Pluck and Dash and Dealing With Ruffians

Hoopdriver

Having read a few stories lately about cyclists getting mugged and robbed of their pricey bicycles, and being aware of the possibility of such a thing happening on my own very early morning rides that take me through the centre of a rather rough town, I found a delightful reproduction of a 19th century book on the gentlemanly art of self-defense that includes a chapter on how to defend yourself if you're attacked by ruffians whilst riding a bicycle. While I'm not sure of the legality or even practicality of some of the more colourful ideas being suggested, it sure does make for an amusing read.

I've reviewed the book here:

http://my-bicycle-and-i.co.uk/2012/pluc ... -ruffians/

cornerblock

Take that rapscallion!

SimonAH

The last sounds like a combat use of the BikerFox Flip

rjsterry

Can't help thinking of the Golden Oblong of Pluck

Maybe I'm misreading it, and admittedly I've not been there that early in the morning, but I've ridden in plenty of places that make me feel more uneasy than Hastings.

Hoopdriver

rjsterry wrote:

Can't help thinking of the Golden Oblong of Pluck

Maybe I'm misreading it, and admittedly I've not been there that early in the morning, but I've ridden in plenty of places that make me feel more uneasy than Hastings.

I am sure there are plenty of worse places to ride than Hastings town centre early in the morning after the lads have had a big night out - but it is where I ride, and believe me at the hours I ride it can be decidedly dodgy. Not all the time, not even what you might call 'often', but often enough so that the prospect of getting rolled for a £3000 pound bike (not to mention the camera gear I carry) is something that goes through your mind. And indeed several times in the past couple of years I have been aggressively pursued through the streets, rocks thrown, beer bottles hurled etc.

A couple hours later, when the sun comes up, it's a different place.

rolf_f

Cornerblock wrote:

Take that rapscallion!

The one on the right is saying "Fight like a man you Rapha wearing fixie hipster!"

Hoopdriver

Rolf F wrote:

Cornerblock wrote:

Take that rapscallion!

The one on the right is saying "Fight like a man you Rapha wearing fixie hipster!"

Quite

CiB

Hoopdriver wrote:

A couple hours later, when the sun comes up, it's a different place.

Yeah see that's the downside of being a vampire.

MichaelW

rjsterry wrote:

Maybe I'm misreading it, and admittedly I've not been there that early in the morning, but I've ridden in plenty of places that make me feel more uneasy than Hastings.

I haven't.

We used to gave fun and amusement picking out the crime of the week in Hastings, usually some grisly beating, child snatching or police shooting of a naked ne'er-do-well. The best was an actual, back-of-a-motorbike, silenced pistol assassination by one "drug lord" of another "drug lord" for possession of one of the scuzziest estates in town.

I have actually used the bike-as-fence as illustrated above, in Hastings, to defend myseld against footpads.

Hoopdriver

MichaelW wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Maybe I'm misreading it, and admittedly I've not been there that early in the morning, but I've ridden in plenty of places that make me feel more uneasy than Hastings.

I haven't.

We used to gave fun and amusement picking out the crime of the week in Hastings, usually some grisly beating, child snatching or police shooting of a naked ne'er-do-well. The best was an actual, back-of-a-motorbike, silenced pistol assassination by one "drug lord" of another "drug lord" for possession of one of the scuzziest estates in town.

I have actually used the bike-as-fence as illustrated above, in Hastings, to defend myseld against footpads.

Ah - you know the place!

rjsterry

Hoopdriver wrote:

MichaelW wrote:

rjsterry wrote:

Maybe I'm misreading it, and admittedly I've not been there that early in the morning, but I've ridden in plenty of places that make me feel more uneasy than Hastings.

I haven't.

We used to gave fun and amusement picking out the crime of the week in Hastings, usually some grisly beating, child snatching or police shooting of a naked ne'er-do-well. The best was an actual, back-of-a-motorbike, silenced pistol assassination by one "drug lord" of another "drug lord" for possession of one of the scuzziest estates in town.

I have actually used the bike-as-fence as illustrated above, in Hastings, to defend myseld against footpads.

Ah - you know the place!

Drug Lord? I know you put it in inverted commas, but it's not downtown Ciudad Juárez, surely?

meanredspider

rjsterry wrote:

Drug Lord? I know you put it in inverted commas, but it's not downtown Ciudad Juárez, surely?

No - you'd never find a Mexican drug baron risking his life in Hastings

walkingbootweather

As we all know the bicycle as been the weapon of choice in Hastings since 1066



You can keep your pluck and dash - I've got a D-lock and cleats on my shoes