I'm a little more on edge whenever I ride anyplace unfamiliar whether in an urban setting or not. Give yourself time to get comfortable. If there's a local cycling forum people might be able to recommend routes where the conditions are better.

For the most part though I find urban cycling easier in a lot of ways. The traffic generally moves slower and drivers are more used to both cyclists and pedestrians.

True.

I find it easier to just ride a non bike lane road with out any expectations that I would use the bike lane. Road in question is one lane to begin with and being NY drivers will lay on the horn because they can't accelerate to a red light.

That's what I'd argue if I got a ticket.

Better to argue about a ticket than to get hit.

Thanks man. I'll stop in sometime.

I commute from the Meigs/Monroe area to MCC four times a week, going up South Ave to E. Henrietta Rd. I work two jobs, and I commute almost every day to the downtown area and up Lake Ave. I work some wacky hours, so oftentimes I’m riding home past 12AM, which might account for some of the *******s I’ve had to deal with.



Thanks again for the help everyone. I need to work on my assertiveness.
Also, I wonder if I looked the part drivers might take me more seriously. Should I buy some spandex??

i ride a couple of miles out of my way so i can take a non collector road with a speed limit of 30mph. The alternative is getting buzzed by an endless stream of cars. the other thing i did was refine my route so i avoid major roads by riding thru subdivisions- google was good for this.
i recognize that i'm an annoyance to most drivers and i do my best to keep up with the flow of traffic, ride in a straight line, take the lane, stop at all stop signs/lights and use hand signals and sometimes yelling to announce my intensions. keep at it,

There's a world of difference between some places and others. Our wonderful subdivision barons and misguided civil engineers try hard to create mazes and dead ends that block side streets and funnel all traffic onto clogged main arterials. The University is the worst of all - blocking all minor through roads so that traffic flow diverted and compressed onto the surrounding streets. I wish they'd design in some connector paths for pedestrians, bikes, etc which would make alternative travel so much easier.

Ah! East Hen can be a problem with the I-390 interchange and the MCC traffic.

Have you ever thought of using Clinton Ave south to Brighton-Henrietta Town Line Rd instead? Yeah, there's the one big hill and those little rollers, but I find it's a much nicer ride than East Hen. (Hell, it's a better drive!) Besides, hills make you strong.

Lake Ave after midnight I'd be surprised if I wasn't hassled. Just the nature of the place. Let it roll off your back.

Fear keeps us alive, and fear of getting doored is good, because it positions you out further in the lane, which is also good, (see "Default Lane Position" in Hurst's book).

Wimpy gets you treated badly. Aggressive gets you killed. Assertive is good, it being the balance between aggressive and wimpy.

Looking the part doesn't have to mean spandex--although myself I prefer cycling-specific gear.

A good set of lights helps. Wimpy cheap ones don't. At the rear a PlanetBike SuperFlash or CatEye TL-1100 is my minimum recommendation. I run DiNottes (then again, I have a union job with the city.) I use my lights day and night.

Hi-vis helps a lot too. There are inexpensive, decent, comfy, wicking hi-vis t-shirts at AlertShirt.com. Vests work for some people, and are easily removed to look "normal" again. I also have hi-vis jerseys and a jacket.

The lights, hi-vis and good technique (mainly lane positioning) work for me. They communicate to drivers that I know what I'm doing, so they feel safer. And the idiots know I won't take any crap.

HTH!

Nice description of the hazards of urban commuting. I used the find function for this entire thread and could find no mention of mirror. IMO, a rearview mirror is a key to survival and peace of mind on the roads. I prefer eyeglass-mounted myself.

This is totally off-topic, but we have an intersection of Bay and Webster here in San Francisco. I got one of those eerie "it's a small world" feelings and decided I had to post this completely useless piece of information.

I ride aggressively also. I am in Japan for a few more months and here cyclist are prohibited from using the sidewalks unless you are under 12 or over 70 years of age. I ride much like I am just another vehicle. I take the lane and I even have passed some vehicles in the passing lane.

unless the lane is wide enough for a bike and a car to safely ride side by side then be assertive and take the lane. I rarely have trouble with drivers getting aggressive when I take narrow lanes, which are most lanes. I guess I'm reiterating

learn to love it, don't be scared. To me riding on major streets feels like swimming with whales.

Two pieces of gear I'd recommend for riding on busy roads:

1. Daytime lights

2. Mirrors

blind overcaffinated killer whales

I'm in Houston now but went to RIT in Rochester and lived there for a couple years after.
I still listen to WBER. In fact I'm listening right now.
WBER and KEXP in Seattle are the only radio stations I listen to outside of Sirius radio.

I wanted to leave something for someone else.

I'm a recent convert to mirrors, after finally finding one I like and can use. I use the Mirrycle Road Mirror for STI. It's not perfect, but pretty close.

For the other lever, today at the LBS I ordered the Incredibell Road Bell for STI. Not that it makes a bit of difference in traffic, but bells are fun. And it's only 26 grams.

Glad you did.

Writing it isn't a problem, but saying it, we have to specify Bay St and Webster Ave so it's not confused with Bay Rd in the suburb of Webster. "Bay 'n' Webster" sounds like "Bay in Webster".

I second tsl's recommendation of Hurst's book. I only disagreed with one thing in the book. If you want some hand's on help, you might check out a Road 1 course given by a licensed instructor. Check out the League of American Bicyclists website.

My current ride take me through all kinds of situations including heavy traffic narrow rough streets, 8 foot wide shoulders with smooth asphalt, steep up hills and long rolling down hills, with a couple of miles through a very tranquil park. Just this morning, I got pwnd by a Great Blue Heron as he flew over the river and I rode along on the bank. He's fast for such a big bird.

In Little Rock it does.

Do you have a link to this particular law? (Not baiting you or doubting you - I'm genuinely interested in reading this law!)

Better a ticket than a collision. Ride safe, ride in non-arterial streets. Use the parts of the system that work best for you and avoid the parts that don't.

It's true in Minneapolis too. If there's a bike lane you're expected to use it. But there's is a big caveat. If there's debris in the bike lane or some other reason that would make it unsafe to ride there, you can ride in the street.

I don't know if being of the opinion that bike lanes aren't safe in general is enough of a reason but having been hit in one I might be able to make my case if it came before a judge

I live downtown and bikes are faster than cars for the most part so I get a lane and pass when I need to and stay to the left of cars turning right. Most of the roads have 3 or 4 lanes downtown and I use them all like a car would. Cars here are so sluggish and slow in the day time with all the traffic that they start to not even matter to me. One thing to watch is the one way streets bet big buildings. People from out of town can be going the wrong way through red lites and not even know it! The lights are pointing away from them and the city can be distracting. you can get totaly smoked this way!

completely different riding in oakland county- i get buzzed frequently

quit smoking that stuff

To me riding on major streets feels like swimming with whales...