Road riders how do u justify it?
- Thread starter Dairyman
- Start date
rick81721
Lothar
I know you like to keep saying this, but is there any data to back it up? Earlier research says otherwise. And I'd think with the significantly greater brightness of today's tail lights compared to 10 years ago, it should only strengthen the case for helping
http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/14/1/11
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15003574
dmkalemba
Well-Known Member
I agree with rick8... I have a helmet mount light (front and back). One day riding up Stony brook road (steep and blind corners) in Montville and a guy who passed me in his car actually stopped me when i went by his driveway to say how great the rear light was in his ability to see me .... on the other hand, i had a guy give me the finger when i looked at him with the flashing front light coming around a corner ....
Paul H
Fearless OOS Poser
I was riding with and wheelsucking on @chrisalecia and he had these piercing tail lights... I wanted to give him the birdie too jk lol
I forget which lights they were but those damn things were bright... and this was during the day!
Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
especially now and days, id rather eat my own hands than ride the trainer.
hotsauce
Well-Known Member
huffster
Well-Known Member
I'm not afraid of the road. But, it can be dangerous out there. I've had some close calls, and some injuries, but nothing induced by a car. There is a lot of traffic where I live in Rockland County. Of course, you could go ride in Monsey on a Saturday and there is absolutely zero traffic but hundreds of pedestrians. Mostly, it is hard to avoid traffic unless I ride early morning. I've also taken to Harriman State Park where there is less traffic and beautiful scenery even from the road.
But, truth be told, I really am a mountain biker who occasionally resorts to riding the road or going to the gym due to time or weather/trail conditions. I've become increasingly bored with road riding. Its reached a point that I find my road bike collecting dust and I will take my MTB when leaving right from the house (time crunch). That usually leads to me popping into any tiny patch of woods that has a path. As a result, I've learned a lot of little cut-throughs in my 'hood and the surrounding area. And I don't have cars buzzing me in the woods.
So if you see a guy in some little patch of woods in Rockland county with his "blinkie-light" still on, it might be me.
But, truth be told, I really am a mountain biker who occasionally resorts to riding the road or going to the gym due to time or weather/trail conditions. I've become increasingly bored with road riding. Its reached a point that I find my road bike collecting dust and I will take my MTB when leaving right from the house (time crunch). That usually leads to me popping into any tiny patch of woods that has a path. As a result, I've learned a lot of little cut-throughs in my 'hood and the surrounding area. And I don't have cars buzzing me in the woods.
So if you see a guy in some little patch of woods in Rockland county with his "blinkie-light" still on, it might be me.
xc62701
Well-Known Member
MTB is best but when I ride I like to connect a lot of parks so I'm always on the road even when I MTB. Road riding is amazing if you have the right terrain and lack of traffic. Assume everyone is out to get you because you know half the drivers aren't paying attention anyway. The likelihood of getting hit is pretty slim. I'd like to know what the actual odds are. With that being said I have totalled a Lexus and a Nissan when I hit/got hit by them. Going over the hood is never fun but it happens. If you keep your wits about you you'll avoid 99% of the issues out there. Both times I got hit were in high traffic areas where people wouldn't assume cyclists were. Backroads are amazing and the scenery doesn't disappoint if you get west/north.
Agreed. This is coming from someone who rides into NYC 3-4 times a week. You have a better chance of dying walking around than riding a bike on the road.
Heart disease 631,636 1 in 6
Cancer 562,875 1 in 7
Smoking-related deaths 433,000 1 in 9
Stroke 135,952 1 in 28
Obesity-related 112,000 1 in 35
Heavy drinking 79,000 1 in 49
Breast cancer 40,598 1 in 95
Prostate cancer 29,093 1 in 133
Fall 22,631 1 in 171
Assault 18,361 1 in 211
Brain tumor 13,000 1 in 298
Car accident 12,772 1 in 303
Skin cancer 8,461 1 in 457
Pedestrian accident 5,958 1 in 649
Motorcycle accident 5,024 1 in 770
Bicycle accident 820 1 in 4,717
Airplane accident 550 1 in 7,032
Flu 411 1 in 9,410
Lightning 46 1 in 84,079
Legal execution 40 1 in 96,691
Earthquake 26 1 in 148,756
Fireworks discharge 10 1 in 386,766
http://blog.timesunion.com/healthcare/how-are-you-likely-to-die-here-are-the-odds-of-dying/2515/
thegock
Well-Known Member
xc62701
Well-Known Member
Very true. Even though I ride a lot, I had a pulmonary embolism in 2010 and that should have been the end. Enjoy each day and don't worry about the stories you hear.
I have put quite a few hours in on the road, you have been hit by a car more than me.
Everyone says the roads is black, it isn't. It is usually a grey color. Black sticks out. But that doesn't matter, it is more about that you position yourself in the safest place on every single road, be predictable and dont hoover on the side, waiting to get hit.
My blinky is eye searing, Knog Blinder MOB. Handsdown one of the most visible on the market. I use it in low light conditions but bright sunny day, no.
rick81721
Lothar
You didn't answer the question Perry Mason!
It's funny because motorcyclists have a lot of studies on traffic safety, including high vis clothing and generally speaking they say high vis doesn't make you any safer...
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.th...n/10/cycling-high-visibility-safe-fluorescent
^^^Here's an article that tries to tie cycling and motos together.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.th...n/10/cycling-high-visibility-safe-fluorescent
^^^Here's an article that tries to tie cycling and motos together.
thegock
Well-Known Member
I run two rear blinkies and two front blinkies on my CAAD 10 Black (Di2 and Light Bicycle 40mm carbon) and my EVO (Record 10 with Mavic UL32 and LB 40mm) as well.
My first road ride in 10 weeks (WTF) was Wednesday from Cranford with about 20 in the peloton at 6:08pm. We rolled westbound through the Watchung Reservation on Skytop Rd. There were a couple of ladies and one other guy behind me. As we passed the top of Glenside Rd. above Bowcraft four miles from the shop, there was a 2000 Honda Accord at the Stop sign with four people and all the windows rolled down.
It smelled like Colorado, if you feel me here. About a mile west on Skytop, I was climbing on the white line when they rolled by. I couldn’t have been any further over to the right without bunnyhopping the guard rail. As they rolled by me, the driver blew the horn, gave me the finger and shouted something with a limited number of syllables. My first thought was that my bike was worth more than their car, but that’s a different thread…
The guys I rode with all got the whiff, too. About four miles further west, just past the Watchung Reservoir, some fool woman in a black jeep (license plate WYX???) leaned on her horn for a full minute next to the middle of the pack. Really.
One of our more talkative triatheletes moved left toward her passenger window and asked her if she was late for her nail appointment. I didn’t hear the rest of the witty dialogue, but I did shout some friendly positive advice to calm the situation down. That’s the way I felt about it anyway.
The rest of the ride was fine, but this was the first eight miles of my first road ride in 10 F$cking WEEKS. I have rarely felt worse about road riding.
Union County government SAD.
My first road ride in 10 weeks (WTF) was Wednesday from Cranford with about 20 in the peloton at 6:08pm. We rolled westbound through the Watchung Reservation on Skytop Rd. There were a couple of ladies and one other guy behind me. As we passed the top of Glenside Rd. above Bowcraft four miles from the shop, there was a 2000 Honda Accord at the Stop sign with four people and all the windows rolled down.
It smelled like Colorado, if you feel me here. About a mile west on Skytop, I was climbing on the white line when they rolled by. I couldn’t have been any further over to the right without bunnyhopping the guard rail. As they rolled by me, the driver blew the horn, gave me the finger and shouted something with a limited number of syllables. My first thought was that my bike was worth more than their car, but that’s a different thread…
The guys I rode with all got the whiff, too. About four miles further west, just past the Watchung Reservoir, some fool woman in a black jeep (license plate WYX???) leaned on her horn for a full minute next to the middle of the pack. Really.
One of our more talkative triatheletes moved left toward her passenger window and asked her if she was late for her nail appointment. I didn’t hear the rest of the witty dialogue, but I did shout some friendly positive advice to calm the situation down. That’s the way I felt about it anyway.
The rest of the ride was fine, but this was the first eight miles of my first road ride in 10 F$cking WEEKS. I have rarely felt worse about road riding.
Union County government SAD.
Blair
Well-Known Member
I like to call it situational awareness. Regardless of the lights and clothing(but good ideas anyway) you need to get some sort of confirmation that people see you. Sometimes that means being in the middle of the road. Find some group rides to try it out. There are also many areas where cyclists are very frequent and I think people in cars have learned to expect it, boonton area, great swamp, etc.
TheLonerider
Well-Known Member
What he said. Also consider that a road like the road thru the great swamp has no cross streets so it has uninterrupted right of way throughout. This doesn't mean trouble free but it does eliminate most intersections.
There are some dirt roads around bedminster that i've never seen a car on if you are brave or have a cross bike (i rode them on 25's and went slow, but had a great time...need to go back.)
Far hills is a nice area too.
If you know where six mile is, theres a series of roads along the canal also popular with riders. Nice cornfields.
There are some dirt roads around bedminster that i've never seen a car on if you are brave or have a cross bike (i rode them on 25's and went slow, but had a great time...need to go back.)
Far hills is a nice area too.
If you know where six mile is, theres a series of roads along the canal also popular with riders. Nice cornfields.
liong71er
Well-Known Member
its depends on our luck, that's how I see it,
it don't matter how well you've prepared for just a simple activities out in the wild or just for Fun or you can be a super details person or just a simple person
either one will ended up with different experiences or outcome it can be bad or good
so,. don't think too much about getting yourself in bad ways just enjoy the rides but,in the meantime pay attention with your surrounding and always looking back over your shoulder to see what's behind you, and most importantly listen carefully what's in the back
(and if riding in a group, trust nobody except yourself This also apply when riding solo)
others have very good advice already made in this forum so I will not said the same things again.
but, here's what my personal experience is,
when I wanna rides bicycles I just go, and do it
i don't have a single thought about" will I get hit by car today or else?" or any others bad thought, so its never cross my mind I just wanna go ride my bikes and sightseeing
but,offcourse I will be act carefully and be aware at all times
and I always looking back almost constantly because every second things will change quickly
"you snooze, you loose"
I do worry with distracted drivers, nowadays driver more preoccupied with their hi-tech gadget rather than with their surrounding especially pedestrian and cyclist on roads
so,. riding on the roads its not easy task it takes a lot to learn and experienced it and the skill to survive riding on roads will develop within years of riding outside.
ever since the mobile gadget becoming more advance more and more the user get preoccupied with it making Us the cyclist or pedestrians prone to get hit, very complex situations unlike few decades ago,.
when riding it is important to act courteous with others and they will too act in same way(except for assholes,coz assholes never changes their behaviors)
also learn to rides defensively
if drivers passed me with more than enough room I will wave at them as thank you gesture,
if drivers flipping bird at me I pretend to look somewhere else and doesn't acknowledge their frustrated gesture, so I never argue with other motorist I will never win against them.
I have too many tricks to survive riding bikes on roads under my sleeves, so I can't put too much words in here
I have never get hit or I hit anything,.. lots of closed call but its never deterred me from riding bikes on roads
because in the end of day we are all gonna die, no matter what the cause
to stay safe is not the word I look for, rather than,how to survive the rides and be back home safe after every rides
so,. as a cyclist i must have skill to survive all those obstacles that I will encountered during the rides, it can be road hazards such as debris, potholes (if I hit a potholes and probably crash onto incoming traffic or get runs over by vehicles behind me)
other than the obvious enemy winch is cars or trucks and busses and wildlife or others crazy cyclist,. and sexy young women on bikes that also as road hazard category it can causing fatality too,.lol
and that's how I survived but then again if luck is on my hand,and if not... so be it.
liong
