Originally Posted by
NoWhammies
So you're at speed. And in the distance you see a red light. At this point you don't know how long the light has been red. It could have just changed or it could be changing to green any moment. What do you do?
Do you continue to pedal at speed on to (maybe?) have to mash the brakes to stop at the light. Or do you slow your peddling down - coasting even - so that if you do stop it's you're not burning off wasted effort.
Just curious. This of course assumes you're riding solo.
In this specific case and if no one is on my tail I like to maintain effort and hope. It may mean I stop hard (or get close enough to see the x-light and then adjust) or I get lucky.
In the more frequent and typical case I have a better sense of light timing and will accommodate to minimize rapid changes in speed. If I know I will get to it red whether coasting or not, I may still maintain effort into it - sometimes standing a bit longer is better than coasting and stopping anyway.