PatrickGSR94

I suggest 2 of them. I run both on "Random Flash" during daylight hours. At night or early morning I put one on steady and the other on "slow pulse". The pulsing light helps get the viewer's attention, and the steady light helps with location tracking. Flashing lights at night are harder for a motorist to judge your speed and distance.

OriginalFerbie

I know this topic has been discussed to death in other threads, but since it has popped up here I'm curious to hear some thoughts on this stretch of road. I don't like to ride on the sidewalk, and stick to the road in my area, but this street I find the road to be terrifying. Speed limit is 50km/h, can be quite busy, and you can just FEEL the cars piling up behind you itching to pass. I generally try and avoid it completely, but sometimes I really do want to take this route as it's the quickest, most direct way to all the grocery stores.

How would you guys handle this stretch (screen shot below)? My sustainable top speed right now is around 22km/h, and a good headwind can slow me down (which is quite common on this road as that's north). There are no set bylaws against riding the sidewalk here, the only areas you can't legally ride the sidewalk is the main downtown core in my little town. There are zero bike lanes (I'm jealous of the infrastructure some of you have!) - maybe the policy makers just think "they have that sidewalk, that's all they need"?

ItsJustMe

Road, and don't worry about keeping up with traffic. It's everyone's job on the road to coexist with other road users. If you can keep up with traffic that's great but it's not a prerequisite. Go the speed that you can comfortably maintain.

The most dangerous thing you can do on the road is to be a shy wilting flower apologizing for your existance. Hugging the curb, weaving in and out of parked cars, staying in parts of the roads with potholes and broken glass because you're afraid of offending the "real" users of the road is going to be extremely dangerous. Ride where it's safe, ride at a speed that is maintainable without killing yourself, be predictable, follow the same rules that car drivers do, and you'll be safest.

Sidewalk riding is actually quite dangerous statistically. It only FEELS safer. Actually it is extremely safe as long as you never cross a road. Theoretically if you stopped, dismounted and crossed every road and driveway as a pedestrian it'd be safe, but why bother with the bike at that point?

ItsJustMe

Depends on what's going on. If it's an area like where I am, there would never be a pedestrian on that sidewalk because people are allergic to walking, and I would probably treat that as a raised bike lane. If there are peds though I'd skip it.

OriginalFerbie

Very true, except that I actually feel less safe on a sidewalk. I did it once with a friend who refused to ride on the road, and hated it. I got back on the road very quickly, and just rode alongside her on the sidewalk.

That's one of the tricky parts, there CAN be a lot of pedestrian depending on the day. It's completely random and impossible to predict, but a lot of people do walk it because it leads right to our main grocery store.

caloso

I'd ride on that road in the right tire track, or about even with the bottom swoop of the g in King.

RubeRad

That's a little tight on the right side, but the dirt strip shows where cars don't drive, a bike could fit there, but not much room for error from the drivers. If it's long stretches of sidewalk like that with no/rare driveways/pedestrians, I'd go ahead and ride on the sidewalk. And on the way home, the other side of the street looks like a nice trail, as long as you have suitable tires (like I do!)

GovernorSilver

I'd probably ride to the far right, but not in the gutter. If a car is tailgating me with room to pass, I'll try to wave at it to go ahead pass.

Speed-wise I'd just ride at a steady, sustainable pace.

10 Wheels

Center of the lane or right tire line of a vehicle.

wolfchild

+1 This is the best advice in this whole thread.

Gresp15C

Ah, I should have been more clear. In my locale, those roads also tend to have fairly high traffic density, going at a fairly high speed, especially during commuting time. Plus they carry most of the truck traffic.

Under those conditions, following distances are close enough that a driver can't stop their car or make an evasive maneuver without causing a pile-up. That's what I meant when I said that the drivers aren't controlling their cars. I just consider those conditions to be dangerous. Granted, each of us has our own comfort zone.

I would have no problem under the conditions that you describe.

kickstart

And the banter is off and running.

That it has nothing to do with the OP, her abilities, or location makes it that much more useful.

GovernorSilver

She also asked a question that only one person answered.

EricL

I think I know what you mean and I'll say around 15mph, on the roads where bikes have full lane access and the speed limit is 25-35mph. No idea what the rest of your commute is like and no idea what kind of traffic or road conditions you encounter. I'd suggest to help get over your fear of riding on the road, spend some time riding on less-travelled roads and get a feel for what makes you feel relatively safe. Only you can tell when that happens. Aside from speed, visibility is a huge factor in relative safety. Wear bright clothing. Get front and rear lights and ride with them on all the time. Pay attention to your surroundings and your intuition. Before long it'll all be 2nd nature.

Daniel4

Congratulations for discovering that bicycle riding is a real mode of transportation.

Ride at any speed you feel comfortable. Sometimes I can go as fast as 40km/hr on a downhill. Other times I keep at a more leisurely pace. Most of the time, my average speed is about 15km/hr in a 60km/hr zone. Bear in mind that the slower you go, the easier for motorists to pass you – and that’s a good thing if you want to avoid the impatient road rager.

Keep in mind traffic laws usually say to ride as far right as safety allows. Which means you can ride as far to the left as you can to avoid the sewer grates, the garbage, the glass, the potholes and other hazards usually near the curb. You’ll also want to ride as far to the left as possible so traffic won’t be tempted to squeeze by you but to change lanes as they should. If you have ever driven, you’ll know the temptation to squeeze a cyclist simply because he or she is so far to the right. Many places now state a 3foot clearance is now the law.

Pick up a bicycle route map. Usually they are filled with illustrations regarding biking in traffic. If you hold a valid driver’s license, you will know the traffic laws. Avoid the temptation of running stop signs and red lights. Your judgement isn’t any better than everybody else’s anyways.

PatrickGSR94

OP asked what speed she should try to maintain on roads. I said:

Other people had similar answers.

PatrickGSR94

The dirt strip on the right side is the absolute worst place to be. There's a reason why it's dirty. Also, notice how it "looks" like a bike could fit in that strip between the red car up ahead and the curb? Yeah, that's what motorists think when they approach a cyclist in that position from behind, and that's how cyclists end up getting buzz passed, or clipped, or full-on sideswiped - motorists trying to squeeze by without crossing the center line.

@OriginalFerbie how long is that stretch pictured where you might use the sidewalk? I personally would probably use the sidewalk myself through there, for the simple fact that it's 2-lane, sight lines for passing look poor, traffic volumes with little chance for passing, and what appears to be very few turning conflicts (intersecting roads and driveways). 10-12 MPH wouldn't be unreasonable on that sidewalk if there are no pedestrians, which is the speed I would likely be doing on the road anyway given a headwind like you said.

Maelochs

I commuted for 15 years in Orlando, FL and surrounding areas when it was rated the most dangerous cycling city in the U.S—which only matters if I learned anything valid. (Others must decide.)

First off, if you are afraid to ride on the road, don’t. You will hurt yourself and cause accidents for others. As others have suggested, ride quiet streets, take courses, whatever, until you are comfortable riding with traffic. Otherwise you might panic and cause a risky situation to become a dangerous situation.

Know and understand that a huge number of cyclists ride in traffic every day with complete safety. Regardless if the cars are passing at 15 mph or 65 mph, regardless if there is one car all day or a constant stream, regardless of what non-riders fear—huge numbers ride safely every day. You can too.

I am very against riding on the sidewalk, unless you never exceed walking speed. Sidewalks are for pedestrians. What are you going to do if some housewife with a double-wide stroller pushes onto the sidewalk right in front of you? At 5 mph (a fast walk) you could stop or maybe bump into her, on foot or on a bike. At a higher pace, you won’t have time to stop and will hit two little kids. And of course, no pedestrian expects a cyclist to be flying down the sidewalk at 15 mph. If 4-5 mph suits your needs, sidewalks are fine.

As for pace on the road, fully loaded touring I might average 10-15 mph depending on the terrain. There is no minimum speed a cyclist needs to maintain to be on the road. if you ride over 5 mph, use the roadside.

As for OriginalFerbie who said “you can just FEEL the cars piling up behind you itching to pass,” I’d let them. One a single-lane road (one each way, I mean) I don’t want to be a roadblock because irate, impatient drivers do stupid things. After a long line builds up, I will pull over and let it past and then resume riding.

There are few roads where this is a problem—few roads where a car cannot get by if the driver and rider are sensible. I find it to be an issue mostly when it rains, because I will not ride through deep puddles (no clue what is underwater.) Thus I sometimes have to take the whole lane, and when a couple dozen cars line up, I pull over and let them pass for everybody’s benefit.

On King Street North (pictured) I would probably have to slow down and wave by a bunch of scared drivers who were unwilling to come within six feet of a cyclist, but judging from the size of the minivan, there is enough room there for a car and bike to operate side-by-side if both are careful. Wouldn’t be fun, though.

To the OP: IMO, bikes belong on the road if they are ridden faster than a walking pace—but that’s just my opinion.

The issue isn’t traffic or pace or bike lanes—it is your comfort level. Start out knowing that you can ride safely on the street, and decide if you want to. If you do, learn to. Once you get over the initial unease, you will have a huge range of roads available to you.

Five years from now, you will likely be looking back at this time thinking about how glad you are you decided to start riding on the road.

GovernorSilver

Sorry, I missed yours and the others.

PatrickGSR94

See, you're misjudging the clearance in that picture, too. Those lanes are very narrow by normal road standards, maybe 10 feet wide. The mirror of the vehicle is MAYBE 2 feet (probably less) from the edge of the sidewalk. That is absolutely not enough room for a vehicle and bicycle to occupy that lane side-by-side with any amount of safe separation distance.

scoatw

Bicycling Street Smarts - Table of Contents

PatrickGSR94

John Allen's book and his blogs/videos are excellent cycling safety resources!

ItsJustMe

Yeah, given what OP said later about driver habits on that road, I wouldn't ride it. There are some roads where driver behavior makes them simply suicidal for bike traffic and that sounds like one of them.

The drivers are almost all certainly violating the basic speed law, but waggling fingers at them doesn't make you not dead at the end of the day.

CrankyOne

There is no speed that will make you safe with cars unless; cars are traveling at YOUR speed and volume is less than about 90 per any one hr (or no more than about one every 40 seconds).

That is the lesson learned in Europe and in particular The Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and elsewhere.

Keep in mind that riding a bicycle with traffic in the U.S. as recommended above results in about 5 to 9 times as many fatalities per mile as riding in a car. Is that safe? Nearly 50% of the over 700 bicycle riders killed each year are hit from behind while riding on or directly alongside the road and many of these are experienced riders and include people who teach the Bicycle Driving or riding in the road suggested above.

On the other hand, riding a bicycle in The Netherlands where you are mostly segregated from motor traffic results in a fatality rate not only slightly lower than for cars but less than half the fatality rate of riding in a car in the U.S.



If the sidewalk feels safer then use it. Just be cautious anywhere you interact with motor vehicles such as driveways and crossing roads.

Get involved with pushing your city and in particularly your county on building protected bikeways along every road with speeds above 30 mph or volume greater than 90 per hour. Push them to lower the speed limit on all of the others (which are typically residential streets).