Please skip to MY POINT IS if you don’t want to read my story.. lol
Hi everyone
Besides my intro, I am a newbie to these forums. It feels great to read all the posts from fellow bikers as none of my friends are into biking at all. Anyhow to make a long story short I was “doored” a week ago here in Philly. I was in the bike lane on Christopher Colombia blvd. (very busy city traffic area), and I was about to stop at a red light and all of a sudden a passenger in an UBER car flew open the door and whack, I go flying. I swear I saw it coming inches away but I couldn’t stop myself. I had just enough time to form a quick sentence in my head. That sentence being, Jenn you are in trouble. I guess I was lucky because all I have to deal with is some pretty bad road rash, bruises and a broken iPhone. But wow..... what a fall.
I ride a specialized expedition sport and I guess it took the hit pretty well. I see so many people riding thinner bikes in the city and I don’t think I would have the courage...if this happened on a smaller bike I imagine the bike would be totaled and I would have been seriously hurt.
MY POINT IS I want to increase my road visibility. I have these crappy Walmart lights on my bike and they are constantly falling off, so much so I just wind up leaving them at home.. it’s funny, when I see bikers with these lights I laugh to myself and roll my eyes. But after what happened to me I see the importance of being as visible as I can. Though I don’t want to be annoying and deal with the dirty looks.. because riding in the city is funny that way. I ride a specialized expedition sport. Any advice is appreciated. I would like to keep it at 40 or under ( preferably under!) Summer is officially here, so I plan on doing more night riding. I did look up some lights on amazon and eBay, but honestly I don’t understand what number brightness I would even need? I want to be highly visible without being annoying. Also, I want to see far ahead when I am riding and with the Walmart lights, that is pretty impossible.. Thanks so much for your help! Jenn