pletcgm

My fiancee has really gotten into cycling. We live 35 miles away and she wants to ride more than twice a week, which is usually how often we see each other. She is concerned about riding by herself. Do any female cyclists here ride by themselves? If so, do you carry mace/pepper spray? Thanks.

LilSprocket

I'm not in your area but I do carry pepper spray... and a cell phone, for whatever that is worth BUT, IMHO, it's really important for her to learn how to change her own tubes, use a pump (or co2) and not be afraid to break a nail or get a lil' dirty. It'll 'empower' her and she'll feel more confident and be more inclined to ride solo.

Be safe! Have Fun!
All the best

Keith99

Would you ask the same question about driving on roads? Of course not, you realize each road is different. The same for bike trails. You need to know the trail and the time of day to make any kind of judgement.

In general I'd say trails are safe. As a previous poster pointed out she still needs to know how to change tires. That can be the worst problem on a long trail. Lots of people, very few equiped for even the slightest problem. But all those people so no one things of anyone as being stranded, but they are and you have a 15 mile walk, no fun.

Back to the danger issue. I can think of some trails that can be dangerous. In those very few cases the danger goes way up after dark. Not really a problem unless you are out and lose track of time.

LittleBigMan

Cycling as a woman seems to be different from what I experience as a man, from what I can tell. One afternoon I was riding home from work, as usual, when I passed a female cyclist. I called out, "Hey!" to her in the usual casual greeting around these parts, but she completely ignored me. I figure she was avoiding talking to strangers for her own safety.

sbhikes

I am a woman and I will even day hike or go backpacking alone. I don't even bring a dog.

Key to doing things safely and alone is to keep your wits about you, don't respond as expected to the crazies and predators, and don't be afraid to cause a huge scene out of proportion to the threat if you feel at all threatened.

Knowing how to do repairs is good advice, too. You don't want to be stuck having to rely upon strangers. Bring a phone, too.

bbonnn

What does being a woman have to do with it?

Seriously, do men not get flats, crash their bikes, get dehydrated, or get harrassed by mad cagers?

Tell her to take the normal precautions that you would on your bike. She'll be fine.

The one difference I notice as a woman is the OCCASIONAL catcall. It's extremely annoying, but from a safety perspective, absolutely harmless.

It's cool that she's gotten into biking. In my area, 90 percent of the commuters I see are men. We need more dudettes out there!

DataJunkie

I believe it would be more related to the R word.
A female cyclist friend mine was amazed that I ride through a trail early in the morning in an industrial area partially due to that fact. Then she looked at the 200lb man she was talking to and said "nevermind. I think you will be fine". Not that it matters but I'm much lighter now and still ride the same trail early in the morning.

bbonnn

Here's a statistic that might ease her mind (and the OP's mind): 67 percent of reported sexual assaults happen with someone the woman knows, not from a random stranger pouncing from the bushes. https://www.rainn.org/statistics/index.html

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I think our culture prevents women from doing fun outdoorsy things because we're irrationally worried about sexual assault from strangers. If you feel the trail is safe for a man, then it's probably safe for an adequately prepared woman.

I'm much more worried about inattentive drivers, road debris, and physical exhaustion causing me bodily harm when I'm biking.

rajman

Add dogs and other wildlife to the list of threats! Unleashed dogs, coyotes, deer, and prairie dogs have all presented hazards to me while riding.

Seriously, I haven't thought of crime as a concern, other than the ubiquitous one of bicycle theft.

Isn't walking around more potentially hazardous than cycling?

Another thought is if you are kitted out to look like a bike cop - the drug dealers tend to run away when you ride by (I've had this happen more than once-not sure if they were drug dealers, but they definitely went rabbit when I passed by). If you have a MTB, bright lights, and a yellow jacket with reflective stripes, you can generally pass as a bike cop to the casual observer at night. For the full look, try adding a rack pack (that's what the Toronto Police service seem to favour).

Pedal Wench

A woman riding alone on a bike path, in broad daylight, in a highly popular section of trail was killed yesterday on the Silver Comet Trail in Georgia. Details are still vague, but I know that I probably won't be riding out there alone.

tulip

I alter my commute regularly, but bike paths don't allow you to do that, which is why I like to have the choice to go by street. Most places that have bike paths don't have alternatives.

But really, I'm not going to let a few incidents, as tragic as they are, stop me from living my life. I'm prepared to take care of most mechanical issues that may come up, I can fight and kick and scream, and I'm not shy about making a fuss when necessary. I also carry a phone ON ME, not in my pannier, and tell someone my route. I actually have a map of all my routes on my wall in the house. Makes it easier for someone to find me, should they need to.

The only thing I would add is a police whistle. Those things can come in handy.

Pamestique 

I live in a fairly urban area of California (Orange County) and ride by myself all the time on both road and trails. I have never felt the need to carry anything other than water, Gu, tubes etc. BUT I don't know your area. I'm assuming your concern is about bad humans and not about bears or dogs attacking. When I'm riding alone I do avoid areas where transients tend to gather or is high crime, but if she sticks to neighborhood roads, high traffic'd areas, public biketrails or parkways, she should be OK especially if riding during the day not early in the morning or late at night.

The thing with Mace and or other deterents... use of them only works well if the person using them can stay calm and alert in a dangerous situation. And Mace will only slow someone down or piss them off if it doesn't hit a target area (such as the eyes). best deterent? Ride confidently, with purpose. Like if someone thinks about messing with me...he's gonna get it!

outashape

I am a female 48 years old. I have cycled from 3000 to 8000 miles per year for the last five years. At least once per year I have had someone stalk me. I do not cycle down lone roads or use deserted multipaths. I prefer to ride with traffic or on the shoulder. A ride of 10-15 miles poses no danger. You still feel safe, you are close to your home. I cycle to work around 25 miles one way about once per week in the dark and change my route each time. Guys harass me more at night, because they can not tell I am a female, so I get more yelling, trying to throw stuff at me, etc. This is all fine. In the daytime, it really depends on the area. I have driven down to Georgia to ride a century I found on the Internet by myself. I hike in the woods by myself all the time. Again, I do not set any patterns, One time it will be the state park, another time a metro park, the next time a local park with hiking mileages from one to ten miles per day. I carry my cell phone with an e-mail address to immedately send a picture to my husbands email address if needed. My husband is much more concerned than I am with my safety. Just as you have to be careful when you run or jog, you have to be careful when you cycle. I do carry bear spray, but usually forget to bring it. The bear spray makes me feel comfortable when camping alone. I doubt whether I could find it and use it in time.

sbhikes

Sexual assault, any kind of assault, **** and all that sort of thing, in my personal experience, has always been from strangers. Statistics are only meaningful on a group level. On a personal level they're meaningless.

P.S. Catcalls are not "absolutely harmless."

GotSnow

The majority of my rides are by myself. I only carry spare parts for repairs and a cell phone in my jersey pocket in case of emergencies.

I primarily ride a bike trail, when I do go out say after work, I’ll make sure to time my ride so that I won’t be riding back when it’s starting to get dark. The part of the trail that I get on/off always has some homeless people who take advantage of a particular secluded area under some trees.

When I ride on the streets, I usually drive my route during the day and at night, to see the differences. In many areas, once night falls a different crowd can be out. I also make sure I have some sort of light or reflective material on my person/bike when I know I’ll be riding in the darker/twilight hours.

The other posters provided some useful information…..using common sense, keeping your wits about you, altering and letting someone know your routes, etc.

chephy

+1. North Americans are generally paranoid about "safety", and seem particularly obsessed with it where it concerned women. I am a woman, and that sort of attitude sometimes just ticks me off... I go anywhere I would've gone had I been a guy. Given my haircut, build, general attire and manner (somehow I never developed a lot of those distinctively female movements that most other girls seem to have), lots of people assume they are dealing with a young skinny guy. I've had ladies flirt with me under that assumption. Perhaps I am much uglier than I realized, but I've never been stalked or harassed in any sexual way. (Plenty of drivers harass me on the road with their honks, but that's different, right? )

Here is a story: once I took a cab to visit my parents who lived in a part of Toronto quite familiar to me and one that I did not consider dangerous. As we were passing by a local park (an open green area with only a few trees, not isolated from the road at all), I asked the taxi driver to stop since the evening was so nice and I thought I'd take a stroll through that park along a path that leads right up to my parents' building. Here is my recollection of our dialogue:

Me: Could we stop around here somewhere, please?
Driver: (after stopping) Okay, but this is a strange place to stop; where are you really going?
Me: Why, to that building over there. I thought I'd walk from here.
Driver: Never mind, I'll just drive you up to the door. (turns on left blinkie preparing to take off)
Me: No, thanks, I want to get off here.
Driver: Oh, don't worry about the money, you don't have to pay for the ride from here. We have a policy...
Me: Look, it's not about the money, I just want to enjoy the beautiful evening!

Finally he lets me go, telling me to be careful. I found this very patronizing. It's nice to have a policy of driving people for free for a short distance they are afraid of walking, but trying to shove this down women's throats "for their own protection" is very disturbing. What next, wrap us in burkas and lock us indoors permanently "for our own protection"?

(Of course, whatever women themselves choose to do for their own protection is fine with me, as long as they don't force it on any other people.)

banerjek

Our society seems to view women as being particularly fragile and incapable. That's why people don't worry about some skinny guy (who looks like a *****exual to cyclist haters), but try to convince a woman that she shouldn't go out or try anything. If a guy gets assaulted, it will be regarded as unfortunate, but you can expect that he'll soon be out and about again. If a woman gets assaulted, it will be used as proof that women don't belong out on their own, and the woman who actually got assaulted will be encouraged to live in fear for the rest of her life.

When I was in college, I remember regularly escorting small groups of women home from parties. I always found the notion that the presence of a 135 lb shrimp could provide a substantially improved level of protection kind of funny.

BTW, if someone wants to attack you, you probably won't know about it until you've already had your wheels taken out or been smashed in the face. No attacker with half a brain will ever give you a chance to defend yourself since they know that some potential victims carry weapons.

BTW, my wife rides by herself all the time. Most of it is on rural roads where help is not forthcoming. She doesn't worry about anything more serious than a mechanical breakdown and neither do I.

LilSprocket

[QUOTE=chephy]+1. North Americans are generally paranoid about "safety", and seem particularly obsessed with it where it concerned women....[QUOTE]

I’ve been attacked 3 times in my life. Only one time was someone known to me... When I was
13 by my sisters’s b’friend at the time.

Another time, I was driving home from a friends house when I was 17, some guy in a minivan
kept waving at me and pointing at the rear of my car. Long story short, when I got out of my car
to check if I had a flat or something, the guy, pretending to be helpful, also go out of his car and
proceeded to tackle me... I managed to get away, call the cops... They never found the guy.

Third time’s a charm eh?
When I was 28, I was waiting tables at two different restaurants, generally working a lot and it
was tough to find time to workout. I got off early one night, early being like 9pm, so I decided
to go for a run, in my own suburban neighborhood, generally considered “safe”. There were
plenty of street lights and cars driving around, being close to home, I felt safe... Towards the end
of my run, feeling fantastic, I slowed to a walk to cool down.

I was tackled from behind by a man unknown to me and nearly 3 times my size...
I screamed with the hope that cars driving by would hear, that someone in a house nearby would hear...
I struggled and kicked and punched... Trying to go for the throat, the eyes....
He beat the crap out of me, was choking me, I started to see spots and decided I wanted to remain conscious so pretended to pass out by allowing my body to go completely limp, at which time he released his hold on me. I tried again to get away... I was unsuccessful....

When he was done with me, he told me to count to 200 aloud...
He told me he’s done this to 200 women (likely he was inflating his ego... I hope anyhow).
When I reached “20" I listened... Not hearing the shrubbery moving, I ran.. I ran like the wind...
I ran home and dialed 911. The police responded with light speed and were able to apprehend
the guy, a trial ensued a year later (with him out on bail, I learned through the State Atty he was going to school, how noble, to be a massage therapist....) During trial he claimed I was a prostitute and justified beating me to get his money back... (As if it’s ok to beat prostitutes???).
Justice prevailed, in this instance and he went to jail, now he has a record and cannot ever become a massage therapist. The State has notified me that he will be released from prison next month.

It is just my personal opinion that sexual offenders cannot be rehabilitated, that there is
something inherently ‘wrong’ with them.

I REFUSE to allow fear to prevent me from enjoying all the beauty life has to offer.. It’s not just
about being female, or being “uglier” or prettier, male or female, in a busy place or an isolated
place (I’ve met women who were attacked in their homes! I’d met an 80yr old who was attacked
in a movie theater!). “Bad” people are opportunists....

Though am appreciative... I’m not looking for your sympathies. I tell you, total strangers on the
net, this not to frighten, not for boo-hoo poor me... No... Please understand I tell you NOT for
an unhealthy dose of obsessive paranoia, I share for a HEALTHY dose of caution.

Perhaps I am just "irrationally worried"... but I think it is simply wise to be aware.
I continue to participate in all the activities I enjoy,
just with a dose of caution.

sbhikes

Yep, that's the thing. When a man is attacked by another man it's some kind of macho thing. A fight. An assault. Men being stupid. Whatever. When a woman is attacked by a man it's way, way more than that. It's evidence of our vulnerability, our frailty, our weakness, our sexuality, our difference, whatever.

That's not to lessen the impact. It's horrible. But to change our lives because of it? Nobody requires that of men. Nobody assumes they'll "learn their lesson" from their fights and stay safe at home like they should. Nobody expects men to curtail the places they'll go, the times they'll go out, and the activities they'll pursue, the costumes they'll wear, just because somebody else might try to hurt them. But they expect that of women, even if they've never been hurt in their lives. Then they think you're crazy if you have been hurt and don't curtail your activities.

Phooey on that.

slowandsteady

Yes. If it is a bad neighborhood, it's bad regardless of sex. If you wouldn't ride there alone, she shouldn't either. I do carry mace, but its for the dogs. The only time I really fear for my safety is in areas that are prone to crime or some trails that have been known to attract bike thieves. The kind that steal your bike while you are on it.

chephy

pletcgm

Here is an update from your posts. She read all of them and is now convinced about riding on her own. I have been teaching her some things about changing a tire, patching, and such. She is really excited. Thanks for your posts.

SingingSabre 

I'm glad you got his arse nailed. Men like that are the reason men like me have a hard time being massage therapists. I actually had a client walk out on me because she was uncomfortable getting a massage by a man. My coworkers were baffled. They asked if that was a normal thing for me to have to deal with.

Back on topic... If she evaluates how much risk she's willing to take and what she's willing to do, she should be able to find just what she needs. We all evaluate our risks and situations and decide what to do based on our history, it's no different for men and women in this regard. It's the details that'll mess you up.