I live in Maryland (Silver Spring), a burb of DC. At the beginning of Sept, I started riding all the way to work, which is in Downtown DC, about 20 miles exactly. A large portion of the ride is though trails that run through parks and forests. There are a decent amount of bums living out there, so I carry pepper spray. The rest of the commute isn't bad, although, Mt. Rannier is a little sketchy....

I did have a rather scary experience the other day. I was biking up a decent hill in MD. I was just spinning, maybe going 10mph, and I was in the shoulder. An older mini-van with NY plates pulls up next to me maybe 2 feet away, and starts pacing me. There are three youths inside. This is a two lane road, and fairly quiet. The opposing lane is empty, and these jerkoffs could of easily gone around, but they were clearly messing with me. I wave my arm and yell "What the f are you doing?" The keep on pacing me, and are saying something among themselves. They speed up a little and I take the lane behind them and throw them the bird. They brake and start slowing down and I am thinking "oh crap, get ready to peel off to a side street." One of them throws me the bird and they speed off. I saw a cop coming out of a park two minutes later and I still had eye sight of the van. I should have said something.....but I didn't

I would totally carry a handgun on me if MD and DC would recognize my right to do so. I have a wife and two small kids and I rather enjoy coming home to them every night and personally, I would rather not be a victim.