Roadie Tips To Stay Alive...

Norm said:
Did you drink the beer?
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I can't say that I did, I don't drink. But even if I did drink the thought of some rednecks dirty mouth all over that can doesn't appeal to me. This was just a bad day to ride in general, we must have traded middle fingers with at least 5 different motorists that day.
 
some kids after school target me with A cupcake .
since I'm lazy and don't clean my bike still got some vanilla cream remains on my stem...

this road is a no-no "A motorist will recognize that there is NOT enough room sooner and will have more time to make an adjustment as they approach. " -I don't trust that ...
 
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Mrs. Kush and I were riding through Buck's county and a couple of pricks in a dropped corolla yelled at her to scare her. That felt really unfair. In a way I'm happy I couldn't catch them because I would be in all sorts of trouble for the damage I would have inflicted.
 
All right, let's not turn this into the "guess what happened to me today thread." This thread has become a good read for roadie newbies. Don't kill it.

Someone needs to start a thread titled, "How to deal with NJ Drivers" 🙄
 
antgold said:
this road is a no-no "A motorist will recognize that there is NOT enough room sooner and will have more time to make an adjustment as they approach. " -I don't trust that ...
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You don't trust that you have made yourself visible enough? :hmmm:

Enjoy your time on the MTB. 🙄
 
BiknBen said:
All right, let's not turn this into the "guess what happened to me today thread." This thread has become a good read for roadie newbies. Don't kill it.

Someone needs to start a thread titled, "How to deal with NJ Drivers" 🙄
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OK OK OK Ben 🙄 - I haven't seen this mentioned, but lights front and back. It's amazing how many cyclists I see at dusk that are completely non-reflective and dark.

I've clearly noticed even during daylight that when I have the rear blinkie off, I don't get as much space.
 
About a month back, One of my girls got hit on our ride. We had a few newer gals that I was working with so the faster ones headed back in off the front. At one of my "high alert" T-intersections(where you can expect the cars to jump out, not see you, make a left in front of you, etc.) she was going straight and a guy in a pick-up failed to stop at the sign, rolled into the lane, hesitated, then gunned it to cross in front of her. Having no time and very little space to react, she turned just enough that she only hit the vehicle with her left hand and shifter. She was lucky not to go down. The guy screamed obscenities at the ladies and sped off.

Kelsey's hand was bruised, her shifter knocked to the side a tad and she was lucky, lucky and mad as hell. A mile from the finish, she took off just as a beat up van slowed and pulled up behind me. A guy got out and handed me a piece of paper. He was behind the truck, saw the whole thing, followed the guy and got his plate, make and model for us. I thanked him immensely and took his name and number which he was slightly reluctant to give. The guy was an absolute prince.

Anyway, Kelsey immediately filed a complaint at the PD and Molly went as a witness. The police followed up and called the guy(Bob) who gave us the plate number and corroborated the story. The police checked out the truck(apparently there was some slight damage from being hit by the bike) and issued tickets for failure to yield, hit and run and so on.

Kelsey will go to court and we will go with her in support and in thanks for standing up to this on all of our behalf. If this guy learns a lesson, there may be one less ass on the road.

Always be diligent out there. Always expect that nobody sees you. Be aggressively defensive. Be loud. Be safe and have fun. Acknowledge when someone has stopped for you, yielded their right of way or respected yours. A smile, a word of thanks or a wave goes a long way in ensuring your safety and the safety of the next cyclist a driver sees. And unless they're complete neanderthals, a string of 6-8 women smiling and waving at a driver makes them just a bit nicer to everybody😉
 
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I'm new to cycling, but have been road running for years. One thing that has happened to me a few times is people pulling up to a stop sign on a side road (no traffic light) and rolling through the cross walk and peeking out. I think it's called the jersey roll, but it's happened to me in just about every state i've run lol.

Anyway, a few times the car is turning right and i'm coming from the left (or vice versa) and they just don't look, hoping to pull out quick. I've been 'nudged' a few times and once actually ended up on the hood of the car. I wasn't hurt, but the woman was clearly surprised and didn't see me. This usually happens in the crosswalks, but I can see it happening on busier roads to cyclists and people pulling out of banks, mc donald's etc...
 
Vehicles crossing your path present one of the bigger risks involved in road riding. The key is to anticipate what is about to happen and plan an escape route. Knowing the roads and traffic patterns give you a huge advantage.

After years of riding the same roads or the same areas, you get to know what people are about to do. Typically, the better the view at the intersection, the less likely the driver will stop regardless of the traffic signals or signs. This is bad for the cyclist. The driver does not expect to find a rider coming towards them. They may miss you completely, or misjudge your speed.

My advice is to make eye contact with the driver. Watching the drivers eye will indicate what he is planning to do. Never assume the driver actually sees you. The first thing a cyclist says after an car accidents is, "...but you were looking right at me!!!" They often are looking through you and miss you completely.

I highly recommend watching the front wheels of the car. It is easiest to pick up motion of the wheels spinning. Whenever a car pulls up along side me, I focus all attention on the front wheel. That will be the first indicator if the car is about to turn into me. 😱
 
I wave at motorists to say "thanks" long before I reach the intersection. You will be surprised how many motorists stop rolling and maintain eye contact with you as if to say "ah.... ok, I am supposed to stop here, got it!" Somehow they completely give up any thought of trying to beat me to the road and commit to a full stop once I have politely acknowledged (in advance) them doing so.
 
MST.ESQ said:
I wave at motorists to say "thanks"...
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Just be careful with the wave. Even something as simple as that is up to interpretation. A friendly wave by you can easily be seen as a pissed off wave by someone else.

I've waved and then got into it because they thought I gave them the bird. Basically, I can never win so I choose not to get involved in the game.

If I think someone went out of their way for me, I'll show my appreciation with a thumbs up, wave, and/or a smile. The thumbs up is kinda universal for good.

I also do NOT show any appreciation when someone simply follows the rules. You have to go out of your way for me. If you stop at a stop sign...you are simply doing what you are supposed to do. I don't offer rewards for stuff like that. 🙄
 
... its more of a raised hand than a wagging type motion. Seems to work really well for me and has not yet been interpreted as a malicious gesture. Maybe its because I flash my pearly whites - or because they are shocked to see a grown man with hairy legs wearing spandex 😱
 
BiknBen said:
Vehicles crossing your path present one of the bigger risks involved in road riding. The key is to anticipate what is about to happen and plan an escape route. Knowing the roads and traffic patterns give you a huge advantage.

After years of riding the same roads or the same areas, you get to know what people are about to do. Typically, the better the view at the intersection, the less likely the driver will stop regardless of the traffic signals or signs. This is bad for the cyclist. The driver does not expect to find a rider coming towards them. They may miss you completely, or misjudge your speed.

My advice is to make eye contact with the driver. Watching the drivers eye will indicate what he is planning to do. Never assume the driver actually sees you. The first thing a cyclist says after an car accidents is, "...but you were looking right at me!!!" They often are looking through you and miss you completely.

I highly recommend watching the front wheels of the car. It is easiest to pick up motion of the wheels spinning. Whenever a car pulls up along side me, I focus all attention on the front wheel. That will be the first indicator if the car is about to turn into me. 😱
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+1 on all of Ben's suggestions. I also will move a little further out into the traffic lane, if there are no cars coming along with me, in order to make myself more visible to the driver at the stop sign.

I usually combine this with giving them the fisheye and watching their front wheel for movement. And my hands are on the brake hoods in case evasive action is required.
 
MST.ESQ said:
... its more of a raised hand than a wagging type motion. Seems to work really well for me and has not yet been interpreted as a malicious gesture. Maybe its because I flash my pearly whites - or because they are shocked to see a grown man with hairy legs wearing spandex 😱
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+1. I also have recently started to wave my hand as I approach the intersection and it works really well for me. I think doing it helps break the driver out of the spell that they tend to be under that has them "seeing through you" or "seeing past you" as a cyclist. I think the motion of your hand (and what it signifies: an apparent effort to connect with somebody) makes them not only see you but also acknowledge that you're there. As others have said, I also try to keep it friendly looking and to make sure to give them some love one they've yielded.
 
One thing ive noticed is that i am going much faster than some drivers expect. They kind of act like squirrels. "do i go now? yes! no! no? yes?"
 
BiknBen said:
My advice is to make eye contact with the driver. Watching the drivers eye will indicate what he is planning to do.😱
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+1, I don't feel comfortable crossing an intersection until i have eye contact with the driver. Eye contact is key, I actually stare a car down until I feel the driver acknowledges me.
There are times you have the right of way on the road while cycling, but relying solely on the law to protect you is not enough...my rule is to always look out for myself on the road.
 
I agree completely with this statement and I do same. Likewise a white line unfortunately won't save your life either just because you are on the "safe" side of it.
I had to drive into the city yesterday and was on the infamous 9W that thousands of cyclists are on daily. A woman was struck from behind a couple of weeks ago around exit 4 and is still in critical condition. I thought I would make this point. Take a look at this photo:
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You maybe can't tell from this but there is about 12 feet of good condition pavement on the shoulder which is why much of 9W is as desired as it is, along with being the most direct route to go north when you come over the GW. The only problem is that drivers are usually going around 50 mph on this road and at that speed, taking your eyes off the road for just a moment is apparantly what took a man's life at this exact location earlier this year. I have been finding myself riding on this road less and less for this reason and it is a shame as it would be ideal, without bad drivers.
The more southern section I very rarely ride as on the situation is virtually the same, but worse as I guess they ran out of the white line stuff and now the same mentioned bad drivers apparantly use the curb as their "right white line". So if you are there they simply don't know what they are supposed to do. I have had cars go by really fast within a foot from me and after that I found alternate routes. Amazingly I don't know of history of people being hit here although I am sure it has happened.
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I was speaking to a man who is a long time cyclist and area bike activist and who follows up on a lot of incidents and hearings etc. He said that the most common defense that an attorney seems to "encourage" out of his defendant is "you didn't see him/her, obviously if you did you wouldn't have hit him/her" this seems to be all they have to say and everyone shakes their heads in understanding.

Bottom line is we have to be on red alert at all times and plug into that thing that when your instincts say to do this or that or not trust that this person will stop etc, to trust it and listen.
 
Though we are all aware of the rights cyclists have, sometimes it is better to suck it up and ride on the defensive side instead of challenging motorists for your piece of the road. In the end, a car is going to hurt you a lot more than you hurt it.

One of my very good friends was recently hit on 202 in Bernardsville by a driver trying to beat a few oncoming cars and cut across the road into Shop Rite. Unfortunately, he was also coming down the road and went over the hood of the car, breaking his clavicle and obliterating the wheel. Fortunately the helmet was there and he is otherwise fine, but it's just one of those perspective deals where you can never get comfortable in thinking you can anticipate what a car or truck is about to do...
 
poor iggy said:
+1, I don't feel comfortable crossing an intersection until i have eye contact with the driver. Eye contact is key, I actually stare a car down until I feel the driver acknowledges me.
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This is not guarantee either. I can recall quite a few times over the years that I had established eye contact and they pulled out in front of me anyway. I'm sure they were just stunned with my beauty and lost control of themselves :hysterica
 
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