pavement_nyc

I'm making a series on riding safely in city traffic and just finished the first episode. Check it out!

It's geared towards beginners and will gradually get more advanced. What do you guys think of the first one?

rumrunn6

• "stay safe out there" is a good tag line
• I like when you show something that you are talking about, at the same time as you are talking about it
• I like the slow motion effect like riding into the back of the bus almost
• reg. looking back would you consider mentioning mirrors? I ride suburban roads not the city altho I have ridden in the city. on suburban ads I like mirrors, on glasses & left drop bar (also front/rear lights)
• your camera person did a nice job, I hope they were safe themselves while riding in front of & behind you
• how do you have so much time on your hands to work on this? I find video edited extremely time consuming & making edit decisions/choices takes even longer, never mind having a theme

all-in-all, I loved it!

debade

I liked many things about your video. The production quality was very good. I would be interested if you reviewed the LAB video before making yours and the gaps you thought needed to be filled in from that video? https://bikeleague.org/content/scanning . LAB has another 15 or so videos. I wonder if the shorter simpler approach of the LAB training video conveys more confidence to the new rider that 'I can do this".

Definitely, one is a suburban street and the other is NYC that I found difficult to ride in for lots of the situations captured in the video - blocked bike lanes, lots of traffic, peds, etc but mostly other cyclists who made up their own rules as they went along.

We cannot have too many training videos. I appreciate that you are doing this!

pavement_nyc

Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you liked it. I didn't advise getting mirrors because, as a former bike shop owner and long-time cyclist, I know that 99% of riders, at least in NYC, won't buy and/or use them. I am confident that I can convince people to glance back, but not confident that I will get them to buy mirrors! To be honest, I have not really used mirrors, I find that especially on drop bars, you have to look down so far, that it takes almost as long to glance down at the mirror as it would to glance back over the shoulder. Butttttt I do remember when I used to ride a Vespa that I would always be a little disappointed when I switched to my bike that it didn't have mirrors.


The video was entirely safe to film, the filmers (including myself) do not have to look at the camera, it is very easy to make sure it's pointing straight and the gimbal holds it steady.


This video took FOREVER to make. I think I wrote a draft two years ago. I'm unemployed at the moment and currently making almost $3/day on youtube revenue! Whoo! Some of my onewheel instructional videos, which I made without any idea they could make money, are getting 1,000 views/week

pavement_nyc

Oh wow! I've never seen that video, despite doing many youtube searches. Probably because the title has none of the terms I searched for!

I don't think that looking behind will convey to 100% of drivers that you are about to turn towards them. It's kind of dangerous to assume that a driver will understand your intentions there.

I've used the technique of taking my hand off the bars when I had a bad neck injury, otherwise I can't say that I recommend it. When you look behind, you make it more likely that you'll miss a pothole ahead, which could be bad news for a beginner rider if they only have one hand on the bars.

It is also not true that "removing one hand from the handlebars prevents you from swerving" as the video says.

I guess overall the advice is very similar to what I recommend, but the reasoning is completely different. They say glancing behind is the equivalent of your turn signal. I say glancing behind is like checking your blind spot, making sure that the coast is clear, and then you can signal if you want.

Miele Man

Regarding mirrors.

I find it somewhat amusing that bicycles are (as far as I know) the only vehicle without mirrors allowed on the roads. As a safety feature in traffic, I find a good eyeglass or helmet mounted mirror to be one of the greatest safety enhancing things you can put on a bicycle or on a bicyclist. I don't leave home without mine.

In my honest opinion, the Number ONE mistake that many bicyclists make is, Riding in t he door zone! Do NOT ride in the door zone. An opening vehicle door striking you can very easily deflect you into the motor vehicle lane beside you plus you're very likely to be knocked down by that opening door when it hits you.

Far too many bicycle lanes are painted in t he door zone. I refuse to ride in those bicycle lanes since they are so dangerous.

Cheers

work4bike

I think it's a pretty good video so far, but it's a good thing you're building on it in subsequent videos, because this is just not something that can be covered in one video.

Mirrors do take some practice to use correctly, but once mastered, they are an invaluable tool for riding, especially on busy streets. Many detractors of mirrors, say they are a distraction and in a sense they are correct, but so are so many other things you look at while cycling. You have to train yourself not to be distracted, which you mentioned in your video, but this point must be emphasized so much -- very good emphasis you make on quick looks.

You made a great point on not relying on your ears for determining presence of a car. Cars can sneak up on you, as can other riders (especially nowadays with electric bikes). Very good point of always looking over before changing your line.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen cyclists swerve off their line while cycling or ride in a loopy way -- rocking/swaying off their line.

One thing I've learned to do...If you look at the 2:30-minute point in the video, you see the cyclists in the bike lane with cars turning left. If I were in that situation I would have gotten into the lane behind the line of cars, to avoid a situation where I'm vulnerable to a Left Hook.

P.S. Just an interesting point I could relate to.
I also find myself looking over my shoulder while walking (or running) and it does remind me of how this habit was engrained in me from all my cycling.

Paul Barnard

I read this right after you posted it. I didn't comment because I rarely find myself riding in that kind of environment. I thought about this yesterday on both my walk and my bike ride yesterday afternoon and decided to chip in my thoughts.

I think it's largely pretty good. I'd love to have a fraction of the technical talent to do something like that. From a safety perspective there are a few things I'd be inclined to do. The first is to suggest that a mirror could be a useful tool. For me, a lane change, or movement across an intersection requires more than a single check. Whether walking, driving, motorcycling or bicycling, in a busy environment, it's more of a process than the video suggests. It might not be possible to capture the spirit of that in a video designed for beginners.

Paul Barnard

Here are a few more thoughts. I am a boating safety professional by trade. If we both look at our safety content as our product ,and boaters and bicyclists as our consumers, we have two primary challenges. Finding a way to connect our product with our consumers, and doing so impactfully enough to shape behavior. Safety is always an incredibly difficult sell. Maddeningly so.

You'll get lots of great feedback here. Some not so great. Ultimately you'll have to just roll with what works for you. You have a very limited time to connect with your consumer in our sound bite society.

Korina

Your video was excellent; I really appreciate your advice to not focus and keep high situational awareness. It freaks me out to see people on bikes with ear buds in; I prefer to be aware of what's going on around me.

Rule Number One: Never, ever trust drivers. Ever. Unlike some, I don't assume they're out to kill me, I assume they don't see me. Hand signals are only useful if they're heads aren't in their phone. If a car pulls up along side me I behave as if they're going to turn right.

I'll throw in another vote for mirrors; I get twitchy if any part of my field of vision is blocked, so I have a bar mounted mirror. Five minutes after I installed mine, I wondered how I survived so long without one. And yes, when walking I tend to glance down and left, disappointed I can't see behind me.

I'm off to subscribe, and I look forward to your next video!

Daniel4

Good video.

Safety for cyclists isn't that different from defensive driving: be alert, expect the unexpected, keep your eyes moving and assume that everybody else is a bad driver.

I'll add in my support for mirrors. With a mirror, all you really need to do is to check with your eyeballs every few seconds. Only when there's a car trailing behind you and you need to pull out and you're not sure what he's going to do, do you turn your head, try to make eye contact and signal.

Lostin76

Great video! I’m Brooklyn based and just odered a road bike from Italy for short trips and twice a week commuting into Manhattan to my office. This is exactly what I needed. Thank you!

Dr1v3n

I like it and could use the info. Please keep it up!