There’s a difference between riding as hard-fast as you can because you’re going to be late and riding as hard-fast as you can because you’re being chased by cops. Now in hindsight, I don’t think the NYPD was actually in pursuit, but for twelve blocks I didn’t know that.
The cops had a ticket trap targeting bikes riding on 2nd Ave who weren’t using the bike lane. I was not in the bike lane. I also had an unwieldy rolled up carpet lashed around my body and was in no position to deal with petty bullshit. I was hauling ass and saw the cop step out from behind a parked vehicle on the right (wrong) side of the street — the bike lane runs down the left. I hear the cop say “Excuse me…” I don’t flinch, don’t acknowledge, just push the pedals and veer left immediately. The NYPD isn’t above body checking a bicyclist off their ride.
Twenty feet past that cop was his partner, and I caught their exchange. “Did you get him?” “Yeah.”
I didn’t look behind me for a solid three minutes as I busted down 2nd, hung left at 14th, then right on A. “In my defense, your Honor, the police officer never said ‘Stop.’” I was already imagining my day in court. “You testified that you heard the officer say ‘Excuse me.’” “Yes. I assume he farted.” Iron clad defense.
Would a ticket have ruined me? No. Does this kind of bicycle targeting do anything to promote Vision Zero, the initiative to eliminate bicycle fatalities in New York? Also no. Was it a thrill? Absolutely. Sure, I felt some lingering paranoia because I had no idea what “Did you get him” meant. Did they snap my picture? Would the billion-dollar resources of the NYPD be mobilized to locate and punish me? I wouldn’t think so. I crossed the Manhattan Bridge without incident. No officers tracked me down at my apartment in the following days. The next time I got a red-light ticket - an interaction during which I complied like the good respectful citizen I am btw - the cop didn’t say shit.
If nothing else it was a good test run at fleeing for my life. On a related note, there is a difference between riding as hard-fast as you can because you’re being chased by cops versus being chased by a psycho car driver after you smashed his mirror. Just saying.