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news
Nikki Chandler (picture courtesy Nikki Chandler)Bike commuter tells of attempted moped mugging and warns other cyclists to be vigilant
A cyclist who commutes into London by bike each day has told road.cc of how she was left shaken up when muggers on mopeds attempted to steal her phone and other items from her pocket as she was stopped in a queue of traffic, and has warned other riders to guard their valuables.
The incident happened in Edmonton Green in North London yesterday evening as Nikki Chandler, a member of North Road Cycling Club, was returning home to Hertfordshire from her job as medical PA to two Harley Street surgeons.
Nikki, who commutes each day by road bike, told us: “On Monday on my way home I came across heavy traffic filtering through roadworks. Seeing I had plenty of room to pass down the queuing cars on the inside, I continued on my line.
“I heard a scooter behind me, he was very, very close to the point I felt threatened with him right on my wheel.
“I pulled in between two stationary queueing cars to let them through, I wish I hadn’t! The first moped went past me with two boys on it, they then stopped, blocking my path out between the cars, while a second moped pulled up alongside me and tried to mug me of my Ridepac in the middle pocket of my jersey.
“As luck would have it, it was a boiling hot day and my Ridepac was wet having been sitting against my back,
“I also was taking some documents home, so as he was pulling my Ridepac out it slipped against my damp jersey and the papers, and at the same time I hit his arm that he had stretched out into order to grab my stuff.
“The documents were all he ended up with. The first moped then sped away clearing the way for the 2nd moped to escape while throwing my documents to the ground.”
Nikki said that she had reported the incident to the police and had been given an incident number, but did not believe any action will be taken since the mopeds did not have licence plates on them.
She said that the youth riding as a passenger on the first moped also had a hybrid bike over his shoulder, which she suspects had been stolen. She estimated the age of the youths on the mopeds at between 17 and 20 years.
“The car drivers were super, asked if I was ok, and said if I needed witnesses, they saw the whole thing,” she continued. “It all happened so quickly there was nothing more they could have done.
“This was a carefully carried out attempted robbery. They knew exactly what they were doing and where my valuables were. I will definitely not be the last cyclist to be a target. Whether they saw me as a lady and therefore deemed an easier hit, I don’t know.”
Nikki, whose husband runs a bike shop in Hertford, warned other cyclists to be vigilant and to ensure their valuables are secure, and said that from now on she will be keeping her phone in a Vittoria toolkit holder that fits inside a water bottle.
“I have been given a shake-up by this experience, but I’m lucky, I’m confident and will stand up to a bully,” she added.
“There are a lot of other cyclists that would be seriously put off cycling by an experience of a mugging.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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15 comments
"was returning home to Hertfordshire from her job as medical PA to two Harley Street surgeons"
Appears someone's happy with her lot, what was she having for tea?
"I also was taking some documents home"
Actually, now i know what you do... erm hope you raised a risk event! Theresa's removal may be head-line news tomorrow...
Maybe more roads policing would help? These are probably the same youts who are stabbing shooting and killing each other... and probably heavily involved in selling drugs too. Lots of problems solved in one go...
But, I keep reading in the press, and the bottom half of the internet, that cyclists are Britain's biggest problem, menaces and scurge of society.
I might just have to pull you up on something here, give me a minute or two as I haven't quite figured out what's wrong with your (I'm struggling for an adjective too) statement.
...anyway, back to Nikki!...
60 people were shot this weekend in Chicago, with 10 deaths-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-45084264
Attempted moped robbery is of course much worse.
The sad, sad South Side, yes. North of Da Loop it's a lot better. A lot.
Wow, I don't hear such crap like this here in the States. Yeah, the redneck-ish pickup truck, the idiot Uber and angry regular drivers, but not the on-bike muggings. My cycling son (where does he get that?) lives in Chicago and has said nothing about attacks and I've seen nada in the cycling media about it in any part of the country. The bloody e-scooters seem to be more of a danger along with the vehicles. Sorry to see such BS going down in the UK cities.
That's me sold, I'm off Stateside, it sounds so much safer than Blighty.
Well, depending on where you end up, there may be other hazards not so intense in Merrie Olde. In my area, SW Ohio and on east, there is a huge opiod crisis. Even on roads with nice wide shoulders, there are ghost bikes as a result of drivera very hopped up on pills or smack. Turning on the charm with that British accent of yours will get you farther than mine would or you yelling "pi$$ off" in your best "Lock Stock and Two Smokings" dialect.
Back in November a gang of moped thieves tried to pull my Ortlieb pannier off my bike while I was cycling home about 10pm near Kingston.
Luckily for me, I clip it down in such a way that it can't be pulled straight off, but instead I was nearly pulled off my bike at 20mph.
Absolute scumbags, all on stolen mopeds, who then threatened to stab me when I dared stand up for myself. Police took it seriously, but never caught them.
I checked my pannier and you have to press a button down and lift it up and slightly rearward. I think I would have ended up kissing the tarmac.
Not sure what answer is to this type of attack, but if a Dlock is used, I think knees or elbows are the best target.
Mine are Carradice Super Cs, and you have to manually click open two clips before the pannier even has a chance of coming off (by lifting it and moving back, too) - anyone tries to pull them off the bike while in motion and I'll be falling down...
Moped robberies (a mugging is something different) have increased massively in the capital, scumbags like this and other criminals acting out these crimes that have very personal and oft long lasting effects need far harsher punishments, prison is too good for them.
We could resolve the prison/crime crisis in a short space of time as well as reducing costs and overpopulation. Harsh maybe but needs must.
Scumbags! Sympathy for the victim but pleased that she will not be put off by the experience even though shaken at the time.
One thing that springs to mind is that I have just been reading another thread where readers of a daily tabloid (Express), have expressed their opinions on cyclists having to have registration plates by law. I think their views are a little misplaced after reading this article. Surely the vehicles that NEED to be registered to use the public highway should all show the registration number plate before thinking of vehicles that do NOT require registration?
It is a strange world that we live in and I think I am starting to get confused by it!!!!
Exactly. Think about the annual surveys produced showing how many motorists are not insured, and/or their vehicles are not MOTd. Would make more sense to try and deal with those first.
Problem is, those are still more-or-less "Us" (even if uninsured) whereas bikes are very definitely "Them".