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.
Having been badly car-doored in 84 (10 mile TT, no helmet, lucky to live in retrospect) I'd like to offer my two cents. Look through the rear windows of parked cars (if possible), if not, assume they'll open and ride accordingly.
A honk is not always a "get the fuck off the road" honk. It might just be a "hey, I'm behind you" honk. Here in the kinder, gentler midwest (the Wisconsin part that is, Indiana was way worse), I overly practice the "wee wave" habit. Any time I hear that a car has even momentarily slowed in consideration I wave an acknowledgment. More often than not I get a wave back. If I can see over a hill or crest and the driver behind me cant, and it's clear, I wave them through. I'll admit I ride solo on a lot of back roads where there are few cyclists and cars often give me as much room as they can (often crossing completely into the other lane), I feel every bit of courtesy we can show, helps the cause.
@JeffYou could think of spending your next holidays in Switzerland ...
You'd have to send me the airfare and provide a couch. I'm afraid this Velominatus Budgetatus has no intercontinental travel in the near future. Still not fair.
The beauty of southeast Idaho. I live about five blocks from our downtown criterium course and yet if I ride in the other direction for ten minutes I'm on a road that at times I can ride 60k without getting passed by a car.
Fuck me runnin'. Wish I had a road within a 1000km where I wouldn't see a car for a while.
@CyclopsAnn Arbor has this same lovely feature. I'm five minutes from all the bars/restaurants/clubs, and only two stoplights from the farm roads. My current record for not having to unclip is 100km. Wonderful, if only it weren't so damn flat. Utah kicks ass for the endless mountain roads.
Okay. You and Cyclops can stop gloating now, thanks.
@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.
Where in Big D? My family is still there. At the end of May, I was doing laps around White Rock 'cause that's the only route I remembered from the 80's.
I too live in an urban location (not far from Frank, as it turns out.) From my front door, there are only really a few options, but those that are viable are generally pretty good. I *can* ride from home, but the urban environment is just...suboptimal. A Velominatus seeks to become one with his machine, to integrate form and function, and this is difficult when dodging the Weapons of Mass Destruction that populate our roads.
On the flip side, I really begrudge the time loss in preparing to feel the spirit of Merckx upon me when I am actually on my Machine. I've notice it takes overly long to simply don the Sacred Garments, pump the tyres, get all the pockets stuffed - even when I have thoughtfully placed all these things in their correct storage places. If I put the Machine on the car, I can be on some fabulous, traffic free and scenic roads within about 30 minutes.
But I really begrudge those 30 minutes. And of course, there the 30 minutes to get home from there too. And in Seattle, 60 minutes is often the total amount of daylight in a day. Or heck, in a month.
I freely confess to massive rule 5 breakage: I don't ride in rain or in the dark. I'm not Johnny Hoogerland, and both those conditions put me at serious risk. Being out there on the roads with the WMDs is dangerous enough, so I had to draw the line somewhere.
But I really like the comment someone made: "80% of the roads in France are paved with concrete. The other 20% are paved with Jens Voigt's flesh."
See, the joys of living in a provincial British town is that you can be on a country lane within about 5km. However, that's when the fun begins. It can be awesome, with nary a car for half an hour flat out, pulling the PAB's in the middle of pristine tarmac...until a madman with a horsebox hares around a blind corner (yay for ancient hedgerows!) at 60mph.
So yeah, the countryside is a mixed picture.
Gotta say nothing pisses me off more than cyclists running red lights, and not obeying the traffic laws in general.
Just this past Sunday, I went off on a guy who flew past me at a stop light. He had the unfortunate experience of walking into "my" local coffee joint just ahead of me. Bit of a scene, but I was pissed. He wasn't expecting a fellow cyclist to do that. Almost went to blows, but I was ready, having had some juiced up steak the night before.
Sad thing was, he was damn near compliant with the Rules.
@CyclopsAnn Arbor has this same lovely feature. I'm five minutes from all the bars/restaurants/clubs, and only two stoplights from the farm roads. My current record for not having to unclip is 100km. Wonderful, if only it weren't so damn flat. Utah kicks ass for the endless mountain roads.
Okay. You and Cyclops can stop gloating now, thanks.
Can I get in on this gloating?
If you want to ride on the flat you need to take the round that follows the harbour. There's a nice 30 ish K loop you can take without going near a big road: If you can handle 20 minutes of motorway riding in a bike lane, you can add another 40k stretch to it.
And as you can see, there's plenty of hills.
Given our agricultural economy, most of the workers in those office buildings are sheep. The bus routes go past their farms.
Also, good looking out on the rules. I can remember this one as well, that according to our road code in Neu Zilnd if you want to pass stationary traffic you have to pass them on the outside: I remember this cos a courier I worked with bowled a woman getting off a bus that was stopped at a set of traffic lights, broke her arm and jaw.
Also it is a rule most drivers aren't aware of, and to be honest it's pretty handy. It's also worth checking your local road code, for any handy little tidbits like that.
Also had an encounter with a genius in a ute, who had to brake heavily after he accelerated to try and pass me and a riding mate while we were passing through a bit of road with a traffic island.He started ranting at us that we shouldn't be riding 2 abreast, and didn't like it when I reminded him that according to the road code, he needed 3 feet to overtake us safely, which wouldn't have happened if we were inside the lane with the median island. Actually my mate said that while I tried chatting up his missus. He also didn't like that.
Anyway, point is check the road code: there are a few little nuggets tucked away that drivers don't know about that might make life a bit easier.
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Having been badly car-doored in 84 (10 mile TT, no helmet, lucky to live in retrospect) I'd like to offer my two cents. Look through the rear windows of parked cars (if possible), if not, assume they'll open and ride accordingly.
A honk is not always a "get the fuck off the road" honk. It might just be a "hey, I'm behind you" honk. Here in the kinder, gentler midwest (the Wisconsin part that is, Indiana was way worse), I overly practice the "wee wave" habit. Any time I hear that a car has even momentarily slowed in consideration I wave an acknowledgment. More often than not I get a wave back. If I can see over a hill or crest and the driver behind me cant, and it's clear, I wave them through. I'll admit I ride solo on a lot of back roads where there are few cyclists and cars often give me as much room as they can (often crossing completely into the other lane), I feel every bit of courtesy we can show, helps the cause.
@grumbledook
You'd have to send me the airfare and provide a couch. I'm afraid this Velominatus Budgetatus has no intercontinental travel in the near future. Still not fair.
@Cyclops
Fuck me runnin'. Wish I had a road within a 1000km where I wouldn't see a car for a while.
@Collin
Okay. You and Cyclops can stop gloating now, thanks.
@benjamin
Where in Big D? My family is still there. At the end of May, I was doing laps around White Rock 'cause that's the only route I remembered from the 80's.
I too live in an urban location (not far from Frank, as it turns out.) From my front door, there are only really a few options, but those that are viable are generally pretty good. I *can* ride from home, but the urban environment is just...suboptimal. A Velominatus seeks to become one with his machine, to integrate form and function, and this is difficult when dodging the Weapons of Mass Destruction that populate our roads.
On the flip side, I really begrudge the time loss in preparing to feel the spirit of Merckx upon me when I am actually on my Machine. I've notice it takes overly long to simply don the Sacred Garments, pump the tyres, get all the pockets stuffed - even when I have thoughtfully placed all these things in their correct storage places. If I put the Machine on the car, I can be on some fabulous, traffic free and scenic roads within about 30 minutes.
But I really begrudge those 30 minutes. And of course, there the 30 minutes to get home from there too. And in Seattle, 60 minutes is often the total amount of daylight in a day. Or heck, in a month.
I freely confess to massive rule 5 breakage: I don't ride in rain or in the dark. I'm not Johnny Hoogerland, and both those conditions put me at serious risk. Being out there on the roads with the WMDs is dangerous enough, so I had to draw the line somewhere.
But I really like the comment someone made: "80% of the roads in France are paved with concrete. The other 20% are paved with Jens Voigt's flesh."
See, the joys of living in a provincial British town is that you can be on a country lane within about 5km. However, that's when the fun begins. It can be awesome, with nary a car for half an hour flat out, pulling the PAB's in the middle of pristine tarmac...until a madman with a horsebox hares around a blind corner (yay for ancient hedgerows!) at 60mph.
So yeah, the countryside is a mixed picture.
Gotta say nothing pisses me off more than cyclists running red lights, and not obeying the traffic laws in general.
Just this past Sunday, I went off on a guy who flew past me at a stop light. He had the unfortunate experience of walking into "my" local coffee joint just ahead of me. Bit of a scene, but I was pissed. He wasn't expecting a fellow cyclist to do that. Almost went to blows, but I was ready, having had some juiced up steak the night before.
Sad thing was, he was damn near compliant with the Rules.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Can I get in on this gloating?
If you want to ride on the flat you need to take the round that follows the harbour. There's a nice 30 ish K loop you can take without going near a big road: If you can handle 20 minutes of motorway riding in a bike lane, you can add another 40k stretch to it.
And as you can see, there's plenty of hills.
Given our agricultural economy, most of the workers in those office buildings are sheep. The bus routes go past their farms.
Also, good looking out on the rules. I can remember this one as well, that according to our road code in Neu Zilnd if you want to pass stationary traffic you have to pass them on the outside: I remember this cos a courier I worked with bowled a woman getting off a bus that was stopped at a set of traffic lights, broke her arm and jaw.
Also it is a rule most drivers aren't aware of, and to be honest it's pretty handy. It's also worth checking your local road code, for any handy little tidbits like that.
Also had an encounter with a genius in a ute, who had to brake heavily after he accelerated to try and pass me and a riding mate while we were passing through a bit of road with a traffic island.He started ranting at us that we shouldn't be riding 2 abreast, and didn't like it when I reminded him that according to the road code, he needed 3 feet to overtake us safely, which wouldn't have happened if we were inside the lane with the median island. Actually my mate said that while I tried chatting up his missus. He also didn't like that.
Anyway, point is check the road code: there are a few little nuggets tucked away that drivers don't know about that might make life a bit easier.