School Commute Safety for Teen Girl

[Steve O]

@mstone 169868 wrote:

We’re still talking about a middle school girl, right?

Agreed. I wouldn’t suggest a middle school girl use a weapon in a physical confrontation like that. My comment was intended to be more generic.

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[JorgeGortex]

@jk22204 169795 wrote:

My friend’s daughter recently told her mother that she doesn’t want to commute to school on her bike anymore because she is uncomfortable with men yelling at her from the road and a more recent incident where a walker tried to stop her and grab her handlebars while telling her “Yeah girl, you ride that bike”. Does anyone have any safety tips or suggestions that I can give my friend and her daughter? She is in middle school and uses the W&OD trail to get to school.

I’m just curious if there is any update to this situation? When i read it I was pretty infuriated like the rest of the posters. As the coach of female HS athletes in Arlington I’d also like to know where on the trail it occured as we train on the trail in the spring, and although we have strict safety procedures in place for the athletes to follow, intel can help avoid a situation. That actually leads me to another point regarding some of the posts (again, the sentiment to which I totally agree) regarding arming one’s self or taking a stand- even the most skilled martial artist in the world knows it better to avoid a situation/confrontation than to engage in one. As noted, this is a teenager we are talking about here. Not Bruce Lee’s mom. Pump-chucks and capsian inhalers aren’t realistic or advisable in all but the most extreme circumstances. Let’s be real- most of us have never dealt with physical violence or assault in any real form beyond watching a Swartzennager movie, so let’s not pretend the andrenline of a confrontation isn’t going to have us shaking in our cleats, let alone a teen girl with limited life experience dealing with an aggressive stranger.

As for standing up and call BS on things, I agree. And I would do that to any of my male (or female) friends and aquaintances… but not strangers. Why? Because you don’t know what level they are willing to take it to if you mouth back at them. Protect those that need protecting (including yourself) by exiting the situation and leave the confrontation to the cops. In this day and age a loose cannon with a hand cannon are often riding together. There is no such thing as a dead hero.

I hope the young lady has gotten past this unfortunate incident and that the police were involved. I hope she is riding again and enjoying the experience. There is a community of really cool people here (and on the trails) and this shouldn’t deter her from doing something she enjoys.

JG

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