I had to go to the IRS offices today to pay off some stuff. Since it was a nice day (as well as since I was able to take my bicycle in with me LAST time), I decided to ride out there and back (only about 15 miles round trip).
When I got there, the security guard (who was there last month when I went in to make a payment), told me that I had to put my bicycle out in the lobby (where there was nobody to watch it), as it was a possibility that it could be a bomb.
Now listen.........yeah, there have been suicide bombers using motorcycles, and maybe one of 'em was able to make a SMALL bomb out of a bicycle in Pakistan, but WTF?
My bike is a Lemond Zurich which is made out of chromoly steel tubing (Reynolds 883 to be exact), with deep dish aluminum rims that are only about 22 mm wide, and the main tubes on the frame are only about 1 1/2 inches wide.
Additionally, there is NOTHING that hangs off of my bike other than a very small tool kit and a frame pump.
What the ****.........have we become such a paranoid nation that a retired Navy veteran such as myself now gets accused of having a possibility of a bomb in a BICYCLE?????
This paranoia that the nation is going through is starting to get out of hand. What do you guys think?
You have a couple of things working against you here:
1. Obama is targeting vets as terrorists.
2. IRS employees don't get out much. I'm surprised they knew it was a bike.
3. Bikes are made from pipes.
I guess my question is, it WILL be a bomb next time right?
Obama is targeting vets as terrorists? Got a link for that one?
Yeah.......I was kinda surprised they knew it was a bike as well, because everytime I've been there, the place is way boring and somber. It's almost like going on a trip to zombie land with the way that some of 'em act.
Bikes are made from pipes. Yeah.......I get that, but you also realize that if you packed a bike frame with something, it would more than likely be traced by some kind of sniffer that they'd more than likely have in the place? It's kinda hard to make a bicycle into a bomb that ISN'T strapped on. I've researched some of the bicycle bombs, and most of them that I've read about had something strapped in the basket (no.......my bicycle WOULD NEVER have a basket), or strapped to the back.
Besides.........I've got several thousand miles on that bike (over 1500 in Amarillo alone just this summer, and that's not counting the trips that I've done over the Eastern seaboard), so no only is it something that I like, but I've grown kinda attached to my bike since I bought it in '97.
But, like I said, these knee jerk reactions have gotta cease.
As far as turning it into something explosive? It's only that way when I jump on the pedals and start sprinting outta the stop lights. I can hit 24 before I'm even across the intersection.