Tutorial: How to Look Left
 

Duh.

Almost everybody probably knows this already, but just in case there's anybody else out there as dumb as me that needs to hear this...

For the longest time I was frustrated every time I tried to look back and left to check for traffic if I needed to get across the street to make a left turn.

This morning on my commute I accidentally figgered it out, I looked back and left, and had a surprisingly large field of view, and didn't feel unstable on the bike at all. Only mid-look did I realize something was different and better, and when I thought about it, I instantly realized MY HAND IS ON MY KNEE.

All this time I had been straining to look back over my left shoulder, or under my left armpit, with both hands on the bars. No wonder it always pulled me out of a straight line, and I still couldn't really see.

But with right leg/pedal down, and left leg/pedal up, left hand on left knee, right hand on handlebar, I have so much more freedom to turn my whole torso, while my right hand is not forced to pull the bike to the left -- WOW.

So in case you've never tried it, think about this next time you have to look back!

(And yes, I know there are these things called mirrors; I had a take-a-look for a few months, and liked it pretty good, but (a) I recently lost it in a roadside mech. helmet-off situation, and (b) after monitoring oncoming traffic in the mirror for a while and choosing my spot, I would always turn and take a real look before making my move anyways (no different than a car)

I don't think this is the best strategy. There may be times when you don't want to take your hands off your bars, pot-holes and rough pavement for example. You still want to be able to look back without veering into traffic. Try dipping your right shoulder or moving your left hand nearer the centre of your bars.

OK, that's a fair point I guess. I think by now I kinda know the rough spots in my commute, and I tend to focus on getting through those, I think I instinctively would not pick up and turn around there. And fortunately (as far as I can recall) all of my turn-left spots are good road.

Moving left hand nearer to center, that's a good idea, I can see how that would help -- but dipping the right shoulder? I don't get it.

I think calling the o.p. a "tutorial" is a bit of a stretch. Every other vehicle on the road uses mirrors to look back, backed up by an actual turn of the head. It's really not so difficult as it has been made to appear!

H

I don't really get it either, but it seems to work. Find a quiet stretch and experiment with it bit, it helped me anyways.

I think I've done this before by accident. However, it didn't really register as I tried to figure out what I had done so differently. I think that I was carrying a bag of groceries or something...

For some reason when I looked back and to the left, the bike didn't swerve.

Yes, I will experiment, thx for the tip

Yes, acknowledged in the OP. I'm glad you're not as dumb as me, and don't need my tutorial. Move along, nothing for you here...

It's a good technique for checking behind you. I normally grab the back of my saddle to pull myself into turning more to get a real good look. I tried using a mirror a couple of times but never felt comfortable with one.

How true!

I once felt comfortable about having a mirror to look behind me on the left. After, using the mirror successfully on numerous occasions, I once tried to use it, when a hybrid blew its horn just in the nick of time, so as to warn me of its quick approach from behind. I swerved back inline just in time to miss it!

I then immediately removed the mirror, and considered it more of a safely hazzard, than anything else.

I have now reattached the mirror and only use it either as a backup, or for a brief scan, just before I do a quick glance over the left shoulder for visual confirmation.

Or just practice good bike handling skills such as this http://www.active.com/cycling/Articl...ill.htm?page=2

RubeRed, thanks for the tip. I think I'll give it a shot. Incidentally, I've tried mirrors on road bikes, and just wasn't very happy. I may try a bar-end mirror on my commuter, but on my pure road bike, its a turn of the head for me...

hey, OP, I love this idea for some situations and plan to use it!

That's a good variation -- I'll experiment with that too

Yikes! Glad you made it through that close call!

It might be a matter of adjustment. I had a hard time with my mirror in the beginning, but eventually I got it to a point where I could scan the left/behind with a quick glance up and left -- and even if I angled the mirror higher I could see behind me to the right as well. And I think when you need to make a move to the left, a long time earlier be scanning behind, make a lot of checks so if anybody's nearby you will have seen them in multiple glances before.

And of course always one last check for real before risking a move.

Wow, I got a little concerned about that "grabbing ankles" part, but upon closer inspection those are some really cool drills! I bet it would be fun to get the whole family to try them out!

Just get a new helmet mirror - both hands stay on bar near controls, less chance of bike swerving to left or right as you check rear view.

Well as mentioned above, I would always turn and check directly anyways

I think dipping your right shoulder allows you to use more of your vertebrae for turning your head, instead of just using your neck bones, so there's less tension on any one section of your spine, and you can maintain better balance. Dipping the right shoulder also puts your weight on the left hand, which is positioned near the center of the handlebars so the pressure doesn't torque your steering, and the arm hanging loosely from your dipped shoulder is unstressed, so it can better control the steering of the handlebar.

That's how it seems to me, anyhow...

You'd be surprised that they are not that hard to learn. It's just a matter of practice.

mirrors have blind spots. always look back.

I use a mirror so I can see cars coming up behind me. Too many distracted drivers these days. When turning left, I will check my mirror, but I'll confirm if its safe by looking over my shoulder. Thanks, RubeRad! Any tip is a good tip!

I don't turn my head when I drive my car, because I have these awesome round convex mirrors on both of my side mirrors, which affords me a MUCH better view than just turning my head. Plus my 2-door Acura Integra has really small rear side windows so I can't see much out of those anyay (backing out of a parking spot and trying to see traffic coming from the right is a MAJOR pain).

My wife always turns her head when driving, and sometimes it looks like she's about to swerve in that direction when doing so :eek:

I've heard that putting your knee against the bike top tube when turning to look left can help keep the bike in a straight line. I want to try the hand on the knee thing, though. I need some way to keep the bike in line when I try to look back at my kid when he's in the trailer.

It might be that by dipping your right shoulder while looking over your left applies counter pressure to you handle bars and causes you to keep the bars and bike in a straighter line. Just my 2¢ (although, not for much longer, the Canadian Mint is no longer producing pennies so thoughts from Canadians will be much more expensive).

"Most" cars tend to use daytime running headlights so my first glance is a very quick slight glance to look for headlights and if I see none, I will take a bigger look with more rotation and for a longer period. Doesn't always work but since my morning commutes are between 6 and 7am, traffic is generally light, the sun isn't fully up (at least, not at the start of the commute) so I can generally count on this technique. On the way home, I will tend to "ride safer" and pull to the curb and stop if I really need a full look. I also listen for the sounds of tires which is very important for me and will give me a measure of confidence that if I hear no tires, I can more confidently turn for a look.

I tried the dipping shoulder, really I think it's a lot more dipping of the right elbow (so maybe I never really did it right), and it helped a little bit, but hand on knee really opened things up. Reaching back to grab the saddle was more awkward. I'll keep using hand on knee for smooth coasting situations, and try to get better at dipping when I need to keep both hands on.