The Lowest Common Denominator
Stupidity is a powerful force never to be underestimated. Geese are a good example; a more stupid vertebrate one would be most challenged to come across yet should you wander into a flock of them pecking about peacefully in a field, one is likely to erupt from its grazing to grab a billful of your ass and commence beating you savagely with its wing. I witnessed such an event in Minneapolis, where a goose goosed a friend of mine. To our collective dismay, he showed off his buttockian bruise proudly for many weeks.
I’m not immune my own stupidity, which is unfortunate because if you already have to deal with other people’s stupidity, you should at least be free of dealing with your own. Tragically, the opposite appears to be true. In point of fact, a dominant portion of my life is spent recovering from my own acts of idiocy. For example, I recently rode an Imperial century on Whidbey Island in scorching heat. To combat dehydration, I carefully prepared my usual two bidons – one with electrolyte and one with plain water as is my custom – and proceeded to leave them in the car rather than place them on the bike. I was gleefully unaware of this oversight until I was well over an hour into the ride and I reached down for a drink in my usual Casually Deliberate style and found the cages mockingly empty.
Stupidity is also why I believe the iPhone has always been designed to be a one-handed device, to allow its user to send messages with one hand while driving, leaving the other hand free to drink coffee or wave the bird at other drivers. This leaves plenty of bandwidth for the vehicle to swerve off the road and stack up bicyclists on its hood.
There is no courage without fear, and no intelligence without idiocy. The problem with the latter in both cases is that they are much easier than the former and it feels a lot like easy win on the push with most of the population. Which means that in the majority of cases, we are dealing with idiotic cowards which is not an encouraging scenario, especially when taking your own stupidity into account.
Last year, the New York Times published an essay on the mentality of motorists when it comes to Cyclists. Its a terrifying read, the sort of writing that makes you question whether its smart to keep riding on the road. My personal conclusion is that the road is where I find my soul; to stop riding would be its own kind of death. Nevertheless, it is frightening thought that not only are many motorists inattentive, but some feel bicycles don’t belong on the road in the first place, and that should they be struck and killed, it is somehow their own fault. A truck driver in Seattle recently killed a female Cyclist who was commuting downtown. The local news celebrated the driver’s integrity for not leaving the scene of the accident.
Which raises the question of how one is to stay safe while riding. Personally, I’ve found myself riding ever more defensively aggressive when I’m on the road. I’m riding farther out from the side on narrow roads to keep cars passing at dangerous points and I’m avoiding the highest-trafficked roads whenever possible. In the rain, I’m even riding The Reflective Bike of Authority. (I draw the line at donning a YJA; we’re not a savages.)
These are easy things to do, but the fact is we are still at the mercy of our peers on the road who may not be watching for us, or – worse – not care if they hit is or – worst of all – feel it is somehow our own fault by being on the road in the first place. Changing this begins with us, the Cyclists, through the idea that we are ambassadors for our sport. With that, I felt it an appropriate time to remind us of our Urban Riding tips and update them a bit.
- Lead by example. Always obey traffic laws, taking special care to avoid violating hot-button laws like running stop signs. Every time we break a law, we send the message that the rules of the road don’t apply to us.
- Don’t escalate. You will invariably be placed into a dangerous situation by a driver who is either ignorant of the danger they caused you or is simply an ass. In both of these cases, screaming obscenities at them will only serve to put them on the defensive and make them hate cyclists even more than they already do. If you absolutely must say something, do your best to let them know why what they did was dangerous; if you’re polite and assertive, the message is much more likely to find it’s way home.
- Be gracious. If a car does the right thing, wave at them in thanks. If you know you are holding them up because you’re obstructing their path, move the side as soon as it’s safe and gesture your appreciation of their patience.
- Avoid telepathy. Always signal your intent and try to make eye contact with drivers whenever you’re not sure if they see you or not, especially in scenarios when you’ll be crossing their lane of traffic.
- Pay attention to the cars around you. Take note of the subtle signals the drivers are sending you. Are they overly fond of the brake pedal? Are they speeding? Are they swerving, texting, or otherwise distracted? Or do they drive predictably and use their turn signals properly? These things will tell you a lot about how safe you’ll be when they’re close to you.
- Ride predictably. When out training in town, consider yourself to be riding in the bunch, except the other riders are cars that can kill you. Just like riding in a group, when in traffic, hold your line, signal when there’s a hazard or when turning, and generally ride as predictably possible.
- Ride towards the side of the street. If there is a shoulder, ride in it, but if not, stay as far to the side as you safely are able to. Don’t ride so far to the side that it means you’re riding in debris that might cause a flat or might cause you to move erratically; there’s nothing safe about suddenly flying out into traffic while trying to avoid an object. Never ride through a puddle you can’t see the bottom of; it could be a much deeper hole than you think.
- Ride aggressively defensive. If there’s a narrow section of road coming up where it will be dangerous for a car to pass, signal to the cars behind and swing out into the middle of the lane until it’s safe for them to pass.
- It’s helpful to be able to accelerate quickly to move with traffic if necessary. In the event that you’re riding in a lane in order to discourage cars from passing, it’s good to move as close to the speed of traffic as possible.
- Avoid overly dangerous routes. Ride on the roads you need to in order to train properly, but also avoid unnecessarily dangerous areas or only ride them when traffic is at it’s lightest. Roads with good shoulders are preferable and, counter-intuitively, bike paths are not always safer places to ride; these are often filled with people of a variety of skill levels who may not be paying attention.
The best rides are those you come home from; always ride to proactively avoid placing yourself in dangerous situations and have a plan if you find yourself needing to take a risk. Stay safe and always remember we’re all brothers and sisters on the road. Vive la Vie Velominatus.
@frank you wrote “In the rain, I’m even riding The Reflective Bike of Authority. (I draw the line at donning a YJA; we’re not a savages.)”
So I have a Castelli Gabba jersey in their fluoro yellow; i did make a deliberate decision against black given that it’s highly-regarded foul weather apparel and it would be most often worn in conditions of poorer visibility for drivers. I certainly hope that we don’t confuse a choice like this with indiscriminately donning a YJA.
@RedRanger Yes, RoadID for sure. Most of my riding is solo riding, thankfully mostly in the countryside of WI where traffic is less of an issue, but it gives my wife (and me) more peace of mind. It’s to the point where I feel funny if I get out and realize i brain-spasmed and forgot to put it on.
@teleguy57
I know exactly how that feels. I ordered a new one when my son turned 17 to have him and my wife as primary contacts. I keep older RoadIDs around as backups in case I can’t find the No. 1 RoadID. And sometimes it is just a matter of supporting RoadID so I order a new color — Red or Black.
@Chris E Dub
Agreed. Experienced cyclist should let a carrier do its business and not get too along side or up underneath it.
@Puffy
That’s enough to drive me insane…..
@unversio
Yes, I actually have two, and sometimes space even then. I like the idea of ordering new ones occasionally to support them; will have to do that this fall. Also wear mine when I ski patrol or ski recreationally, both at alpine areas where I telemark or out on the trails.
Also have been riding more with a rear flasher on overcast days and added a white front flasher as well. The changing seasons and shortening daylight has me running them more often too.
@teleguy57 In fact I need to give one to my son that goes hiking for days at a time.
@teleguy57
With you on both the Road ID and the fluoro Gabba. The Gabba is proper race kit and thus not a YJA.
Just had an interesting and contrasting weekend to all this. Did a Sportive around the Pas de Calais (France for those who were wondering!). It’s been a few years since I have ridden in France but what a difference to the UK. Drivers all gave plenty of clearance to cyclists and waited till it was clear to give the space if there was oncoming traffic. Most impressive was the majority of traffic gave groups of cyclists right of way even when the cars actually had the right of way. Cars would stop on a roundabout if group of cyclists were approaching so as to let us through, similarly at road junctions cars would stop to let us cross or join the more major road. Such a nice ride.
Tough last 35km though. The breeze had got up and we had a headwind to plug. Well I say a breeze, we couldn’t hold top gear even on the downhill stretches.
@Teocalli Oh, that’s because they drive on the “right” side of the road.
See what I did there ^
However, I find it interesting that most of the anecdotes of inappropriate operation of a motor vehicle come from the UK and Down Unda… except for the crazy blonde in the video… so that kinda shoots my theory.
@DeKerr Apparently it’s all Napoleon’s fault. Everyone used to ride/pass on the left but when Napoleon decided to invade he walked down the right side of the road so that everyone had to do something to get out of the way.
@Teocalli apocryphal or not, that is a great anecdote and one I’m keeping in my vault of random and eclectic trivia.
@Barracuda
Yes, and I use a big headlight on the bars and a slightly less big headlight on the helmet; seems that whenever I ride without either one of those – because the battery is dead or some such – then the cars don’t recognize me as a bike.
The reflective strips I put on the cranks help a lot – the moving cranks makes a huge difference.
@Nate
Agreed; on the coast is fine – the real issues are in the inner bay around woodside, portola, etc. Too many people, generally, all vying for the same airspace. Bad recipe. Best to go where there are fewer cars for sure.
@frank are the reflective strips on the side of the cranks or on the trailing edge of it?
@VeloJello
Spot on!
@@blackpooltower
I agree, just be careful when doing it. I’ve had a friend drive up to me while I was riding to shout some encouraging remark through his open passenger window only to have my brain momentarily react like he there to kill me. And the same friend was equally freaked out briefly when I rolled up to him later to say “hi” when he was stopped at a light.
Add that moment with the aforementioned stupidity and they may be standing over your bullet riddled body telling the cops an entirely different story from the actual facts.
@Beers
This is great so long as you don’t break your phone! All smartphones should have a quick dial from the lock screen to the ICE contact. Seems more critical than a camera feature, no?
I have occasionally done this and agree, its a bad idea! The cars do NOT expect that one bit. Also, however tempting it might be, drafting a car is asking for trouble as well.
@ChrisO
Looks like you can post again! First post back from you (that I see) and you use the word cunt, you do not disappoint, my friend.
There is a dedicated bike lane on one of the routes and its lethal because car’s don’t expect a cyclist on the wrong side of the road crossing through the intersection and they happily take a right turn. I don’t use it in the dangerous direction, and a cop stopped me one day and told me to go over there. “I am so glad you’re making provisions for Cyclists, but sadly that one is lethal. I suggest the city start consulting with people who actually ride bikes on how to build out the cycle paths.”
He said, “Ok, just be careful.”
The are necessary for both to co-exist. Both have to follow them and both have to be accountable.
And you running lights and acting like the rules don’t apply to you just perpetuates their view that cyclists are assholes who don’t follow the rules and should be kept off the streets. That’s the point.
I hate stopping too (and when there are no cars around, I don’t) but its critical that someone take the first step in a peaceful coexistence.
That said, heavy machinery and bus drivers are the worst. A bus recently deliberately tried to run me off the road. It was full. He finished off by swearing at me and telling me to get off the road (I was in the bike lane). There is no reasoning with people like that and getting mad and aggressive will only make it worse.
@@blackpooltower
I’ve had success with this myself; making it personal and about how scary it was and how bad it would be for both of us if it went sideways seem to be the most effective.
@Nate
On both the front and back of the crank on the outward facing surfaces:
That 3M black tape is great; you absolutely can’t tell its there until a light shines on it.
@s
Great call. I’ve also very selfishly done that on climbs where I’m really trying to bury it and need to cross the lane to take a turn to continue up the climb; I’ve held up cars doing it and in more than a few cases they’ve followed me up the rest of the climb and pulled up alongside afterward and said something like “that looked hard, nice work”. Never hurts to educate the uninitiated in what The V looks like!
@teleguy57
There are some studies out (Brett can find them I’m sure) about the YJA not being effective in making you more visible. The reflective strips that are on both the black and yellow version of the Gabba are much more meaningful. I ride the black one, and the reflective bike, and lights. I am basically a Christmas Tree and still Look Fantastic.
But OK, the Yellow Gabba could be mistaken for a Team Cippo jersey so I’ll let it pass.
@DeKerr
This.
@Ccos
Also this. Sensibility might come into play; a little wave to get their attention, gauge their demeanour, gesture to roll the window down…that sort of thing?
@frank
I know a couple bus drivers and they’ve shared some stories: split shifts and weird hours mean a disproportionate rate of drug use, i.e. speed and coke, and resultant road rage. When they’re that over the top, get the time and route number and phone in a complaint.
@Rob
Rob is wise. Like Rob, after many, many years of sharing the road with cars, I do have a hair trigger for telling someone to fuck off if necessary.
Once, on my commute home I was about to take a right on my home street. Of course a car was passing me and it took the same right, no signal, no warning. Had I been going straight it would have been ugly. I called the operator an “Old Whore!” and we both careened through the corner. The car then pulled into the next driveway, where a grandson was waiting for his grandmother to arrive, the aforementioned Old Whore.
As she pulled in, and I rode by, the grandson gave me the shrug, essentially saying, sorry, she is old as fuck to be driving. No harm, no foul.
I fear I’ve told this proud story before. Oh well.
@frank
If you’re willing to desecrate a pair of rims, putting it on the rims can give an amazing result. The silver-color tape on an old pair of Open-4 CD’s (or the like) hardly shows from more than a few feet away. Line one side of the rim and it has a pulsating effect, like a big blinky light. I don’t know if it looks PRO, but it’ll help keep you alive.
Wait, you went for a ride in scorching heat and didn’t take a drink for an hour?
I want my 3 feet and “reasonable and prudent speed”!
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-bike-clearance-20140917-story.html
Of course there is also this:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-milton-charges-deputy-20140828-story.html
This is my go-to gilet/overshoe combo for winter pre-work rides. The stripes across the middle are reflective & the back has further reflective patches as well, needless to say the pink is fairly eye catching (I’ve been told by riding buddies I’m still visible from close to 1k away on a foggy morning) and my thinking is that given my feet are the bit that’s moving, making them as bright as possible can’t hurt in attracting attention.
The rumour that I also take considerable enjoyment from the odd looks I get walking to the office after parking the bike are completely unfounded…
@Mikael Liddy
You’re a brave, brave man, Mikael. I salute you.
I mean, photographic evidence of a Rule #50 transgression. Your name may start with an M but doesn’t end ‘arco’.
David (in jest, of course…..)
Bike lanes? Car lanes? Driver education? Traffic lights? Road rules? LUXURY!
I’ve lived in Cairo for a little over a year now. Its a city of 12 million people, with very limited public transport – the car is king. Petrol is cheap as are taxis and micro busses so the roads are very busy and well known for traffic jams. Fortunately I can walk to work. I don’t imagine I will ever drive here. The road rules are routinely disregarded. There’s only a few sets of traffic lights in the whole city and they get ignored. It’s quite normal for vehicles to cut across traffic, push in, turn left from the right lane, shortcut roundabouts or drive on the wrong side of the road. Anything goes.
I ride the roads a bit. About 4-5 hours a week. Its about 15 minutes on the road to get to the MTB trails. The road bunch goes every Friday morning, returning before midday prayer time so the traffic is considerably reduced, but still solid. So its very much a matter of going when and where the cars are not.
On first impression its chaos but after a while you get used to the patterns. It can seem “dog eat dog” but there’s an order to it. And there’s very lttle agro out there. Everyone gets cut off all day so it becomes a non issue. There’s not so many hoons but just as many idiots.
In the end, the way I ride here is the same as in any city, heavily regulated or not: Be hyper aware of every vehicle, expect it to cross your path or into your space, have an exit plan, ride predictably, make eye contact…etc
In many ways the increasing regulation of roads can make drivers less aware of the bigger picture and fixated with their “right of way” which they equate to some kind of ownership. Sydney was a beautiful place to ride but the divide between cars and bikes is getting extreme. At least in Cairo the idiots yelling out car windows usually cheer or call “Welcome to Egypt”.
11. Run a mirror. Most fatalities in Oz happen when the cyclist is struck form behind, especially at pinch points. KNowing what’s coming can save your life.
12. Make eye contact before crossing the path of a vehicle. If you can’t see the whites of their eyes, they have not seen you.
I ride at night a lot, as previously noted. Less cars, less heat, no magpies. What’s not to love.
Good lights, including a little blue flasher to give peeps taht “oh fuck, its’ the cops” moment.
@frank
Another thumbs up for 3M – I have a pair of Gaene G.Coste shoes in their Reflex material; essentially the entire upper is made of reflective 3M material and really lights up on dull days or winter nights.
@Harminator I love Cairo traffic – don’t you think it’s just like being in the peloton in a bike race?
You have to anticipate where everyone will go, how they are moving, slowing, who’s about to change their line – I’d love to have a go.
But your point about ‘right of way’ and how it makes people less generally aware and more specifically focused is very true. Cairo is a great example of it, and I would add Mumbai as well.
Remember a few years ago there was a lot of talk about some experiments in the Netherlands I think where they had removed all the traffic regulations, speed zones, rights of way, give ways and so on. Their theory was that making people take responsibility on their own judgement caused them to be more aware and less likely to have accidents.
All they had to do was go to Cairo to see it in action on a massive scale. There really are no rules whatsoever, and people drive according to the conditions, not the regulations.
@ChrisO I was going to make that comparison. Except a Cairo peloton would have the team cars and busses in with the bikes…
To me, it feels more like being in one of those race track computer games. Except there’s no “play again” when you clip another racer and flip over the guard rail.
Apparently the city brought in an expert traffic consultant to make recommendations on regulating for improvement. After 3 months he concluded that nothing could be done. And not in a bad way. Given the population and infrastructure, travelling times are actually pretty good.
@frank
Sold, worth sticking on the seat tube too? Presumably peels off easily one the nights start getting lighter?
@Harminator
Ha ha! Nice use of Python…
@Mikael Liddy I think it’s fair to say any driver in their right mind would give you a wide berth dressed like that.
And I mean that in the nicest sense.
@Mikael Liddy
You sir are a brave and self-confident man. Few would dare dress like you let alone go anywhere near their work place. Kudos for sticking to your guns and (secretly) enjoying the “odd looks.”
Oh, and by the way, your “winter” attire is spring, fall, and occasionally summer attire here in Wisconsin! I wore basically the same set up on Saturday morning.
In general, for winter riding, I think anything that blinks or moves is best. When I used to commute to Uni in the late 80s, I wore reflective ankle bands. They really got drivers’ attention. Nowadays with led lights being so good, cheap and versatile, there’s no excuse for not using one. If I know I’ll be riding in the full dark I’ll put a blinking white led on both forks, a white light under the stem and a blinking red led off the saddle and two red blinking leds on the seat stays. I might look like a friggin Christmas tree but the drivers see me.
Back in the day the best we had were Wonder lights that ran on regular batteries and lasted about 30 minutes before fading. The damn clip weighed more than most led lights do today and don’t get me started on big ass Ever Ready (a real misnomer) lights that took two DD batteries.
@VeloJello
I’m sure I have one of those in a box of stuff in the back of the workshed somewhere…
The biggest thing I’d like to add is DON’T PASS ON THE RIGHT… even if you’re in a bike lane (for North America). But if you must, do so with the utmost caution. Drivers don’t look or signal if they’re turning right, they just swerve, and they assume that once they’ve passed you that you disappear like some sort of video game (as much of their life is imagined as though they were ‘gaming’). I’ve had people pull up beside me, then swerve into a drive way while I’m still there – in a bike lane I might add.
My other rule to add is: ALWAYS ASSUME THEY’RE TEXTING. because they usually are.
I’ve pre-ordered a Ride Eye in order to get evidence of aggression and dangerous driving.
Also, a fellow out of England has written a book that would enlighten many motorists. Although in North America this may be quite different since much of the infrastructure was built during the auto boom.
http://www.roadswerenotbuiltforcars.com/
My favorite thing for a-hoes to say if “You’re not a car”, to which an easy response is “Neither are you! Unless of course you are the first talking car of your kind. I am a person, nice to meet you talking automobile”
@Teocalli
And to enlighten our younger readers, the lenses on those puppies were about 3″ in diameter! And the clips were so bad that if you hit a serious bump the damn thing jumped out, landed on the road and promptly broke into 20 pieces.
The road is host to many more idiots than murderers. I set my 650 lumen NiteRider to blink for daytime town riding. Cars magically pull to the left. I have even seen young women look up from texting behind the wheel.
A new kickstarter project (ridehelios.com) has bars with built in front light and turn signals. Won’t work for that perfect fit, but plenty good enough for the commuter bike.
@wiscot
Yup! I’m sure I have a metal one somewhere too with many dents from that syndrome. Trouble is that even if the lamp survived the filament in the bulb inevitably broke.
@Teocalli
Yup, and to be honest, after 20 minutes of use you’d probably get more lumens from a candle!
I’m so old I remember handlebar-mounted bottle cages. Most bikes had no brazed-on bosses. They sucked unless you activated the spring clip that squeezed the bottle! Again, you hit a bump and your bottle went a-flyin’! They were chrome-plated steel which always worked well when brought into contact with liquids.
You kids today, you just don’t know how good you have it, now get orf my lawn.
@frank you got a part number for that tape?
@extra special and bitter re: never pass on the right: it astounds me how many drivers will roar up my side, slam on their brakes to make a right in front of me, realize I’m there and moving faster than some college kid on a walmart bike, then almost get rear ended because it only then occurs to them that they shouldn’t cut me off. Then everyone has to wait while I yell at them that if they’re going to cut me off they should just own it.
@Mikael Liddy
That gilet is awesome, I was given one as a freebie during my recent Manchester to London ride. Downside is that I’m now going to be forced to buy some Rapha kit as it doesn’t go at all all well with any of my current kit. The fit is absolutely spot on.
I was wondering how it would be received here, is a PYA (or PGA) more acceptable than I YHA (YGA) on the grounds that it’s a nice piece of kit and it is possible to look fabulous in it?
I think I might need a black bike first.
@Chris
I believe that’s the low-cut Quintana model right there . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RHv4ESCggo 14 seconds an 1′ 25″ tell the terrible tale of the pink booties.