Safety

[rakuwoman13]

Just wondered if anyone else had this problem or maybe a solution. My husband saw "America's Most Wanted" last Sat. night. A couple of women riding alone have been attacked and now he is concerned about me riding alone. Wish I would have trained my german shepard to run along while I rode, but now I'm afraid she might run out in the road!

[RitaL]

Hi,

I also saw that story on "America's Most Wanted."

There's no way I'm going to be terrorized and prevented from riding my bike or living my life. I've been toying with getting some mace or pepper spray for dogs, and now I'm definitely going to do that. It will be mounted on my handlebar.

I won't ride in remote areas any more, though. I'm on a road bike, so I'll stick to roads where there are houses and folks out walking and jogging.

I also might carry my panic alarm (a gift from my husband). When you pull the pin, it makes a huge, obnoxious shrieking sound.

Other than that, I will be aware of my surroundings, not take any undue chances and go on about my life and training on my bike.

Don't let the SOBs get you down!

Rita

[DoubleLori]

I didn't see the America's Most Wanted. Where did these incident(s) occur? I have no choice but to ride alone, and nothing will stop me.

[RitaL]

Originally posted by DoubleLori
I didn't see the America's Most Wanted. Where did these incident(s) occur? I have no choice but to ride alone, and nothing will stop me.

You go girl! I ride alone too, and prefer to...

Rita

[DoubleLori]

I found the information on the abduction and abduction attempts on the America's Most Wanted website, www.americasmostwanted.com. Apparently there was one female cyclist who was abducted near Bloomington, Indiana and is still missing. There were two other attempted abductions, one in Indiana and another in Kentucky (in both cases the women escaped). Composites of the attacker(s) are on the website.

[ash]

I also ride alone . But I also choose not to be a victim and prepare myself accordingly ,I'm also training in karate as well as cycling (only becauseI cycle alone) . But also try not to let this lead me to over confidence . But you need choose what you feel safest in doing .

ash

[missliz]

I have a pistol, and I know how to use it. Really well. I always carry it in the country on our place whether I'm in the truck or on the mt bike. We have poisonous snakes as well as criminals. I don't go road riding alone out in Pointe Coupee Parish- too rural. We don't even have cell towers in a lot of places. My concern was always a fall and injury, but serial killers are best avoided in a place that remote.
I don't carry it in the city, because the police have s**t fits even though I have a permit. Besides, It scares the kids in the coffeehouses. :D The best way to deal with an assailant on foot is to give two teeth, lay into the pedals, and ride straight through them. I did have a soviet trained fencing coach spend a year teaching me how to run people through so it may be a bigger mind trick for some of you all than for me. Become a weapon. The idea is to knock them down at the least, preferably injure them so they don't came after you, then get away and around other people. The bastard who tried to mug me for my shiny new Zaskar a few years back will never screw with a woman on a bike again.
Karate? You have to get off the bike for that. Then you're stuck. Pepper spray? Great stuff if you're upwind. I gave myself a face full of dog repellent once and am leary of sprays.
Remember, A bike is more mobile than a car- even on a road bike you can hop curbs, take sidewalks, hit the dirt. Getting away is going to always be more effective than fighting. I fenced competively for fifteen years and cross trained in a boxing gym for six of those years. I can kick ***, and I think shoot them or flee is best.
Being aware of your surroundings is the key. You know a creep when you see him coming. Listen to your instincts. If you ride alone aren't you over that Be A Nice Girl crap by now?

Miss Liz

[Dogmama]

I ride alone because I prefer it. Statistically, we run into each other more than cars run into us. Besides, I've ridden with some real morons (25 MPH, double pace line, rutty road and the woman next to me says, "Gee isn't this fun? I've never been this fast before!") My worst accident was when a guy I was dating tried to jump a cattle guard and knocked me over (he landed on top of me, I landed on the pavement). Idiot. And he was a lawyer, you'd think he'd know better.

I've been yelled at, had beer cans thrown at me, had cars swerve in front of me, etc. Let's face it - the public often pick us as targets to release their frustrations.

The solution? I ride anyway. If I wanted to be absolutely safe in this world, I would order my food to be delivered, telecommute so I didn't have to drive in traffic, etc. And eventually I'd probably shoot myself because I'd be so damn miserable.

These shows don't tell you about the millions of people who rode their bikes on that very same day and were perfectly OK. They have to embellish, e.g., the scarey background music on America's Most Wanted, have ominous John Whatever-his-name-is, etc. because they need to sell advertising.

Besides, ladies, that show is on WAY too late for us! We need to be in bed so we can get up early and go ride!

[Trek420]

Hi,

I agree with missliz. I also have a background in martial arts, been training since '75.
You don't need to train that long, it could take too much time away
from bike riding 8-)

Trust your intuition. If a situation feels dangerous it probably is.
Don't feel ashamed to act rediculous. If they are in a car you can turn 180 degrees pop
on the sidewalk and go the other way.

You need all your senses, never wear headphones.

If grabbed, or confronted physicaly use anything at hand as a weapon including any
body part. Be creative! My 20 + years of Aikido would boil down to 3 things:

* Keep moving-eg; if they grab an arm remember you still have 99.999% of your body available.
Don't panic. They have your arm? ok. whatever. let 'em have your arm ... and your knee and make
it count!
* make as much noise as possible
* repeat steps 1 & 2 indeffinately or until the perpetrator is no longer able to harm you. You can take that deffinition any way you please.

Life is inherently dangerous. I won't give up on the things I love because of that. Let the "bad guys" watch out for me
I will not give up riding my bike which is my right to do. If I do than they win.

[Vicki]

I ride alone quite a bit myself. It can be scary if we let it. We can't let it consume us or we will never get to get out of our homes and have fun, whether it be riding or anything else. It's a shame that we women have to always be watching out for jerks and creeps but we do and we will for the rest of our lives.

Let's try to be safe and get out there and ride or whatever we want to do and enjoy life.

[waterlilli]

rakuwoman13- Your German Shepard would be a great deterent. You can still train your dog, my Aussie is 5 and I have
(almost) trained her to "heel" on the left and "side" on the right. There is also a leash that can be hooked up to your bike in the back. I can not think of the name of it maybe someone out there knows. Both you and your shepard would benefit from riding together. Stay safe!

[Trek420]

waterlili,

I think the gizmo you are talking about is a springer, attaches to the bike to let your dog stray from a perfect heel without flipping you over unless she stops in her tracks to sniff like my dog ;-)

There's a thread here somewhere with info about riding with dogs has more about this.

I'm not an expert in self defense but since I've trained for a looooong time I want to put my $0.02 in.

Bad guys (and gals, let's be fair) pick their victoms whether spur of the moment or planned. All things being equal they go for the easiest mark.

This absolutely positively 100% does NOT mean that ANYONE who is the victoms fault. It is totaly NOT the victoms fault, ever.

But I feel strongly that whatever you do to make yourself feel strong, confident, aware and secure in your body is the best self defense you can possibly do. You are hopefully never aware that there may have been times when a "bad guy" looks at you and thinks "nah, looks too much like work" but in that moment you had just mastered self defense.

So just keep riding, hiking, climbing...anything with an 'ing!!! 8-)

TREK420

[lb satterly]

All I can say, and I include myself in this, is YOU GO, GIRLS!