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Top 10 Lessons Learned About Biking

11.05.2009 by Ray Niekamp // Leave a Comment

Joe
Joe Ferguson

One of the mainstays of my club is Joe Ferguson, who leads our Sunday morning “A” rides. Earlier this year he got clipped by a pickup’s side view mirror while on one of those rides. He wound up at the hospital, but thankfully, his injuries weren’t too serious. Joe posted this list of things he’s learned about staying safe on a bike to our club Yahoo group, and gave me permission to share it on Bike Noob.

Several times I have been “taught a lesson” myself over the years and here’s what I’ve learned.

1. You can’t count on laws, rules, human decency, common sense, or the fear of retribution to keep you safe. Awareness of your surroundings is your best defense.

2. Flipping someone off who is blowing their horn at you rarely leads to a desirable outcome. Wave instead. It has the same meaning (if you want it to) but is less likely to be construed as inflamatory by a dispassionate observer or aggravated antagonist.

3. If an EMT offers you a ride in an ambulance, take it. Toughing it out on the ride home shows dubious judgement and you will see the doctor much faster if you take the ride than if you shower first and present later. And, you will be signing a form stating that you declined emergency service and so may be adding to your own responsibility for a negative result.

4. Even when you “take the lane” for good reasons it is not a good idea to ride more than two abreast. May even be against the law. If you have someone in the group with a good rear light they should ride in last position so as not to surprise drivers who may be (hah, scratch that) ARE distracted.

5. Not a single bike part is irreplaceable. You are the one and only you. Don’t let your ego get in the way of a good time.

6. If you live to laugh about it later it’s a good ride.

7. Truck mirrors break off (and cost a lot more to replace) nowadays but the difference between being smacked by a 1974 Ford right rear view mirror and a late model F150 driver’s side mirror is miniscule.

8. The body follows the head. Even the worst drivers tend to shift their head in their intended direction just before “heading” their vehicle that way. That turn signal may have been on longer than their Goldwater for President bumper sticker but a slight nod of the noggin makes a better indicator of where the bozo driving in front of you is going.

9. A helmet is much more than a fashion statement, it is a sacrificial offering! Get one that fits and gives both good ventilation and protection front, side and rear. They are a single use item. Don’t hesitate to replace yours if it has worked just once on your behalf.

and finally…

10. If you get hit by a truck the day before moving day when you should be packing instead of riding, your wife will be more upset with you than with the driver of the truck. He’s probably the same dummy who tried to run her down in the supermarket parking lot, but you should know better!

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Categories // guest post, Safety Tags // guest post, Safety

A confusing hand signal

08.24.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 11 Comments

I see that hand signals continue to be a topic of interest on some biking blogs.  We all know the basic signals (As in the diagrams on the linked page, I signal a right turn by pointing my right arm straight out — I think there’s less chance of confusion).

But this discussion got me wondering about a motion I see on some group rides. Cyclists will put their (usually) left hand down when signaling slow or stop, and waggle the hand if they’re pointing out road debris.

"Bad stop" from Conejo Valley Cyclists (cvcbike.org)
"Bad stop" from Conejo Valley Cyclists (cvcbike.org)

But sometimes, they’ll move the left hand to the small of their back. And sometimes, they’ll hold it there stationary but other times, they’ll move it back and forth, as though they’re pointing to the right with their left hand — behind their back. To make matters more confusing, sometimes they’ll do the same signal with their right hand.

I’ve read that this can be considered an alternate sign for stop, but I don’t think so. I think it’s to indicate that bikers should move over to avoid an upcoming obstacle — for example, if a car is parked in a bike lane and we have to move left into the traffic lane to get around it, the signal would be made with the right hand.

But I’m just guessing. I haven’t come across any explanation of this signal in biking books or online.  Because it’s a non-standard signal, it can cause confusion. And confusion can cause problems. What do you think? Is this a hand signal worth keeping around and promoting, or is it one best done away with?

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Categories // Safety Tags // hand signals, Safety

Looking back — and trying not to swerve

06.14.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 8 Comments

We were on the way back from our club ride this morning (just two of us were in the B group today) when talk turned to the difficulty of checking over your shoulder for traffic.

The discussion was prompted by what I consider the toughest left turn on all of our routes. Traveling northbound on a busy two-lane road, the bike lane runs out. Now, we have to ride the right edge of the road, and hope there’s enough room for cars to get by us. Several blocks before we would hit a stoplight, we make a left turn into a nice subdivision that lets us avoid the busy intersection. It’s this left turn that can be a problem, because the cars are passing us as a steady rate.

We got to the turn. I was still at the right edge of the road. Oncoming traffic was heavy. My riding companion, Bob, was behind me. He called out, “OK!” I glanced over my shoulder and saw that he had already taken the lane. I moved into it, and got as close to the center line as possible as cars zoomed by, now on my right. When a small gap opened in the oncoming traffic, we could make our turns.

Safely in the residential subdivision, we rode slowly. Bob said, “I always have a problem looking back. Your bike goes the direction you look, and I don’t want to swerve into traffic — not on that road.”

We compared notes on how we look back. He’s comfortable with lowering his head and peering back past his left shoulder. I like to do it in two moves — I’ll look left about halfway, then forward again, then complete the look over my shoulder. I find it’s easier for me to get a glimpse of what’s behind if I do it that way.

The key is to avoid swerving the bike. Last year, when I took the Road I biking class, we spent some time practicing that very move (“scanning,” they called it). If you do it often enough, you can keep from pulling your bike left. But we get lazy from time to time, and fall back into bad habits.

We went through a high school parking lot, and approached a busy four-lane east-west road. Normally, the club riders will form a “bus,” riding two-by-two in the right lane, three to four deep. By taking up the same amount of space as a car (or bus), we force motorists to use the left lane to go around us. They’re also less inclined to shout at you when you’re in a big group. But with just two, Bob suggested we ride the sidewalk. That was fine with me. I’ve done that here before, too.

We had gone perhaps a half mile, and another major intersection was coming up. I was about to ask Bob if he wanted to stay on the sidewalk after the intersection, or ride in the road again. I looked over my shoulder, and saw that he was too far back to hear me. Sure enough, my bike swerved — right off the sidewalk and into the narrow strip of grass between it and the road. To my surprise, the grass didn’t cause the bike to tip over. I kept it going straight for a short way, then eased it right to climb back on the sidewalk.

The tire hit the edge of the walk, which protruded about an inch above the grass. It got caught on the edge — and now I went down.

I haven’t fallen from my bike on the sidewalk since I was in grade school, and the lower grades at that. All I could think of was, “Oh no! Not in these shorts!” I was wearing my expensive Sugoi shorts, which I’ve had for only a few months.

No tear in the shorts. Not even any road rash. Bike was okay, too. But it’s obvious to me that on my short rides this coming week, I’ll be practicing my scanning, keeping my bike straight, and I’ll be doing it on something wider than a sidewalk.

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Categories // crash, Safety, Technique Tags // crash, Safety, Technique

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