Weapons an Cycling

Having once decked out and landed on my keys (they were in my jersey pocket), I wouldn't even think of carying anything sharper.

 

Oh, well, I just flash 'em my dazzling smile and that stops them in their tracks everytime. Actually, my chances are so slim of being attacked by anyone I'd have time to use a weapon on that it seems pointless. Maybe this winter if I'm doing late commutes home I'd get some mace, but I think I'll leave the machete at home.

 

You are ovbiously not a weight weenie.But maybe paranoid?

 

A big enough can works on friggin Grizzley bears.

 

Fundamental rule of self defense.Don't hurt yourself with your own protection....HaHaHaHa.

 

Mace definitely works on dogs, that's why all mail delivery people carry it right on their belt...

Here in Colorado there have been several mountain lion attacks on solo mountain bikers. My strategy for that and dogs, if you can't out run them, is to get off the bike and hold the bike over my head and if they get close enough hit 'em with the bike. I figure anyone in a car is already driving the weapon that is most dangerous to a biker and your better off not messing with them. Now if they get out of the car and want to fight I guess I'll just handle it the way we settled things in 7th grade and see who wins...

 

[Now if they get out of the car and want to fight I guess I'll just handle it the way we settled things in 7th grade and see who wins...[/QUOTE]

You get your big sister to kick their butt? Just kidding!

 

I have a radio, linking me to immediate law enforcement and 45 other guys w/in a 12km radius. Can't outrun a radio, can't be used against me. Weapons r 4 insecure. I've ridden in all the big cities & their bad areas and never had a problem that needed anything but me to fix it.

 

You get your big sister to kick their butt? Just kidding![/QUOTE]



Yeah, and if that doesn't work I tell them that my dad will kick their dad's butt... ;-)

 

"An eye for an eye simply makes the whole world blind" - Gandhi

 

8mm Mauser

 

You're either Superman, or just don't play well with others.

 

I think if I had a weapon I would use it on some car who cut me off and I would go to jail.

 

Let's say a Swiss Army knife will do it. I wish I could carry a gun. I will be getting a 12 inch hunting knife soon!

 

hmmmmm......
Looks like no South Africans have bothered to reply, but here goes:
In South Africa, cyclists (especially road) regularly get mugged and robbed of their bikes. The police are absolutely useless, more often than not. In fact, the police are so corrupt that around 60% of them either have criminal records or are facing charges that could result in a criminal record.
It's up to the cyclist to defend himself, and unlike a country like the U.S.A. where your right to self-defence is undisputed, the criminals in this country are like royal game - kill one in self-defence and you'll find yourself in jail.

Good thing is, though, cyclists here learn to sprint!!!!!

 

I wish that were true. The pacifists have infested the legal system and many prosecutors would love to put someone into jail, just for being in the vicinity of a legally owned firearm. Self defense? They don't care. They just want to put you in prison and make a name for themselves.

It wasn't always that way in South Africa, was it? I remember when I first visited in the early 80's it was a wonderful place. My last trip, in 2002 I was aghast at how many problems had sprung up. Is there hope?

 

Unfortunately, it does not seem as if there is any hope - the current government is doing all it can to disarm the civilian population, and the police are aiding and abetting them: it takes the flying squad LONGER to respond to a distress call than it takes for the local pizzeria to make and deliver a pizza to my house - AND the pizza guy is better-educated and friendlier than the cops. Over 60% of the police force is HIV positive, and nearly 80% is functionally illiterate.

The ANC government is unfortunately a major subscriber to the aims of the U.N. (total civilian disarmament amongst others) - and we all know where THAT leads: ask the Jews who experienced Hitler's civilian disarmament program...

Government reporting of crime statistics is totally out of date and skewed (in favour of the police) and a major crime has only 7% chance of being properly investigated, brought to trial, and to result in a conviction - in other words, 93% of crime goes unpunished. Those that ARE punished generally get freed with a general amnesty on the President's birthday... BUT you can go to jail for 2 years for not paying your TV licence.

Nevertheless, it's still one of the most beautiful places in the world to live, and within the next 10 years most of the problems should have sorted themselves out - the government admits to a 20 to 30% HIV infection rate, but confidential sources within the major medical aid schemes put the figure at closer to 75% nationwide. I know it's going to all but destroy the economy, but at the end of the day that might be a small price to pay....

 

That's distressing news my friend, but thanks for telling us. We never hear that type of news here. Our press, and Kerry, are pretty much in the UN camp and wouldn't mind the US giving up it's soverignty to the UN. So they wouldn't want to share any information that discredits their ignorant stance.

When I last visited, my friends who live near Lamberts Bay had moved into a gated community that needed to be armed by armed guards. They didn't trust the police.

South Africa truly is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I hope things get better.
Other than the thugs, how is the cycling? It would seem there's a lot of space and varied terrain.

 

The cycling is FANTASTIC!!!!! Recently I took part in the first "Crater Cruise" - a Mountain bike ride around the rim of the crater at Parys where a meteorite hit many millions of years ago, and it was great! I unfortunately broke my hip 4 months ago and had to bail out after 40 km (total distance was around 95km), but I had a great time nevertheless. I do mountainbiking as well as road - I DO find, though, that the MTB-ers are by far the friendliest bunch...

We have road races every weekend (mostly social - I'm just a funrider) and there are about a quarter as many MTB races, so I try to enter one every weekend or second weekend - the terrain varies from gently rolling, to monster climbs. And I am inland - you should see the terrain we have down at the coast! Absolutely BREATHTAKING! We even have one race at the coast where you ride along the beach for around 100km...

The mountainbiking really fits in well with the South African lifestyle - but I always carry my Colt .357 Lawman Mk III. Better safe than sorry - and as you have heard, NOBODY trusts the cops. I serve on the local Community Policing Forum, but believe me, that's all just window-dressing. The cops are as corrupt as you can hope to find anywhere in the world - but what do you expect when you pay them barely a subsistence level salary?

I do a lot of 4x4-ing as well - getting away from the cities is the reason I cycle as well as 4x4. With the MTB on the back of my 4x4, I can get to isolated places and then go cycling - absolutely stupendous! I reckon I have the best of all worlds here - pity about having to get back to work on a Monday...