Riding alone creeps me out as well, although I'm not sure why. Whatever's out there is still safer than the drivers I encounter on my road rides :D

I do most of my mountain biking alone... but then I'm a fairly conservative rider, carry pretty mucha full patrol kit with me, and always a cell phone. How comfortable you are riding alone should be indirectly proportional to your propensity for riding off a bluff or t-boning a pine tree.

I had a strange fall about 7 weeks ago that broke 3 ribs and has kept me off the bike until about a week ago. If I had been alone, it would have been a bigger ***** to get out than it was. BUT, I will go alone again if the urge strikes. Just be careful and if something happens, react. Life is too short to live in a bubble.

I rode alone a few weeks ago through an urban neighborhood I frequently ride through. This particular time, though, it was dusk and before too long I was riding through pitch blackness. I imagined all manner of pit bulls and gang bangers lurking in the shadows. I decided that from now on after dark, I'll take the route a little further west that goes by the country club.

Its good to ride with slower riders so the bear can eat them first.

A Ranger at the Missouri Breaks once advised a friend who carried a pistol to file the sights down. The friend asked why he should file the sights down? The Ranger responded, so it doesn't hurt when the bear shoves it up your &#TT.

A can of Black flag Wasp Spray has a long range it can be sprayed and will stop a bear most effectively.

There isn't a bear in NJ that would pose any kind of threat. Unless you're a perv and was messing with a cub. Then you deserve what you get!

That neighborhood I was talking about a couple posts back? When the sun is still up but getting low on a weekday, what a great place to ride! It's a hispanic neighborhood and you can smell all kinds of good Mexican food cookin', everything from fish to carnitas. I wanted to knock on someone's door and invite myself in for dinner!

A couple hours later, though, and that hood still scares me...

You'd take the Country Club with all those yuppies and Porsches over the gang bangers? You're crazy.

I'm pretty sure you're allowed to say butt, even on this site. Anus, ass, arse, rectum, and bunghole are also acceptable.

The country club is next to TCU; they're used to seeing cyclists in that area.

The other neighborhood is probably not that bad, but you just can't see well enough at night to even assess the risks. I've noticed that the city is just not turning on streetlights in a lot of neighborhoods, probably in an attempt to save money.

Your assistance is appreciated.

"They train young men to drop fire on people. But their commanders won't allow them to write **** on their airplanes because it's obscene!"

But you can't say **** any more. Or sh!t. sh!t! sh!t! sh!t!

Oooooooo . . . I did.

Agreed!!! We're freaking mountain bikers for god's sake. It's an adventure sport. If you don't like the edge then get yourself a pair of running shoes. Cowboy up and enjoy the ride.