Originally Posted by Mr_Super_Socks
I have always carried spray on my bike. I have never used it and I don't even know if it works. a few observations:
1) Commuting from Brooklyn to manhattan every day for the past 4 years, I can tell you that it's pea-brained motorists who are aggressive/threatening NOT punks, project-dwellers or any pedestrian (I pass hundreds every day);
2) Riding in rush hour on Fridays there's about a 70% chance someone will invite me to fight them from the window of their car. I always ignore them, but I get the pepper spray in my hand pretty quick and it makes me feel better if nothing else;
3) I was intentionally driven off the road by an SUV in Scottsdale, AZ where I grew up. Same thing happened on a mountain road outside Boulder, CO. Both cars stopped up ahead on the road to vent their anger at me for being on the road at all. These are two of the wealthiest communities in this country. Similar things have happened to me all over the country;
4) By far, the most aggressive, least restrained dogs I have ever encountered were in Washington and Oregon along the Pacific coast when I did a Pac Coast bike trip using the adventure cycling maps. Great route, unbelievable dog owners;
Just my $.02 --
Mr.Super Socks. A very good $.02. Thank you for concurring with what I was trying to say. Both of the times that I was attacked, were not in the "ghetto, and were not by project dwellers, but in fact I was attcked both times by white people ( I'm white ) so it has nothing to do with "urban paranoia' as BostonTravl tried to imply.
SuperSocks, Believe me, pepper spray does work 99% of the time, against dogs (both four legged and two legged variety) if used correctly. I have been sprayed in the face as part of my training. That was the last time I will volunteer for that, believe me.