fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
yep and tell the cop why and that I told you.So blow a red light at a busy intersection ?
Lights Save Lives
- Thread starter Robspace1
- Start date
Foxhound68
Active Member
- Region
- Canada
Right I don't disagree with that but saying don't ride in roads take different routes is sometimes not an option. There wasn't another car out
Lol the cop is like " oh fooferdoggie told you to , carry on "
Barkfire
Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Northern California
The sad truth is we are all sitting targets, even when we are moving because most of the time the traffic is moving much faster. I don't wear colored vests or even bright-colored clothing, I do have lights and run with them day or night. I try to avoid busy streets and especially ones that don't have a bike lane but that is not always possible. I feel the one thing that I do that is more likely to save me is keeping my situational awareness on full alert. Probably from riding motorcycles for over 50 years and never being in an accident, except that one time when I had too many margaritas,
but that was on me. I am always watching side streets and my mirrors, I know that will not always avert an accident but it has definitely prevented many of them for me. Keep your eyes open and be safe out there, this time of year is bad for impaired drivers!
Shane
but that was on me. I am always watching side streets and my mirrors, I know that will not always avert an accident but it has definitely prevented many of them for me. Keep your eyes open and be safe out there, this time of year is bad for impaired drivers! Shane
Foxhound68
Active Member
- Region
- Canada
Yep , the guy also had a plethora of other violations being committed so he's in for some trouble.The sad truth is we are all sitting targets, even when we are moving because most of the time the traffic is moving much faster. I don't wear colored vests or even bright-colored clothing, I do have lights and run with them day or night. I try to avoid busy streets and especially ones that don't have a bike lane but that is not always possible. I feel the one thing that I do that is more likely to save me is keeping my situational awareness on full alert. Probably from riding motorcycles for over 50 years and never being in an accident, except that one time when I had too many margaritas,
Shane
Jeremy McCreary
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Amen! The required hyperalertness was a feature of motorcycling for me, not a bug. The assumption that every pedstrian, vehicle, and animal within a certain radius is on the verge of doing something stupid is equally necessary.
Same applies to all 2-wheeled vehicles -- especially ebikes. Anyone unwilling to ride that way consistently should stay away from public roads, bikeways, and trails.
Our safety is everyone's responsibility -- first and foremost our own.
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Jeremy McCreary
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
We're also up against built-in human limitations. Expecting people to see us in every situation is physiologically unrealistic. When drivers say they didn't see the cyclist in time, I think it's often true. Sometimes the cyclist deserves much of the blame.
I'm a driver, too. The way tourists and school kids ride their ebikes here in Carlsbad, CA positively terrifies me. For starters, no concept of reaction time, momentum, or right of way.
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tomjasz
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Minnesnowta
Gosh i wish there was a middle finger response. Oh wait…
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Mr. Attitude - please park it.
My point was MANY times there are alternate parallel routes that take you down subdivision street or something similar - largely avoiding the issue of somebody trying to use you for a hood ornament.
Jason Knight
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Keene, NH
And as I've said many the time, it must be nice to live in that sort of fantasyland where you have infrastructure, high street densities, places where those backroad streets aren't MORE dangerous than the mains...
But no, you have to open right up with your first bloody post assuming everyone lives in the magical wonderland you do.
It's insulting, but how DARE anyone be insulting back?
Subdivisions... hah, such a suburbanite. Bet you live places where all the roads meet up at 90 degree angles like Florida or Michigan.
Correct, and somtimes those busy streets are the only route available.
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Park the superiority complex and poor ASSumptions . You have no better idea of how the roads are in the areas I ride than I do yours. It's your call how and where you ride. I could care less. Been riding long enough that I've had/seen too many close calls, had close friends hurt, and read about too many deaths for me to want anyhing to do with bike lanes separated from traffic weigh 10 times or more what I weigh by just a white line. Takes me just a minute to load my bikes up to get to a riding area I can't access via trail, sidewalks, or side streets, without concern over being turned into a hood ornament.....
Mr. Coffee
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- A Demented Corner of the North Cascades
I am kind of over this.
Even if your destination requires that you pass through some high-risk choke points, adequate and competent route planning can minimize those points and also let you know when you are passing through them so you can put your war face on. Just throwing up your hands and saying it is impossible doesn't do anybody any good.
And if it is genuinely impossible you should, for your own safety, pack up your e-bike and just drive.
Also, I've not yet encountered a place where quiet backroads aren't much less dangerous than main roads. The simple fact that the speeds are lower on average and there are fewer cars make it much less dangerous to bike on secondary roads.
In a lot of areas with stroads and strip malls, it is possible to link parking lots over considerable distances. While parking lots have their own dramas, cars generally are moving slower and expect obstacles and surprises so your ability to navigate it all is probably a lot greater. Yes, sometimes those parking lots are separated (but sometimes they are not for surprising distances) but usually those separations are easily navigated on a bicycle, often without even reducing your speed very much. And yes, sometimes you'll hit a monster culvert or a six-foot retaining wall and will have to route back out to the main road temporarily. But you're still better off and still minimizing your exposure to dangerous traffic. And don't even let me get started on the amazing universe that you can navigate behind strip malls, which often has even less traffic and fewer obstacles. With a little scouting and a willingness to explore you can very likely come up with something better.
Also, route planning tools (e.g. Ride With GPS) and browsing Google Maps satellite images are pure gold. You can quickly figure out the situation and also using the heat map functions figure out how other cyclists are navigating the same problems you are seeing. Very few cyclists are actually suicidal and you might get some good ideas about how to solve your problem from what others were doing.
Even if your destination requires that you pass through some high-risk choke points, adequate and competent route planning can minimize those points and also let you know when you are passing through them so you can put your war face on. Just throwing up your hands and saying it is impossible doesn't do anybody any good.
And if it is genuinely impossible you should, for your own safety, pack up your e-bike and just drive.
Also, I've not yet encountered a place where quiet backroads aren't much less dangerous than main roads. The simple fact that the speeds are lower on average and there are fewer cars make it much less dangerous to bike on secondary roads.
In a lot of areas with stroads and strip malls, it is possible to link parking lots over considerable distances. While parking lots have their own dramas, cars generally are moving slower and expect obstacles and surprises so your ability to navigate it all is probably a lot greater. Yes, sometimes those parking lots are separated (but sometimes they are not for surprising distances) but usually those separations are easily navigated on a bicycle, often without even reducing your speed very much. And yes, sometimes you'll hit a monster culvert or a six-foot retaining wall and will have to route back out to the main road temporarily. But you're still better off and still minimizing your exposure to dangerous traffic. And don't even let me get started on the amazing universe that you can navigate behind strip malls, which often has even less traffic and fewer obstacles. With a little scouting and a willingness to explore you can very likely come up with something better.
Also, route planning tools (e.g. Ride With GPS) and browsing Google Maps satellite images are pure gold. You can quickly figure out the situation and also using the heat map functions figure out how other cyclists are navigating the same problems you are seeing. Very few cyclists are actually suicidal and you might get some good ideas about how to solve your problem from what others were doing.
Foxhound68
Active Member
- Region
- Canada
This devolved extremely quickly , the accident I was in was unavoidable unless I road on the sidewalk which in hindsight I wish I had but it is illegal. There were no alternate routes period. y'all need to chill out and enjoy life more
Jeremy McCreary
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
To answer my own question, first test of the headlight below says yes, 2,000 lm is ample for this purpose but not overkill. No oblivious night-strolling ninjas sneaking onto the street in front of me now!
Next test will be of its StVZO compliance, but so far, so good: Nothing in oncoming drivers' faces to suggest that I was blinding them.
BTW, this light is nearly identical to its MUCH more expensive Cygolite counterpart in appearance, specs, and features. Two sellers fronting for the same manufacturer?
Mr. Coffee
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- A Demented Corner of the North Cascades
There are exceptions, but my experience has been that most knock-off's wildly overrate light output, battery life, and waterproofness.
Yes, you can still pay far far too much for a bike light.
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
for sure. I think our trek light was 200 but it does better than my 1200 lumen night rider lighting the road even though it's maybe 600 or so lumens. how the light is put out is very important.
Jeremy McCreary
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
CECO claims a 2000 lumen output certified on the ANSI FL1 standard. Baldface lie? Who knows?
The good news: The brightness meets my immediate needs. Battery life remains to be seen.
The lumen ratings are about worthless anymore. Too many are overrating the brightness levels to push sales. I like the smaller profile type lights. I use 3 of them up front for a wide beam. All Cygolite. Good quality. It's all trial and error which is best.
Jason Knight
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Keene, NH
Then why the blazes did you start out in your very first post in this thread making those assumptions, and why are you getting so upset that I'm challenging them?
Your lack of self-awareness is appalling. Anyone needs a flipping che-checkity check yoself in this thread it's you! From your first post in it!
THAT. If you don't understand why that's more offensive than a truck stop full of profanity - AND the very thing you're accusing me of -- you don't understand your own privilege..
Which seems to be a common affliction around here.
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Jason Knight
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Keene, NH
I didn't even know riding on sidewalks was legal anywhere until I joined these forums. That's not a "thing" to my knowledge in NH or Taxacusetts.
Just like the "alternate routes" bull as if there's magically more than one road going to every destination anywhere outside planned urban areas. Or that we can magically own vehicles to transport the e-bikes that cost as much as our motor vehicles do on.
And then when you say things like that to the people who won't check their own flipping privilege, we're the trolls. Of course we are.
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