Want a stealth neighborhood reconnaissance idea? Become “that guy or girl who’s always riding their bicycle around the neighborhood.”
I kid you not, you can learn more about what’s really going on in your neighborhood by simply hopping on a bicycle and tooling around all the streets in your part of town. You will also become recognized as “that guy or gal on a bicycle”, and that’s a very good “gray man” thing.
Here’s a picture of my reconnaissance ride that ended about half-an-hour ago.
The key is to actually do reconnaissance, not just tool around on the bike
Here’s the kind of stuff I am talking about… things I look for, things that I notice on my reconnaissance rides.
- Which houses have dogs, and are those dogs “inside dogs” or “outside dogs”?
- What dogs look like they might be a threat if you need to patrol the neighborhood in a SHTF situation?
- Which houses are most likely to have people who believe a lot of the things that I believe… for example, which ones are the homes of gun owners.?
- Who has a garden?
- Where are the fruit trees, and what edibles do people have in their yard?
- Who owns cars that don’t have computers (i.e. what old cars are tucked away in garages).
- Who are the “fix it” people?
- Are there houses with rainwater collection systems, and if so what do they do with the water?
I could go on and on but I think you get the idea.
Other reasons to be “that bicycle person”
Obviously, the number one prep we can do is health, and bicycling is great exercise.
Additionally, having a good, working bicycle that fits is just a super great prep. If forced to bugout “by foot” I would much prefer to have those feet turning bicycle peddles than ground pounding. Why? It’s faster, much more efficient and I can carry a lot more with me.
But why a bicycle for reconnaissance, not walking or running?
Several reasons, let me list a few of them for you:
- Bicycling is fun, and running isn’t. (OK, that may just be a “me” thing).
- You can start doing neighborhood cycling pretty much no matter your physical condition.
- Many people who walk for exercise do so either with a friend for company or a dog. The purpose of our trip is surveillance, not giving Fido a fresh place to poop.
- If you walk, chances are you will spend the whole time staring at your phone. Admit it, be honest, if you are under the age of 40, this is the truth.
- You can cover a lot more ground.
- NOBODY suspects a cyclist is actually doing surveillance.
- If for some reason there is trouble, you can ride faster than pretty much anybody can run.
- If you are like me, with a bum ankle and two bad knees, I can ride a bike but I can’t run. Bicycle riding is better on your knees and ankles than running or even walking.
Bugout bicycle training
Yet another benefit is that when you are doing your neighborhood rounds you are also training for your bugout using the bicycle your life may depend on.
I’d far rather bug out on a bicycle
Even the best, most fit walkers carrying no loads whatever cannot keep up with an out of shape little old lady on a bicycle.
Most people not carrying loads have a walking speed somewhere between two to four miles per hour.
A fast walker with no load often hits a pace of five miles per hour, but it’s a pretty fit person that can keep up that kind of a pace for any decent length of time.
Add to this your bugout bag, weighing in at 30+ pounds, and that two MPH looks a lot more likely than the five MPH speed walker.
On a bicycle, even one loaded with 100 pounds of gear, five MPH is CRAWLING. I’m old, chunky and slow, and even on my posh in-town hybrid bike carrying panniers of groceries on both sides I ride a lot closer to 10 MPH than I do five.
My BOV, my bicycle with one pannier. I don’t normally put my big panniers on the back or my front rack on… but I have them if I need them.
One thing to keep in mind:
Most bicycles are better than nothing, but good quality bicycles that actually fit, and bikes that have racks on them for hauling bags are much better than big-box $70 cheap bikes. You don’t need a $1000 bug out bike, but having something that’s of decent quality will make your life a lot better if you have to use it.
Like your idea, but I just have one question. Are you doing recon of your neighborhood to get to know your neighborhood better and make a community of like minded people who will band together in a SHTF situation: or are you considering taking their garden food and edibles in that scenario. Not sure what you are considering. Hopefully, not the latter!!
Good heavens NO we’re not looking at stealing from our neighbors! It’s both evil And stupid; and we’ve got no urge to be either one of those things. I hope the ‘evil’ part’s pretty obvious, but as for ‘stupid’ … in small communities, people know what other people are up to, at least when they have to move around in public to do it. And they won’t just let that sort of misbehavior ride. We were totally going for Option A. If you have an idea of what is where, you have some idea of what tradable items and skills your neighbors might have, and that facilitates cooperation and mutual support.
Thanks, for the clarification!!!! Didn’t think so, but there are aholes that would do something like that. It is nice to know as much as possible about your neighbors and their skills, as you mentioned the fix-it people. You could expand that even further: Which of your neighbors are nurses, ex-military or law enforcement, etc. Also it’s nice to know who would need assistance – Who are the elderly, the handicapped, etc. Keep up the good work
The North Vietnamese moved thousands of pounds of supplies and equipment on bicycles via the Ho Chi Minh trail. They removed the seat, pedals, chain and built bamboo frames to hold supplies/gear and these bikes were strictly meant to be loaded and pushed not ridden. A bicycle should be an essential part of everyone’s planning.
For the last two years, I walk the dog every night between certain times in my neighborhood. We recently had to go out of town for a week and I was amazed how many people noticed I didn’t walk her that week. The normal people I say “hello” to stopped to ask if I had been sick, went on vacation, etc. I’ve noticed a lot of things people have in their yards or open garages. Amazed how many store cases of soda/water in there, old cars, etc. During the summer months, there is a older couple in the neighborhood who I see every weekend riding their adult trikes with trailers coming back from the grocery store about 2 miles away. Those bikes easily have a half dozen bags each.
Around where I live (Western Australia), aimlessly riding a bike around will get you a police visit… it’s a common gambit of people staking out houses around here… you will actually do better to just walk your dog around, and look about casually as you go.
I’ve got a second hand trusty Electra holland style bike… pretty, solid, a bit heavy, but by golly they are well designed. Panniers and a basket on the rear (no front basket, as it’s got a mounted front light system that is powered by the wheel spinning, but I could shuffle it all around), and a handlebar bumbag that can hold some quick essentials. You can also put a bag in the frame if you wish, but I prefer not to as I find it gets in my way. This bike is SOLID, it’s very tinker-able, and it’s got a lot of kms on it. It’s absolutely part of my bug out plan… it can go anywhere I take it… no fuel required beyond a few extra calories for myself…. and it can easily drag a small trailer, that can be jerry rigged out of a discarded pram along the way if needed. It can easily carry what I need for the week it would take me to bug out to where I want to get to, and it’s easier to move through traffic, on back paths, and places a car can’t get to.
There’s some benefits (silent/near silent travel, fast, manoeuvrable, no fuel) and some costs (less body armour, less carrying capacity, slower than a fuel vehicle). Weigh it up as an option. Put it on a roof rack of your vehicle and you can have the best of both worlds.
Interesting about Australia and cyclists. It’s different here, but then again a lot of things are different between where you are and here. Thanks for the comments!
My bike is a touring bike, 20-speed, with rear shocks. I installed “Air Free Tires” for it because I wanted to travel up to 20 miles round trip and I didn’t want to get a flat and have to lean and push the bike that far at age 66. I also put a gas motor on it (50cc) to assist with fatigue (that would get removed in a real BO). Its supposed to get about 50 miles per tankful, but gets about 20 miles loaded with me, motor, and gear. I carry repair tools, and metal water bottle for extra gas. I also wanted to go off road and not get flats from thorny vines. I perform stealth, but do it differently. I look for walking BO routes from my home in my 35,000 town, and look closely at choke-points and potential water crossings. Where are apartments (to avoid)? Intersections or buildings with cameras? What street or road sections provide the best situational awareness “duck and hide” places (because I’m an aged-based target trying to avoid being hassled by remaining unseen)? Where do dogs bark at my presence (even in rural areas)? How does greenery, parks and public buildings give me a route to walk in a night-time BO? What areas have too much trash + alcohol containers on ground (night-time hangouts for homeless, youth)? What routes have obstacles, what kind? In rural areas, where are the dumps (resources), abandoned shelters? I look for gravel pits (to avoid walking off a cliff). I take tape-recording notes to transcribe later onto local maps, noting especially trashy after-dark hangouts, water obstacles and possible crossings, etc. As able I also note yards with foraging weeds, old groves and gardens, looking for old house lots (houses gone), driveways to nowhere (old farmsteads), etc..