Sharpshin

What a great answer

Based on me as an example, who didn't get into bicycles until age 56 and who STILL won't wear anything lycra four years later, I'd guess the general public views cyclists as pi$$y self-righteous dweebs, especially those who don't give a rip about inconveniencing everybody else because "they have a right to the road" or some such rot.

My own view is if I get run over doing this it is ALWAYS my fault because I'm presuming to ride a very slow, fragile vehicle that offers NO injury protection in close proximity to fast-moving motor vehicle traffic. I figure if any other vehicle habitually rolled as slow as bicycles do, traffic laws would mandate it have a big orange warning triangle and possibly an escort vehicle.

Consequently I'll bail entirely off the asphalt onto the roadside dirt and grass rather than slow up passing traffic. I still get where I'm going.

pbekkerh

My philosophy when on a bike, or even in my car, for that matter, is to consider other cardrivers as potential killers, they have their weapon, the car, which we know can kill, and you never discuss with an armed person, even less when he is angry, so I never hold on to my "right", I let everyone pass and I will even stop and pull away from the road, if I can see that 2 trucks will pass each other in the place where I am.

It's no comfort to be in the right, if you're dead

LuckySailor

I have had several drivers tell me that they prefer solid red lights rather than those annoying blinking red lights. I can believe that- just being behind a cyclist with a friggin blinky drives me bonkers. And mirror! There are many different types and it takes some experimentation to find the one that works the best for you. I always wear either clear safety glasses or sunglasses, so I use the kind that attach to the arm of the glasses. I don't understand why anyone would ride without a mirror. You don't drive your car with out mirrors on both sides and in the middle for a reason! Owning the lane I still have an issue with, I get it, I understand it, but don't practice it. If cyclists would ride properly not side by side, and heed an oncoming vehicle when they are, then that is one step in the right direction. If motorists would give us the consideration as transportation that we deserve, i.e., room, and slow down when necessary when there is no room to pass, that would be a step in the right direction. But there will always be JERKS. You just don't be one when the shoe is on the other foot!

transitguy

I use a slow-moving vehicle triangle on the back for all tours and most rides around home (REI sells these). For part of a ride from Missoula MT to Oregon last year I attached a small American flag vertically to my left-side rear pannier. This was suggested by another bicycle tourist before I left on that trip.
This is completely anecdotal, but I had the distinct impression that all vehicles, especially in rural areas, gave me more room as they passed when I had the flag in place. The flag stayed secure over several hundred miles, although I had to be careful when getting on and off the bike so I didn't break the wooden pole with my leg.

pbekkerh

A good reason to use them. The more annoying the better they see you

LuckySailor

No, I don't agree with being annoying with a blinkie. Drivers see the steady red light just fine. My understanding is that in Germany blinkies are not allowed. I can agree with that idea. Vehicle tail lights don't blink unless they are emergency vehicles. You see regular vehicles just fine. You want to be annoying and be seen, wear bright colours. Lights solid on. That's another one too. headlights that blink. OMFG! Even worse than tail lights blinking. I had a cyclist tailing me for 20 kms with her f***ing blinkie headlight. I wanted to shove it down her throat! SO FRIGGIN ANNOYING. and what's safe about it? On coming traffic is on the other side of the road. Traffic that sees you in their mirrors has already passed you. Where's the safety advantage? As a rider, you keep yourself safe. That's why you're not plugged into your phone listening to music, or for that call you can't miss. That's why you use a mirror, and bright clothes with reflective stripes.

pbekkerh

The kingdom of Denmark, one of the worlds foremost cyclenations, don't agree with you. All cyclelights here are blinking, to catch attention, just like emergency lights are blinking and to distinguish a cyclist from all other lights in the street.

staehpj1

I have always preferred that cars NOT insist on giving me a super wide berth and much prefer that they just pass as soon as possible with 3' of clearance. I find the overly cautious passers often cross the double yellow with all 4 wheels for no good reason and often do so when oncoming traffic is too close to allow then sufficient time. Who does the oncoming car blame? The cyclist of course. We don't need drivers resenting us any more than they already do.

Also I find that super bright blinkies tend to make passing cars too likely to hang back and cause traffic to back up behind them. This leads to either the cars behind them getting impatient and passing too aggressively or them do that eventually. I have seen this happen many times.

In a city setting more bright blinkies may be needed because lights get lost in all the traffic and other lights. On rural roads either a steady light or a less aggressive blinkie works for me.

On tour I have had a more problems in some parts of the country with cars that refuse to pass when there is room for them to do so than ones who pass too close. At home in a metro area I have had more folks brush my arm, but there is still an issue with timid passers.

DropBarFan

In Germany motorists are more attentive & more accustomed to bikes. Blinkies don't bother me though I find it a bit puzzling when bikes use them in broad daylight on the bike path.


In my area there are many motorists who are slow & clumsy to pass even even in bright daylight when I'm not using any lights. OTOH it seems reasonable that blinkies etc could have an effect on some drivers. Dinotte suggests that riders point their super-bright blinkies downward so they aren't blinding; also creates a big red patch on the road. My Serfas TL-60 isn't as bright but I still tilt it down a bit.

Happy Feet

I use blinky lights. Really, sort of a mediocre complain IMO.

Cars have two or more red lights 10x larger than a bikes that light up even more when braking - maybe even another one in the rear window. 4 turn signals that blink when turning and white lights when reversing... plus 2-4 headlights that alternate between high and low beam and now are insanely bright. A little red blinky bike light being a pita - I don't think so.

For my front strobe I point it downward so as to not aim in a drivers eyes. pretty simple.

My perspective on reactions around here is that motorists seeing a cyclist wearing reflective all weather gear and using proper lighting tend to give the thumbs up for effort. Even more so when they see I'm an old guy. I've had very few negative reactions when I don't cycle like an idjit.

WNCGoater

I use blinking front and rear. Also bright neon clothing with reflective trim. Also added two hi-vis & reflective ankle straps. They see blinking lights, bright colors, and ankles pumping up and down. Lots of movement, no one can say they didn't see me. Well, I guess they can, but the case can NOT be made I'm not visible enough.

Blinking lights annoying? Too bad. They put them on emergency vehicles, school buses, motorcycle headlights, meter reader trucks, garbage trucks and mail carrier vehicles. Also cars are equipped with 4 way blinkers.
They use them for a reason...they catch the eye and draw attention.
If someone is annoyed by them they are looking for a reason to be annoyed.

jonc123

I notice raywood is in Texas. I have traveled through parts of Texas, not all of it. I would want to run some powerful day/night lighting on the Texas highways I traveled on. Most of the highways I traveled had a 70 or 75 MPH speed limit. Around here, most people run 5-10 MPH over the limit; that could mean 75-85 MPH in the real world.

I wouldn't want my bike to be any wider than it has to be. I run both front and rear lighting, 100% of the time. Well, unless I am on a trail, path, etc. I wear a high visibility shirt, high visibility helmet and sometimes gloves. I do have pedal reflectors; They work really well and the pattern they make at night scream "I'm a bicycle". Same thing with the wheel reflectors, a highly visible pattern that says I am bicycle. I'll be honest, I did take my wheel reflectors off when I got tires that had the reflective bead around them. I think I will put them back on.

When I'm out at night driving, the first two things I notice on a bicycle are the wheel & pedal reflectors. I don't notice the headlight or tail light if they have them. They just stick out so much.

I don't see what else I could do. At times, I do take the whole lane but I try not to ride in the gutter. My favorite spot is the right tire track. I adjust my position as necessary. It's called sharing. I too would be slightly mad if a bicyclist held up the traffic for 5 minutes on a curvy road. It's not something I would do; I would pull over and let the cars go. I don't want a car riding my rear wheel.

I wish you luck getting back into cycling. We can only do so much. Start paying attention to others; notice the lights they have or don't have. Maybe look at a group of cyclists from a distance and notice the difference in colors of the clothing. Some colors that people think are high viz are not in my opinion!

One more note: I dim my lights (and aim them) as needed. I do run a really bright blinky front/rear in full sun. At night no blinking at all, although my front light does have a real soft strobe effect for night use. Bike lights can be too bright. They make some powerful ones these days.

BBassett

I have decided to add a 360 deg. camera for exactly this purpose. I personally don't ride at night but doing 60-80 miles through the desert under a big'ol full moon sounds great.

raywood

I built the bike rack I was talking about. I've written up the details with photos. I didn't take it out on the road. It wagged too much for my taste. There are a couple options going forward. I'm undecided how to proceed.

DropBarFan

Interesting experiment though it seems like a lot of work.

Kontact 

I apologize for not reading every post in the thread, but my concern with a wide rack is that it doesn't actually protect you - it offers something else solid for a car to hit and effect the whole bicycle.


I like the plastic doohickey that sticks out on the left said. Something inflatable might work to also provide width without mass. But whatever you do, I would think you would want it mounted so it could bend or detach if actually hit by a car mirror.


It would be tempting to have an arrow head on the tip of the projection, so every car that did get so close ended up with gauged paint, but that is not a practical solution.

HobbesOnTour

Hi,

Sorry for dragging up an oldish thread, but I was on a little tour in Belgium last week and saw a Belgian postman using a bike like those below and thought of this thread. It created a visual impression of a wide load and seems to have a solid construction. Of course, it's designed to be used in ways very different to long range touring.

I also saw a mono wheel trailer and thought it also added something to your situation, namely an inattentive driver will hit the trailer first if coming from the rear, and it gives the option of significantly more flags, poles, lights etc. on the rear.

I still believe that good road awareness and dealing with the fear rather than building a tank is a better solution in the long run.

Good luck!




ExtraWheel Trailer


Belgian Postman


Another Belgian Postman

bobwysiwyg

+1

Leebo

Canada? Does anyone even live there? Nice. Blinking lights like on boats, planes, construction equipment, nope, no blinking lights. When in my car, the bikes I see first have blinking lights, 'nuff said. Get over it, I run sooo many blinking lights 24/7.

DropBarFan

Those Belgian postal guys have some pretty sharp kit, I imagine the uniforms & bikes would be instantly recognizable to the locals. Hmm, I wonder if the guys working in the Ardennes get a bonus for the hills?

hfbill

If you've ever ridden on the roads in South Florida, you'd understand why someone might want lights on in broad daylight. As far as lights on the trail, I don't generally, but on occasion I've caught myself with them on because I had ridden busy roads to get to the trail and just forgot to turn them off once I got there. I have low intensity 'running lights' front and back that I run pretty much all the time, and save the brighter lights for night time/fog etc.

Trevtassie

I've found the wobble to be very effective. Basically when you hear a car coming behind you, you start wobbling around a bit. It stuffs up the close passers aim, they can't judge their pass close enough to scare you without running the risk of actually hitting you and damaging their car.... 99.9% of the time this works... though you still get the odd pyscho.

HobbesOnTour

Don't know about bonuses, but I reckon this Dutch colleague of theirs might have got a job offer.....as a pro cyclist ;-)

dh024

I don't want to start a flame war here, but I have to express that I find this account very troubling.
What would you have done if that had been a car stalled on the side of the road as you came around the corner? Are you sure you weren't driving your rig way too fast for the conditions? Could you have stopped in time? And if you had clipped the cyclist, would you have claimed this was not your fault?

fietsbob

When touring Ireland 20 years, I had someone comment on the size of my rear rack top load,

It was a Guy driving a 4 door Mercedes Benz , from the continent , so left hand drive car , in a drive on the left side of the road country,
so he was on the near side.. I had to comment, 'You have room to talk'?

I brought a comfy sleeping bag and it was a big stuffsack..



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