Connell

The NRA and other groups with a vested interest in keeping Americans afraid have done a credible job of creating a myth that prior to the handgun ban, British people carried guns openly. They didn't.

Anyone who tells someone inexperienced in the use of weapons to carry a gun "for protection" is, in my opinion, not someone who's advice should be trusted.

Fortunately, there are cooler heads giving you advice here. I hope you have a great trip and wish you well. I'm sure you'll be fine.

breezybikes

Yes, I've definitely taken into consideration that if the blog is made too public others could potentially track me with bad intentions. I'm not very tech-savvy, so I'm still in the process of figuring out how to keep it open to people that I trust while maintaining a level of security and privacy.

lucille

When I was traveling, I was posting pictures to Flickr, but only after i've left the place or the next day for that very reason.

Machka 

Absolutely ... when I've posted information about my travels it usually tends to be about where I've been rather than where I'm going. The "where I'm going" information goes to close family or friends.

When I toured Australia in 2004, I emailed stuff for my website home to my father who then posted it. By the time it was posted, usually a few days had passed. On my shorter tours, I've waited till I got home to post anything.

I would be very cautious about putting details about where I'm going tomorrow up on Facebook, for example.


I do this whether I'm on tour or just doing a day ride somewhere relatively local ... and especially if I'm riding solo (which I've done a lot).

I'll also mention friends or family.

For example, I did a solo 360 km day ride when I lived in Winnipeg in preparation for the 2003 PBP. I decided to cycle up to a particular park on one of the lakes and back to Winnipeg. On the way up to the park, I stopped in at a grocery store to get something to eat and drink, and a customer talked to me outside the store asking where I was headed. I didn't feel 100% comfortable with that question, so I told him I was going to a place on the way to the park (and I was, but I was going well beyond that too) where I was meeting a group of friends who would be driving by shortly. He kind of pushed for more info wanting to know if I'd be cycling back that way the next day, and I indicated that I'd be driving back with my friends. So he walked off.

I've done similar things on several occasions, and it really helps to be aware of the towns, parks, and places approx 20 km from wherever you are so you can tell people (people you're not comfortable with) that's where you're headed if they start to push for information.

And if I'm asked (as I have been on a few occasions), "Are you out here all by yourself?", I laugh like that's a ridiculous idea and tell them that my father, brother, cousin, friend, or whatever will be driving past shortly, or is just up the road, or something along those lines. (But when I lived in Alberta, that was indeed sometimes true because my father was often around somewhere on his bicycle or in his car.)

Sometimes I'll be really vague, and if I'm asked where I'm going, I'll say something like, "Just cycling around the area, here and there ... it's a beautiful afternoon for a ride." ... or "Nowhere in particular, just out for a bit of exercise and fresh air" ... or something like that to suggest I either live or am staying in an area.

I've been asked sometimes how long I'll be staying in an area, and again, I'll be vague ... "Not sure" ... or evasive ... "Not sure, it depends what my friends are up to."

contango 

In fairness whichever party is in opposition will paint everything in the worst possible light to show how useless the current government is, and the party in power will paint everything in the best possible light to show what a great job they are doing of governing.

In UK terms when we have a Labour government the norm is for the Daily Mail to ridicule just about everything they do; when we have a Conservative government look for much the same treatment from the Daily Mirror.

BenzFanatic

enough with the gun debate, the OP already stated her intentions and a moderator already posted a warning. take it to the politics forum.

contango 

Check the price and size of satellite phones before you get too excited about them. It's been a while since I saw any satellite phones in the flesh but when I last did they were huge, they had a huge antenna that had to be attached to get a satellite signal, they were hugely expensive to buy and hugely expensive to use. Using the satellite uplink was a heavy drain on the very large battery as well.

You might take the view that the price doesn't matter if it gives you a lifeline, although if you buy one and never use it on your trip it does make an expensive paperweight. Maybe you can rent one?

Machka 

Some people around here have satellite phones ... usually people who travel into remote parts of Australia. The ones I've seen are about the size of a "normal" phone (home phone).

My impression is that they aren't overly expensive to buy, but they are expensive to use. The people who have them here usually use them for emergency purposes.

BenzFanatic

From what I've seen most are in the $600 range, but they go from $400 on up. But yea, it would hurt my Dutch ancestors to know something that expensive is most likely going to go unused... I just did a search and it does seem there are places that rent them. It's the same thing as choosing between a motel and camping if you're not huge camping lover... you just have to decide what level of comfort you want and if you can afford it.

stephenjubb

not sure of postage to the USA but I'm going remote into Scotland so got a satellite phone here , £87 pounds or $140, downside is you need a contract of 11 euros a month. There is pay as you go but prices start at £400 or $600.

I got a sat phone for work purposes, going remote and keeping in contact with family (they worry a lot)
weighs about 400g in total, heavy I know so needs to be justified.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GLOBALSTAR...#ht_1445wt_952

contango 

Looks like things have moved on a lot. The last one I saw wasn't much smaller than a house brick, cost several hundred pounds (pushing over $1000) and cost something like $10/minute to actually make a call. You certainly wouldn't want to do have an extended chat at that price!

Machka 

These are the dimensions of one of the cheaper ones I found on a quick google search:

Dimensions: 170mm(L) x 54mm(W) x 39mm(D)
Weight: 279g (9.8oz) Including Battery

And the per minute call is anywhere from $1.50 per minute to about $8.00 per minute depending on who or what device you're calling. It looks like a call to a cell phone is about $1.80/minute.

BigAura

SPOT Personal Tracker

009jim

Sounds very familiar to me. Someone tells me they dislike guns and would like all guns banned. Later in conversation same person tells me she is worried about her safety.

Machka 

+1

Jamoni

Jeez. Shouldn't you guys be over at ARFCOM?
Back on topic, BigAura beat me to the punch with the SPOT tracker.

DeadheadSF

+1 on this - I'm so sick of the male-bashing and portrayal of all males as criminals, ******* and pedophiles. Women do the same things, it's not just males. All humans have the capacity for evil, but not all of us use it (or want to).

CarolynBikesUSA

Thank you, breezybikes for starting this thread! I too am a female planning a solo cross-country tour (starting in August), but whenever I tell anybody about my upcoming trip, their first concern is always "Really? By yourself? Aren't you worried what could happen?" It's a bit annoying, honestly--why can't more people just be as excited about my big adventure as I am? I appreciate that they care about my safety--I really do--but I feel that the chances of "something bad" happening are far lower than my friends and family think they are. I grew up in a safe, suburban neighborhood, so maybe I have a false sense of security, but I also have a good head on my shoulders and I KNOW that I need to be aware of my surroundings and trust my instincts. And really, I think knowing your own strengths and weaknesses is really important to being prepared for a solo tour. For instance, I knew that my knowledge of bike maintenance & repair was really lacking and potentially debilitating, so I took a class offered by my local parks & rec. department. Even if I never have to do anything beyond fixing a flat, it helped alleviate some of the fear I had about being stranded in the middle of nowhere due to a mechanical problem. (Which is far more likely to happen than being assaulted, as I've tried to tell my family & friends--with no luck.

I don't really have any advice concerning firearms or pepper spray--only that personally, I would never want to use either one. I actually don't really have any advice at all, seeing as I'm still pretty new to bike touring and haven't accumulated much experience yet--I just wanted to thank you for starting this discussion and thanks to the other posters for the great advice--I'll definitely be checking out some of the books & CGOAB journals that have been mentioned! Also, I totally agree with MassiveD who said that bike touring is all about adventure. (For me, the possibility that it's just a little bit dangerous only adds to the sense of adventure, but I could never admit that to my worried grandparents.) And breezybikes--have a great trip!!

Lao

My tip would be to make your own pepper spray, mainly to use against dogs.

Machka 

So how did the tour go?

Machka 

Even on our current tour, I've opted to be somewhat vague about where we currently are ... it's one thing to say, "We're in Bordeaux" ... or "We're on the west coast of France" ... but I just wouldn't feel comfortable being more specific than that.





Even when Rowan and I have been together, I've opted to be very vague, or even untruthful, about our plans.

We were on a 400K attempt, and at about 10 pm, stopped in a little grocery store. When we left, a group of rather drunk young people came up and wanted to know what we were doing and where we were going. I told them we were off to one particular town ... and a short while later we set off for another town entirely. We might have been perfectly safe telling them where we were going, but it just didn't quite feel like the right thing to do at the time.


On our current tour, we've been asked many times where we've come from and where we are going. Those are the most common questions we're asked. We'll tell the truth, but vaguely -- "We came from Bordeaux [yesterday] ... and we're heading for La Rochelle [a week from now]"