Late Night Harrassment near Shell Station

[braeburn]

Tonight I went to the Shell Station to get beer and a carton of cigarettes. After paying for my stuff I was brought into a barrage of bicyclists, a dozen or so waiting by the front door. I stood there for a good 2 or 3 minutes hearing the ridicule of "who I am" and "what I am" and to "keep drinking" before I decided to walk away. What they were all saying about me brought me to tears, which I still possess as I write this.

Bags in hand I walked down Beaver two blocks when two of the bicyclists in the group rode by and slashed my bags. My Cigarette packs and the beer I bought spewed as they spilled on the sidewalk. I collected all of them by taking off my shirt and "bagging" them all up on my return to Shell to get new bags.

I have never been more crushed.

[Noone]

Did you call the police?
2:52 am
What time were you at the Shell?
Surveilance cameras at the Shell?
Was there an organized padlling event with over a dozen cyclists? Hope they were cycling during daylight hours.
Sorry to hear about this and its not right.
Keep us posted.

[TheProfessor]

Sounds like a personal attack...Bike Ninjas?

[peestandingup]

Ugh, something like that would have caused me to get all Charles Bronson on their ass.

[Overstreet]

Bicyclists in cool max, on $2,000 carbon fiber road bikes?

[Captain Zissou]

Sounds like the midnight mass crowd.  I saw them leaving Underbelly at about 11:40.  There's about 30+ hipsters that meet up and ride around riverside and downtown on Thursday nights.  Usually their peaceful, but I heard they are having some special event this weekend, so maybe they brought in some unsavory characters.  I'm so sorry that you were treated so poorly.  I know a couple of the kids who were in that group, so if you decide to press charges I'll try and help you get to the suspects.

[jcjohnpaint]

what the hell are wrong with people?  This is terrible to hear

[sandralark]

I rode midnight mass last night and there were no such incidents. I can't speak for everyone who attends those specific rides, but for the most part, we're not out to cause havoc or hurt anyone at all. After an hour or so, everyone goes off in their own directions and I can't vouch for them once broken off from the pack. For the time I was with the crowd, however, from about 10 pm until 2 am, all was friendly and harmless.

Regardless of whether the mass crowd was responsible or not (like I said, I can't vouch for them all!), I am so sorry for the harm that was caused. What a true shame that this is how we residents treat each other.

Again, SO VERY SORRY! Not all us riders are bad apples, I assure you!

[904Scars]

I rode midnight mass last night and there were no such incidents. I can't speak for everyone who attends those specific rides, but for the most part, we're not out to cause havoc or hurt anyone at all. After an hour or so, everyone goes off in their own directions and I can't vouch for them once broken off from the pack. For the time I was with the crowd, however, from about 10 pm until 2 am, all was friendly and harmless.

Regardless of whether the mass crowd was responsible or not (like I said, I can't vouch for them all!), I am so sorry for the harm that was caused. What a true shame that this is how we residents treat each other.

Again, SO VERY SORRY! Not all us riders are bad apples, I assure you!

Welcome to the forum Sandra! 

And I agree, as I know most of the crowd that attends Midnight Mass and couldn't see them doing that. Most of them have the upmost respect for the urban core and those that live within it. This is a very unfortunate situation however, as it only tarnishes previous statements I have made about the young crowd in the core.

[L.P. Hovercraft]

Wow--sorry to hear about that Braeburn!  What a bunch of a-holes!
I'll echo what Sandra wrote though--I'd (like to) think most bike riders around here are usually cooler than that kind of schoolyard crap.

[Ajax]

This is heartbreaking and I'm sorry that it happened to you, braeburn.  I'll spread the word and hopefully someone knows who these jerks are.  I'm sure the majority of the midnight mass riders would not want to be associated with a-holes like these. 

[904Scars]

This is heartbreaking and I'm sorry that it happened to you, braeburn.  I'll spread the word and hopefully someone knows who these jerks are.  I'm sure the majority of the midnight mass riders would not want to be associated with a-holes like these. 

I for one haven't rode midnight mass in quite some time but I like many others frown upon this behavior. It's pointless and only adds to the negative image most Jacksonvillians have of downtown. First it's the transients and now it's a few misguided youth on bikes. Real bummer 

[ChriswUfGator]

Sounds like the midnight mass crowd.  I saw them leaving Underbelly at about 11:40.  There's about 30+ hipsters that meet up and ride around riverside and downtown on Thursday nights.  Usually their peaceful, but I heard they are having some special event this weekend, so maybe they brought in some unsavory characters.  I'm so sorry that you were treated so poorly.  I know a couple of the kids who were in that group, so if you decide to press charges I'll try and help you get to the suspects.

+1

It's the Midnight Mass hipster bicycle group for sure. I also saw them last night. 50-100 of them riding in a big pack.

I was getting in my car on North Main last night about 1:30am and they were all whizzing by on the way to Shantytown. I have to say I have a somewhat different experience. Most of them said nothing, or said hello and were very polite. One of them waved at me and said "nice car." I was standing next to it, waiting to open my door so I didn't accidentally whack one of them off their bikes with the door. But it seems unlikely there would be two giant packs of hipster bicyclists roaming about downtown on the same night, so logic dictates it was people in Midnight Mass.

Edited to add:

I need to say to avoid creating the wrong impression, that I'm certainly not disagreeing with you at all Braeburn, and I believe you 100% and as a fellow citizen of this city I am very disappointed something like this happened to you. You know, if I had to guess, from the timing of all this, it would seem that you may have caught a pocket of them right after their visit to Shantytown. Human nature being what it is, when you add a certain degree of alcohol to the equation, otherwise charming people can do some nasty things. Which of course begs us to question the hypocrisy of people leaving a bar and then razzing someone else over buying beer.

[Dog Walker]

Maybe the FBC has started an "alternative" to the Midnight Mass ride by their youth temperance league.  

Seriously, it is always an unsettling and helpless feeling to be set on by a group like that.  Let's just hope that there were some aching consciences as well as aching heads this morning.

[L.P. Hovercraft]

Which of course begs us to question the hypocrisy of people leaving a bar and then razzing someone else over buying beer.

The thing that's crazy about this is bicyclists have to deal with this kind of harassment all the time from stupid redneck drivers in this town in their big-ass pickups (truck-nuts all a-danglin') that don't believe they need to share the road with non-motorized vehicles.  Now a pedestrian gets the same treatment from a gang of roving ninja-bicyclists?  

In my best Wallace Shawn impersonation: "Inconceivable!"