Earlier this year my best friend and I did some commuting to work before the temperatures and humidity got way out of hand. Here in North Texas it can get ridiculous. However, now that Ike has moved through and the temperatures are back to normal I want to get back to commuting.
I started combing through this site for information on how others make commuting work for them, ect, just looking for some tips, especially in the area of safety. On a few posts there were questions about why people do or do not commute and why there are so few women that commute. I was shocked at some of the answers. The most given answer was laziness? On the issue of why women don't commute, only ONE person posted personal safety. Now from the female perspective, I felt this was a little heavy handed but that's a post for another day.
I live in fairly large city, Fort Worth, TX. I am fortunate in the fact that I can ride nearly the entire distance to my work using the Trinity Trails. For the last few miles I ride through the Southside of town. Where I exit the trail is very a nice area near the TCU campus. But shortly afterwards things get sketchy. The deep Southside area of Fort Worth is no where for a lone woman to be. This is why my friend and I ride together. And let me state that even though there are safety in numbers, that still does not make my husband rest easy.
So, just to clear the air and the "laziness" comments, my #1 reason for not commuting full time is personal safety. This is something that quite frankly, men don't have to worry about like women do. Yes, you may get mugged and robbed but men generally do not have to worry about getting overpowered, ***** and murdered like we do. I found it odd that the majority of posters to that particular thread were men and few of them seemed concerned for the safety of the women riders in their lives.
Based on this, I would like to ask the readers out there who live in large metropolitan areas or have to ride in less than safe areas, how they go about protecting themselves. What is your plan if something happened?
Do you carry pepper spray?
A firearm?
Are you trained in martial arts?
Do you think you could just out ride someone chasing you?
As I started to think about this, I realized I did not have plan and that's sorta unlike me. As winter approaches, there will be less people on the trail and the days will be shorter. I really need to give this some thought and I bet there are a lot of other women out there facing the same issues. Let me know what's worked for you.