Wattsup

Don't think I can legally carry one of those in Pennsylvania. I can however open carry a handgun, no permit required.

mstateglfr 

There is more than one way to skin a cat, and some choose to use a $500 pocket knife.

downtube42

I'm been road riding for 50ish years. Not all inclusive, but the highlights are

Turned left in front of a red Civic I didn't see in '73. My fault, no serious injuries.
Crashed in a paceline pileup in 82. No cars.
Crossed wheels with another dude in maybe 84. No cars.
Hit a dog and went down hard in about 92. Concussion; no cars.
1998, downhill curve crash on wet pavement, went down into a ravine. No cars, no serious injuries.
High speed downhill curve crash in about 2000. Took the wrong line, no cars except the one who picked me up and took me to the hospital. Concussion.
High speed downhill curve crash on wet pavement in 2011. Concussion, scrapes. I finished the ride though. No cars.
High speed nighttime downhill curve crash in 2019. Over a guardrail and down a ravine Broken C3, severe leg laceration. No cars.

'73, '98, 2000, and 2019 could have been fatal. It's miraculous 2019 was not.

For me, cars are clearly not the problem. I should slow down on downhill curves.

cj3209

I don't think cyclists can ride on roads above 45 MPH here in SoCal - but I could be wrong. I can't imagine riding on a road with that high of a speed limit...

zandoval 

Safety equipment is at a high plus. Some times in the old days you could get a snicker just for wearing a helmet or not taking the reflectors off your road bike. Not today. Today we are all looking for any device that could help make us more visible. After driving past touring bikes on the highway I give um a short beep on the horn or a wave out the window. Male or Female... What Balls!!!

I don't see any drivers getting more attentive now days in any kind of traffic.

Keep your eyes open and ride...

cj3209

I don't know if driver's are more distracted or because they haven't driven too much in 2020 but there are A LOT of drivers that come awfully close to me while I'm on the roads. Here in Los Angeles, we try to create more bike lanes and drivers go into riot mode - I'm generalizing but commuters do get angry when bike lanes reduce car lanes and understandably so because it increases their commute time. We need more public transportation but try telling that to wealthy 'Angelenos and their luxury SUVs...

IMHO (and I'm being very honest), if people biked more and reduced their reliance (a form of slavery) on cars/SUVs for light errands, all our health care costs would go down and people would be healthier. I'm convinced that car, pharmaceutical, and junk food/fast food/restaurant lobbyists negatively affect our overall health and well-being. But I digress...

Bald Paul

If you know a vehicle is approaching from behind, you can check your mirror to see if they are moving over to safely pass. If it looks like they aren't (or worse yet, you see them on the phone) you at least may have time to decide where you're going to go to avoid getting hit, even if that means a roadside ditch.
Trust me, the ditch is preferable. Garmin Varia radar and my mirror are my friends now.

mstateglfr 

nope, relying on something isnt a form of slavery.

your last point was otherwise good.

mstateglfr 

Do you ride roads while constantly looking back to see what cars are doing behind you? That has to be mentally exhausting and a distraction in its own way.
The Varia is interesting, but for the most part I really dont care what cars are doing behind me. I need to be visible and ride consistent so that they can see me and know when its safe to pass. Im not sure how beneficial it is for me to know that a car is behind me.

The one area where I think I could benefit from a Varia is, ironically enough, low trafficked roads. I sometimes ride in the middle or even left side of gravel roads, if the surface conditions on the right are too poor. I cant hear a car approaching when im on gravel, so the Varia could help me know to move over to one side to allow approaching cars to pass.

Bald Paul

No, I only check the mirror when the Varia informs me of an approaching vehicle. I find it's much less annoying than being struck from behind, doing a somersault with the bike, and ending up in the hospital with weeks of recovery time and a destroyed bike. I've done that, pre-Varia. I was riding in a brightly colored jersey on a clear day on a back road, with a bright flashing red taillight and flashing white headlight. It wasn't enough to draw the attention of the driver away from his text message on his cellphone. I heard him coming, but assumed he had plenty of room to pass, since the road was flat, straight, and there were no cars in the opposite direction. I was wrong.

downtube42

Depending on traffic volumes and turns, many 4-lane roads can have increased throughput by being converted to 1 travel lane in each direction, a center turn lane, and right turn lanes. Using the same pavement, just paint changes. Depending on original lane width, there is often space for bike lanes with these redesigns. The resulting road has fewer accidents - by eliminating the jockeying for position around left/right turning cars, and eliminating lane changes. There are worse cases scenarios with a slow moving vehicle reducing speed, but overall the impact on travel time is neutral or better.

Motorists vehemently oppose these redesigns, because of incorrect beliefs about traffic flow. They see the resulting bike lanes, and they blame cyclists for their imagined loss.

It is what it is.

jonathanf2

I belonged to a Los Angeles neighborhood FB group and they were discussing a transportation proposal (which seemed to have a vocal opposition) that would reduce car lanes, expand outdoor dining tables/seating due to the pandemic and create safety barricades for the bike lanes. When I mentioned that perhaps creating safety barricades for the bike lanes might be a good idea and businesses can tailor to the growing bike market especially if there was more outdoor seating (especially with increased e-bikes sales), it was met with scorn, with one person comparing the current bike boom to a fad similar to disco. What's sad is that our neighborhood is a main bike route corridor connecting east-to-west and there are weekly group bike rides coming through the area.

On a side note, ever since I started biking more, my gym strength training has benefited by becoming more lean, losing excess weight and even looking more chiseled. My skin feels healthier from sweating out toxins, getting exposure to fresh air and just enjoying the California sunshine!

cj3209

Wow. Disco... LOL...

There needs to be compromise. People need to go to work, travel, and do what they need to do via cars but there also needs to be more focus on car alternatives (cycling/walking). I would love to see separate roads for bikes. I've read that in Europe, cities are being designed with biking-only roads.

jonathanf2

I actually like the way they setup DTLA bike lanes with their own traffic signals and diagonal bike crossings to link up to other bike routes. There's still issues with cars parking in the bike designated lanes and people walking their dogs there, but overall it works well. In fact I feel much more safer riding my bike through downtown as opposed to road cycling through the Valley. I've also written-off riding my bike through the Hollywood area. Even though streets like Franklin Avenue is considered a "bike route," but with no dedicated lane, it ain't worth the risk. Nowadays most my riding is a mix of street and off-road on a gravel bike. The cool thing is that there are a handful of destinations in LA perfect for a gravel bike by creating routes that take advantage of both road and off-road riding. For example I'll cruise the Rose Bowl loop and then head straight to JPL and ride up El Prieto trail and then when leaving the trail, I can just super aero tuck downhill on the neighborhood streets. Get the best of both worlds!

Badger6

Fact. Also, during the pandemic many cities have reduced car lanes to make more bike lanes and in the case of Brussels, the speed limit was reduced to 30km/h except on specifically designated boulevards. But cycling in many cities in Europe is not a fad, it is a legit mode of transport.

franswa

We have done similar here in Austin, reducing lanes at some key locations for the increase in bike/ped traffic.

Rdmonster69

Interesting thread. I ride almost exclusively on bike paths that are old converted rail beds. One particular route in Indianapolis I use starts at my work....goes from a paved path to a crushed limestone path along a canal for about 8 miles (called the central canal towpath ...really cool...goes by the art museum and Butler university) then hooks into a rail trail that goes for miles. I can easily get 50 miles on the trail and not even take it to the end. There is another near my house that is shorter and I can access through low traffic county roads. It is a little repetitive but I feel much safer for a variety of reasons. Lots of warning signs at the road crossings, no vehicular traffic (pedestrians and other cyclists sometimes pose issues) and familiarity. I have only 3 or 4 main routes I take all that minimize my exposure to traffic.

I used to not worry about it as much but since I broke my neck I have serious reduced mobility and can not look behind myself anymore. Any spill could also be very dangerous for me. That said I am more careful and choose to still ride with these limitations.

The main trail I ride used to be super sketchy a decade or so ago. Saw dope deals going down all the time. I routinely carried a G-29 subcompact Glock in 10mm. They started to improve the area so I went to a Benchmade Griptillian fixed blade just in case. Think a 4 1/2 razor blade sharp hunting knife. Great tool for about any use. Now the former ghetto is super expensive to live in. I couldn't even afford to live there lol.

montclairbobbyb 

Sorry, after reading some of these posts I need to speak my mind: The key to staying alive and safe is playing the avoidance game, and NEVER letting down your defense, including things like:
- Rule 1: Losing the "I have a right to be here" self-righteousness. Sorry, that's gonna trigger some people, but if you accept that roads are FIRST designed for cars, where YOU need to avoid THEM, you'll survive longer. "Wasn't my fault" doesn't look good on a tombstone.
- Use a mirror! THIS ONE perplexes me more than any other... Far too many people are hit and killed from behind. GET USED TO wearing a rear view mirror on your glasses, helmet or bike. (You wouldn't drive your car without rear and side view mirrors, would you??) That last-minute warning that a motorist is too close behind you can be the difference in saving your life. I know they don't look cool... GET USED TO IT, stay alive.
- Ride within your limits and stop racing everywhere. I'm reading here about people wiping out at high speed with or without motorists being involved... A simple, sane rule (like skiing): stick to a speed you're confident you'll survive if/when you crash. Unless you're a true racer and you simply have to go fast, slow the F down, ENJOY the ride!!
- Finally, WHY INVITE TROUBLE? As much as humanly.possible, ride where the cars ain't!!!

We keep reading too many stories of riders being killed, who "never saw it coming"... We can start to change that. Peace and safe riding.

PNWgarageDad

I'm new to this forum and have spent countless hours doing my due diligence on gravel bikes and must say... this is such an entertaining thread , so many LOL! . Thank you for all of the great/knowledgeable feedback. My wife keeps asking what are you reading that's so funny 😂. I like it here already !

shelbyfv

OP has another for youhttps://www.bikeforums.net/general-cycling-discussion/1236243-feeling-super-frustrated-taint-issues-continue-ugg.html

Metieval

No more exhausting than mirror glancing in a car while driving. Neither is it distracting when done correctly. In my opinion riding with a mirror just means the rider is that much more of a communicative, alert, situational aware, courteous rider.
I don't care for the helmet mirrors, but I love my bar end mirror.

mstateglfr 

Cool. On pavement, I almost fully stick to side roads and 2 lane 2 way roads, so cars are either rarely needing to pass or cars can see me from .25mi away and take the other lane entirely.

Courtesy is built into that since I mostly avoid busy 1 lane roads that would frustrate cars. Beyond that, I am not sure what courtesy there is in knowing a car is behind me. I ride straight and they move around me either way.

The Varia that I now own is an awesome bit of tech. A rare advancement in tech that actually does improve my ride. I did a 2hour mixed surface ride last night where it was 12mi of pavement and 21mi of gravel. I didn't care when the Varia was going off on pavement as cars easily move around on side roads and 2 lane 2 way roads. It was great for the gravel miles as I was able to move over to the right multiple times without delaying/frustrating the vehicle behind me.
No constant checking and still situationally aware and courteous. Win win.

Branko D

I enjoy riding on the road. My typical evening training loop has a good bit of traffic, and of course there's close overtaking both ways, but as long as the speed differences aren't really big... :shrug:

The reason I'm building a gravel bike is more because bastardizing my road bike to be more capable offroad seems like a bit of a waste, but so does riding unpaved bits on 23mm TT tires and deep carbon rims, and a MTB is just stupid on the road.

Plus I really like the idea, especially when we go on vacation and room on the bike rack is at a premium, that I can take one bike and be able to training on the road and go fairly quickly but also explore the local gravel paths or ride with the kids on forest paths without worrying that I'll trash the tires or the bike. There are also some interesting places to see where there are no paved roads which go there, so there's the element of exploration.
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pbass

This is my turf as well. I live in Glendale on Chevy Chase. I agree, it's pretty great for a gravel bike--you can really tie together a route of mostly dirt if you want, with all the fire roads, etc. The most dangerous part I normally ride frankly is up my own street, the way cars take those blind turns as you head up to La Canada. I get off the pavement and onto the dirt ASAP!

himespau 

A Varia sounds like a great idea.