How do you stay safe..alone?

[mimitabby]

either mace or pepperspray would not be something i want in my face.
Here's the deal, you spray mean man in face. He grabs your spray and sprays you back!
Maybe he wasn't going to hurt you. maybe he just wanted to ask you directions, who knows. but now he's mad and bigger than you.

[Trekhawk]

Isn't it interesting how different we all are. I never worry about riding deserted areas on my road bike. I figure if I crash well sooner or later someone will find me and yes I do ride on roads with little traffic and sometimes not a single house for miles. Now mountain biking is a different story for me. I will not mountain bike out here unless I have someone with me. Between Cougars, drug makers and the fact that I crash nearly every ride it just doesn't seem wise.

[li10up]

A few years ago the mid-sized town I live in had the highest murder rate per capita in the country. I too am very aware of my surroundings when I am alone...either on my bike or out shopping, etc. But sometimes I think we are scaring ourselves too much; seeing crime and criminals in every shadow. Case in point: The other day DH goes to Wal-Mart to pick something up. He was in there about 15 minutes. He starts walking back to the car and is fishing for his keys and can't find them. He then thinks, "Damn, I locked them in the car." He gets to the car...the car is running with the door unlocked. He must have been distracted (seriously!) and just got out and walked into the store. Even in a town with it's share of crime nobody took off in the car.

I agree - know how to protect yourself. So, be aware but don't live in fear.

[onimity]

Amanda, that would definitely drive me crazy. I may be happily ignorant but I just don't think that a woman is necessarily in more danger alone. Yes, there are the psychopaths out there looking for a vulnerable victim but to my mind that's not terribly common. I could ride by a sniper or be on a bus that gets bombed. But the risk of these things has never been enough to keep me home. I can go anywhere a man can. I just figure that if I do what I can to ensure my safety and then happily and confidently go where I please things will work out OK.

In terms of rude behavior from cars and the like, I don't think that you are more likely to get that because you are female or riding alone. I have traveled a lot alone throughout the world. I went on a trip through Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay last year and people freaked out when they heard I was traveling alone. I did occasionally travel with others throughout the trip but I honestly felt safer alone than with, particularly, a male traveling companion. With a male, I'd get ripped off, argued with, etc. Alone, people bent over backwards to help me and went to extraordinary lengths to ensure my safety. I think that males, excluding of course serial killers/rapists, are much more likely to be aggressive toward other males and they often feel sorry for and protective of a woman alone. I have nothing scientific to back that up, it has just been my experience.

Python, I trained in Taekwon-Do (ITF) up to my high green belt. I moved at that point and couldn't find a place to train. We had a strong self-defense bent to our training as well, we did self-defense as a part of every class and our belt testings. We practiced releases for all sorts of grabs and then more detailed routines for different scenarios. I had three at my rank, a grab from behind (bear hug and neck grab) an attack from the front (bear hug and neck) and an arm grab from the side or across the body. We used a lot of the things that you mentioned, but I think that the most important thing they drilled into us was to get your chin to your chest so that you can breathe and get blood to your brain. Our instructors would regularly come up behind us when we least expected it and go for a neck grab to drill it into us (with pushups if we failed). We learned a sequence of attacks with the idea that you took off whenever you got the attacker off of you. We learned some tactics that would potentially be deadly if executed correctly but of course those were further along in the sequence. We also did an elbow to the lower ribs for an attack from behind and practiced with boards so we knew we could break them. Also they taught us to slam the rear of our heads into their face as it is disorienting to the attacker. We followed that with a throw. The foot-stomping trick is a good one. A few times partners executed that too accurately and it really hurts. I can't imagine the pain of a full-force attack with a nice pair of heels on!

For those using mace/pepper spray, it is good that you are taking precautions to protect yourselves and it should go without being said but make sure that you know how to use it and when. I think it is important to practice scenarios and realize when it can help you and when it is pretty useless. What is the point where you use it? And remember that it can be taken from you, it can be used on you as well. The benefit of learning how to protect yourself and working through scenarios is that it gives you confidence that you can take care of yourself and that confidence in turn makes you less likely to be a target.

Anne

[Jenn]

Wow....well, If I am conscience after being run down, I pray to the "higher power" that I have at least enough strength to protect myself.

Once again, I am a source of debate.....which was my FAVORITE topic in college....but on here.....dang it's a scary world.

[Aggie_Ama]

Anne- Well, I know I can go anywhere a man can and my husband is far from the type to tell me not to. Personally I don't want him out alone on the roads by our house but I can't stop that either. He simply agreed that my concerns about how rural the area I would be riding in warrants my concern of riding alone. It could be something like an attack (unlikely) or simply a wreck where it is quite a long time before anyone knows it happened.

And the rude people come up on me first and have done it when I am riding alone. They are rude to who ever they want to be rude to, but I tend to startle easy and that is what I don't like. The county roads are narrow and there are times the large trucks around here intentionally crowd me off just for a juvenile laugh.

I don't think there are people out there praying on me. Although, the incident with Jenny Ewing last proved it could happen and that is the sad part. It is personal preference and I prefer a riding buddy now that I live in a rural area. Luckily, it is rare that I do not have that option.

On a side note- My former boss was an avid MALE cyclist who said he would not ride alone. Simple reason, his friend got hit by car and no one knew for quite some time. No one could even tell him what happened.

[teigyr]

This is a fascinating thread. It makes sense that some of the risks wouldn't be from cars or other people but from other hazards. I tend to ride on well-traveled MUTs but don't carry any kind of ID with me which is bad. I always have my cell phone but I guess that doesn't help if someone was trying to figure out my emergency contact.

I always tend to lessen the risk on myself by saying (when DH gets concerned) "oh, I do this ride all the time. I'm ok" while I know I would get concerned if DH was riding far away on his own.

I guess a lot of what we're learning here could be used in planning for rides, such as contacting someone to let them know we're going and knowing what to do should something happen.

[Mr. Bloom]

From The Great Gatsby a dialogue between Tom and Daisy:

"you're a rotten driver", [Tom] protested, "either you ought to be more careful or you oughtn't drive at all"

"I am careful"

"No You're Not"

"Well, OTHER PEOPLE ARE", she said lightly

"What's that got to do with it?"

"they'll keep out of my way" she insisted, "It takes two to make an accident"

"suppose you met someone just as careless as yourself"

"I hope I never will" she answered...

Those familiar with the book know that Daisy met that random person that triggered a tragic chain of events later in the book...substitute a few words and you summarize this debate in a nutshell

Please, Please, Please: Be prepared for the worse that society has to offer. It may be a random event, and a small probability...but violence is rampant in our world.

Forget worrying about a scratch on the bike, carry something that helps to keep you safer. All you're trying to do is make yourself a more difficult target.

[Python]

Also they taught us to slam the rear of our heads into their face as it is disorienting to the attacker.

The benefit of learning how to protect yourself and working through scenarios is that it gives you confidence that you can take care of yourself and that confidence in turn makes you less likely to be a target.

Anne

Only snag with that is if you are like me, 5ft zilch and the would-be attacker is 6ft 6in...ain't goin' to reach so I tend to aim low. Another good place to get someone if you can is down the inside of the thigh. Nerve runs down there. Good hard kick can drop an assailant. That's where I kicked one of my assailants when I was a taxi driver and followed it up with another kick to the back of the same leg. He limped off down an alleyway and disappeared. Helped that I'd steel toe-cap shoes on too

I think that confidence does make you less likely to be a target. Most attackers/muggers will pick on people who either are vulnerable or look vulnerable.

Over here in the UK we're not allowed to carry mace sprays or anything that could be interpreted as an "offensive weapon". Our laws are completely useless, thanks to the present government and their hangers-on who favour the criminal above the victim. Here, if someone breaks into your house and you catch them, if you hit them you will be arrested and charged with assault That then lets the criminal sue you for damages! There have been many cases of that happening in recent years.

There is a policy at the moment of not jailing criminals - even those with a criminal record longer than your arm so criminals are sticking two fingers up at the law (and everyone else) and getting away with it. Life imprisonment here doesn't mean life. It means getting out after 4, 5 years or whatever some do-gooder decides. Criminals know they can do what they want and get away with it - even committing murder.

Law and Order in the UK is a farce at the moment

[Dianyla]

I highly recommend that you read The Gift Of Fear, by Gavin De Becker. He talks a lot about the power dynamic that comes into play as attackers select their victim, and how to spot some early warning signs. Also, how to use your fear as positive motivation to avoid/escape a dangerous situation, as opposed to being paralyzed by it. It should be required reading for men and women alike.

[Starfish]

I do not want to start a firestorm here, but I am curious if anyone carries any weapons aside from mace or pepper spray?

[Jolt]

The eye contact is a very important one. Last year hubby and I were in town. He needed to get money out of the hole-in-the-wall. I'm always vigilant at these things - there's been too many muggings in our town at ATMs. While he was getting his money out, I clocked a rather unkempt youth standing about 15 yards away, watching my husband. I turned and glared at him. He slunk off and stopped about 30 yards away in the opposite direction. I glared at him again. He disappeared. We walked up round the corner of the street into the main shopping area and who do we see again (by this time I'd warned hubby), but the same youth. This time I glared at him again but said in a loud enough voice for him to hear "Oh, look. Here's the police". He took off.

When I trained in Karate, we were lucky enough to have extra lessons in Street Self Defence. Karate is very good for teaching you self-discipline etc. but that is in a Dojo where there is plenty of room to manouvre. Often situations arise in real life where you wouldn't have that luxury.

We were taught how to escape from someone who pounces on you from behind and puts their arm round your neck. Grab his little finger (the weakest finger) and break it. Yes break it. Don't be squeamish on that. He'll let go - you run like h*ll.

Grab his wrist and dig your thumb as hard as you can (nail preferably) into the soft part where the wrist meets the hand. There's a nerve in there. Try it on yourself and you'll see what I mean.

If you're wearing stilletto shoes, whack your heel right down his shin and embed the heel of the shoe in his foot. If you follow the shin down, you should embed the heel of the shoe in the right place. Ouch! That'll hurt him and give you time to make your escape.

If both your arms are free, elbow him in the gut. Use both arms. One to do the elbowing, the other to drive back the elbow doing the elbowing. Should knock the wind out of him.

If you can, grab him by the Family Jewels and twist HARD. He should go down. As he goes down, grab his head and drive your knee as hard as you can into his face. Then run.

Go for his eyes. Poke them hard. Again, don't be squeamish. Worry about that later. Even better if you have long nails. If he gets blinded that's HIS problem.

While doing any of the above, yell and scream like a banshee like Onimity says. Attackers don't like noise.

Above all, keep a cool and calculating head although that can be easier said than done.

There are other ways of disabling an attacker but these could kill (Onimity if she's a high enough grade in the Martial Arts will know what I mean).

With many attackers it is a power thing. Power over someone they perceive to be weaker than themselves.

That's what happened to me except I was a lot stronger than they perceived me to be and it turned the tables on them. They suddenly found out they'd bitten off far more than they could chew. I was lucky that night in that I knew how to defend myself, and I know how lucky I was. It could easily have had a different outcome.

Good tips. I do have to disagree in a way with the one about stiletto heels though--my advice would be DON'T WEAR THEM!! They may make a stomp to the foot extra painful for the creep, but they also hinder your ability to run and get the heck away from the situation (and not to mention they're just plain uncomfortable anyway). In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if wearing such shoes actually makes one more of a target, all other things being equal, because it's obvious that escape will be more difficult than for someone in flats or sneakers.

[RolliePollie]

I tend to ride on well-traveled MUTs but don't carry any kind of ID with me which is bad. I always have my cell phone but I guess that doesn't help if someone was trying to figure out my emergency contact.

I have a hard time remembering to bring my ID with me on rides, so I made a photocopy of my Driver's License and my health insurance card and wrote all my emergency contact information on the same bright colored piece of paper. I put it right in the back of my seat bag so it practically falls out when you unzip it. Of course, you can't be sure someone would look in your seat bag, but at least it's always there. I also have a little label inside my helmet with basic emergency info. And I carry my cell phone (although it doesn't work worth beans around here!).

99% of my rides are solo. I ride rural roads and feel pretty safe...but I certanly don't take it for granted. I've been screamed at, honked at, and even had someone reach their arm out the car window and grab at me (now THAT about scared me to death!). Sometimes I think the poor pavement conditions are actually my biggest danger. I also live alone so no one would miss me if I didn't return from a ride. Friends and family know which roads I ride but I don't necessarily let someone know when I'm out riding. I try to be careful and aware, but I refuse to let fear keep me from doing things alone. Some of the worst injuries and accidents over my lifetime have been while doing what would be considered safe activities. I do get scared out there on the road though. My biggest fear is dogs and I'm going pepper spray shopping this weekend!

[RolliePollie]

I do not want to start a firestorm here, but I am curious if anyone carries any weapons aside from mace or pepper spray?

No, but my friend jokes around about carrying a handgun...kept in plain sight on the left hip, of course!

[Aggie_Ama]

No, but my friend jokes around about carrying a handgun...kept in plain sight on the left hip, of course!

I keep teasing DH if these Ford F250s (the big trucks) keep running up on me I am getting a concealed handgun license!!! That might level the playing field.