Women going solo - is it safe?

I am not a woman but I do most of my riding alone. I never feel lonely when I am riding days on end. Other people are always willing to help a lone motorcyclist if it is ever needed. If, on a rare occasion someone looks creepy or manipulative, just get the hell out of there.
When a sick twisted person is taking on a predatory role they lurk first, and interact to size up their victim, and then make a move. Nobody should stick around long enough to let this process take place. At the first bad vibe, just go.
With cell phones and Triple A towing you are never going to be stranded for long without help.

I had the same from my concerned family a few years back. Actually they have fought me from a young kid to stay away from biking.

I rode solo to a few family events, some just 12hrs away, that way the folks and family could do all the discussions about pros and cons. All the kids were thumbs up. After a while my folks had so over discussed the subject they seem to be ok with it. Or just worn out.

Then I took my moms friends out for dinner on the back of my bike (74 yr old). Oh did she brag to everyone. Slowly my mom became jealous. And then suddenly she rode on the back of my bike to a coffee shop. I just handed her my best gear and said put this on, and she did..... None of my siblings believed me. I wish i had a camera.

Said this to my mom on the way to the hospital when I broke my back falling down the icy steps of my apartment on my way to work... been riding 20 years, never got hurt bad.. Going to work almost paralyzed me.. Week in the hospital, 6 months in a body cast... still hurts today...

Ride on..
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Well said! Life is what happens while you are making other plans. Best to do what you enjoy and take it as it comes.
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Carry a handgun. The 13 oz my little S&W .357mag adds is well worth the peace of mind. Wild animals, wild people, whatever, I feel confident that the little .357 could save my life. It's a lot of kick, but my 115lb girlfriend shoots it without a problem.

There is an issue of legality, as your concealed handgun license won't be valid in every state, but I really don't care. Nobody will see it unless it's about to save my life, in which case I'd rather face the consequences of carrying illegally than die.


Just my .02

I am with ArmyStrongMD.

Take a concealed carry class and a few gun safety classes, plus maybe a scenario style training class for handguns. Then buy a pistol and train with it. I always carry a pistol when I travel, there are just to many deranged people out there these days. My father and I stopped a gas station robbery / hostage situation when we were out in the middle of nowhere filling up. Who knows what would have happened if we hadn't acted quickly.

Also one of the biggest things you can do for yourself is to constantly be aware of your surroundings and what is happening around you. This can get you out of most bad situations. Allways pay attention to how many people are at your stops, what they are doing, what your gut reaction is to how they are acting, and where your escape routes are in case something was to happen. A gun is a very, very, very last resort option.

Be safe,
Greebe

Gee the States sound dangerous.:eek1

So what percentage of people per capita get shot dead in the US each year?

My motto is "We are here for a short time - SO - Have a good time"
I take precautions and be careful, but then again, I can and do talk to anybody and everybody. A smile seems to help most of the time but I also follow my instincts and if something doesn't feel right, then I get out pronto.
Cheers

According to US gov't data you can find here, for 2007(latest data), there were 12,632 homicides by firearm.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the population in 2007 was 301,290,332.

So purely on average, your chance of being shot and killed in the US is 12,632 divided by 301,290,332, or about 0.004%. That works out to one out of every 23,851 people.

However, your chances are not likely to reflect a pure average of the numbers. Firearm homicides are much more common in areas where the incidence of other crimes is also high, among young men, and among people engaged in drug-related, gang-related or other criminal activity. Outside of these categories, the risks can be vastly lower to the point of being negligible, but I do not have data on hand to back that up right now.

On the bonus side you are less likely to be raped than in the UK or knifed than Aus. The over all crime rate isn't really higher and if you take out bad guy on bad guy violence then you could argue(Drug and Gang violence) the crime rate in the US is pretty low with a down right amazing closed case and incarceration rate. It's kind of funny that people are more and more concerned while the crime rate continues to fall but I atribute a lot of that to 24/7 live news and internet.

Thanks to you and Guy Jinbaiquerre, for the information. I'd like to visit the US sometime, but from what I seen and read about the number of people carrying firearms put the wind up me a bit and had me thinking it must be a very dangerous place. As it turns out it's about as safe as anywhere.

If you visit America to ride a motorcycle, your risk of getting in a traffic accident will be much, much higher than your risk of getting shot. Put your effort into riding safe and not getting hit by a cager, and don't worry so much about the shootout at the OK Corral.

I lived in New York for the first 30 years of my life and never even saw a gun carried by someone who wasn't a police officer. But it's always the shocking stories that get the headlines, not the millions of people who go through life without any major hassles.

i have been around the world. well, almost. haven't been to the UK. life can be dangerous. if you take precautions it's an enjoyable life. even thne things can happen. the key is keep moving forward

riding the U.S. will make you tons of friends. people in cars walk up and talk to you while your filling your gas tank, fellow riders are imediately your best friend when you meet on the road, at a gas station, in a restaurant, etc. kids love you and wave as you go by. i love traveling by bike. i agree about the cagers but one thing i have found is that riding has made me a better driver. i am always watchful and you can usually tell if someone is going to make a move. just be aware of your surroundings. don't be in a rush. take lots of pic's and share them with us. oh, and if you share your route with us you will have many friends riding sections of your trip with you. if you don't want us riding with you it's no problem we understand but it's there for you if you want it. plus there are some awesome mechanics on here who can help if needed. great network. but as far as danger goes here in the U.S. it's not real dangerous. per capita(?SP?) it's probably way under 1%. less then 1% is almost non-existant.

now, how about where you live? is it about the same? we usually only get the bad news about your area's over there on tv.

We're a bit of a strange lot to others. While the risk is much less here than many places self reliance and independence is so ingrained in a large number of people that the idea that they might ever be "helpless" is not to be tolerated at all. The rest of the world just plays the odds and just doesn't worry about it.

Truth is while there are lots of guns, trust me in Texas even many kids have them, there is little to no threat of violence from legally owned and carried firearms. In the rural areas of the country where the guns are much more prevalent, with more guns than people, you have the lowest crime rates. Now that does not automatically follow that guns reduce violence but the evidence does conclusively show that legal firearms do not increase crime at all.

Now that's sounding just like home.

I guess bad news not only travels fast but also makes $ for the media empires.

I've traveled a bit and mostly felt fairly safe,...................or ignorant, but I got away with it.

Australia is a great place to travel, we are a friendly lot on the whole too. Not much to be worried about over here, the snakes mostly keep our of your way, but the crocs will enjoy a taste. Being sensible and doing thinks like carrying plenty of water with you is probably more important than anything. Slightly wacky sense of humour though.

The main reasons I want to visit the US is to see the National Parks, go rock climbing and visit some of the Art Galleries, oh and ride in some of your desert areas. Looks awesome.

the "news" people like to make mountains out of mole hills as the saying goes
i grew up in Minnesota but lived in Southern California for 15 years. in the winter i would hear on the news that Mn was having a white out blizzard and i would call the family and ask how it was going and they would laugh because it had snowed maybe 1" which is NOT even close to a white out. same with them calling me about HUGE earth quakes. they would call worried because the news said there was a huge earthquake and it was barely a 4.0 which is little more then shaking the house a little. so there you have it.

i love the national parks and visit them as often as i can. the climbs are well worth the effort. research an order of visiting tho. for instance, if you visit Glacier National Park before Yellowstone, you might be disapointed with Yellowstone. i'm not trying to start any debates about which is better, i'm just sayin that some places may be better saved for last
oh, and we love whacky sense's of humor

I've travelled thousands and thousands of miles solo on my bikes. I've never had a problem except this one time, which I'll get to in a minute. I try to get off the road fairly early by about 5PM. I don't usually make reservations and have only had problems finding accomodations once when I got into Salmon, Idaho and all the rooms were taken in town because of a big forest fire that had blocked the road north. I lucked out in the end and found something. I like a beer after a long days ride so I'll find a brew pub or something similar and have a beer or two and some dinner at the bar. I often talk to people but don't say where I'm staying and try to get back to wherever I'm staying by 7 or 8 PM. These common sense rules have always worked for me. People have always been very friendly and helpful.

Everyone alweays worries about what is the worst thing that can happen. I had the worst thing happen. I was coming home from a solo trip from Arizona to Canada and back and got t-boned on the Navajo reservation in northern AZ by a 3/4 ton pickup. I broke many bones and probably should be dead but I ended up in the hospital. People took care of me. The paramedics even made sure all my gear was taken off the bike and brought to the ER with me. It was many, many months before I could ride or even walk again. The point is, I still ride. I still ride solo a lot. The worst happened and I survived it and the thing I realized is that the outcome would not have been any different if someone had been with me. So I ride. And you should too. .../TL

Sarahp,

While out on a month long road trip in 2008 I met three women on their way out west as I was on east bound on my return trip home. They each rode their own Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Two were on Road Kings and the other one was riding an old ex-police Electra Glide. The youngest one was 67 years old! And this wasn't their first road trip either!

If you have common sense and listen to your "little voice" that alerts you to possible threats you should be okay.

Criminal activity can happen to anyone, anyplace, anytime but it doesn't usually happen to those that are aware of their surroundings and act accordingly. If something doesn't seem right there's probably a reason dontcha think?

10,000 miles in a year is pretty good for a new rider. Welcome to my world! I hope you enjoy everything motorcycling has to offer. Been doing this for over 40 yrs and each new adventure is just as exciting as the first one.

Bill

I have a really, really good sense when trouble is close etc. and it has saved me several times.
If my son or daughter was traveling alone across country I would do what ever I could to have them find some type of traveling partner.
Having a partner really cuts your chances of running into trouble.
With certain jobs I have had I have had lots of contacts with some very dangerous individuals. Just be aware that they are out there and trust no one and always leave yourself an out.
There are certain places I no longer travel due to the drug trade, growing areas, and just plain political nuts with guns. I have run into them and because I had an out pre planned it worked out okay.
Please be careful.
RC

Arguably safer, and I've traveled all over the world.

One may note for all the noise that people make about gun violence Americans kill a LOT and I mean 6-7 times as many people with cars as we do with guns...and a 1/3 of those gun casualties are suicides.

The US isn't Tokyo where I've walked back and forth across that city repeatedly over there years, usually slobber nockered junk, and barely speaking any japanese and never even got into a sketchy sistuation...much less dangerous.