A Chicago man said he was attacked by a man with a machete while riding his bike home in the city's Humboldt Park neighborhood.
The 30-year-old man, who asked not to be named for safety concerns, said he was riding his usual route home from a friend's house in Wicker Park around 3 a.m. in the 2500 block of West Potomac, just west of Western, when he saw two figures come out of an alley.
"The first thing I thought was 'Oh my God I'm going to hit these guys,' but I noticed they were sort of crouched over," he said. "I saw right away that one of them had a machete and I had sped up to try to get around them but they rushed me and were able to get to me in time."
The cyclist said the man with a machete swung at his back wheel, stopping his back.
"The same guy who hit my bike came straight at me, didn't say anything and looked like he was going to yell but instead he just punched me right in the eye," he said.
Still standing, the man said he noticed the other man was filming the ordeal on his smartphone and laughing.
"That's sort of when I realized that I probably wasn't going to die," he said.
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The offender told him to leave few times, still slashing the bike tires as the cyclist attempted to ride away.
"I live a few blocks from there so after that I walked the rest of the way home and called police," he said. "I didn't look back or anything."
According to Chicago Police News Affairs, no one is in custody following the incident but an investigation is underway.
The victim described the attacker as a black male, between the ages of 20 and 25. He said he was wearing a white hooded sweatshirt and a black baseball cap.
"I wish I had more to work with but it was such a fast thing that I was just looking to get out of there," he said. "It's good for people to know that it happened and that it can happen and they should just be aware. If we catch them that'd be great too."
The man, who also posted his experience on Reddit, said the attack won't deter him from bike riding or living in the area.
"It's not going to deter me from riding," he said. "I'm still going to bike everywhere. It's just something that happened that maybe could have happened anywhere."
