Bill in VA

Another dog advice is, do NOT try to out run a herding dog, unless you are very, very fast with endurance. Herding dogs have the instinct of a Sidewinder missile to carefully calculate your speed, direction, and acceleration to plot a perfect intercept course. The clearer the line of sight, the better their accuracy.

I know this from experience, where I learned about the bike between you and the dog technique, and also from having a Australian Shepherd and watching him with animals in our yard and with other dogs at dog parks. He was great with humans though.

GranSport70

Try not to look back at every Girl you pass!
I went over a parked car on my way back from Driver's ed class in 1965.
I went over a Large Trash Can, placed out on the street last month, at the ripe age of 70 and many other mishaps in between!

Chuck M 

I don't know that this a rule, but experience has certainly taught me that I'm not 17 any longer. The high speed cornering was only exhilarating up to the point that I realized I don't heal as quickly as I once did.

downtube42

Ride fast, sleep lots.

When you see someone else drink, have a drink. When you see a water tower, have a drink. When you think about a drink, have a drink. When you think it's been a while since you peed, have a drink.

Don't carry any tools you aren't comfortable using.

Plan for temps 10 degrees colder than forecast, plus rain. Unless it's summer, then it's 10 degrees hotter than forecast, with blazing sun.

As far as mechanicals, flats are inevitable. Anything else is a distant second. Prepare appropriately.

Don't quit an organized ride until you are disqualified on time. Even if you're in the emergency room, your still in it until the clock or an official says you're out.

EVFreewheeler

You can be dead right or dead wrong... either way you are dead!

EVFreewheeler

In California, riding farther to the left makes you a better target for the drivers.

GlennR

100%

If I don't see their eyes I don't know if they see me.

I hate dark tinted door windows which are illegal in New York. They need to go after the state licensed inspection stations that pass these cars.

jon c. 

On some country roads around here, it's good idea to ride toward the center of the lane when there is no traffic. Between roadkill on the pavement and woody vines hanging from trees, the right edge can be dangerous.

Rstyle

I definitely agree with the: expect the second car but particularly the trailer. On two occasions I have looked in my mirror and see an empty road behind me except for one upcoming vehicle.
On the mirror there is nothing as far as I can see behind the vehicle, so when the vehicle passes I start moving left to just be within the car lane and to my surprise find out that they were pulling a trailer
that you could not see on the mirror (one was a landscaping trailer and was a pool guy pulling all his chemicals and equipment). I always assume there is a trailer or a second car.

One fall was after a light sprinkle, not significant. The pavement looked dry but I turned slightly on an 6 or 8ft yellow painted area on the road for a golf cart crossing and both wheels flew from under me at the same time.
I was not even touching the brakes.Fortunately no injuries but on the ground in 1.83 seconds!! Those yellow painted areas are like soap when slightly (or completely) wet.

AVolta

Carrying both a tube and a patch kit has proven essential for me time and again. Once I ran over a staple which punctured the tube in two adjacent holes, making it impossible to patch. My protocol now is to use the new tube, but patch the flat one to use as a spare for the rest of the ride.

AVolta

Dismounting when a dog comes after you is good advice. Once I had plenty of speed going downhill, enough (I thought) to blow past the dog at the bottom of the hill. That was a mistake. Having learned my lesson, another time two dogs came at me from someone's backyard. The best thing to do was dismount and put the bike between me and them. Yelling "go home" might have helped. They eventually got bored and left me alone.

Tim Dunn

Been cycling for 45+ years.

Staying out of the path of vehicles makes sense to me.

Intentionally riding well into the lane is simply asking for some inattentive driver to get really close or hit you.

Riding in a manner that 'forces' a driver into the oncoming lane in no way sounds like a safe way to ride.

Don't forget:

It doesn't matter who has the right of way.
It doesn't matter if you are following all the rules.
It doesn't' matter if you have all the right gear on.
It doesn't matter if you have good lights.

NONE OF THOSE THINGS MATTER IF YOU GET INTO A COLLISION WITH A VEHICLE BECAUSE THE ONLY OUTCOME IS THAT THE CYCLIST LOSES THE ENCOUNTER! (every time)

The only place you will find me is as far right as the pavement reasonably allows.

Inusuit

I'm 76. My neck doesn't swivel like it did when I was younger. I have one mirror on each bike, not eleven (hyperbole much?). When I'm making that regular left turn off a 65 mph highway to get to my gravel routes, I stop and look behind before crossing traffic.

So my rule is don't criticize others for what they do attempting to be safe and responsible cyclists.

TeamJAB

Never ride on the road without the Varia radar, but don't soley depend on it, look over your shoulder to be sure they see you.

Never ride in a paceline with someone on aerobars.

As someone said earlier, always have a ditch plan.

y0x8

After the trip, drink 0.5 liters of vodka, because you are tired drink water ...

Sal Bandini

If it looks like wet cement, it IS wet cement.

justkeepspinnin

Three special urban rules I learned a long time ago for riding the avenues of New York City:


1. Watch the right front tire of every car that is abreast of and/or passing you. As soon as that tire starts to turn to the right, hit the brakes or escape to the right.


2. Watch the sidewalks not just the street. (a) Pedestrians jaywalking can kill you or themselves by stepping in front of you. Either they didn't see you because they were looking for cars or they saw you but assumed you were going at the speed they go when twiddling on their bike. (b) If you see a person standing on the curb with their hand up, immediately check to your left and behind for that cab that is about to go right through you to pick up that fare. It's nothing personal, they just have the same specific image targeting as the jaywalkers.


3. Ride like you were driving a car in that environment. In NYC, that means riding as fast or faster than the motorized traffic, up to even diving into every opening in the traffic to advance your position. If you act like a car (on NYC avenues more cabs than anything else) you are less likely to slow drivers down and you are in the flow of drivers' traffic expectations. Except for the mythical psychopath, drivers just don't want to be delayed by your slower moving vehicle, so your hesitation infuriates them.

Rstyle

From today’s ride!

Be especially alert when riding on a street or neighborhood with partially visible driveways, Drivers backing up will have to go into the road before they can see from the drivers seat cars or bicycles approaching on the street. Expect a vehicle to come out into your path at anytime

( fortunately they back up slowly, but had a near miss today from a long pick up truck backing up out of a driveway. He never saw me.
I was fortunate that there were not any cars coming behind me and was able to make a wide turn around him in the car lane)

sammymann

Someone is going to try and hit you. Then trade you in for the giant stuffed panda.

y0x8

Don't open beer lids with your teeth. Use a special bottle opener.

stephr1

1. Always have a Plan B, C and D (see my "signature")
2. Assume that car with the driver is about to do something stupid because they most likely will. As such, have a strategy that will help you avoid becoming an unfortunate "object of their affliction(s)"

drsmoooth

Ride 99 percent on paved bile trails and stay off the roads.
Never assume a driver sees you when crossing the street.
Very bright bike lights.

big john

We don't have any bile trails out here.

wphamilton

Here's a few random rules

• Treat that puddle of water as if it's hiding something, no matter how innocent it appears.​​​​​
• Don't look at the top of the hill, it's trying to psyche you out.
• Don't give chase to roadies when you're riding fixed

Flip Flop Rider

agree 100% about those puddles

you know this is a thread that new cyclist could learn a ton in one place. Great thread whomever started it (forgot to look