Stolen bikes

Is there an 'Attempted stolen bike' thread?

This from a mate:

Some dude tried to steal my bike last week.... whilst I was riding it!!!
I was cycling along at a fairly steady pace down Hungerford Rd N7 at 7:30pm last wednesday...when this little fucker comes out of nowhere... runs full pelt into me and I go flying off my bike onto the road... I turned round and lunged at the bike and grabbed the frame... I was on the ground trying to wrench it from his grip, he was standing above me pulling it back towards him.... whilst laying into me with several kicks to the head and face for good measure... this whole thing lasted about 10 seconds til some cars came down the street & beeped and flashed their lights... he ran off sans bike.. and I jumped back on and peddled as fast as I could out of there!
So... I guess the moral of the story here is don't cycle down dark, quiet, cycle friendly streets at night... stick to the main roads. And 2. wear a helmet! It was my best defense in this situation...

She's a female also so I guess they don't care who they kick in the head! She's got a fairly low key commuter bike too.

Sad times.

really sad, but i'm not really surprised. after all, if cheap scumbags cant nick your bike cos you used a strong lock, they might as well start getting them when they're not locked -- by using force against you. as i mentioned before, i find thieves to be the lowest level of this species, if that, therefore they go after easier targets. and being female (no offence intended) makes one weaker and more vulnerable.

i hope your friend is fine.