Riding Solo - staying safe

[lovelygamer]

Wow. Touchy Subject. I try to limit my riding to before 10 p.m. I was out at that time a couple of weeks ago and my "hood" was scary to say the least. I was more afraid of the people than the cars AND I saw more people in the streets than cars. That said, I don't use guns. I would just pedal faster if I was concerned. I keep my cell and road ID on me too, at all times I am riding.

[Bike Writer]

There has been an abundance of thoughtful ideas posted here and good dialogue over this emotionally charged subject.

There has also been a level of "attack" type posting criticizing someone's opinion or perspective and that adds nothing to the discussion.

As another poster pointed out, nothing said on these forums is going to change a person who is pro-gun into anti-gun and vice versa. Thankfully we live in a nation where opinions are freely accepted and encouraged.

To the original poster kamikazejane; while I dislike generalizations I have found the following to be the norm in this environment - many comments that express a liberal point of view are passed on without comment (which is really how it should be, a persons POV is just that) - many comments that express a conservative point of view are debated or challenged, sometimes hotly.

I come here for cycling information, comraderie and try to ensure that for the most part my contributions don't contain something that can be construed as offensive, instead I try to offer helpful advice or tips when I am able to. I'm sure that you didn't intend for your comment to cause a ruckus, but it has. Lesson learned, I speak from experience with having made what I considered to be a small offhand personal opinion that stirred up quite a hornet's nest at the time.

Not sure how the weather is in the rest of the world today, but today is a GREAT day to live in South East Michigan, we are having one perfectly gorgeous day!

[zoom-zoom]

I am absolutely more afraid of being hit by a vehicle than I am of being attacked. Ride defensively, and expect drivers to do stupid stuff.

Yeah...my fears re: riding solo are generally related to the possibility of mechanical issue with my bike, flaky drivers, or my own propensity for doing dumb/clumsy stuff. I know people who will mountain bike alone--that, especially, terrifies me. Because I rarely go off road without at least one crash. Fortunately they have all yielded relatively benign soft-tissue injuries, but I know the odds are that sometime I will suffer a more serious injury and if I'm alone on a quiet trail it could be a while before anyone finds me.

[kamikazejane]

I note it was all OK and smilies when you thought I agreed.....

Like I said, I don't care if you agree or disagree with my opinions. I was actually poking fun at myself when I made the "proficient subtle sarcasm" comment. I wasn't thinking "oh cool she agrees with me."

Actually I said that I found it to be so. I note it was all OK and smilies when you thought I agreed.....

I don't intend to debate politics with you. It is not appropriate here. Perhaps this should simply be a lesson in take care what you type, because if I don't know in what context it is being said, you also don't know in what context that it is being read. Perhaps I am alone in this, but I found it inflammatory. Please feel free to set your account up to ignore my posts. I won't be offended.

Taking a look back I don't think I'd have even said anything at all if you hadn't come back to Tulip with a Geeze I hardly said anything at all attitude, because I thought you said plenty.

Sorry, I was only trying to figure out how or why what I posted came across as it did to you. Why is it inflammatory? Why do you think it is flippant? What makes you think I thought it was an "lol" matter? Just wanted your side of how you perceived it so that it was clear and not inferred on my end.

I have no problem and will continue to express my opinion on matters whether on an internet forum or in person. I never expect everyone to agree with me and have no problem if people disagree. How one reacts to what I say/write or how I say it is something only they have control over. As long as I am not slandering/attacking another person then if they don't like what I say or how I say something then it is their right to and so be it, that's the harsh reality of life. You can't expect to agree with what everyone has to say. I just try my best to understand where that person is coming from when they do disagree rather then respond on an emotional level.

Also, there is no reason for me to block you. I find your comments challenging, of interest and worthwhile.

[kamikazejane]

Not sure how the weather is in the rest of the world today, but today is a GREAT day to live in South East Michigan, we are having one perfectly gorgeous day!

We had some nasty storms over here in Shelby Township this afternoon. Drying out now just in time for a ride

[Bike Writer]

We had some nasty storms over here in Shelby Township this afternoon. Drying out now just in time for a ride

I just realized you are from Michigan. Not a drop of rain only mild temps and sunshine just north of Ann Arbor.

[velo]

As the OP of this thread, I want to say sorry for even asking the question. The thought that this discussion would turn to a debate on firearms did not even cross my mind. The thought of *arming* oneself didn't even cross my mind as an option. I was thinking along the lines of the suggestion given about your SO being able to track you on GPS. Had I known that we'd even be talking about carrying a gun on a ride, I would never have started it. Political biases aside, I was hoping that this would be constructive. Although I had no way of knowing that it would devolve to this, I will say that some of the *reasonable* (and no, I don't consider carrying a GUN to be *reasonable*) suggestions were helpful and I thank those people. /thread

[kamikazejane]

As the OP of this thread, I want to say sorry for even asking the question. The thought that this discussion would turn to a debate on firearms did not even cross my mind. The thought of *arming* oneself didn't even cross my mind as an option. I was thinking along the lines of the suggestion given about your SO being able to track you on GPS. Had I known that we'd even be talking about carrying a gun on a ride, I would never have started it. Political biases aside, I was hoping that this would be constructive. Although I had no way of knowing that it would devolve to this, I will say that some of the *reasonable* (and no, I don't consider carrying a GUN to be *reasonable*) suggestions were helpful and I thank those people. /thread

You have no need to apologize. You had a valid question and concern and there were some good suggestions. I don't think anyone made the suggestion to carry a gun. The original question/concern that I asked was on how to carry one while biking. I would have to read through all the posts but I don't think anyone including myself actually said/suggested that you should carry one. I probably should have started my own thread asking my own question instead of interjecting it into yours. The gun talk turned into an off topic tangent that unfortunately I initiated with my comment and question so I apologize that your thread was blown up by it and the focus of your post was lost at some point.

[lovelygamer]

Velo



/thread



.......

That was win!

[snapdragen]

Let's all step away from the thread for now, m'kay?

[Aromig]

I'm brand new here (just joined yesterday) -- and I'm not riding very much now (recovering from a broken tib/fib) -- but thought I'd share my personal "safety" precaution with you. I own a "Spot" personal GPS tracking device. It didn't cost much (I think I spent $100 on the unit -- and they have specials all the time), and you pay for a yearly subscription. There are different options - you can have it report your position to a website every 10 minutes that you can allow your family to log in and check (you can set it to private so only invitees can see). I don't do this very often although I bought the service. The one service that IS useful is that it has an emergency button that you can press when needed and it will summon emergency responders. I've take my spot in places where I can't get cell phone reception - it gives me peace of mind when I can't get cellphone reception (which is frequent than people realize).

For a small subscription (like $12 a year) it also provides emergency rescue insurance (if you use the function for emergency responders, it covers the cost). I used that just this summer -- I broke my leg parachuting in Norway and the insurance is paying the $3000 helicopter transport bill (I can't IMAGINE how expensive it would be for helicopter transport in the US).

Finally, my favorite function is a "check in" that I can send a text to my husband saying "I'm OK." I do this when I'm done parachuting, hiking, etc. for the day and I'm on my way home. If he doesn't get that check in when expected, he knows to start beating the bushes for me. I bought my first unit at Eddie Bauer, and I bought a smaller unit at Gander Mountain last year, and I've seen them at REI. You can learn more about it at findmespot.com (I know there are also other personal GPS locators out there too).

Amy

[zoom-zoom]

Amy, I've see ads for the Spot devices in the back of Bicycling and/or Outdoors magazine. That is really intriguing. I could see something like that being very useful for someone like me.

[pll]

I would carry that!

[Susan Otcenas]

Ladies,

Putting on my (hardly ever worn) ADMIN hat here:

I read this thread from start to finish. I have to say that all of you on the forums continue to amaze me. Guns are a very emotionally charged subject and it's clear that many of you fall on polar opposite sides of the opinion spectrum on this one. And yet, despite a few tense moments, the thread has stayed remarkably civil and respectful. That speaks volumes about all of you, and I am so honored to "rub shoulders" with you here on the forums, regardless of your political persuasions. Thank you.

I'm going to ask all of you now to just take a breather and step back from the carry-or-don't-carry portion of the thread, because as has been stated a few times already, it's unlikely that any minds are going to be changed on this particular point. Let's continue to discuss velo's concerns and the very real and very important topics of safety and *feeling safe* (which I think are two separate but similar ideas) while out riding and doing what we love, without any further discussion on guns. I very very much do not want to shut this thread down, because I think there's been a ton of great conversation here, but I will close it if the gun theme comes up again.

Again, thank you all for your intelligent and thoughtful contributions to this thread!

Susan

[roo4]

Susan,

Would this be an acceptable topic for the "way off topic ongoing conversations" category or are all posts that mention guns banned from TE forums?

edited to add: or how about "Open Topic (non-cycling related)?"