Originally Posted by
berner
Last winter a club member, while on holiday in Florida, was riding on a section of road that had a shoulder. Abruptly, the shoulder ended and her front wheel dropped down into soft sand. She lost control of the bike and fell in front of a motor vehicle and died. My question about this incident is, could she have been more alert and anticipated the shoulder could end resulting in lost of bike control. We will never know but I try to ride with this level of alertness.
I hate to speak ill of the dead ... but absolutely a rider has to look ahead. Bike lanes end, shoulders end, debris falls across the road ... It could have been a piece of wood, or a sand bar left after a rain storm, a branch, or a pot hole ... or a shoulder or a bike lane ending. Very sad, but riders have to be heads-up.
Originally Posted by
berner
In aircraft pilot training, from the very first flying lesson, safety is stressed beginning with an exterior check of the plane, kicking the tires so to speak to see if anyone has been messing with it.
Guy I toured with taught this. Shake the bike, bounce it, rattle it, squeeze the brakes ... I have found a loose BB, loose brake mount, a loose headset .... a bunch of loose stuff, plus soft tires and just problems in general. it takes a few seconds and as for benefits .... I'd rather tighten a brake bolt before a ride than have the front brake rip off while riding.