Taking your MB inside, an Arizona incident.

I live in northern Arizona, in a rual community with little crime, however we do have a lot of thefts, due to meth. I don't worry too much about Tanglebones being stolen, but I do worry.

In early March, I took my bike into a local McDonald's. It was the town's highschool lunch hour, kids everywhere, some already obvious miscreants, meth heads like their folks, so I wasn't about to leave it outside chained to the nonexistent bike rack.

Standing in line in the packed lobby, a man entered and soon asked me to take the bike outside. As the manager didn't have a problem with Tanglebones, I ignored him. He responded by poking my shoulder and repeating himself. I looked over at him on my left side and said, "Line's too long, no way, I'm hungry."
"I don't care who or what you are, take that d@¥m thing outside!" (poke poke poke)
"No, and don't touch me again."
"Look, D!¿%*€×¥, take it out or I will!" (poke poke)

As I kicked my stand down, the manager spoke up, as the last statement was outright screamed.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"F$@& that! Look at this bleep! No way!" that's not exactly all he said, but it was mostly profane. All the while he's poking me as hard as he can with two fingers. As he finishes swearing he gives me a rough shove.

Things escalated very quickly when I was pushed into a knot of young women, soaking several with their own spilled sodas, and getting a bit soggy myself. The guy was my hight, roughly fifty pound heavier, as I regained my balance, stepping back toward him in the process of detangleing with the girls, he shoved at me again.

Immediately behind me (now my right as I turn to face him) is a room divider. His face hit it pretty hard, before I frog marched him out the door, one arm twisted in a modified hammer lock. He took off and I was treated to a free lunch while I awaited the police. I gave my statement, the officers reviewed the security footage, wished me a good day and left.

Now it should be noted, I am a lifelong martial artist and a fairly good one. Also, I carry, pants on, gun on, that's how I get dressed. The police were quite impressed with how I handled the situation, and commended me on my aplomb. I think they were surprised I didn't shoot him, considering my generation's propensity for frivolous armed combat and looking for bad guys to shoot it out with.

The morals of the story? 1. Don't care how "hangry" you are, keep your hands to yourself. 2. Cops are people too, treat them with respect, and they (probably) won't call their buddies up and have a "boot party". 3. When a group of pretty young women buy you lunch, remember to ask for at least one phone number!

I didn't post this to brag, but to point out that people are getting offended at everything. Nobody else in the restaurant cared that I had my bike in the lobby, and I've seen the same thing in big cities,though with a pedal bike. Perhaps it was the motor that irked him? Maybe his wife makes him ride with her? Maybe on a tandem and she won't pedal? Whatever it was, he went looking for a fight, he found a wall, a door jam, and the bumper of a large dodge pickup, all on the way out. Ok I'll admit it, I pushed his head down and booted his ass, and he hit that bumper pretty hard.
Could I have handled it differently? Yes. Could it have been worse? Maybe. It's over now, done, so I won't worry about it much. What makes me worry is that I didn't do a thing to provoke this guy, just brought Tanglebones into the local McDonald's so some butthead didn't steal it. Let's all make a point, the next time something really ticks you off, just let it go.

Bikenut, an ebike is a total no go in my circumstances, I've got fifteen miles between me and town, so it's two stroke for me!
And yes, the guy was just a customer, with a chip on his shoulder.

And yes Allen, it's over, Snowflake PD never even gave me a single piece of paperwork. I'm always over prepared, wild animals and such being what they are. My family has a rule, never leave home without a knife, it's mankind's most useful tool. Also, on an average trip to work, I can encounter bear, cougar, bobcat, coyote, wolf, badger, wild dogs, several species of rattlesnake and of course the two legged snakes so commonplace in today's world. None of those are exactly cuddly critters, and my .22 would be a bit inadequate for the larger ones, but better than a stick.

Let my bad experience serve as a guide, situational awareness is key. If I hadn't been in a forgiving mood, I never would have tolerated physical contact, and I'm fortunate the other party was not of a similar aggressive personality to myself. Had my opponent intended me any real harm from the outset, I would have been at a serious disadvantage, possibly forcing me to deploy one of my various weapons.

It should be noted, that I'm not one of the "gunshop commandos" you see so much of. I do have a lot of experience and knowledge, and I do have a number of firearms, but they are mostly hunting weapons. While I'm not what most people or myself would call a criminal, I do smoke marijuana, without a state approved medical card. This leads to unsavory situations with unsavory individuals. Because of the rual nature of my area, coupled with the nature of those transactions, there is a possibility of those situation recurring, although the likelihood is small.

We all make enemies, mostly to different degrees, and those who live in smaller communities, know how how hard it can be to avoid folks we don't like. A good friend and neighbor was shot and killed last month, for silly reasons that had nothing to do with him. Darryl was a great guy, may he rest in , but his story would require a new thread.

Hey wheelbender! Overgaard is awesome, but snowflake sucks, lived there when I was younger, for 15 years. I live so far out east it ain't really an issue, if I've got gas, I only see a fraction of it on the way to work. While Travis Walton is from Snowflake, and still lives in the surrounding area, the abduction was between Overgaard and Forest Lakes, near Black Canyon Lake, more specifically it occured in an area called Turkey Springs, also the name of the cut Travis was working on.

Last year, they held the Skyfire Summit, here in Overgaard at Bison Ranch. They rented a pair of school busses to take folks out to the abduction site, got them both stuck in the mud, lol. The clientsI was guiding for an elk hunt thought found immense humor in it. I've spent a lot of time in the turkey springs/Baca lake area, very interesting place ( read that as creepy feeling down your spine )

MikeB, I can agree with you to a certain extent, but calling the police over a MB in McDonald's? Really? Had you been in my place, you too would have brought your bike inside, or eaten elsewhere, I'm sure. Admittedly, I could have gone across the street to El Cupidos, and got a burrito, where they allow my bike inside as well. Perhaps I should have clarified that this was not Tanglebones' first time in the local golden arches, and that my bike and I are a common sight around town and the mountain in general.

I can see speaking with a manager or other employee, I can even understand calling corporate, but involving law enforcement and wasting tax dollars? I'd rather someone get violent with me than call a officer away from his job. We have a genuine problem in my area, maybe you're familiar with Methamphetamine? Its an epidemic here I live on the border of the two top ranking meth producing counties in America, as measured by total volume, not per capita. Roughly 70% of rual residents and around 40% of urban residents are addicted, at all age levels. Most of our crime is theft, for example, I was gone from home for a month, in that time, my house was broken into three different times, as best me and the deputy could figure. On that note, come visit, let's go ride, I'll take my bike in, you leave yours outside, bet your tune changes reall quick like, while you walk down to the PD and report a real crime.

Yes I'm calling you out dude, for a willingness to waste taxpayer money, and diverting law enforcement personnel that should be tracking down my stolen welder and chainsaw etc, rather than taking a statement about a motorbike in a McDonald's. Not one other person complained, and I made a point to ask the other patrons if they were offended by Tanglebones. I appreciate the concept of eating without odor of harsh chemicals, but would you call the police on a mechanic in Burger King? And don't give me any crap about the dirty thing being in the lobby, have you ever looked at your shoes, or thought about what they walk on? The chicken crap on the Vocational Agriculture kids will give you ecoli or salmonella long before my bike. It's thinking like that that ruins things for everybody, strips away personal freedom a little at a time. First its not allowed inside, then not on the (empty here) sidewalks, then not on the state highways, until finally it's just not allowed. If you're a member of this forum, you should realise that you too could be affected by such action. Any freedom you take from me you take from yourself, or is there some kind of feudal class system where you rank higher? Sure you don't see any reason to haul your bike inside, but that might change. What you described doing is exactly how frivolous laws get written, lets go call every one who could possibly get involved and stir the pot, all because someone offended you. DOH!

This is America, MikeB, act like an American!

Mike, now those are points I understand, and to an extent, can agree. While the place was packed with teenagers, that particular McDonald's has no "play place", on the day in question, no small children were present. Any 13 year-old who doesn't understand motors get hot, don't touch them, needs to learn the hard way. I know that does not constitute a valid excuse, but these are relevant details, that perhaps should have been included in my original post.

Untill I, myself, got physical, I was holding the bike up, no danger of it falling or leaking. The hot spot of the bike was less than six inches in front of me, the gas tank leaning against my leg, for that very reason, to see to it nobody got singed. Perhaps that was what set ******bag off, that I kept Tanglebones in front of me like a fence, I can see how that could be seen as more rude than the bike next to you like you would walk it.

My point being that I was trying to keep all those unfortunate incidents from happening. I'll never know what pissed him off so much, and I don't care. Yes I probably could have found someplace to lock it up outside, but not where it could be seen. Next time I'll try the drive through, as silly as it sounds. They don't take walk ups, but I wouldn't be walking would I? Thanks for a more human reply, I knew you probably aren't really a butthead.

Bike nut, I don't live in Texas for two reasons, their laws are super vauge, and their deer aren't much bigger than dogs. The ebike bicycle thing sounds par for the course over there. Still better than the People's Demokratik Republik of Kalifornia! I'd never live there, bad enough we share a border!

Oh shut up, Canada is just North America.


I just realized how stupid that sounded, while at the same time being an ingenious pun. Therefore, it stays.

As far as barnacles... I am a Kaveman, my housebreaking and hygiene are questionable, as are my diet and personal appearance. My manners are often nonexistent, and I simply do not play well with others, as every grade school teacher I ever had pointed out. I've been called a lot of things, but barnacles is a new one. I will never get over myself, I am Master of my Universe, Decider of my Fate, King of Kings, those who lose sight of such simple concepts, inevitably hand over the most base of freedoms. To truly love anything, one must love one's self, I love me for who and what I am, the world doesn't have to. I answer to none, run no rat race, the world is my sand box, ya dig? It don't work for all, but it works for me.

What I remember from living at sea, those things can be hard to get rid of. You read the rant, you replied to it, will you reply to this one? Who's a barnacle now!