Bicycles and automobiles- can’t we all just get along? @Kah writes about this universal (do aliens have this issue also?) problem of us co-existing with humans in cars. We all drive cars too and have cursed the occasional cyclists for some good reason. Cars are our greatest threat. We can crawl away from our own bicycle crashes, thanks very much. We always lose when a car is involved. Thanks for contributing @Kah.
Yours in Cycling, Gianni
High-visibility jackets offend me. I’m not in the position to judge fashion really, and generally don’t care what other people wear, but something that tarnishes an entire mode of transport as unsafe and dorky is not okay. These garments misinform the general public that cycling is an unsafe activity (look, that cyclist looks like a lit up flare and a Christmas tree had a baby!), they make all other cyclists look like dorks.
Now, I’m not picking on genuinely introverted people, but people who are just less comfortable interacting with other vehicles on the road. As someone truly in love with spinning pedals on the road, I don’t see why there is this reticence to spend time on the road. The footpath is by far the worse option: congested with pedestrians, littered with signs, and unpredictable in its ebb and wanes.
There’s a spectrum of how happy you are with sharing the road: going from very uncomfortable to exuding quiet confidence before becoming attention-seeking and finally there is a thin line to obnoxiousness.
Uncomfortable, more introverted cyclists tend to hug the kerb, trying to stay out of everyone’s way. Every potential interaction is exaggerated; every passing car becomes a danger. Confident cyclists who are experienced know when to draw attention to their intentions, when to back off while negotiating between quickly moving cars, and how to tell the difference between a passing maneuvere that is actually dangerous and one that is not even worth commenting on. This comfort around other road users is something you can cultivate, but not one you can fake.
Attention-seeking cyclists and obnoxious cyclists tend to feel more self-entitled. “I’m a vehicle/road user too!” is the common mantra of these cyclists who don’t feel inclined to offer the same courtesy they demand to the other road users. To be fair these rolling douchenozzles tend to be the same regardless of vehicle.
My problem is, the introverts are trying to make up for their meekness with the artificial posturing afforded by the YJA. Their mistaken assumption of course is that this magical garment bestows visibility, and thus invincibility in traffic, leading some to jump to the illogical conclusion that they have automatic right of way in every circumstance by virtue of the highly visible jacket.
Magic jackets are not the answer to safer cyclists. Learning to share the road on a bicycle is the answer. Anticipation, not hindsight.
Fucking cyclists.
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@pistard No offense taken. Thanks for that @brett.
@Beers and @Deakus - this article is not about style. @ChrisO has it, it's about the misconceptions surrounding the YJA.
Most recently I worked on a bicycle advocacy project called BikeEverywhere, where we're trying to help empower new cyclists. I found that it's the YJAs that hampers my efforts the most - it's a strange sense of entitlement that it bestows.
Wear what you want, just follow Rule #43 on the road.
@Noob
If I could simply steer you to the lexicon and the masturbation principle we need say no more about it....
And masturbating with a YJA on is a definite fucking nono!
@Kah I see, my mistake, also been across your project, which is to be applauded. There seem to be more riders around our country now, if I was to generalise, the people that seem to have started lately do tend to don the YJA, so that seems to be a big thing for beginner commuters. But you're preaching to the converted here, my 2yo loves jumping in the dickie seat and spinning up the road for the milk...
@Beers
Well said.
@Deakus
I think that activity has its own website...
Am I going to wear a YAJA on my Saturday morning ride with my pals? On my May evening after work training ride? Oh fuck no.
On that pitch black, pouring down rain Seattle morning commute from the unlit 'burbs and equally pitch black, pouring down rain evening commute to the unlit 'burbs you fucking bet I wear a YAJA, along with reflective piping on my booties, tow red LEDs in the rear and two FUCK YOU bright lights, one on the bars and one on top of my helmet to give a 450 lumen stink eye to the cager about to pull out of a side street into my (yellow covered) pink ass.
Do I look like a dork? I am sure I do.
Does the YAJA make me feel invincible and able to run lights with abandon? Nope.
Is it just a little more visible and therefor likely to help me get where I am going in one piece? Possibly - and that's enough for me. You guys commenting from Phoenix have no idea...
@Jamie you've got it exactly.
I throw out a challenge to the Keepers and designers of V-Kit. Design a max-visibility line that obeys the Rules! I promise to be the first to throw down my hard-earned for it!
@G'rilla
Thank the baby jeebus I won't have to read any articles this year about how he's a genuine contender at this years TDF. I guess they will just write the same articles though and replace his name with Teejay Van Garderen's
@paolo
oops wrong article quoted.....was supposed to be about egg timers retirement. Dunno how that happened!
@scaler911
There it is...I'm a Buffoon with fat fingers...