Tomm Willians

I’m training to do a solo event in a few months where the wife will be following behind in our truck. I’d like to hang a banner on the tailgate warning drivers of what’s going on. What would be the most direct, concise verbiage?

epnnf

idk, 'slow vehicle ahead'?

Troul 

without looking into it, that seems like it would gain a moving violation ticket for the SAG.

10 Wheels

Some BRIGHT Strobe Lights.

FBinNY 

Depending on the specific road/traffic details it might be better all the way around if you had your wife stop on the shoulder or a turnout then catch up from time to time, rather than be a continuous traffic obstruction.

Let's be fair, it's not your road for exclusive use, so running a car/truck at bicycle speeds continuously isn't going to make any friends. Plus you create a very specific hazard where a driver behind your wife times out a pass not seeing you ahead. Then may be forced to move back into lane (and you) due to oncoming traffic.

Also be aware that in many states the law is that a slow moving vehicle MUST pull off if 5 (or some other number) of cars accumulate behind. That would mean that your going to be passed by tight clumps of angry, impatient drivers trying to make up for lost time.

Moe Zhoost

It's best to check the laws in your state regarding slow moving vehicles. In terms of signage, the slow moving vehicle triangle is universal in the US. The more significant danger is that a vehicle passes your wife and then immediately moves over not noticing that you are in front. This possibility can be reduced if 1) your wife is right on your tail, 2) she keeps back maybe 50 yards, or 3) you ride to the rear of the truck. Perhaps you've thought this out already. I'm assuming that your plan is that the following truck is for safety rather than support. Correct?

Tomm Willians

To add clarity, our idea is for her to park off the road behind me and then catch up to me hourly. She would search for a section where she is not even on the shoulder but just off of it to park.
And yes this is also a sag vehicle (200 mile ride) but as stated, getting completely off the road is not difficult.

FBinNY 

In that case signage on her car wouldn't contribute much.

I suggest bright daylight lighting on your bike, plus whatever else might make you more visible.

Also a reminder that drivers are very prone to underestimating the speed of oncoming bicycles, edpecially fot stronger riders. So be alert to possible left crosses, and drivers entering from the side.

FWIW the vast majority of my open road close calls are from left crosses.

Tomm Willians

Yes I knew whatever markings we used wouldn’t contribute a great deal by doing it this way. I was more concerned that if she followed behind it might cause a more dangerous situation than what we plan on doing. But back to my original question, given the situation of her not being in a clearly viewed location, what type of warning might I give that stands the greatest chance of being seen? Trying to find the best compromise.

JW Fas

WARNING: EXPLOSIVES ON BOARD

Drivers will give you both a wide berth.

Tomm Willians

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Daniel4

Terry Fox did it on only one leg. And earned the hearts of all the Canadians across the country.

FBinNY 

Given the amount of separation most of the time, I can't see anything that would help.

Drivers have short attention spans, so even if they were inclined to be more attentive for a while, it would wear off before they got to you.

jadmt

I have seen plenty of vehicles rolling slow with flashers with a signage that simply says something like "caution cyclist on road ahead"

curbtender

Lone cyclist ahead, pass with caution? You hope that would be a given. I watch riders on highway 1 all the time and they seem to get by without. Goodluck.

dedhed

https://www.farmandfleet.com/product...SABEgI9rvD_BwE

Iride01 

Your wife is a very patient person and all sorts of other saintly good things if she is willing to follow you in a car and not have anything else to do.

Let her go on ahead to the B&B, a lunch stop or just check out other things along the way. You can provide her your location for tracking through various means and many bike computers provide incident detection. So she can check up on you while doing stuff that interests her.

Tomm Willians

It’s reciprocal with us. When she does tri’s I’m moving/ loading her surf ski and bike around between stages.

Troul 

"Potholes up ahead!"

SurferRosa

"Charity Ride for Jesus and to fight Cancer 2023"

jlaw

While your instincts re: your plan are understandable, I have to question the safety issues associated with your wife sitting in a vehicle on the shoulder of a road for 15 to 20 hours while you cycle ahead on your 200 mile quest.

I've worked in bridge and highway construction for more than 30 years and have seen vehicles and equipment - parked on the shoulder - hit from behind many times. All of these incidents occurred in fully signed and lit work zones. State trooper cars parked on the shoulder with full emergency lights have also been hit!!

I agree with others - have her drive ahead and wait in a parking lot.

Get yourself 2 or 3 rear-facing blinkers and a mirror.

I have this Cygolite Hypershot 350 - the brightest rear light I could find - lasts about 5 or 6 hours depending upon setting. https://cygolite.com/product/hypershot-350-usb/

For drop bars, I use this mirror - fairly big surface and stays put mostly. The convex lense takes a little getting used to. https://www.modernbike.com/product-2126215268?TID=394

Good Luck!