Unfortunately trouble seems to intermittently happen at this area. Recently a group of three MTBers from the University were attacked on the 'workmans run' (DH section), resulting in one person having a tooth knocked out. No bikes were stolen, which is possibly the only good point. Be careful when riding here!

So who attacked them ?

Would have thought 3 bikers would have been a pretty big deterrent to all but a crowd of oxygen stealers.

attacked by who? Local street brats or older?

Often seen the group on the dirt bikes tearing it up an down the fire roads but thought there was a live and let live there?

Occasionally do the runs on my own in the week so usually no one else around

Would have thought 3 bikers would have been a pretty big deterrent to all but a crowd of oxygen stealers.

I reckon 4 12 yr olds could take down 3 SFBs 😉

How do I recruit 4 12 year olds?

There has always been kids from the estates up there. What did the uni riders do or say to provoke them?

i had some hassle a few months back. I did the wrong thing and got "angry." I punched the eldest looking one of them and the other 2 ran away leaving there mate there. I picked the lad up and told him to "F*ck off before i hurt you." Its not one of my proudest moments but it was one of them me or him situations.

there where about 17-18 so not a massive age gap.

and it was my first ride on my new shiney bike!!

I reckon 4 12 yr olds could take down 3 SFBs

i reckon 3 12 yr olds could take out 4 SFBs

This was a problem back when I was at uni there between 01 and 05. Back then they were beating and stealing but only picking on lone riders. Makes my blood boil.

I don't know any more info than I included in my post – I'm repeating information I read from the club. I don't want to speculate as to what happened, just to give a heads up and warn people to be safe – ride in groups and don't provoke the local wildlife.

I reckon 4 12 yr olds could take down 3 SFBs

being a pacifist I would be unlikely to fight back and anyway my bike is insured and I'd prefer a new one 🙂 That said, no one ever offers me violence, perhaps because they intuit that it would do no good, no matter how much I deserve it…

How do I recruit 4 12 year olds?

not up to the task yourself ? Get your mum to do it 🙂

cynic-al – Member
How do I recruit 4 12 year olds?

Bag of crack should do it.

bag of jelly babies i though was the going rate

Simon, don't put yourself down.. As a cathartic release I'm sure I'd feel much better 😉

As a cathartic release I'm sure I'd feel much better

you have my address…

anyway my bike is insured

I bet the premium wasnt much. 😆

Doesn't surprise me. We used to live in the Flowers estate in Soton and there regular stories of Uni students being knocked out etc with baseball bats, chased/beaten etc in the estate just for being students'.

We've always looked common so we were alright 😆

I bet the premium wasnt much.

har har 🙂 But isn't the laugh really on you lot that spend so much more money on bikes for little or no improvement in fun ?

This thread is ripe/perfect for some displays of keyboard warriorism.

for some displays of keyboard warriorism.

what about keyboard pacifism ?

when cynic-al comes round with his mates to duff me up I might not be able to stick to my professed non-violence 🙁

what about keyboard pacifism ?

I hear your argument SFB and I fold to you.

But isn't the laugh really on you lot that spend so much more money on bikes for little or no improvement in fun ?

Yeah, I should imagine that an Intense Tracer with a rholoff hub was dirt cheap.

You have seen the state of my bike…. The initial outlay has left me eating bread and drinking water ever since 😛

Yeah, I should imagine that an Intense Tracer with a rholoff hub was dirt cheap.

that was then. It now lies unloved and unwanted in the cellar, robbed of parts while I ride around on a shonky hardtail 🙂

Anyway Dave, from your comments on Facebook you have no use for a bike of any kind currently?

We used to live in the Flowers estate

Thats not something to admit to in public! :p

Phototim – Member

This was a problem back when I was at uni there between 01 and 05. Back then they were beating and stealing but only picking on lone riders. Makes my blood boil.

In 93, there was a house of local scum near the halls on Wessex Lane. Police did nothing about them robbing students until they hospitalised a kid from my halls (Stoneham towerblock) whereupon the sports teams got together to do protection for students. The police realised there was going to be a riot and the scum were going to get beaten to a pulp so they stepped in and arrested them.

Locals robbing students is a fixture in Soton basically.

Hob Nob, it was cheap! We also lived in St Marys. In the 3yrs there we never had one bit of trouble. In contrast my best mate and others were 'steamed'- Asian lad knocked on the door, door answered then suddenly 5 or 6 of mates steam in and start pocketing valuables.

I went to secondary school in the flower estate. It obviously hasnt changed much since the 90s!

i went to Southampton Uni from 98 – 01.

What a shithole of a place.

Don't miss the city one bit.

My girlfriend also encountered racist cat-calling from Asian youths in Southampton. They really were in living in some wierd alter-world.

Don't miss the city one bit.

It was clean on the whole but I must admit, Southampton City isnt a place I'd revisit in my lifetime again.

It seemed to get a lot worse after they built the new shopping centre actually. Dont know why…

My parents moved there not long after I graduated and love Southampton. I can take it or leave it but that's only for weekend visits these days which is quite enough. I've lived in worse places but I live somewhere I like a LOT more.

Mind you, I was burgled 3 times in 6 weeks when I was at Uni so I still have that annoyance level in the back of my mind.

Who's ex-SUMBC? I was 97-01.

The only plus points for me were Polygon.

All the locals I came into contact with seemed like they were stuck in a 70's timewarp crossed with something off of League of Gentleman.

Matchdays were sooooo much fun. A couple of times we had to dodge pint glasses that came whistling in.

Even Matt Le Tisse had abit of agro when he stopped for a takeaway just off the Flowers Estate. Shit hole.

I was a student there from 88 to 91. When in halls in Wessex Lane a guy i had been at school with got battered for no reason in Swaythling – gang pulled up in a van, jumped out with bats and mullered him.

Never had any trouble in St Mary's though, except dodging the Sikhs vs the Irish in the Dorchester (using a blackboard and chalk to list turns on the pool table is always a recipe for aggro).

On the plus side there was the Escape Club, Caspians kebabs, and going cross-country to sneak into the back of that sh!te hole Jesters.

Happy days…

You tried to SNEAK into Jesters? It was our local but even then going there wasn't much fun. I once got thrown out for "being a bit weird" because it started to rain and before we'd managed to get indoors we were soaked to the skin so a few of us stayed outside (it was summer and really warm). Apparently that indicated we were on drugs so out we went.

Anyway Dave, from your comments on Facebook you have no use for a bike of any kind currently?

Sadly yes. Gutted is not the word!

When in halls in Wessex Lane a guy i had been at school with got battered for no reason in Swaythling – gang pulled up in a van, jumped out with bats and mullered him.

We had two Police Officers try this with us. We were carrying a drunk friend from the Academy. Car pulls up and two officers get out and one says 'do you want some/come on then'. We were were 😯

Luckily one of the bouncers at the Academy saw this and shouted at them- they retreated and drove off. We were in shock and very sober.

I always thought there were Officers who joined for the aggro back in years ago but not in the sodding 90's.

Who's ex-SUMBC? I was 97-01.

Ex SUMBC 2004-2006

SU was a (drug) hole back in the early 90s, I had the misfortune to visit once or twice. Second time we got involved in an armed robbery arrest where it turned out the armed guy was just a nut carrying a replica for "fun".

Sadly Soton can be quite rough. I think the lifestyle/financial situation of being a student means that you're more likely to experience it too.