Leisesturm

Today makes a year to the day that I made my first trip to the UK with my DW who is from there, but had not been back in 20 years. The only US road more terrifying than the ones in and around Burnley, Lancahire was the one time I was on the 405 at rush hour! Burnley, apparently is considered a small town, but the traffic was unbelievable. Fast, and relentless, and I saw very few cyclists. But I did see some, and they might imagine that motorists don't see them but I'm sure most don't. I wonder why the o.p. does. I spent 3 weeks in and around Manchester, Burnley, as mentioned, and out to St. Anne's. I never saw a single wreck. Not one.

British drivers are unflinching, but they are skillful. The o.p. is FAR safer there than anywhere in the U.S. and we really are not helping by trying to set him up to outflash the Mothership from Close Encounters to be safer. It simply isn't necessary. TBH it isn't necessary here! You aren't in anymore danger of being hit because you don't have three flashers going! If they don't see one they won't see three any better. And they see one just fine. They only say "I didn't see him/her because ... well what else would you expect them to say? "Yes, officer, I saw him/her but they were in my way and I was late and ... ..." Just because they cut you off doesn't mean they didn't see you. They saw you. They saw you and still cut you off. Take all the time you need to work that through.

O.p., cycling in the U.K. isn't for me. But I'm not from there. If I was, I would understand it better. To me it looks like absolute bedlam. But the strategy IMO is not to imagine that it is because you aren't seen. You are seen. But you aren't seen as a threat. And you aren't. So your motorist instincts aren't going to work. Listen to the posters that say to choose your routing. I know that that might not make much difference in many places. Don't know what else to tell you. Maybe chat up a local forum. They might have advice based more on your realities on the ground. Cheers.

zacster

I have a pair of those and don't use them. I tried but found them too heavy, plus they don't take the old style toe clips, which I still swear by. On top of that, I've retired and stopped riding at night as I have no reason to do that anymore.

For lighting I still recommend dynamo lighting. They are bright and have a spread beam with cutoff, more like a car beam. I also have a self powered rear light called a Magnic Light. It is a cool trick, using the eddy current generated by the spinning wheel to spin a magnet that generates power for the light and contactless.

zandoval 

Just recently I was driving in the dark outskirts of Austin Texas. An area of construction had, reflective and lighted flashing cones, barrels, and reflective pucks on the road. As well as the construction crew having bright overhead lights, beeping and flashing equipment and Lions and Tigers And Bears!

In the confusion best I could do was rapidly slow down and nearly got rear ended in the process. It was a mess...

I did not even see the bike rider carefully walking his bike past all the confusion till I passed him.

Bravo... Smart Guy!

Look out for those 70 year old, pre-cataract surgery, night drivers like me trying to make their way home. Sometimes all the other lights along your way could make you invisible no matter how many lights you use.

By the way... Those light yellow polarized driving glasses do help at night.

john m flores 

Bluetooth speaker

RidingMatthew

I like riding at dawn/ dusk but I am also riding away from the sun so the people coming up behind me are not staring into the sun. either direction. What I find mind boggling is the people going the same direction as me, who pass me into the face of cars staring into the sun.

C.I.

If you ride at night you also should be brave. I am very hard tied it when my tire was flat during commute to home by bike in the road of the Middletown of Detroit (MI) at 1am (it was about 15 years ago).

ScottCommutes

I also would second route selection. A 7-mile commute takes about 35 minutes - what's the big deal if you add a mile and make it 40 minutes? Since the OP rides in the middle of the night, I would be looking at sidewalks, parks, playgrounds, parking lots, truck docks, bike paths, and cut-throughs - anywhere a bike can go that's away from traffic.

Your post about close calls scares me. Take precautions as far as keeping a cell phone handy (so you can get to it if injured badly), keeping your name and medical and emergency contact info on your body, etc.

C.I.

My advice: use only road in day or night, no sidewalk. On the road you should carefully fallow by all road regulation like you drive a car, even in night and no cars around (!) you should stop on red light signal and continue only on green, etc. If you use sidewalk you will broke the regulation (going over crossing road on green via pedestrian line, you can't going by bike (!), you should walk with your bike near when you crossing the road on green light, and it's I think unpractical for long ride with many streets crossing. I only once in my life used sidewalk for bike ride in the city and been crushed by car (not severe), even I used green line for crossing road, the car been just not stop yet on red light signal. Only road for commute by bike with fallow all road regulation, not a sidewalk.

ScottCommutes

There's some truth to this. The only time I was ever hit by a car was 30 years ago when I was on the sidewalk crossing the entry to a parking lot/garage. I was using the sidewalk as a shortcut because the road was a one-way loop. Daytime. I saw the car - she saw me. We both went. No injuries but a bent up bike.

Nowadays I still use some sidewalks, but judiciously - mostly when I'm tired and don't want to poke up a steep hill in traffic and no shoulder.

At the end of the day, do what is safest.

C.I.

For me use sidewalk by bike is the same as use sidewalk by car. You should stay on the road only. You always have 1-2 feet from side of road for your ride. You can't be scary by cars signals, etc, they are usually scare of you on bike and they will prevent any accidents with you. Don't acute change your direction, etc by car' horn, etc, stay on road steady, "f..." them (great to do this on foreign language as I do) , and just try keep your speed compare with speed of cars around you. Drivers in the cars definitely can see what is the bike rider on front of them - new chicken or like professional, usually they respect person who looking strong on his bike and know how to use road with the cars around of him.
P.S.: I always use for commute 2 line road in one direction and possible wide; one line road in one direction for me accepted only if very short ride as a part commute distance.

Clyde1820

The trouble with "always," however, is that it occasionally fails. And while there are indeed almost no circumstances under which a car ought to be on a sidewalk, there certainly are some justifications for a bicycle using it to transit an otherwise dangerously risky spot.

In my area, there are plenty of roads where that assumed "1-2 ft" on the side of the road either doesn't exist or is so strewn with glass, nails, stones and other crud that it presents an immediate crash hazard to a cyclist. Which basically means that the safest alternative, at some spots, ends up being the sidewalk. Which, of course, presents its own risks (to others and the cyclist).

Wish it were different. But it often isn't. Roadways are generally made with automobiles in mind ... occasionally also with trucks in mind ... far less frequently with bicycles in mind. Would like a standardized road lane design concept to be the norm. But I'm sure the detractors would be squalling about costs.

Sadly, many roads are made with zero or nearly zero "shoulder" or extra space alongside the lanes, such that, even if future desirability of wider lanes or adding a bike lane were recognized, it's often impossible on certain stretches of road.

I can think of a ~2mi street "reimagining" along one of the busy corridors in my area. An old street. Was designed to be two lanes in each direction. Very tight. No room for parking on the side of the road. Certainly no bike lanes. Only a ratty gutter with ancient grates and lots of crud in them. They redesigned it to be a single lane on each side, each lane being a bit wider, then a tight center/turn lane was added in many spots ... and still no bike lanes were added. Given the "busy" visuals along this stretch of road, it's highly dangerous to be a cyclist in that area. But there's a sidewalk on one side, where the small shops are. It's a wide one. And if a cyclist travels fairly slowly along this stretch, it's of negligible risk to the occasional pedestrian who comes along and ends up vastly safer for the cyclist and autos.

Wish it could be different. But there's no way around the fact that in some spots it's simply safer for everyone to share a sidewalk instead of a tight, visually-confusing, zero-outs type section of car lane as exists in this example. At night, even more so.

Best thing I've found to improve safety during night is: twin, bright, rear-facing bike lights, reflective tape on the stays/tubes, reflective vest. But even with these, along that section of road I mention it'd still be nearly suicide.

C.I.

I agree that commuter should used all factors when will create his commuter' direction from beginning. I spend a lot of time on my car to do this. Like in Orlando, FL was a direct shorter road via Winter Park neighborhood, but was so tide, I used longer but safe way to commute. Usually, I never changed my commuter line, when started I used it for years. Safety first when planning your commuting line.

zandoval 

What ever lights and reflectors you get remember the High Vis Vest goes with um...

10 Wheels

Avoid a BAD Road if possible.
Strobe Lights and Refelctive Tape.

Velo Mule

Redshift was at the Philly Bike Expo. I like the idea and will be ordering a pair of their city pedals for myself. I used to use a light that strapped to my left leg for the same reason that I like these pedals. They are easy to identify as a cyclist with the motion. These pedal also light the sides as well. Somehow they (the lights) determine which way is forward and make the forward facing light white and which light is trailing and turn that one red. I thought it was just a mercury switch or gravity switch but, perhaps not based on their explanation. I'm also tempted to buy a mount and light for a tail light. Theirs looks simple to charge and install.

liwhitehat

For those who like the concept, but don't feel like shelling out $140+, here's a MUCH cheaper alternative:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/29547114089...oAAOSwlBFh8xZl

I only use the red. While not very heavy, it's enough weight to tilt the pedal so it's always facing rearward when getting on the bike. If you balance the pedal by adding the white one, you'll have to pay attention to appropriate orientation when getting on the bike. You'll also have to turn them on and off manually. Or, spend the $140+ on the Arclight.

I also ride with these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I definitely agree with the concept of up and down movement commanding more attention, and being readily identifiable as a cyclist.