Last 2 rides I tried a new way to ride and i got 0 dangerous situation, well 1 but I wasn't applying my new "trick".
I rode with 70 centimeters to my right, when a car passes I go as close as possible to the right side of the road. Driver already picked his trajectory, so I get an extra 70centimeters on whatever space he would have left me.
Works like a charm for the moment.
Thanks everyone for the replies and intertesting inputs.
Originally Posted by
Tomm Willians
It also cannot be understated that you make yourself as visible as possible even during daylight hours. Yellow helmet and vest, lights front and rear, anything you can think of. Give the cars a chance to see you ahead of time and take their own corrective actions. No guarantees that they will but it can’t hurt to try.
I'm actually buying a neon jersey at the moment, that can never be a bad idea in terms of safety. But for the situations i incountered in the recent past, it's more about the driver himself wanting to overtake so bad rather than a visibility problem.
Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
You need to remember that you can't see what the driver sees. There's a very good chance that the driver can see enough to know he's OK doing what he's doing. You're not a car and he can cut back in sooner than you may realize. In 25 years of riding on my local windy no-shoulder roads, I've never had a car cut back in before being completely past me. OTOH, I've seen many oncoming cars almost forced into the ditch by the passing car. That's very common and I think happens because many drivers regard a bike as a stationary object, not realizing that we're might be doing 20-30.
My response to these behaviors is to be always aware that a head-on might occur 50' in front of me and to be ready to take action if necessary. But like I say, in many hundreds of these encounters, no accidents.
As far as riding out in the lane goes, I don't recommend it. There's a guy in my riding group who does that and has been hit twice while riding solo, whereas the rest of us, who don't do that, have never been hit. I don't think the stats are favorable, even though there are many advocates. Our state law says, "as far to the right as is practical,".which might prejudice the outcome of any accident investigation.
It's true that once or twice I thought it was a dangerous situation but then the car easily got back in lane and it seems quite safe afterall.
But most of the time i'm 100% sure they can't see a thing, sometimes they even see less than me and I don't see ****.
Originally Posted by
seedsbelize
Ride gravel. No such thing as what you are looking for.
I'd love to actually! there are a lot of paths to ride gravel here, but I'm not sure my bike is suited for this. I ride a quite top end carbon bike of 10 years ago, i'm not sure just throwing bigger tires in could allow me to gravel ride.
Originally Posted by
canklecat
I try to avoid most vehicle conflicts by choosing routes and times with less traffic. That reduces the necessities to take the lane when only a single lane is available. And I try to delay folks behind me as little as possible.
After having commuted and ridden recreationally on and off since the 1970s, I've found that what works best for me is demonstrated in this video.
When I do take the lane, I am very assertive about it. I make it clear through lane position and signals that the lane is not up for sharing and the driver must choose to wait for an appropriate time to pass or deliberately run me down. There is no safer way to ride some routes in my area, particularly where highways merge with otherwise quiet access roads and lightly traveled rural highways. It's never a good idea to be timid or hug the side of the road with merging traffic -- that's a recipe for getting pinched or run over by big rig tractor trailers or rookies towing boats or equipment trailers.
There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of videos on variations of vehicular cycling. But this one seems to summarize it best without digressions into emotions, politics, etc. It's just a demonstration and explanation of an effective technique.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU4n...ture=emb_title
Nice video thanks!
Originally Posted by
genejockey
And because it costs nothing to be nice, I like to give a little wave to drivers who cut me some slack, like the ones who hold back a little to allow me to get over to the left lane before the light, or who waited till a clear spot to pass.
Oh yeah I always give a big thumbs up to guys that can wait!