There is little in life that compares to a ride along a quiet country road. This surely is the altar of our sport, where all the greatest qualities of cycling are brought into relief by the simple act of propelling yourself along by your own power. Despite being social creatures, the experience is heightened by solitude; when no one else is witness this glorious act, we are allowed to slip further into the simplicity of the act. Our arms reaching out to the bars, the rhythm as our legs spin the pedals, the feel of the machine as it glides along effortlessly, the feeling of power as we stand to accelerate over a hill, the wind in our face, knowing it’s generated by our own speed. There is only the road, the machine, and ourselves.
Alas, for most of us, this experience is reserved for special rides when circumstance finds us within reach of such a place. Indeed, many of us spend the majority of our time riding the busy roads found in our urban lifestyles, not deserted country lanes. This reality has us facing a choice between not riding or riding amongst traffic that threatens a significant negative impact on our well-being should something go sideways – like, for example, your bicycle.
While it is inherently more dangerous than riding on quiet roads, the risk of urban riding can be managed somewhat through vigilance and discipline. We must constantly be aware of our surroundings and understand not only the risks traffic poses to us, but also the unpredictability we ourselves bring to a driver who doesn’t understand the way a cyclist thinks, and what we might do next. The bicycle and the traffic together form two parts of a dangerous equation where we control few of the variables and stand to lose a great deal should something go wrong. In light of this, we should focus on maximizing the elements we can control, and marginalize those we can’t.
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 on the sunny 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 might hit something that might cause you to move erratically; there’s nothing safe about suddenly flying out into traffic because you hit something at the side of the road.
Only ride through puddles you can see the bottom of. Water tends to accumulate along the side of the road, and has a nasty habit of being smooth on the surface regardless of what the bottom looks like. If you can’t see the bottom of the puddle, it’s safer to ride around it than it is to ride through it and risk getting launched by a hidden pothole.
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 at the same speed as the traffic in order to piss them off slightly less and reduce the chance that they go all gansta on your ass and hit or shoot you out of spite.
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.
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.
Details matter; 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.
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.
Lastly, cycling is easier to enjoy if you’re alive and in one piece; always ride to proactively avoid placing yourself in risky situations when possible and have a plan if you find yourself needing to take a risk.
Some fantastic riding can be had on urban roads. Always be careful to understand your risks; be agressive when safety requires it, and defensive when it doesn’t.
Vive la Vie Velominatus.
frank
The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking.
As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it.
Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen.
Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.
One problem we have in Idaho is that we are the only state in the union that allows cyclists to not stop at stop signs if the intersection is clear and we can proceed through a red light after stopping if the intersection is clear. It's kind of a double edged sword in that it is cool that we can do that but motorist are ignorant of the laws and assume that we have to obey stop signs and signals like them so you always get yelled at by peeved motorists and obviously trying to explain it to them in the forum of the open road doesn't really work.
True on my side of the river as well. The problem is the vehicles that I see up in north or east Clark County are these things:
Usually with 5 rednecks all hopped up on Four Loko. Actually had one of these assholes hit me with a Super-Ultra sized Slurpee awhile back. For the record, I didn't smile and wave.
You're never getting through to those blokes. Your best hope is that as they swerve to deliberately hit you, that you'll pass under through those struts unharmed.@jasoncallaway
@frank
Last weekend I was guilty of this myself. I ran a red light and nearly plastered an old dude on a cruiser who was politely waiting his turn at the stoplight. Slammed on the brakes, and my bro who was drafting me wiped out and busted up his knee. It was on a highly trafficked street and could have been much worse. It was stupid and irresponsible on my part, and I learned my lesson.
I did something similar and almost his this nice guy. I stopped an apologized and we ended up chatting while waiting for a bridge to drop. A little bit of humility goes a long way. Hope your bro is OK.
One problem we have in Idaho is that we are the only state in the union that allows cyclists to not stop at stop signs if the intersection is clear and we can proceed through a red light after stopping if the intersection is clear. It's kind of a double edged sword in that it is cool that we can do that but motorist are ignorant of the laws and assume that we have to obey stop signs and signals like them so you always get yelled at by peeved motorists and obviously trying to explain it to them in the forum of the open road doesn't really work.
Some of our dear friends here in Seattle hail from Idaho (in fact, I'm thinking of Josh's sister and family) and they talk about that same thing. It also goes to confuse Idahoians (?) when they ride elsewhere. If I were to dole out advice to people who didn't ask for it, I'd say that, based on what you outline and what happens when you go to another state, it's best to just hold off and wait like the rest of traffic. It'll buy you some goodwill.
That's pretty much the conclusion that I've come to. It's just easier to not hassle with the "privilege". One thing though, the first time I stopped at a light and then proceeded through with a cop sitting across the intersection was intimidating but he didn't bat an eye.
Late to the party, but what the hell.
I'm lucky enough to live on the outskirts of a small, bike friendly city, so I don't have to interface much with full urban (i.e., Seattle, London, Milan, SF, Portland, Melbourne, etc., etc.) conditions. In fact I can do a number of long (60 km+) rides, flat or climbing, on two lane roads, without encountering a single stop light, from my front door. Plus a few mtb trails. Yes, I am fortunate indeed.
Most of the negative interfaces I have with motorists are during group rides, and some are actually understandable, as we tend to take the shit over on group rides. It's the nature of the beast. We do try to accommodate cars, but we occasionally get yelled at by the cops, and a few have even been ticketed.
That said, the points above are valid; and I spent several years as a bike commuter in the same small city. My rule then and now, is to be visible (hand signals, take the lane), be predictable, and ride like you are neither (i.e., like nobody sees you or is going to try to avoid you).
And don't escalate. That's a good one.
BTW, I'm still planning a Cogal in Solvang, CA to commemorate Worlds' on Sept. 25, if anyone is interested hollaback.
Interesting posts by all above.
My additions from 5 years of (crash-free) commuting in London (oh shit I've definitely had it now I've said that):
- Avoid anything bigger than a bus like the plague. Pretty obvious, but its incredible how many people undertake these monsters. I get the shivers any time they come within a metre of me.
- Get to know your routes. So much of safe riding relies on a good knowledge of problem junctions; which turning cars always take late and without indicating, that kind of thing.
- Use your face! Eye contact is an incredibly powerful mechanism for getting attention - our brains are hotwired to notice when someone is looking at us. To this effect, I no longer wear a pollution mask as this depersonalises you, and means you can't smile at good drivers / chat to them at lights. Equally, I've found giving a driver a Pharmstrong-eque 'look' as they try to squeeze me into the kerb suprisingly effective (caveat: this requires at least 2 seconds of obstacle-free road ahead and should not be undertaken on a road you don't know!)
- Bus and taxi drivers are not all bad. They are probably the most experienced and skilled drivers on their roads, will know the dimensions of their vehicles well.
- Strike your own balance between rule bending and adherence. This point is the one that's most difficult to justify, and often confuses other less expeienced riders who cycle with me. I strongly believe in doing whatever is safest, and on my daily routes this amounts to what must appear as inconsistency when it comes to following road rules. In areas where bikes have been integrated into road planning, as is increasingly the case in central London, I'm quite happy to trundle along in bike lanes and stop for lights. However, there are some junctions where I have found that it is simply not safe to wait for green lights. Ultimately, virtually every driver breaks speed laws every time they drive a car, and whilst jumping lights is detrimental to short-term bike-car relations, it keeps me safer until a time comes when more junctions/roads take bikes into consideration.
I guess the last point would be that there is no substitute for experience, and that whilst urban riding can be hairy at times, its very good for developing road awareness and really not as bad as it is perceived to be.
Don't escalate is very true. In my younger days I escalated situations with drivers far too often. I was also living in a major city. I find now that if I head out with a positive attitude, "talk" to drivers with my hands (slow down, this is a blind curve and you can't see the car coming but I can), and generally try to think the best of drivers, I have far fewer incidents. There are always, always going to be meathead drivers, but I've found that if I'm not looking for a fight, they seem to materialize much less often.
Dropping the Mighty Cyclist, Owner of the Road mentality can really help in riding safely. But of course still ride aggressively defensive.
I commute and road ride as well so am used to being in traffic and also being in the country. Both require different skills and different ways of riding defensively.
Oh, and I'm all for obeying traffic laws, but sometimes I do bend them when it is safer for my health. Not yielding when entering a circle (if clear) to get ahead of all the cars behind/beside me. Yep. Or yielding at a stop sign to get ahead of a line of cars in order to avoid being stuck between moving and parked cars, yep. I kind of see this as riding defensively. Maybe you disagree, but in some situations when I think I'll be safer I do bend the traffic rules. I still have my helmet on though, so you still better smile & wave if you pass me going the other way.
Ha, we were writing at the same moment, Tom. Bend away...
Oh, and I hate black out car windows! I always want to make eye contact to prevent getting driven into as I pass the front of a car, but dark tint makes it impossible. Hate 'em. They are illegal in NY, but that doesn't stop people from getting them.
As if driving a hummer isn't bad enough, most of them have black outed windows.
Yeah, I don't bother to start stuff with drivers, especially because here in the US you never know when someone is packing heat, or has had a bad day at the office in this economy and is ready to snap at a moments notice.
I keep my "big boy voice" ready if someone isn't paying attention, like they start to roll into an intersection when I have the right-of-way and they don't see me. A loud "HEY!" to get their attention usually works. I don't stop to have words, flip them off, or any other shitty gestures.
I have had relatively few instances of anything bad happening in the last two years of cycling, the odd buzz by a driver and one or two people that have yelled at me, nothing more serious than that. I attribute it to doing many of the things everyone above has talked about, including some rule-breaking when I determined that it would be safer for me to do so, as Tom mentioned.
View Comments
One problem we have in Idaho is that we are the only state in the union that allows cyclists to not stop at stop signs if the intersection is clear and we can proceed through a red light after stopping if the intersection is clear. It's kind of a double edged sword in that it is cool that we can do that but motorist are ignorant of the laws and assume that we have to obey stop signs and signals like them so you always get yelled at by peeved motorists and obviously trying to explain it to them in the forum of the open road doesn't really work.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
So true. I don't know it is in Houston, but up here in Dallas, we have nothing that even so much as gets in the ballpark of that kind of beauty.
@scaler911
You're never getting through to those blokes. Your best hope is that as they swerve to deliberately hit you, that you'll pass under through those struts unharmed.@jasoncallaway
I did something similar and almost his this nice guy. I stopped an apologized and we ended up chatting while waiting for a bridge to drop. A little bit of humility goes a long way. Hope your bro is OK.
@Cyclops
Some of our dear friends here in Seattle hail from Idaho (in fact, I'm thinking of Josh's sister and family) and they talk about that same thing. It also goes to confuse Idahoians (?) when they ride elsewhere. If I were to dole out advice to people who didn't ask for it, I'd say that, based on what you outline and what happens when you go to another state, it's best to just hold off and wait like the rest of traffic. It'll buy you some goodwill.
@frank
That's pretty much the conclusion that I've come to. It's just easier to not hassle with the "privilege". One thing though, the first time I stopped at a light and then proceeded through with a cop sitting across the intersection was intimidating but he didn't bat an eye.
Late to the party, but what the hell.
I'm lucky enough to live on the outskirts of a small, bike friendly city, so I don't have to interface much with full urban (i.e., Seattle, London, Milan, SF, Portland, Melbourne, etc., etc.) conditions. In fact I can do a number of long (60 km+) rides, flat or climbing, on two lane roads, without encountering a single stop light, from my front door. Plus a few mtb trails. Yes, I am fortunate indeed.
Most of the negative interfaces I have with motorists are during group rides, and some are actually understandable, as we tend to take the shit over on group rides. It's the nature of the beast. We do try to accommodate cars, but we occasionally get yelled at by the cops, and a few have even been ticketed.
That said, the points above are valid; and I spent several years as a bike commuter in the same small city. My rule then and now, is to be visible (hand signals, take the lane), be predictable, and ride like you are neither (i.e., like nobody sees you or is going to try to avoid you).
And don't escalate. That's a good one.
BTW, I'm still planning a Cogal in Solvang, CA to commemorate Worlds' on Sept. 25, if anyone is interested hollaback.
Interesting posts by all above.
My additions from 5 years of (crash-free) commuting in London (oh shit I've definitely had it now I've said that):
- Avoid anything bigger than a bus like the plague. Pretty obvious, but its incredible how many people undertake these monsters. I get the shivers any time they come within a metre of me.
- Get to know your routes. So much of safe riding relies on a good knowledge of problem junctions; which turning cars always take late and without indicating, that kind of thing.
- Use your face! Eye contact is an incredibly powerful mechanism for getting attention - our brains are hotwired to notice when someone is looking at us. To this effect, I no longer wear a pollution mask as this depersonalises you, and means you can't smile at good drivers / chat to them at lights. Equally, I've found giving a driver a Pharmstrong-eque 'look' as they try to squeeze me into the kerb suprisingly effective (caveat: this requires at least 2 seconds of obstacle-free road ahead and should not be undertaken on a road you don't know!)
- Bus and taxi drivers are not all bad. They are probably the most experienced and skilled drivers on their roads, will know the dimensions of their vehicles well.
- Strike your own balance between rule bending and adherence. This point is the one that's most difficult to justify, and often confuses other less expeienced riders who cycle with me. I strongly believe in doing whatever is safest, and on my daily routes this amounts to what must appear as inconsistency when it comes to following road rules. In areas where bikes have been integrated into road planning, as is increasingly the case in central London, I'm quite happy to trundle along in bike lanes and stop for lights. However, there are some junctions where I have found that it is simply not safe to wait for green lights. Ultimately, virtually every driver breaks speed laws every time they drive a car, and whilst jumping lights is detrimental to short-term bike-car relations, it keeps me safer until a time comes when more junctions/roads take bikes into consideration.
I guess the last point would be that there is no substitute for experience, and that whilst urban riding can be hairy at times, its very good for developing road awareness and really not as bad as it is perceived to be.
Don't escalate is very true. In my younger days I escalated situations with drivers far too often. I was also living in a major city. I find now that if I head out with a positive attitude, "talk" to drivers with my hands (slow down, this is a blind curve and you can't see the car coming but I can), and generally try to think the best of drivers, I have far fewer incidents. There are always, always going to be meathead drivers, but I've found that if I'm not looking for a fight, they seem to materialize much less often.
Dropping the Mighty Cyclist, Owner of the Road mentality can really help in riding safely. But of course still ride aggressively defensive.
I commute and road ride as well so am used to being in traffic and also being in the country. Both require different skills and different ways of riding defensively.
Oh, and I'm all for obeying traffic laws, but sometimes I do bend them when it is safer for my health. Not yielding when entering a circle (if clear) to get ahead of all the cars behind/beside me. Yep. Or yielding at a stop sign to get ahead of a line of cars in order to avoid being stuck between moving and parked cars, yep. I kind of see this as riding defensively. Maybe you disagree, but in some situations when I think I'll be safer I do bend the traffic rules. I still have my helmet on though, so you still better smile & wave if you pass me going the other way.
Ha, we were writing at the same moment, Tom. Bend away...
Oh, and I hate black out car windows! I always want to make eye contact to prevent getting driven into as I pass the front of a car, but dark tint makes it impossible. Hate 'em. They are illegal in NY, but that doesn't stop people from getting them.
As if driving a hummer isn't bad enough, most of them have black outed windows.
Yeah, I don't bother to start stuff with drivers, especially because here in the US you never know when someone is packing heat, or has had a bad day at the office in this economy and is ready to snap at a moments notice.
I keep my "big boy voice" ready if someone isn't paying attention, like they start to roll into an intersection when I have the right-of-way and they don't see me. A loud "HEY!" to get their attention usually works. I don't stop to have words, flip them off, or any other shitty gestures.
I have had relatively few instances of anything bad happening in the last two years of cycling, the odd buzz by a driver and one or two people that have yelled at me, nothing more serious than that. I attribute it to doing many of the things everyone above has talked about, including some rule-breaking when I determined that it would be safer for me to do so, as Tom mentioned.