Biking at night
06-12-07, 11:55 AM
#26
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I am car free.
Riding at night will be harder on your wheels as you will be less likely to see hazards such as potholes.
I do a 7 mi commute in the dark, and I have memorized the really bad patches.
Crime has never been a concern for me.
Riding at night will be harder on your wheels as you will be less likely to see hazards such as potholes.
I do a 7 mi commute in the dark, and I have memorized the really bad patches.
Crime has never been a concern for me.
06-12-07, 12:41 PM
#27
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Originally Posted by ChipSeal
Riding at night will be harder on your wheels as you will be less likely to see hazards such as potholes.
I do a 7 mi commute in the dark, and I have memorized the really bad patches.
Crime has never been a concern for me.
I do a 7 mi commute in the dark, and I have memorized the really bad patches.
Crime has never been a concern for me.
i ride through a poor, hi-crime area but only for a few minutes.... only get the occasional yell. Not too concerned about the safety.
Of more concern to me is to see road hazards and be seen by drivers.
Best of luck
06-12-07, 02:37 PM
#29
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Originally Posted by AGGRO
Carry a big ass knife on a chest sheath. Something about a weapon being displayed calms down even the hard ones.
06-12-07, 03:30 PM
#30
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Wow, you guys really recommended blowing stoplights in the dark?
Dig this: When it's dark out, it's a lot more dangerous to blow through a light, because visibility is low. Duh.
If it makes you feel better to carry a weapon, okay...but I can't imagine needing one. Anywhere. The biggest safety hazard is visibility. Make sure not only you can be seen, but you can see as well. And the whole idea of carrying a gun around does not appeal to me. I don't want to make this into a gun control issue, but I can imagine some paranoid cyclist being approached by a stranger with no ill intentions and pulling a gun or knife. Bad news.
Dig this: When it's dark out, it's a lot more dangerous to blow through a light, because visibility is low. Duh.
If it makes you feel better to carry a weapon, okay...but I can't imagine needing one. Anywhere. The biggest safety hazard is visibility. Make sure not only you can be seen, but you can see as well. And the whole idea of carrying a gun around does not appeal to me. I don't want to make this into a gun control issue, but I can imagine some paranoid cyclist being approached by a stranger with no ill intentions and pulling a gun or knife. Bad news.
06-12-07, 04:28 PM
#31
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I tend to ride without a headlight in specific parts of the city at night. I never stop unless there is a breakdown, 15 people on a corner in gang areas will make you do that. I also have 4 different ways I travel and will switch at random.
If you decide to buy OC spray, please get some qualified advice on which type is best for you. There are some that are a very bad choice unless you know their drawbacks.
If you decide to buy OC spray, please get some qualified advice on which type is best for you. There are some that are a very bad choice unless you know their drawbacks.
06-12-07, 04:31 PM
#32
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Originally Posted by Juha
Judging from these posts (and the posts in "do you carry a gun" -threads) US does seem like a different planet. One day I'll go and see for myself.
--J
--J
It's really not that bad here. I'd be much more concerned about getting beat up around the pubs in the UK than anywhere stateside. Petty assaults and fistfights are actually less common here, though murder is more common. The same rules apply anywhere. Keep a low profile, stay out of trouble, don't bandy words with fools and watch your six. If danger rears its ugly head, boldly turn your tail.
06-14-07, 11:54 AM
#33
Sophomoric Member
Originally Posted by acroy
+1
i ride through a poor, hi-crime area but only for a few minutes.... only get the occasional yell. Not too concerned about the safety.
Of more concern to me is to see road hazards and be seen by drivers.
Best of luck
i ride through a poor, hi-crime area but only for a few minutes.... only get the occasional yell. Not too concerned about the safety.
Of more concern to me is to see road hazards and be seen by drivers.
Best of luck
__________________
"Think Outside the Cage"
06-14-07, 06:57 PM
#34
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Originally Posted by gwd
It is the perception promoted by news outlets. The reporters live in the suburbs. I don't carry weapons but bike through neighborhoods where many suburban friends are afraid to drive. I read in the newspaper about a bunch of suburban teachers taking a daytime field trip to my neighborhood to see where their immigrant students "come from". They visited a strip of restaurants and nightclubs that cater to suburbanites and were given strict instructions to not leave the block because of the "danger". The problem is the reporter didn't point out how silly the whole idea is. Any students would have lived blocks away from the nightclub strip and those blocks would not have been dangerous to a busload of gawking teachers. I'm not saying there isn't crime and gangs in the city just that the problems are over hyped by reporters. If reporters would make an attempt to subtract the criminal-on-criminal crime from the gross statistics they'd give readers a more accurate impression of the risks. Also, if you live here you pay attention to the localization in time and space of the crimes where the victem is a law abiding person.
I remember taking the train to the Bronx for the first time and images of Germany destroyed came to my mind. I thought large gangs of teens were on the street with automatic machine guns firing from projects killing people left and right. As the train came to a stop, I dreaded the fact of getting out of the subway. Then all of a sudden a child no older than 3 years of age stopped and looked at me kinda strange only to be pulled away by his mother. I said to myself, if that child can survive the Bronx, so can I and guess what? I had the best time of my life.
The most dangerous time I had was getting lost in the burbs with nightfall coming, no lights and high speed traffic everywhere.
