Bike riding safety....
heather9986hg
Posts: 61 Member
I like to ride my bike for fun and exercise. Sometimes my husband and I ride together but our work schedule doesn't always allow that. So I'll go alone.
He doesn't like me going alone because he says it's dangerous and I could get kidnapped hurt or even...bears
I carry my cellphone with me always and before I met him I used to go alone
Do you think it's unsafe for a woman to ride bike alone?
Safety tips?
He doesn't like me going alone because he says it's dangerous and I could get kidnapped hurt or even...bears
I carry my cellphone with me always and before I met him I used to go alone
Do you think it's unsafe for a woman to ride bike alone?
Safety tips?
2
Replies
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Personally I think it's fine, I run on my own in the middle of nowhere all the time.
I carry with me at least Phone, emergency money/bank card, high vis.
If I'm going a long way there is also some food, water, waterproof, one of those silver survival blankets and a head torch.
I tell him what route I'm going and very approx time frame. Which are basic safety measures that I expect him to do if he goes out on his bike alone.
I feel very strongly that as a grown up adult person I get to do my own risk assessment.6 -
Stay where you can be seen. No wooded trail riding. I frequently ride by myself.
You cant live your life in fear, but take every safety precaution. You could be kidnapped going to church, bad people do bad things period.1 -
Generally, I'd say it's safe to ride alone, but I think the safety measures you take depends on your local area.
You mention bears...not sure if you're joking or if you live in an area with bear activity, but a can of pepper spray could help defend against wildlife or human threats. You could mount it to your bike so it's easily accessible if you should need it.
I never wear earbuds when I walk or ride alone. I like to be fully aware of my surroundings and able to hear if cars or people approach me. I don't want to be distracted by music or podcasts.
To make your husband feel better, let him know when you are leaving and when you plan on returning. Send him a quick text when you get back.
Since you already bring your cellphone, make sure that you have solid cell service in the area that you are riding.
I think it is important to ride in an area and at times where there are at least a few other people around. My cousin recently was riding her horse in a pretty remote area. She was thrown and briefly knocked out. She regained consciousness in a few minutes, but if she hadn't, I'm not sure how long it would have been until someone found her.1 -
heather9986hg wrote: »I like to ride my bike for fun and exercise. Sometimes my husband and I ride together but our work schedule doesn't always allow that. So I'll go alone.
He doesn't like me going alone because he says it's dangerous and I could get kidnapped hurt or even...bears
I carry my cellphone with me always and before I met him I used to go alone
Do you think it's unsafe for a woman to ride bike alone?
Safety tips?
I rarely see anyone where I hike, which concerns my OH. I take the following precautions to reassure him:
I carry pepper spray. (Amazon won't ship to my state, but I am able to buy it at a gun store.) Bear spray and pepper spray are different. In some places, bear spray is legal and pepper spray isn't, as it is stronger. You can spray bear spray from a farther distance, a big plus IMO.
If you're going to carry spray, make sure it is accessible. I wear a fanny pack and my phone and spray are both easily accessible - they are right there, no digging needed.
I use MapMyFitness and told my OH that if I don't come back someday he should tell the police that as the last GPS location would be a starting point.0 -
Your biggest danger as a bicyclist is cars. Having someone with you doesn't make than any less dangerous. Ride where you feel safe from distracted drivers if possible - i.e. bike path or trails. Bears are not likely to be an issue unless you live in Alaska or western Canada.8
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The 'What3words' app is very good for being able to pinpoint location, I know here in the UK the emergency services encourage people to use it.4
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Bike computers, like Garmin, have an incident detection system that may help you if you fall off your bike or if someone intentionally knocks you off your bike. There was an incident around 10 years ago near where I live when a man intentionally drove his car into a woman who was jogging along the side of the road in order to kidnap her. I think varying your route so you are not predictable, is a good idea.1
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I don't think its unsafe, per se...but risk is always a thing so it is wise to have some element of protection on your person, just in case. It's also a good idea to let at least one other person know where you're going and around when you intend to return.
If I couldn't go alone I would never be able to walk or ride. Just don't go into secluded areas outside of good daylight hours.0 -
I think as long as you’re using common sense you should be safe. What do I mean:
- if riding in the dark use proper lighting etc. I personally hate riding in the dark and only do it by accident(I underestimate time to get back home, get a flat etc). But I have the stuff in case.
- Tell someone else where you’re going, and roughly when you expect to get back.
- When covid lockdown first started I needed a new frame pump for a while before replacing my co2 thingy. I used to tell either my daughter or my wife to keep their phone on hand in case I got a flat so they could “rescue” me. Made sure they were staying in the area I was riding more or less.
- don’t ride where the bears live and ride the other way if you see one. Or keep a picnic basket with you in case it’s Yogi.
- Same way- don’t ride in high crime areas
- Down bling your bike. Cover the name brand with painters tape if it’s high end. I had a buddy get knocked off his bike in the 80’s by a guy in a van with a baseball bat. The guy jumped out and said “I’ve been looking for a Fuji,” threw the bike in the van and took off.
- keep cell phone in jersey pocket instead of mounted to handlebars.
- Remove and leave home fancy bike computers- even my cheesy one just slides off.
- Water bottle squirts are great for scaring chasing dogs, as are waving frame pumps
- like anything else- safely enjoy the rides!!2 -
For anyone packing spray, etc, a sorta apocryphal story:
A relative worked in a high crime area, but always felt secure because he packed a gun in his cowboy boot and another gun in his pocket. When the day came he truly needed them, well, he was right handed and had them in his left hand pocket and left boot. He never had the ghost of a chance to draw.
🤦🏻♀️3 -
And btw, I live in a beautiful historic district midway between two very active shelters. it came to local media’s attention that NYC was buying one way bus tickets to our town for some of their homeless. That explains the turnover. I used to recognize all “our” guys’ faces, and was friendly to them (except the dude who kicked my dog grrrrrr) but suddenly there were a bunch of new faces.
I don’t go out before dawn or after twilight unless I’m walking directly to the yoga studio through the well lit and popular CBD.1 -
Just wear a helmet. You’ll be fine.4
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Just make sure to go with the proper safety gear.
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It really matters where you live. If you rode alone before marriage in the same place, and felt safe enough, I don't see how marriage changes things. If you've moved to a higher-crime, higher traffic, more-bears kind of place, then some thought may be necessary.
You don't have to make your husband's anxieties your anxieties, but maybe an app that lets him track you while on rides would calm him down? (If he wants you to use that app 24 x 7, you have a differnt problem, and it's a serious one - no joke.)
I'm a small-ish 64-year-old woman (5'5", around 125 pounds, gray hair). I ride by myself on secondary roads (not super busy, some traffic, low adrenaline drivers, narrow bike lane on the shoulder) and wooded trails, during daytime. I don't normally tell anyone where I'm going (no one to tell). I avoid the parts of the trails where there are more often homeless camps, though most of those folks are harmless. Every few years, we have an incident or small pattern with some male harassing or attacking women on those trails. In my mind, that's a low-probability risk. Otherwise, we don't have much crime. We don't have bears, just dogs and maybe the occasional shy coyote. I wear a helmet, and safety-colored clothing. I take my cell phone. I avoid the roads at hours when there's more traffic (to/from jobs). So far, it's been fine.1 -
"before I met him I used to go alone"
Not seeing how being married changes your risk assessment? Nice of him to be concerned of course but you get to choose.
"Do you think it's unsafe for a woman to ride bike alone?"
No I don't think gender should disqualify someone from cycling alone.
"Safety tips?"
The main dangers where I live are dangerous drivers and poor road surfaces, the animals are very benign.
Primary safety is simply being alert, concentrating, controlling my road space as much as possible, being very visible, riding defensively. Secondary safety is wearing a helmet, hand and eye protection. I've only tested my cycling helmet once in tens of thousands of miles but it did it's job and saved me from a nasty head injury.
Strava has a feature where you can provide a link to someone to be able to live track your route if that's helpful to you or reassuring to your husband.
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If you were fine before you were married, then the chances are you are probably fine now. Don't lose your confidence and hold on to that independence!
Do a risk assessment - what are the biggest issues, which depends where you are, and what can you do to mitigate them. I don't much about bears! Never considered kidnapping to be a risk! I've lived in a few places that are a bit dodgy though and I always felt fairly safe but avoided certain areas/streets at night if I was on my own. The only time I've been a victim of crime is somewhere I should have been safe. My husband on the other hand, never considers the risks and has had a bike stolen, a phone, a wallet..and so on. He's a bit wiser these days though. On a bike, I don't think I'd have worried too much. How many people get pulled off a bike? Where I've lived I'm more likely to get hit by a bus/lorry whilst biking.
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angela_boinkers wrote: »Just wear a helmet. You’ll be fine.
how will a helmet protect her from a kidnapper? BTW, I ride 20-25 miles a day, and do not wear a bike helmet. My choice, my life. never wore one as a kid either and somehow me and all the neighborhood kids survived? You can wear all the safety gear around and still get run over by a mack truck and flattened.2 -
SuzySunshine99 wrote: »Generally, I'd say it's safe to ride alone, but I think the safety measures you take depends on your local area.
You mention bears...not sure if you're joking or if you live in an area with bear activity, but a can of pepper spray could help defend against wildlife or human threats. You could mount it to your bike so it's easily accessible if you should need it.
I never wear earbuds when I walk or ride alone. I like to be fully aware of my surroundings and able to hear if cars or people approach me. I don't want to be distracted by music or podcasts.
To make your husband feel better, let him know when you are leaving and when you plan on returning. Send him a quick text when you get back.
Since you already bring your cellphone, make sure that you have solid cell service in the area that you are riding.
I think it is important to ride in an area and at times where there are at least a few other people around. My cousin recently was riding her horse in a pretty remote area. She was thrown and briefly knocked out. She regained consciousness in a few minutes, but if she hadn't, I'm not sure how long it would have been until someone found her.
We have bears
My husband hunts deer and has seen bears
When riding up our road we've seen muddy tracks on the road that look like bear tracks
We have crappy cell service up this way so I can't guarantee good cell service but I take my phone with me0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »heather9986hg wrote: »I like to ride my bike for fun and exercise. Sometimes my husband and I ride together but our work schedule doesn't always allow that. So I'll go alone.
He doesn't like me going alone because he says it's dangerous and I could get kidnapped hurt or even...bears
I carry my cellphone with me always and before I met him I used to go alone
Do you think it's unsafe for a woman to ride bike alone?
Safety tips?
I rarely see anyone where I hike, which concerns my OH. I take the following precautions to reassure him:
I carry pepper spray. (Amazon won't ship to my state, but I am able to buy it at a gun store.) Bear spray and pepper spray are different. In some places, bear spray is legal and pepper spray isn't, as it is stronger. You can spray bear spray from a farther distance, a big plus IMO.
If you're going to carry spray, make sure it is accessible. I wear a fanny pack and my phone and spray are both easily accessible - they are right there, no digging needed.
I use MapMyFitness and told my OH that if I don't come back someday he should tell the police that as the last GPS location would be a starting point.
I'll have to look into pepper spray
I use mapmyfitness too so that should help if something were to happen0 -
nighthawk584 wrote: »angela_boinkers wrote: »Just wear a helmet. You’ll be fine.
how will a helmet protect her from a kidnapper? BTW, I ride 20-25 miles a day, and do not wear a bike helmet. My choice, my life. never wore one as a kid either and somehow me and all the neighborhood kids survived? You can wear all the safety gear around and still get run over by a mack truck and flattened.
In most places (not all) the risk of kidnapping is vanishingly low. Generally much lower than, say, the risk of being run over by a mack truck (or other vehicle) and flattened. Kidnapping is something women tend to fear, but (in the US at least, overall) stranger kidnapping is extremely rare. Even most assaults/rapes are committed by people we know. I'm not saying no one needs to consider stranger danger, and in some specific areas, the danger of some sorts of crime is very real. In many areas, some women's fears limit them more than the true risks, IMO. Maybe I'll be sorry about my "risky" behavior someday, but the first 64 years has gone OK.
Helmets are indeed a personal choice. Yup, won't stop a mack truck squasharoo. But, having known several cyclists who took a header, hit gravel, got bumped at a stoplight by a vehicle and thrown off the bike, and avoided head injury because of their helmets, I'm gonna keep wearing mine.
You needn't wear a helmet, if you don't choose to, and I sincerely hope you stay safe. I'd guess the odds are on your side, too . . . but not as favorable as most women's odds of avoiding stranger kidnapping.
Edited: Minor typos.4 -
nighthawk584 wrote: »angela_boinkers wrote: »Just wear a helmet. You’ll be fine.
how will a helmet protect her from a kidnapper? BTW, I ride 20-25 miles a day, and do not wear a bike helmet. My choice, my life. never wore one as a kid either and somehow me and all the neighborhood kids survived? You can wear all the safety gear around and still get run over by a mack truck and flattened.
In most places (not all) the risk of kidnapping is vanishingly low. Generally much lower than, say, the risk of being run over by a mack truck (or other vehicle and flattened). Kidnapping is something women tend to fear, but (in the US at least, overall) stranger kidnapping is extremely rare. Even most assaults/rapes are committed by people we know. I'm not saying no one needs to consider stranger danger, and in some specific areas, the danger of some sorts of crime is very real. In many areas, some women's fears limit them more than the true risks, IMO. Maybe I'll be sorry about my "risky" behavior someday, but the first 64 years has gone OK.
Helmets are indeed a personal choice. Yup, won't stop a mack truck squasharoo. But, having known several cyclist who took a header, hit gravel, got bumped at a stoplight by a vehicle and thrown off the bike, and avoided head injury because of their helmets, I'm gonna keep wearing mine.
You needn't wear a helmet, if you don't choose to, and I sincerely hope you stay safe. I'd guess the odds are on your side, too . . . but not as favorable as most women's odds of avoiding stranger kidnapping.
My helmet has saved my skull twice in the past 7 years. Once in my early days of cycling when I was training for my first century and my tire had gone a little low and didn't notice it...rounded a corner at full speed and the rubber ripped right off my rim and threw me head first over my handle bars...ended up with two rotator cuff sprains and cracked the back of my helmet pretty good.
The other was back in June when I was mountain biking and tried to jump a little boulder...the angle wasn't quite what I thought it was and I went airborne but couldn't get my back tire down so my front tire hit first and through me into another boulder and a nice patch of prickly pear cactus. Overall minor injuries...mostly a ton of road rash and lots of cactus to pull out of my body...but another cracked helmet.
In regards to the OP...I guess it really depends on where you live. My wife is comfortable riding and running alone and has done so for years...long before I ever knew who she was.2 -
What if your house caught fire and the only reason you survived was because you were out riding your bike? Fires are pretty rare and unlikely, but so are kidnappings.
If you have bears in the area, that's a different story. Running from a bear engages its predatory instincts. Riding a bike might confuse animals and have them think you're not a (dangerous) human, I'm saying that based on a cyclist who was killed by a mountain lion here.
Far and away the biggest danger to road cyclists is drivers. Not trying to kill you, trying to update their Facebook status.6 -
Another thing. Garmin makes radar for bikes. It's a tail light, starts flashing whenever there's a car behind you to help the driver notice you. It tells you the speed and relative position of all the cars behind you for something crazy like a quarter mile. It always knows about them before I can hear them. It works on twisty roads when I can't always see the traffic behind me. Everybody says "there are two kinds of cyclists, ones that love the varia radar and ones who haven't tried it."
I have mine paired with my watch, so every time there's a car behind me it vibrates noticably on my wrist. Seriously every time, it never misses a moving car ever. Catches motorcycles and faster bikes too.3 -
Er, forget that part about faster bikes, no one is faster than me. That's what I meant to say. 😉6
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nighthawk584 wrote: »
...My choice, my life. never wore one as a kid either and somehow me and all the neighborhood kids survived? You can wear all the safety gear around and still get run over by a mack truck and flattened.angela_boinkers wrote: »Just wear a helmet. You’ll be fine.
You can also wear a seatbelt in car and get killed by a truck - I still wear one though.
4 -
If there are bears, carry a whistle and wear bells like hikers do.
There’s a feature in many phones where you can send your location to someone and they can track where you are.
As far as kidnapping or crime, it depends where you ride.
Yes wear a helmet, it could save your life or save you from becoming a paraplegic or otherwise disabled or brain injured from an accident. For many that’s a worse prospect than instant death. It’s not just “your life” as one idiot said above. Your injuries affect those around you, consume emergency and health resources etc etc.2 -
Would make him feel better if you carried some pepper spray maybe0
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heather9986hg wrote: »I like to ride my bike for fun and exercise. Sometimes my husband and I ride together but our work schedule doesn't always allow that. So I'll go alone.
He doesn't like me going alone because he says it's dangerous and I could get kidnapped hurt or even...bears
I carry my cellphone with me always and before I met him I used to go alone
Do you think it's unsafe for a woman to ride bike alone?
Safety tips?
I ride alone frequently, been cycling since 1980. I also live in a rural Area. The autos in my area are used to slow moving tractors. The large farm equipment is scary behind me on the road. I’ve been known to pull off on shoulder let them pass.
I tell my spouse where I’m going Strava has a safety contact where I send my family an email they can follow where I’m at. If I stop for very long (lunch etc) they text.
Wear bright clothing, lights you know your area you live in. Pepper spray good idea.
If you plan to ride much learn how to do some bike repair, flat tire repair etc carry a few tools. Patch kit. That way If you break down you you can repair it don’t have to ask strangers for help.
Can’t help you with bears. I guess if I saw one on a bike I’d ride a great deal faster.
I have been hit a couple times by motor vehicles I wasn’t seriously injured but the last time I’m sure the helmet saved me from serious head injury. I took a fall one time, broke helmet in 7 places.
if you don’t feel safe outside by the trainer you put your bike on it ride inside.
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nighthawk584 wrote: »
...My choice, my life. never wore one as a kid either and somehow me and all the neighborhood kids survived? You can wear all the safety gear around and still get run over by a mack truck and flattened.angela_boinkers wrote: »Just wear a helmet. You’ll be fine.
You can also wear a seatbelt in car and get killed by a truck - I still wear one though.
good for you...I wear one too.0 -
Probably the most dangerous situation is earbuds. It’s a good idea to be alert, and aware of your surroundings. Being able to hear what’s happening around you could save your life. You’re sharing the road with vehicles, other bicycle riders, joggers, walkers and animals (wild and domestic) that have the potential for accidental encounters/accidents.
Others here have good suggestions. IE: helmet, cell phone (not always great service, especially rural), pepper spray, and if possible, letting someone know when you expect to return.1
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