Ok, here's the deal. I have taken up cycling as exercise and a hobby (I guess you could call it that, since I enjoy it so much). Over the past two and a half weeks I have built up to doing 10km (~6.3mi) a night with no stops on hilly roads and the results in my legs and over-all health have been great! Awesome, right??
Well, it is, but the issue I am having is people heckling me. I am 6'3" ~180lbs riding a mountain bike modded for road riding, so it isn't because I am like a huge guy on a tiny bike or anything. It seems to be based solely on the fact that I am an adult riding a bike.
I have just ignored them all and kept on going, honestly I could care less what these morons think of me. Also it seems to happen with groups of young guys (who have probably been drinking) and sometimes groups of adults (who have obviously been drinking) that happen to see me riding past wherever they are. I heard one woman tell someone to chase me down for no reason at all. I honestly do not understand it, but it has caused some me some concern because it has happened about 4 times already in different situations with different people.
I am pretty sure that eventually it will happen that I will get jumped. I don't know if me ignoring them is enraging them more or what. If it happened at the beginning of my ride I could surely out accelerate their moronic asses, BUT if it were to happen at the end of a ride or they catch me by surprise who knows.
I never expected this, I thought it would just be fun exercise. Apparently these fat drunk morons are offended by that. I live in the US, I guess it has come to the point where exercising offends people. I am from the US, so I am not being a racist or a whatever you would call it, these morons are my fricken countrymen
Anyway, tl;dr, would pepper spray be sufficient to stop 2 to 4 people in the space I would have, say 20 yards of space for them to close to get to me, and allow a getaway? I know some people are going to say to nut up and fight or take self defense courses or some BS, but honestly I do not want to engage these people unless I am just completely backed into a corner. I just want something to deter them if it did come down to it. I see no gain in engagement on my part.
Thanks for any suggestions!