Do you feel this is safe?

[sundial]

I ride alone too. I love riding along the tall corn stalks, the fields of soybeans, and watching wild mink play tag. I think there is a risk with any ride. I try to be prepared by carrying my cell phone, SPOT, concealed weapon permit with gun of choice, Road ID, and plenty of water and snacks.

[Starfish]

concealed weapon permit with gun of choice

And what choice is that right now? I'm used to a heavier .45 or a shotgun for home, but a friend of mine has one of these, and it is quite small and quite light. Feel free to PM your response. Thanks!

[sundial]

That's one of my choices. Fits perfectly in the jersey pocket without advertising.

[OakLeaf]

7.2 oz in a jersey pocket? Wouldn't fit in mine! My 3.3 oz phone is a lot.

And wouldn't you have to put it in a ziploc bag... kind of defeating the purpose?

[latelatebloomer]

I'm a solo country road rider, too. I did decide last year that I would like to have a cell phone with me, it has my emergency numbers under "ICE" and also the numbers of a few neighbors who are home during the day.

I think it is good to vary your route - and good for your training, anyway.

And I stay alert - twice, vans have passed me and stopped, as if waiting for me to pass them. I turned and headed the other way. Most likely they were just folks lost on our confusing back roads, but my intuition said to keep away.

When I head out, I always say a little prayer/blessing - Ride strong, ride safe.

[Trek420]

Trust your gut, if it feels unsafe .... it probably is. Ride safe, ride strong, ride anyway

+1 on self defense classes if you feel you need one and have a good instructor nearby. Ask your local PD ro reccommend one.

I feel strongly that anything we do to make us feel confident, self aware, strong IS self defense. Run, swim, rollerblade .... it all counts. After over 25 years of martial arts training IMHO nothing makes you bullet-proof so let's just try not to do anything foolhardy.

Be safe, be aware, use common sense .... and ride. 'Cause if we don't they win. Ride to erase fear.

I have no desire to use my training again and I think you'll find most MA students feel the same way; we'd do anything to avoid "using it" and always as a last resort. It's not why we train.

If I feel I may be in a dicey area I sometimes carry a knife. Folded it fits nicely and unobtrusively into a Ibex jacket breast pocket, unfolded it slips into the back of my left glove.

I don't know how nor have any desire to learn to handle a gun. I'm pretty good with a knife, here, hand me that head of garlic, some tomato, a few onions, some cilantro ... I'll make salsa!

But again, I hope and pray that I never use what I know.

[Aggie_Ama]

Sundial- You confirmed what I suspected, that cyclists are sometimes packing. My DH and I debated this once.

[Starfish]

7.2 oz in a jersey pocket? Wouldn't fit in mine! My 3.3 oz phone is a lot.

And wouldn't you have to put it in a ziploc bag... kind of defeating the purpose?

This thing is small. It fits. And, even if you did want to put it inside something, the couple of seconds it would take to free it would be a lot shorter than the 20 minutes or half hour, depending on where you are, for a sheriff to show up after a cell phone call (and that can be an optimistic response time in some areas where I ride, which I know from experience).

[Trek420]

There are a few of us here who've experienced simply reaching for the phone, some even miming that you're calling or about to take a picture (cell phones are so small these days who can see that you actually have one in hand ) and someone leaves who you'd like to leave.

I've used mine to send myself a txt message of a plate of an aggressive driver and once .... of a very polite truck driver I wanted to commend to the company he works for

[alpinerabbit]

I remain with the opinion that neither a gun, knife of pepper spray will protect you. Much rather it will be used against you or cause an accident.

Ride as if you own the road. Anything else, you can't control it.