I do a fair amount of solo bikepacking in the rural Midwest, and have gotten into enough weird altercations that I now ride and camp with a concealed pistol.

A few years ago, I would have called anyone doing this exact same thing a psychopath. I give myself endless amounts of shit for having a “bicycle gun” and would be fucking mortified if anyone I casually ride with found out, but I’m also intensely aware of how batshit crazy and divorced from reality the average redneck is.