Originally Posted by
baron von trail
A phone, for no other reason than calling 911 if and when needed, is an essential tool, much like a pump and spare tube. You can choose to ignore making use of modern technology and decide to crawl out of the woods on your belly in an effort to find help, should you break a leg or develop a significant head injury, but many of us have had such emergencies and were quite glad we had our phones with us.
Then you should carry such a device, as it makes you “feel” safer.
I’m not crash-prone and neither am I like you when it comes to such devices. I have no desire to “perceive” myself safer merely by carrying such a device. In the remoteness of the mountains where I ride, reception is poor to non-existent as proven via my friend’s wireless device. So carrying such a device has proven itself rather pointless.
Question for you: What do you think solo bicyclists did before the days of no wireless communication devices?
Answer: They rode cautiously, they enjoyed themselves, and they were prepared to accept whatever consequences.
I’m of that same making, from the same generation of people that grew up without such devices and you know what; I liked those days much better than these current times of being hounded to death by cell phone calls, e-mails, texts, pager alerts, telemarketers, surveyors, etc… For me, silence is golden.
Besides, being that the majority of people carry a cell phone, someone would eventually call 911 if such was necessary, that is, if they could acquire reception in those virtual dead zones.
I don’t ride in fear of the unknown rather, I ride for the thrill of the unknown.