Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - 1 thin pube hair from getting doored this morning.

Riding to work in midtown this am, I came within .00005 seconds of a cab door being opened by a ****heel, wussy out-of-town businessdork so goo-goo eyed and stunned to actually be in NYC, he never looked. And yes I was checking roof lights (tip). Cabbie had it off.

After an overwhelming urge (suppressed) to throw a haymaker, and then a rush of happiness to be alive, I said to myself, let's get positive on this. So this thread:

All you longtime messengers and commuters, what are the 5 most important things you do to keep from getting killed, losing teeth, etc. in NYC traffic?

And everyone from everywhere else, go ahead and post your inevitable "you deserve what you get for living in NY" comments if you must. Just try to make them funny if you can.

- Watch out for the left cross (ie. if you see someone hail a cab, assume you're about to get drilled from behind/the side by a cabbie who's charging for the fare and oblivious to anyone else on the road)
- I never check for cab lights ... I just watch for people in the car and people trying to get a cab.
- Never pass on the right, especially at intersections.
- People trying to turn left across an intersection from you will look right at you and then turn. Anticipate that move and get read to cut around them.
- Go behind peds. People's instinct is either to freeze or go forward when in doubt. It's when they see you a long way off that they sometimes remember to get the **** off the road.

Edit: Toronto bonus tip: Don't EVER forget about the streetcar tracks. They'll put you on your face, otherwise.

You deserve to get where you are going without getting doored.

I think all DT traffic rippin' regardless of city.

Watch the front wheels for left/right movement, (you know turn signals aren't happenin')
Look in the windows of parked cars for heads.
Don't be afraid to take the lane once you get up to speed.
Threading the lane is your friend. (if you are in front you are winning :D )
A visable U-lock or mondo chain held up to the window will slow most cagers .

AND Peds make wonderful human shields. :lol:

I've started to use cars as mighty 2 tonne armour alot recently. Whenever I need to cross a busy intersection without lights or make a left across traffic I shadow a car to block cars from charging at me or around me.

I also know my commute route and its light timing and traffic patterns well, so I know when I can bomb a red, when I can take off early before a green, when I need to slow down and watch for death, watch for doors, avoid potholes and get ahead of cars through bottlenecks. If I wasn't taking these liberties I would be surrounded/getting passed by cars constantly. The way I ride now I'm ahead of the cars for the majority of the time. Its still dangerous as hell though! I usually give a full lane to parked taxis because I find I'm more likely to get cut off or crashed into by a cabbie pulling out crazily from a taxi stand than doored.

Taking the lane assertively and making hand signals to cars to slow down or pass are also more and more useful to me as I get better at using them. Oh yeah don't pass on the right.

I've never ridden in NYC, but from what I've seen in videos and tourist trips there, is you've got alot more traffic than us, but it travels quite a bit more slowly due to congestion, meaning you can ride where you like on the road. In Toronto if you're taking any lane other than the right lane you'll probably get run down by a car pretty quickly.

1. Take the lane
2. Take the lane
3. Take the lane
4. Stay outta the bike lane
5. Never ever assume anything

Shinaz has a good point, let the cars do the work for you, I tend to ride along side to make a left in a large busy intersection. Also, I never ride within 2-3 feet, got to keep the clearance.

This covers most of it: http://bicyclesafe.com/

Sweet lord, get this topic away from the top, I can't read "pube hair" anymore!

AHH! I bumped it again!!!!

Stay outta the door zone. Take the lane. Ride in between lanes. Look for heads, open windows, brake/reverse lights on parked cars. In heavy traffic, watch for doorings from cabs when passengers just decide they'll walk and get out in the middle of the street. Watch for peds trying to grab those same cabs in heavy traffic. They assume you'll stop (silly peds!). Peds are unpredictable. I disagree that they'll keep moving forward or freeze. They'll either move forward, freeze, move backwards or do some idiotic dance. Just pick a line, sit back, get low and get ready to mow.

Don't depend on signals and brake lights for much though, you can get screwed that way as I have on a few occasions (The lady signaling right and then turning left in front of me comes to mind)

Taking a lane and using cars as armour are the best. And ALWAYS have a bail line worked out, sometimes you just can't stop in time.

Make the peds do the dance of death for extra points.
They see you coming...they freeze not knowing which side you will carve them on.
Wiggle front wheel left and right to cause near fatal confusion in ped. Rejoice at making he/she dance in traffic. :lol:

Haha you really are a sadist TJ

My favorite game as a messenger in Montreal, the peds there are jaywalkin' masters. Only ever played with jaywalkers, anyone else and it's simply bad karma. :lol:

slow down 1-2 mph. seriously...it makes a huge difference. i rarely break 15 unless it's a long straightaway such as the west side path or some roads in brooklyn. below 15 is my saftey "sweet spot".

AND Peds make wonderful human shields. :lol:

this is very true.
pedestrians crossing the street can be a good indicator as to whether its safe to blow through.

It's when they start running you have to worry.

I dunno I think you guys have it rough but where I live people drive big pick ups and suvs in the middle of congested downtown and they try and door you or tell you to get out of their way so I do sort of understand but I probably wont ride in ny ever....

next time when you see the door start to open if it is close reach over the bars and close it ;)

It's when they start running you have to worry.

Thats when you get your ass outta the saddle and use them drops. :D

slow down 1-2 mph. seriously...it makes a huge difference. i rarely break 15 unless it's a long straightaway such as the west side path or some roads in brooklyn. below 15 is my saftey "sweet spot".
Not an option.
Especially for the messies on here.

:D Slowing down is admitting defeat.

San Francisco Isn't as sketch as NY (NO place is). That said, here is what I do to keep my teeth in The City.

1. Blinking front light.
2. Look for people in parked cars.
3. Keeping a doors length away from parked cars.
4. Knocking on windows/ doors when needed.
5. Stopping @ stop signs and reds.

Make the peds do the dance of death for extra points.
They see you coming...they freeze not knowing which side you will carve them on.
Wiggle front wheel left and right to cause near fatal confusion in ped. Rejoice at making he/she dance in traffic. :lol:

Dude, you're a ******bag! I like it, a lot. :D

For Pittsburgh it's a little different when not around downtown or on major roads. When there's one lane of travel in each direction, no bike lane, and sidewalks close on either side, I'd rather pass slowly on the right than shoot down the middle. But then occasionally there's some jackhole in an SUV who takes up the entire lane...

I occasionally like riding on the yellow line in heavy downtown traffic, splitting the same direction and oncoming...just the safest place to be sometimes, no rights no lefts no doors. I haven't had a ped dance in years and years, it was totally a messenger game in Montreal where you could make eye contact with the ped. They would also jaywalk en mass across the intersection if no cars were there, so hitting the green at speed was more dangerous than running a red sometimes. So it was the chain of urban life, Simba.:D

Like sfcrossrider said.... knocking on the side panel when they drift over into your 6inch zone is always a good way of moving them over. Not pounding, just knocking with your knuckle as if on your bud's door.

Not an option.
Especially for the messies on here.

fair enough...but consider how time consuming an accident is. and if it's severe enough you'll have to get a police report, go see the doctor, get your bike fixed, etc.

I do the left-turn-shadow-car thing too but the I always kind of hesitate at the what if the car in front gets tboned. K you die.

All you longtime messengers and commuters, what are the 5 most important things you do to keep from getting killed, losing teeth, etc. in NYC traffic?


i've actually reached out and pushed doors closed to avoid getting doored. the one time i did get doored, i was lucky. guy in a corvette or something with, like, 8 foot long doors, just flung it open without looking. didn't actually hit the door, it just caught my bike, sent me over the bars and the bike through the rear window of a minivan in traffic just ahead of me. haha, punched a seat-shaped hole right through the poor guys window.

i don't work in ny, but my 5 tips would be:

1. be aware (duh!) seriously though, after a while you begin to develop a 6th sense of when people are about to pull some poo. they start drifting sometimes. sometimes, it's total esp.
2. watch for heads through rear windows and faces in side mirrors of parked cars.
3. lots of people don't signal their turns, but lots do. if you're riding beside a vehicle, watch the driver and check his/her front signal.
4. take the lane!
5. ride aggressive without being stupid. be smart, be decisive, be in control.

u know this "take the lane" attitude should be taught. when i started riding fixed, i would ride alllll the way to the right or left so that the cars and i could share. omg god, these cars were blowing past me, millimeters from my bike scaring the shti out of me. it was ridiculous. I just take the lane now. when I use to drive, i use to get so mad at bike riders who hogged the road, but know i understand.

also, i'd just like to add, that even though i don't know anything about riding in ny, vancouver is pretty gnarly sometimes. i cannot count the number of times per week that i carve around the front of a jaywalking ped that hasn't even bothered TO LOOK EITHER WAY before crossing in the middle of the street. peds in van seem to have this feeling that they ALWAYS have the right of way. at least the native vancouverites. all the rest seem to be this blissfully oblivious esl students. i can actually make them scream in fear. always good fun. and the drivers here... jeez louise, talk about fookin' idiots. speeding 2 blocks to hit a red. blowing reds CONSTANTLY. i think vancouver is one of the worst cities in canada for bad drivers. it's pretty nuts sometimes.

They would also jaywalk en mass across the intersection if no cars were there, so hitting the green at speed was more dangerous than running a red sometimes. So it was the chain of urban life, Simba.:D

So I'm thinking a good thing to do as long as this thread has life is to pick the "seriously correct and predictive quote as it pertains to my last ride", and this one wins.

This exact thing happened while riding home this evening heading west on 41st. You'd think the stupid peds would look if they're gonna jaywalk, but instead, they just poured into the intersection against a light like lemmings without so much as a glance. There was a messenger along side of me and we were both screaming at them as we bore down on them.

There were so many of them I don't know how one of us didn't t-bone at least one of them. The fun part was catching the look of terror in one of the lemming's eyes when he finally looked up to see me sitting back and blowing past him so close I could smell the onion bagel on his breath.

Move the UN general assembly meeting out of manhattan and eliminate most of this NYC's traffic/pedestrian issues.

so when you say take the lane you mean ride in the middle of the lane? cuz
i usually ride in between the lanes.

The fun part was catching the look of terror in one of the lemming's eyes when he finally looked up to see me sitting back and blowing past him so close I could smell the onion bagel on his breath.

Oooooh Hank you just brought an old memory to the forefront, thank you :lol:
When you're bag/jacket makes that 'whifff' sound against said lemming and you hear them suck breath or that chocked off scream. I haven't thought about threading the ped line in ages. God to think of how fast we were going when we do that and never once hit anyone. Flippin' miracle sometimes...:p Cheers to the mad messengers!

the worst is riding through gridlock as fast as you can, trying not to get doored and then some ******bag pedestrian steps out from between two parked cars without looking at all. people do this all the time here. one time I had enough distance to yell at the guy, "buddy get the *** out of my way." he pressed himself flat up against an SUV like he was spiderman.

The other day I was riding along the West Side Highway, just cruising along with no hands and I swear to god I almost got knocked over by the wind from a helicopter landing. So, ya know, watch out for helicopters:)

When I was a NYC messenger I used these two:

Tip #1 : When you are coming up on the left side of a car, check the drivers left mirror for eye contact. DON'T rely on this of course, but it will give you an indication of at least whether they are conscious of you presence.
Tip #2 : Be your own bike bell. Funny as it sounds-awaken your inner rain man and find something to babble when you are shooting through lines of cars. Again, make people conscious of your presence.

Can't think of any more stuff that hasn't already been said

I second that Tip #2. Hooting and hollering goes a long way.

I never pass cabs on the sidewalk side.

When I was a NYC messenger I used these two:
Tip #2 : Be your own bike bell. Funny as it sounds-awaken your inner rain man and find something to babble when you are shooting through lines of cars. Again, make people conscious of your presence.

Can't think of any more stuff that hasn't already been said

That's a good idea. I'm gonna start practicing my rap skillz in traffic.

"I said check check it. I'm on the fixed gear, 27s front and rear..."

also, i'd just like to add, that even though i don't know anything about riding in ny, vancouver is pretty gnarly sometimes. i cannot count the number of times per week that i carve around the front of a jaywalking ped that hasn't even bothered TO LOOK EITHER WAY before crossing in the middle of the street. peds in van seem to have this feeling that they ALWAYS have the right of way. at least the native vancouverites. all the rest seem to be this blissfully oblivious esl students. i can actually make them scream in fear. always good fun. and the drivers here... jeez louise, talk about fookin' idiots. speeding 2 blocks to hit a red. blowing reds CONSTANTLY. i think vancouver is one of the worst cities in canada for bad drivers. it's pretty nuts sometimes.


kinda sounds like portland. god, sometimes i ****ing loathe the peds here. i feel like i more or less have to be courteous and all, but goddamn...i'm going to start the wheel wiggling, make 'em dance.

oh, also, i read what some people said about running/stopping at reds. one thing i find really valuable is timing the greens so as to hit as few reds as possible. and ****ing look before you take off...if i hadn't looked for red light runners, i would have been an armored truck's hood ornament the other day (fortunately other red light runners so far have been on the opposite side of the street from me)

I second that Tip #2. Hooting and hollering goes a long way.

I never pass cabs on the sidewalk side.


sorta. ****ing f-250 pulling out of parking the other day, window rolled down, me yelling "yo, yo, yo, yo, buddy!" and whatnot, and the guy just keeps going.

of course, that's what i get for riding in the bike lane. **** that ****.

of course, that's what i get for riding in the bike lane.

you really think the bike lanes are that bad here? I ride them all the time with rare issue.

nyc, on the other hand probably shouldnt even bother having bike lanes.
I'll probably get crucified for admitting this, but when I was there last week, I found myself not even looking at the lights, just watching traffic and pedestrians for when I should or shouldnt cross an intersection.

there, I said it. I pay little/no attention to lights. (only in manhattan)

nah, they're not that awful. but there are a lot of areas downtown where riding in the bike lane = higher risk.

Yeah, I said hooting and hollering goes a long way; I never said it solves all problems. I could have a Mack Truck type horn and there is still no stopping the oblivious idiot.

As for NYC bike lanes, I use them as the space between me and the parked cars and if there is someone parked in the lane, they I just stick a few yards further away. As before, not a foolproof solution; just a technique that sometimes works.

1. Take the lane
2. Take the lane
3. Take the lane
4. Stay outta the bike lane
5. Never ever assume anything


"TAKE THE LANE" is so far probably the most common suggestion, so Saturday, I rode uptown to downtown with that in mind. And Cripes does it work! Felt way safer, way more in control, way more "seen". And just a general flow that felt pretty damn sweet.

That and lack of UN General *******sembly motorcade rush hour gridlock made for a sweet ride indeed. Thanks!

Move the UN general assembly meeting out of manhattan and eliminate most of this NYC's traffic/pedestrian issues.


The other day I was coming down 2nd Ave and they had the right lane coned off. So I rode in it until I had to stop. The cops at the corner were all, "You can't be in there!!" I said in my most innocent voice, "But I thought this is some of the 200 miles of bike lanes the mayor promised!"

They weren't amused...but I was at their response :D

When I was a NYC messenger I used these two:

Tip #1 : When you are coming up on the left side of a car, check the drivers left mirror for eye contact. DON'T rely on this of course, but it will give you an indication of at least whether they are conscious of you presence.
Tip #2 : Be your own bike bell. Funny as it sounds-awaken your inner rain man and find something to babble when you are shooting through lines of cars. Again, make people conscious of your presence.

Can't think of any more stuff that hasn't already been said

bump...yes...and yes....

that was a funny ass movie

these are definitely not my underwear...eight minutes til wopner...
I will be thinking this next time traffic starts to jam and near in front of me.

I rarely yell out at pedestrians as they tend to freak and do something stupid so I just make sure I see them and go around them. Sometimes I come pretty close but as long as I don't hit them, they can freak out or scream insults at me after I am gone.

"The successful urban cyclist counts on nothing but chaos and stupidity"
- The Art of Urban Cycling, Robert Hurst.

(I haven't actually read the book, but that quote is njs gold)

Make the peds do the dance of death for extra points.
They see you coming...they freeze not knowing which side you will carve them on.
Wiggle front wheel left and right to cause near fatal confusion in ped. Rejoice at making he/she dance in traffic. :lol:


All kidding aside: no, do NOT do this, please. It's the thing that made me hate bikers, before I became one.

Generate some goodwill, it'll pay off downstream.



HAPPY NEW YEAR to ALL!