"carry and 'air zounds', pepper spray, 480 ftprsec bb gun w/an 18 shot mag"

I like the Air Zounds thing - maybe I'll get one.

When I saw "weapons" on this thread I jumped to weapons against dogs. My main concern is dogs. Then drivers doing dangerous not intending to hurt. Then a very very remote possibility of an attack by a person.

How easy is pepper spray to use, really? How well does it stop a big big dog? Can I get it out and use it fast enough? How safe is it? We used to carry mace. My ex maced me accidently while I was driving our tandem. It did seem to get dogs to leave.

How easy is it to use a gun from a bike? I've used guns before. Twice in self defense. I'm one of those people who can actually hit things rapid fire, either hand. I'm not sure how good I'd be straddling a stationary bike in road shoes. I'd think stopped in a stable position and being approached by an individual on foot is the most likely effective use against people from a bike. If they're armed and firing, what would I be doing standing there aiming**********!!!!! Seems other things would work fine under those circumstances. Regardless, I'd use a revolver were I to carry on a bike. No casings with fingerprints and revolvers sink just fine.

Stun gun and an ultrasonic dog repeller along with a super loud whistle look acceptable to me. I'm mainly concerned about contact and those things look reasonable. The horn might be better, something I can get to instantly.

I do think shooting a car seems unrealistic. Under what circumstances? I'd rather be taking evasive actions. I've only used a gun for defense when cornered and attacked with no easy out. Twice and both times blocked in by a vehicle when in a vehicle, rural environments, nasty boys. For that type of situation a .22 isn't likely to be ideal, and everything else seems to weigh something! Still, perhaps a carry weapon would be better. I just don't like carrying such stuff. I don't think I'd ever carry something capable of easily disabling a car. Considering they'll run on flat tires long enough to roll over me!

I got trained in using knives, too, but I simply can't see how I'd use one. I can't really move in cycling shoes.

On the other hand, I'm going to set up a commuting bike for normal shoes and start riding to work directly, instead of taking a 10 mile plus road route. I'll be going in dimmer conditions when the rush hour weirdos come out. Perhaps a carry gun isn't such a bad idea - maybe a flare gun!!