Riding alone out in the sticks

[kiwi girl]

I was trying to remember exactly where you live. Is your ride through the Waitaks? When my parents still lived in Avondale I used to ride up Scenic Drive and back thorugh Owaraka (sp) by myself when I was visiting them. I'd ride most places in and around Auckland that I could think of by myself.

I do almost all my riding by myself in the outskirts of Christchurch.

[Raindrop]

I almost always ride alone due to my schedule and although my routes don't come close to what you've described, an accident can happen in any situation right?

I do what others have said. I mention to my husband the general area I plan to ride, I have my cell phone with ICE (In Case of Emergency #) programmed in, and I have an ankle bracelet with my name and emergency contract on it that I got from RoadID.com.

So....I do what I can to identify myself in case of emergency. Life is too short to be too scared. I did that for too long and I don't want to live my life like that any longer.

Having said all that, do you have the equivalent of Craigslist there? Or use this site and try and recruit some partners to ride. There are a lot of women like myself that ride alone most of the time but would love to be on-call for a ride.

[crazycanuck]

Hey snappy,

What area exactly are you riding to?? (If you're a mtn biker let me know) If you're headed to the waitaks or the hunuas, be careful. (are you sure you don't want to become a mtn biker??? Much safer than the main roads around auckland & the north island in general)

I wouldn't ride on the main roads in auckland (hence why we're moutain bikers....) but if you do, make sure you ride in the main coverage areas for Telecom or vodafone, leave a note stating when you'll be back, take over the lane if possible as we both know how windy the roads can be!!

Most of all, take care on your ride & i'm sure there are some nice auckland drivers willing to give cyclists some space........

c

[Nanci]

I like to ride alone. I try to tell BF the general direction I am going. I also feel a lot better since I got my Road ID ankle thing. I feel like, if something happens, someone will know who I am and who to call.

Nanci

[DeniseGoldberg]

I ride alone most of the time. In fact, when I rode across the United States it was a solo effort.

I also live alone, so there is no one to call at home if I'm in an accident - but I wear a RoadID that includes my name and emergency contact info as well as health-related info and the name & phone number of my primary care physician. I hope that is never needed, but I'd rather have it on me than not.

--- Denise