boozergut

If you lose attention and ride off the MUP, just stop, dismount, and push your bike back on it. That lip will throw you down.

Your friend that has ADD and cant stop talking will crash often and take you out.

prairiepedaler

Don't assume the guy driving the vehicle turning left at an intersection in front of you can see you! I was certainly shakey after experiencing that incident.

Speedskater

When passing people on a path:
Remember that they have ear phones, so be loud.
They may be old with poor hearing so don;t use a bell.
Never say Left or Right. 33% will move that direction.
Say "Passing Please" and let them figure out where to move.
When I'm walking or jogging, I find that many bike rider cell out way too late.

rsbob 

When riding in the wet, or on wet pavement, stay off painted lines and metal grates because they can become quite slippery.

This thread should be part of the ‘50+ Newbie Rider’ thread. Lots of accumulated wisdom and what not.

DiabloScott

There are deer in the shadows of those trees all along the ride, and one of them is going to run in front of you... be ready.

MoAlpha

Never tempt a driver to split a narrow lane with you.

inaminit

while riding don't start a debate with bollards, trees or guard rails..... their rebuttals are based on strong foundations

rsbob 

Rim-shot!

Bad Lag

Lessons Learned -

Do NOT ride on bike paths. Ride in the road with other vehicular traffic.

Ride your bike with full respect for the rules of the road, including the special (additional) provisions for bicycles.

ALWAYS leave a way out for the other guy.

Charles Lathe

Avoid pedal strikes in a turn.

Garfield Cat

Bike riding experiences translates to automobile driving skills.

Bike riding in a group requires a certain development of awareness of yourself in a pack. Auto driving may also involve the same type of awareness of those around you.

Bike riding on hills, going up and down, reveals how some automobile drivers show no awareness of their need to "pace" their gas pedal.

Bike riding at a full traffic stop signal allows me to be considerate with the cars waiting to make a right hand turn. By moving to the left, it allows the cars to make a safe turn and helps with the flow of traffic.

Carbonfiberboy 

Personal preferences of mine . . . I wouldn't call them rules, but it's what I always do and they've never been a mistake:

I carry 2 tubes, a patch kit, a boot kit, and a spare tire. If I flat, I change both tire and tube. That's so much quicker than looking for the puncture in the tube, then trying to find the object in the tire. Next flat of course I have to go back to the slow way of doing it. It's always nice to know you can continue, no matter what, barring complete disaster.

I always ride as far to the right as is safe, leaving myself a little more pavement to my right than I absolutely need just in case I have a moment of inattention. If there's no shoulder beyond the fog line, I ride 6" to the left of it (USA). I know riders who've been hit twice(!) while riding out in the lane, both times by the rear of the car as it pulled back to the right. That happens because the car is further to the left and more exposed to oncoming traffic and thus pulls back to the right earlier. Don't make the car move further left than forces its left wheels more than 2' to the left of the centerline. I've probably seen a few hundred instances where the passing car misjudged the speed of the oncoming car and had to pull right much earlier than expected. Lanes are actually wide enough that the car can pass me without crossing the centerline, but almost all drivers are kind enough to give me a wide berth. Though my Dinotte blinky might have something to do with that, hard to say.

I was once out on a group ride, single file on the right, when a car passed us, a bit over the centerline, but coming into a blind left-hander. Just beyond the left-hander was an oncoming police car. Pretty soon, the police car was passing us, giving us a nice safe berth. Pretty soon, there was the police car and the offender, completely off the road to our right. We gave the cop a thumbs up.

rydabent

Consider every car driver out there a homicidal maniac, and NEVER challenge them for room on the road.

flangehead

I had to re-learn this yesterday.

Don’t take any chances with low front tire pressure. Low pressure significantly reduces traction.

Carbonfiberboy 

Agree with the above. I pump my tires with my floor pump, which has a pressure gauge, every time before I get on it. Stuff happens.

botty kayer

Always carry spare inner tubes and basic tools/pump.

Always stop to offer help to a rider that has failed to do the above.

Always carry a water bottle and a snack, usually a flapjack.

Make eye contact with drivers where necessary/possible -NEVER assume they've seen you

Always give a nod of approval or finger wave or audible thank you if a driver or another rider lets you in/out, or is gracious to you in another way like gives you a nice wide space when passing. There's enough cycling nobbers out there giving us a bad name, and cycling haters in general, so I like to try and convey happiness, thanks and positivity in my cycle experiences.

Don't ride when there's ice on the road, just not worth it. I've been downed enough times now to know better.

Don't ride in winds over 40 mph, again just not worth it, getting a surprise side gust cycling by the sky scrapers in a city centre can easily blow you into the path of oncoming traffic.

Regularly check tyre pressures and tyres themselves to remove any tiny flints that are in the tyre and can turn in a puncture any minute now.....

Life is to short to skimp on cheap/rubbish tyres, treat you and your bike, you're worth it and they are better.

If someone pulls a dick move, let it go, if you got away unscathed no harm is done, no point stressing over it, besides another nobber will be along any second so don't raise your blood pressure unnecessarily.

And the final one, not a rule as such but a happy side effect of cycling, wear a smile. The day will go better.

botty kayer

Oh and I forgot, ALWAYS use front and rear lights at night. The clocks changed to winter time months ago now yet I still see a stunning number of riders going around at night in dark clothing and no lights.

Get yourself seen, don't give them the excuse to utter the immortal line "sorry mate I didn't see you", it can be deadly.

rsbob 

In the states, “flap jacks” are the slang name for pancakes. What is your definition of them? Picture?

rsbob 

Be situationally aware at all times. You never know when a car may cut you off, or a deer or squirrel (or in my case a chicken) may pop out, so be prepared to brake, avoid, or get yourself off the road.

Keep your cool no matter how pissed off you might be at a drivers actions because they are the ones driving the lethal weapon.

botty kayer

ah yes pancakes would not be a convenient and easy to carry cycle food.

Every day is a school day, so I'm glad I now know not to ask for flapjacks for cycling food when I come to the US. This is what I meant, inc pics
https://www.myrecipes.com/extracrisp...itish-flapjack

t2p

one of the best

especially valuable if you also ride a motorcycle on the road ...

Calsun

I grew up riding on city streets in the Los Angeles area and I realized that I needed to act in a predictable manner to avoid getting hit by motorists. The "rules" do not matter if you did while doing the "right thing" and get hit by a car.

In current times I now carry a cell phone and a credit card and have an Ubber account so worst case I can get a ride back to my car.

Biker395 

1. No matter what you do, you are going to crash eventually. Do the best you can anyway.
2. Enjoy yourself. Nothing lasts forever.

steelbikeguy

regarding the first rule: Treat that puddle of water as if it's hiding something, no matter how innocent it appears.​​​​​

I had an incident this summer on a very familiar MUP that intersects a road that I use. It doesn't have proper drainage where the MUP meets the road, and water will pool there for many days.




I was approaching from the left side of this photo, and preparing to turn right onto the MUP. I knew that I should be careful with the wet surface, so I had slowed to a mere crawl.. almost a track stand... to make the turn and be going straight when the front wheel entered the water. I didn't want to take any chances.

Well, as soon as the front wheel touched the sloped surface under the water, the wheel slid out the right, dumping me hard onto the pavement on my left side. On the plus side, I was basically stopped, so there were no abrasions. I was wearing gloves, so my left hand was okay, at least in terms of the skin. My left hip and left hand were very sore for a number of days just from the impact, and I did report this to the city when I got home (complete with photos, including this one).

Since then, I've taken photos to document what sort of crud, slime, algae, moss, etc. is growing in the water (disregard the grass clippings)...




I'm not sure how to generalize this to all interactions with a pool of water, but certainly treat them with suspicion!

Steve in Peoria

tkamd73 

1. Preflight your bike
2. Trust no one

I know preflight is not really the appropriate terminology, but pre-ride sounds stupid, so maybe, check-over your bike pre-ride, nah too many words.
Tim