To the "average" woman, life is terrifying. In a lot of our daily interactions, we get criticism, even if we did all the right things. God forbid you do a "wrong" thing, because you'll get even more blame and shame. We are taught that being out at night is dangerous. We are taught that being alone is dangerous. We are taught to fear strangers. We are taught to fear anything active or physical. We are taught to fear men. We are taught to fear the police.

So yeah, I can understand where she's coming from. That prison of fear is awful, and very few women who bought into it when they were young know how to break out. I and a lot of the other women here didn't get fed the message of fear as pervasively... or we had parents that actively fought it. Don't judge this women by the way we behave. Judge her as herself. Most of the fears she cites are pretty rational, and she hasn't been taught how to deal with the risks she's identified.

I'm kind of amazed she stuck with it. She clearly didn't get much help (if any) on ANY of the practical elements of getting around on a bike. And reinventing the wheel really sucks rocks. Imagine how much easier it would have been for her if she'd known about dressing properly, the door zone or good bike lights.