[TriLUG] [OT] TriLUGger on the news

[William Sutton]

I've done on and off road biking on a mountain bike (on road, equipped 
with slicks or semi-slicks).  It has a Judy XC fork and high powered 
dual-bulb headlights (with custom hacked high/low beam feature ;) ) for 
night riding.

I rode for 2 years in So Cal as a missionary.  I rode on and off for 4 
years in college.  Given that experience, I think I'm somewhat qualified 
to speak on the subject :}

1. Always wear a helmet.  No matter what else we discuss, helmets do save 
your noggin.
2. On-road, ride slightly into the lane (say a few feet).  Drivers may 
hate you for it, but they won't have as easy a time squeezing you off the 
shoulder and into the ditch as if you ride the line.
3. Remember that you have the legal right to be on the road.  It won't 
save you if someone does something stupid, but you have to take your space 
in good conscience.  Otherwise you'll let them run you into the ditch...
4. Use proper signals.  The worst thing for a person in a vehicle is to 
have no idea what a bicyclist is going to do.
5. Don't ride all over the road (left lane, right lane, oncoming lanes, 
etc).  Follow proper traffic procedures.  Remember, you're a vehicle, not 
a pedestrian.  In the same vein, stay off the sidewalks.  It makes things 
really confusing for a driver when a bicyclist zipps off the sidewalk, 
across the crosswalk, and then makes a sudden left turn across the 
oncoming traffic flow.
6. Be alert.  The nation needs more Lerts.  Seriously, though, you have to 
pay attention to what's going on behind you as well as ahead of you.  
Sometimes mirrors are helpful.  Your ears are definitely helpful (this 
means no ipod and headphones, guys).  You should pay more attention when 
on a bicycle than in a car because there is a greater chance for injury.  
One common problem is cars that come up from behind and make a sudden 
right turn across a cyclist's path.  If you're paying attention, you can 
usually take preventative measures.

It can be safe.  You just have to watch out and plan ahead for other 
people's mistakes.

William Sutton
(who can't bicycle much anymore because he was in a *car* when the driver 
of another *car* hit him, hurting his knee)

On Tue, 22 May 2007, David McDowell wrote:

> just throwing this out there... I'm a mountain biker, single track
> trails, and I refuse to ride on the roads.  I appreciate all the
> cajones you all have to wanting to do that, but I won't.  I mean,
> there are websites out there dedicated to people who got creamed while
> biking on the road.  Drivers simply don't respect you.  I'd rather die
> breaking my neck running into a tree than being hit by a car.  At
> least that way I know it was my fault, or I could blame the tree...
> 
> btw, Sharper Image has an electric scooter (plug-in for recharge)... I
> have NO clue the specs on it, saw it in the store the other day.
> 
> :p
> David
> 
> 
> On 5/22/07, Scott Chilcote <scottchilcote at earthlink.net> wrote:
> >
> > I bike commuted between Cary and RTP much of the time between '95 and
> > '02, when I started working at home most of the time.  In all those
> > years I was never touched by a car.  People would get mad and shout once
> > and a while, but they honk and yell at each other too.  Once I had a
> > sandwich tossed at me.  I also chose to leave the roadway at times
> > rather than get squeezed between two passing trucks, but at most it
> > delayed me by half a minute.
> >
> > The two most critical things for me were carefully selecting the route
> > (I changed employment sites five times) and learning how to ride
> > effectively in traffic.
> >
> > Choosing a good cycling route to work is a lot different than what you'd
> > want to use in a car.  Primary roads (highways) are of course out.
> > Secondary roads are usually too busy as well, and often have no
> > shoulders like 54 in Cary and Durham.  You have to take a close look at
> > a map, and sometimes go exploring to find connectors that have extra
> > lanes or wide shoulders.
> >
> > For heading through Morrisville, I'd use roads like Evans, Sheldon, Town
> > Hall, McKrimmon, and Davis (which has good shoulders most of the way).
> > If there's a back way to get from one major road to another, like Slater
> > Road from Airport Blvd to Emperor/Miami or Hopson from Davis to 55,
> > those are the ones I'd try to string together.
> >
> > Irritated drivers are the worst thing I had to deal with, but choosing
> > less traveled roads that had room to pass most of the time helped a lot.
> >  The second part is attitude.  You can ride your bike like a
> > pedestrian, or you can ride it like just one more vehicle in traffic.
> > Fit into the flow of traffic and ride predictably as much as possible.
> > A friend who is an LAB certified cycling instructor uses the phrase
> > "driving your bike".
> >
> > It isn't a cure-all.  People in cars get mad at other people in cars, so
> > cyclists are hardly immune.  But there is a lot we can due to minimize
> > the interactions.
> >
> > I'll throw in a third item too - having a good rear view mirror and
> > learning how to use it while bicycling.  Mine is on my helmet.  It
> > provides a lot of confidence to be able to see how the traffic situation
> > is developing in advance.  If there's an eighteen wheeler coming from
> > behind and another large truck up ahead coming this way, I have the
> > option of looking for a place to pull off and subtracting myself from
> > the equation.
> >
> > http://commutebybike.com/cats/commuting-101/
> > http://www.trilug.org/~chilcote/Bike/rtp-bicycle-commute-FAQ.html
> >
> > Enjoy the ride.
> >
> > --
> > Scott C.
> > --
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> >
>