I hope you'll never need: Note the shoes. People change shirts and jackets when running away, but not shoes. Alas, I remember no shoes.

Why didn't you track your phone?
I tried. As soon as I'd ridden to the hair salon where I called the police and Tricia, I used my laptop, their wi-fi and iCloud to "Find my iPhone." The bad guys had turned it off. It can't work with the phone off. I tried many times throughout the day, but never got a signal.

iCloud has a feature you can set that  issues a command to wipe (delete all data) on the phone next time it connects to the internet, which pretty much means next time it's turned on. I used that feature. I also set it to display "Please return to Los Medanos College Police Services."  In theory that's all it can do now. At around 1 A.M. I got an email informing me my phone was being erased. The date time on the message says 4:16. I'm not sure if that's PST or Eastern, or if it matters.

My phone also had a long password, so I'm reasonably sure my data isn't compromised.

Perhaps I should have used the "lost phone" feature that merely locks the phone and displays a message I could choose. It also would have reported the phone location to me. But I was still in a bit of shock, and was thinking it was more important I do what I could to not let any data fall into the wrong hands. And, really, are the police going to come screaming down upon some location I give them? I certainly wasn't going to go there and ask for my phone back.

My phone was insured, and a new one is on the way. I had a large deductible and need a new protective case, so I am out a bit of money.

I was surprised how smoothly dealing with Sprint, my cell carrier, was. The woman I spoke with was kind, sympathetic and made the process easy. The insurance part was a simple web page. Perhaps that's really all bad news in that so many phones are stolen they have the process down.

Are you going to keep riding your bike, and riding this trail?
I'm telling myself this isn't a good time to make decisions. Sure, I'll ride as soon as I can. How I'll commute, I just don't know. There really aren't any good alternate routes.  And, ironically, in the last two weeks Los Medanos College installed a very nice paved connector between the trail and campus. I'd been advocating for his path for years. Can I really not use it? I don't know what I'll do. I'm postponing decision making.

Could you have prevented this? Can you be more safe?
I've asked myself this again and again. I don't know. Do I reverse course whenever I see two young men if I'm alone? Is that practical? How unsafe is this area? Am I riding through a truly dangerous area every day?  I just do not know.

I know that if I'd had pepper spray, a baton or a Taser it wouldn't have helped. They'd likely have taken it away and used it on me. And heck, they had a gun. A GUN! That's option-limiting. I'm not a quick-draw artist. If I had a gun I'd have to ride with it in my hand to be ready. What could possibly go wrong? A gun just does not seem practical, or even a remotely good idea.

Friends
People have been so nice to me. And even though I'm a grumpy old guy, having my friends, relatives, and even people I don't know, reach out with a kind word, a short email, or a Facebook comment has made a me feel so much better. I really enjoyed the Editable Arrangement from Jaime and Ganesh. The fruit was good, and I used the helium to make my voice sound like a chipmunk. Tricia's taking good care of me, and even my kids Erin and Eddie came over to visit.

I got a wonderful get-better treat from Jaime and Ganesh! It's an Editable Arrangement and it's here just in time for lunch. 

I can't really move, so blogging and Facebook have been wonderful ways to fill the day with something more intellectually active than watching TV.

My questions about crime and life in general
Has Antioch come to the point where a 61 year old professor can be assaulted, injured, held up at gunpoint and it's just business as usual? I don't expect the PD to conduct a house to house search. Heck, I don't know what I'd like done. But the apparent fact that this is not a big deal at all makes me sad. That means it's not news. It's something that happens all the time. And that frightens me.

There's an old story that goes "How do you boil a frog?" The answer is that you start with cool water and then slowly turn up the heat. The frog doesn't notice until it's too late and can't get out. (Apparently this isn't really true, in reality the frogs just jump out.)  But I'm wondering about Antioch and myself. I love my house, I love teaching at Los Medanos College. I love being able to ride my bike to work. But at what point is enough too much? When did some Jews realize things were going south in Germany and bail out? Is it silly to stay, or silly to plan to spend money I don't have to move to somewhere that's farther away from work and that would give me an unpleasant commute (in a car!)?

And what about my fellow man? Do I live in fear of young men? Of people with short hair? Of people about 5'6"? Of people with any of the surface attributes my attackers have? What's prudent? What's paranoid?

My good friend Trine is so positive about, well, everything. She points out that while Antioch has problems, there are also numerous kind and caring people here. I'm trying to channel her good attitude. But, I find myself asking not if there are good people here, but rather, have we've reached a critical mass of not-well-meaning people? What is the tipping point?  Are we there or past it? As the Clash sang back in the 80s, should I stay or should I go?

The wind and rain

We've got some serious rain and wind this week in the SF Bay Area, but it doesn't stop Tricia from bike commuting. Wednesday is supposed to be the big day in the series of storms, and it sure is windy already. I'm glad she has lots of lights on her bike.


This video used to play. I have no idea what happened. I think it was a flash video linked from Facebook....

I'm so tired of fog

I am I am I am I am so freakin' tired of tule fog. Today it was much lighter, and I could actually see across the street, but all too often it's been at maximum density.

Here in Antioch, the Bay Area, but really on the delta near the edge of the valley, the fog won't stop. I'm not a huge fan of sub-40 riding, but I can do it. Toss in wet yucky fog and all the fun is gone.

Sea fog can be nice, it has texture. It comes and goes. It's sometimes playful.
The fog here is Stephen King style, dark and relentless, with no redeeming values.

Just to taunt us, it hangs in the low areas where we live, but leaves the peaks clear, just so we know what we're missing. Even a drive over Kirker Pass can reveal a sunny crisp sunglasses day before you descend back into the muck.

The dampness seeps into your clothes even more than rain. It collects on your glasses. It drips off your helmet. It makes you, even if you have a geek-style blinky light, invisible to the cars that seem to speed down the road beyond all reason.

In the "light" of the day, and I use the word light to mean "not pitch black" it's still a depressing gray of evil that looks like smoke, but without any warmth. In the dark it makes a hole in your heart.

Bring me rain. Or bring me sun. Bring me fluffy clouds. This has got to stop.

Fenderized at last

I gave in to winter and bought fenders for my commuter bike. I'd been stalling because fenders aren't cool, I didn't want to have to take them off when I go mountain biking, and my bike didn't look like an easy fit.
But wet is... wet, and just how cool did I think I looked before? So I went ahead. I got advice from the commuter forum to not get clip ons, so I went with Planet Bike Hardcore Hybrids. They were even on sale!

I'm not much of a modifier kinda guy, but the help I got on BikeForums.net made me brave.

I ended up drilling a small hole in the bottom back of my fork crown to attach the fender with a very short sheet metal screw and a bunch of washers.

I also bought longer bolts so I could fit the rack and fender in my rear eyelets. (Hardware stores have a zillion bolts that all look alike. Thankfully the hardware store dude was helpful or I'd have bought the wrong size)

I also used zip ties. Everything looks good and doesn't rattle.

The mounting process took way too long. I had thought I'd remove them if I was going to put on my fat tire wheels for mountain biking, but now I realize I'm never going to want to mess with the fender mounting pain again, so they'll stay on all year, forever.

I have discovered that taking the rear wheel off to fix a flat is now a bit of a pain.

I'm also sure I'm causing a drought by being prepared for rain. But at least my bike looks even more dorky than before.

Contra Costa Bike Commuter of the Year

Tricia was just named Contra Costa County Bicycle Commuter of the Year by the East Bay Bicycle Coalition! I am so proud of her, and she's pretty stoked herself.

We'll be attending their awards ceremony on Bike to Work Day.
Here's what the EBBC posted on their site:

Tricia is a school teacher at Antioch Middle School and is also a dedicated bicycle commuter. She started about three years ago, commuting when the weather was nice. Now bicycling has become her default mode.

Rain, shine, wind or dark she pedals to and from school, taking her students’ papers for a ride through Antioch. Every day she exposes her 140-plus students to the possibilities of bicycling. She parks her bike in her classroom where her students can see it.

Tricia is aware that she is a cycling model for her students. She's careful to obey traffic laws and doesn't get on her bike without her helmet. She even makes a point of hanging her helmet on her bike's handlebars in the classroom. She uses bicycle safety articles in her informational reading lessons. She encourages and inspires her students and co-workers to give bicycle commuting a try.

According to Tricia’s husband, Curtis Corlew, she influenced him and some of his colleagues at Los Medanos Community College to begin bicycle commuting. In a community where riding a bicycle can mean you can't afford a car, or aren't allowed a drivers license, Tricia's commuting is working to change attitudes and perceptions through a positive example.

EBBC applauds the positive examples that Tricia and displays. We know that there are thousands more of you commuting every day. Please let it shine!

Commuting by bicycle to Los Medanos College

I arrive at LMC just about dawn. We have a new solar collection system in the parking lot that looks like magic. All the different flavors of light combined with the rain create a very interesting effect.
That's me in my new rain jacket and geeky reflective helmet cover.

Commuter babe

Tricia moved from Dallas Ranch to Antioch Middle School, but she's still bike commuting. New this school year is her rack and trunk. It's a Topeak. The sides fold down to make room for more eighth-grade English papers than you'd ever want to haul home, much less read. Tricia rocks!

New commute record

This isn't a big deal, except for me.
I started commuting in September. It took 50 minutes to do my 8.19 miles. I've gotten faster and faster. I don't always hammer the ride, sometimes I just take it easy, so this isn't a daily test.

First ride: 50:00
Last PR: 34:50
New record: 29:35

Five minutes faster than my last PR and pushing twice as fast as my first day!

I also rode my new bike today. Usually I take my skinny tire commuter bike with light, but I'm leaving work before dark today so I took the road bike. Lack of wind helped too.
Still, it's a PR and I'm really stoked!

I promise myself a new bike

Here's the deal I made with myself: Get under 160 pounds and ride existing bikes 2000 miles and you are allowed to treat yourself to a new bike.
I'm now 155 (from over 190) and have about 500 miles to go to reach 2000.
I've started seriously shopping, and I think I'll roll the dice and get a BikeDirect.com bicycle.
If you want to read people going nuts, just say BikesDirect.com over at Bikeforum.net. They are either evil, or the answer to life. A waste of money, or the best deal in town. My plan: To find out, and blog it all here.
I'm looking really hard at the 2007 Motobecane Le Champion SL.
Along the way, I'll post about my commute experiences and other bikes. Let's see how it goes!