When I lived in LA it was there was a newspaper story of some poor guy who got accosted on a city bike path in broad daylight by a gang of bike thieves. Even though he gave up his super expensive bike without a struggle, the crooks shot him in the heart for no reason. The guy survived, but was left messed up for life.
I stuck to the more populated beach paths for that reason.
The world just doesn't make any sense sometimes.