How do you stay safe..alone?

[Tri Girl]

Is is just mace that's illegal in some states? How do you find out? Halt isn't mace, is it? (it's the dog repellent kind, right?) I should ask DH- he used to carry some on his postal bag when he had a route a long time ago that had "attack" dogs on it.
I used to carry pepper spray all the time, but have gotten less stringent about carrying it (complacent, unfortunately). I better go buy some more today- thanks for the reminder ladies!!
I like the idea of bungee cording it to the stem. I guess I could also clip it to the side of my Bento box.


I think I might read that fear book, too. Sounds interesting!!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Curiousity.... How comfortable are you pepper spray packing ladies at using it? Did you buy a bottle for practice? Or are you just assuming you will be able to use it when needed? I would like to let DH rest easier and ride on my own but I would probably end up pepper spraying myself!

I got a little thing of pepper spray on Ebay. Mine has a flip-top that you have to flip up to be able to press the button- this makes it pretty much impossible to spray unless it is pointing away from you. It said it has enough for about 10 one-second bursts of spray. It also says each one was tested once at the factory. I tested mine for one second out in my yard to make sure I'd know what to expect. I figure it has at least 7 or 8 one-second sprays left in it, or 3 or 4 two-second sprays' worth. I'll probably replace it every 2 years or so if I don't use it up. I have not needed to use it yet, in one year of riding. But at least I know it does work!

[mimitabby]

okay, i did it.
When i was east of the mountains this weekend, since I was the sag
i didn't have time or opportunity to ride with the rest of the people,
so on Sunday morning, i left the lodge at 615am to ride by myself.
I told DH where i was going and took off down the road. I rode almost 6 miles and saw two cars. I also saw 3 deer. And that's what scared me.
Going back downhill, the next almost 6 miles, I decided that if i kept my speed at no faster than around 20, a deer probably wouldn't run into me. I also talked to the deer, which they did not like, they moved away from me when I spoke.

I loved the ride. I would trade a city ride for a country ride any day!

[SouthernBelle]

Plus in the country you can go miles without a stop sign!

Although trailers full of big round haybales are scary.

[RolliePollie]

Plus in the country you can go miles without a stop sign!

Although trailers full of big round haybales are scary.

Good thing I live in the country where there are miles between stop signs...otherwise I'd get caught running one for sure! Bad habit...I probably oughtta start stopping at those silly signs. But I feel that it's much safer to run them...otherwise I might forget to unclip and fall over.

Logging trucks are scary too. And so are big piles of horse poo in my lane. But I think traffic, signal lights, and riding in urban areas would really scare me. I guess it's all just what you're used to!

[Meg McKilty]

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

My bike. Sucker is made of steel- one hell of a weapon to wield.