I've been riding on busy roads with no shoulder since I was 7. I also use a mirror, though of course I didn't when I was a kid. Anxiety only increases your danger. Ride smoothly, predictably, and hold your line.

Two things that will help you more than a mirror are bright blinkies front and rear, 24/7. People instinctively avoid bright flashing lights. In front I have a 200 lumen white flashing light (Serfas) and in the rear a 60 lumen red flasher, also Serfas. I'm thinking I really should get a 300 lumen rear flasher, a Dinotte 300r. All my lights are USB, so no batteries to mess with as long as the ride isn't longer than their batteries will last. For really long rides I have backup conventional battery lights, almost as bright. It's critical that people see you, and having seen you, avoid you.

I have these on the rear.

And one of these on the front.


Even though we have the lights my mirror probably saved mine and my sons life a few weeks ago when some dumbass girl was texting and never even saw us. We saw here first because of our mirrors and got off the road.

I hope you reported this incident to the school district's transportation department.

I have concluded that, FOR ME, bicycling is supposed to be fun and a form of relaxation and meditation. I have enough other stresses in my life to not add any more, and watching for cars, being buzzed by busses, trucks and whatever, attenpting to compete with other bicyclers to see who is "fastest", competing with others to see who has the latest technology - and subtly showing the results of my accumulated $$$ to brag to the rest of the forum about how many goodies I have collected, and other - TO ME (likely not you, but TO ME) activities that INCREASE my stress level are verboten. I avoid doing them like the plague.

So, I find the peaceful way for providing that critical relaxation I need given the nature and built-in stresses I already have and find trails and routes that have the least stress (again FOR ME) for my bicycling relaxation and exercise. I try and travel the simple path of life in this endeavor, and spend my "stress time" on issues I consider critical such as approproate and timely services for individuals with disabilities and the like.

I live in a city, with an extensive trail network, I did 25km last Saturday, and only 4km of that was on streets, much of this is what I call a professional level trail, where everyone knows what they are supposed to do..... Saw one fellow with the same model of bicycle I was on (The Bushpilot), but his was 11 years older. Cool to see what changed in 11 years...
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I agree with the few comments that just riding along is relatively safe. Using cameras just adds stress because it means you are looking for trouble. Mirrors also add stress because you constantly are looking for things other than enjoying the ride. Generally if something is behind me that causes concern I hear nad can sense the danger and just turn around to look.

I'm not sure if traffic has gotten worse or I'm just more concerned about my survival in my older years but, I try to stay off the streets whenever possible. Granted, that's only about 50% of the time but I always look for an alternate, safer route whenever possible. I've had too many large trucks and cars get way too close to me on the road to think it's just a once in a while thing. Some of them are so close I could have adjusted their mirrors! That makes me nervous.

The closest I have come to being killed was in front of my house.

20 mph speed limit.

Cell Phone driver came at me head on, ran me into the curb.

Three feet from his window when he passed me.

Very Clear that he Never saw me.

I don't worry on other streets and roads.

I don’t have many issues with drivers, but there’s the occasional imbecile that just barely misses my left handlebar, but a miss is a miss, so no harm done. I don’t let it bend me out of shape, but instead I continue enjoying my ride.

However, a driver did strike my left arm and left handlebar with her passenger side mirror in late April while I was doing 25 MPH down a mild incline in broad daylight (around noon with excellent visibility). The impact with my left arm removed my left hand from the handgrip just as an instant later her passenger side mirror struck my left handlebar, which sent my bike into a death shake oscillation that didn’t seem recoverable especially with only one hand remaining on the handlebar with a foot high curb awaiting my new out of control trajectory (gulp).

However, the Lord tends to looks favorably upon me, so I miraculously managed to regain control of my bike just in time to avoid the foot high curb and was able to continue without much loss of speed (a genuine “thank you, Lord” moment). The driver kept going as though nothing happened, but she knew she struck me, as the impact sound of her passenger side mirror was quite loud and her windows were wide open with no radio playing. In her rear view mirror she would also see the death shake and near collision with the foot high curb that she invoked by the impact.

About 100 yards from the point of impact, she suddenly stopped her car dead in the right lane at which time she caused speeding traffic to swerve in all directions to avoid hitting her, which again put me in danger as I had to dodge all the swerving cars! It was akin to a game of “Dodge Ball with Cars” or “Asteroids”. Now tell me there isn’t real excitement and adventure to be had when bicycling, ay?

Rather than pointlessly name call the driver as I rode by her (which fails to reverse the scenario or make anyone smarter or more apologetic), I simply recited the “4 foot law that’s in effect for bicyclists in PA”. She just sat their dead stopped in the right lane of traffic looking every bit the dullard that her folly of imbecilic actions revealed her to be. Soon after, she started moving again and this time she passed me with plenty of clearance.

Just seconds later I was already back in my zone and enjoying my ride to the LBS. After all, I was heading to the LBS to pick up the new components I ordered, so how could I have a bad day with that to look forward to.

Speaking from personal experience, you are just as likely to get plowed into by a careless, distracted tool that runs a stop sign on a quiet little residential street, as you are on a faster road. In fact, I would argue that it's even more likely, as drivers tend to be more cautious on busier roads with higher speed limits, in my experience.

It's been said that most drivers get into accidents less than 5 miles from their homes. I believe it. Comfortable surroundings breed carelessness and complacency.

My wife was on her cycle, rear-ended by a car in broad daylight, and had quite a few serious injuries. I took a nasty fall last year (not by a car). Last month, in broad daylight and minimal traffic, car ran a stop sign AFTER SEEING ME, and I had a fall and serious rib injury.
I still ride the streets....until I can get to my nearby MUP. I also put my bike on the car rack and drive to other nice MUP's, some as much as an hour away. I, too, am 61 years old and have become "gun-shy." I do my best to stay on the side streets, and am ever-vigilant. The joy of riding outweighs the fear, but I'd be a liar if I didn't admit that the fear is present.

To take a contrary view, I've had a ton more near-misses on MUPs than on the roads. Sure, the chances of getting killed are higher in car/bike encounters, but people do get seriously injured in MUP accidents, and expensive bikes often have to be replaced, with no recourse against an insurance company.

You have people walking 3-4-5 abreast. You have kids who can barely stay upright on their bikes, let alone hold a line, with zero parental supervision. You have dogs---owners walking them on 20' leashes fully extended, or who think that leash laws don't apply to them. You have more careless bike riders per mile than on any stretch of the road---often wearing ear buds and unable to hear any passing warning. I've seen riders decide that they can't buck a headwind any longer, and start to turn around feet away from me without even looking. Tourists who haven't ridden a bike since college decide to rent a bike and cruise a MUP while on vacation, and know zero about riding safely. They'll be pedaling along abreast of their SO, head turned, talking, and they'll be weaving all over the path.

Until my recent encounter with the above-referenced tool (see my post just a little up the page) I was never on the ground during a road ride. I don't race, and while I had one or two hairy moments on group rides with noobies, nothing bad ever happened, and I do at least 20 group rides a year. I've been on the ground at least 5 times that I can think of off the top of my head on MUPs. All but one involved----you guessed it---loose or uncontrolled dogs. I once laid my bike down intentionally to avoid strangling a dog whose owner had it on 25' of leash that I wasn't able to see in time to stop and avoid having it wrap my front wheel. Luckily, none of those falls damaged my bike.

You’ve pointed out the same horrible conditions that exist on an MUP 11~12 miles from my house. Making matters worse is its ridiculous posted speed limit of 10 MPH. It would irritate me to no end to do the entire course at a mere 10 MPH.

My friend was under the impression that it might be a good trail to ride safely with his children, so on one of our road rides I led him to the MUP one day (which he was excited about initially) via our mountain bikes just to show him how useless the trail was to ride via bicycle via all the negatives. He was totally disappointed with it before we completed its short 4.8 mile loop.

There are off road trails which would be great via a mountain bike, but signs are posted “No Trail Riding Permitted”. They may as well have posted signs saying “Absolutely No Fun Permitted!”

So in reality, that MUP isn’t even worth riding especially since it has a 10~11% grade (and several hundred vertical feet of elevation to lose) that you’d have to drag your brakes the entire way down just to keep speed limited to 10 MPH. Who wants to climb a long steep hill only to be forced to creep down chicken-man style, dragging their smoking brakes at 10 MPH? Not me. I’ve never found a good MUP and I suspect I never will around this population zone.

Sorry but dinky ass bicycle lights are a waste of money for true safety. Shop automotive , or farm parts, to find a light that can be SEEN from a long way off.

Can you give an example of a farm parts supplier, online or brick & mortar, and an example of the items you're making reference to?
I'm all for re-purposing items into service.

Like this busy, crowded dangerous MUP? Typical of 100's of miles of MUPS around here.

We're pretty fortunate, up here in the Spokane area, to have some excellent MUPs that run from Spokane into and around the Coeur d'Alene Idaho area. Since I've been using those quite a bit to get just about anywhere in three different towns I stay out of a lot of trouble with traffic.

They are also long enough to be devoid of pedestrian for long stretches. In and around the populated areas though there is a lot of that and I'll just hit my lollygagging gear, keep my hands close to the brakes when near other people and slow down to a crawl around kids and unpracticed bike handlers. (There's a 15mph speed limit there anyway). It's really a small inconvenience for the privilege of having such a good path for transit to the towns around here.

I find that if you slow down on the more inhabited parts of the MUP you'll avoid a lot of trouble with the people you share it with. That's not to say you don't have little incidents but they are far less when you strive to be considerate. I also see bikers who are at the top of the speed limit or breaking it in the more inhabited parts sometimes and do get into close calls with pedestrians. We are lucky to have an MUP long enough to do some jammin' on in the less populated parts.

Well, my "dinky" lights have gotten lots of comments by many, peds, cyclists, and motorists about how noticeable they are and how easily seen.

What I'm talking about, right here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8coJMcUtCo

This is a good bike light. Yep, expensive, but lots cheaper than the alternative. My Servas 200 lumen headlamp with a fast flash mode works well in front. I always run my blinkies in daylight, too.

Denver, were you and Nora riding the trail 24 hours after an evacuation order? Seriously though, there’s almost no one but yourselves on that trail.

Conversely, every straight of our MUP is as populated as a bustling block party! I mean it’s nothing but dodging walkers, joggers, dogs on ridiculously long leashes, baby strollers, small children, roller bladders, and a few bicyclists. My cousin and I rode it once in late winter on a chilly day and we had it almost to ourselves, but even then, the posted 10 MPH speed limit signs ruin the ride potential.

Your MUP would be a treat to ride!

Not all MUPS are the same, yet some people write about them as if they were. And, I will be the first to state that on a sunny, warm Saturday morning, there will be a lot more folks. Still, I find that if I treat folks with respect, slow way down around congregated area and especially children, I enjoy myself. Our MUPS mostly are 15 t0 20 mph speed lmits, but there are many areas where visibility is such that I have no problem with 20 - 25 - where I can see several hundred feet away. I ride MUPS daily, and have my choice out my back door of at least 4 different trails. Most of our MUPS go for 10 - 20 - 30 - 40 miles without a stop sign or street crossing.

Not all MUPS are the same. I am distressed when folks treat them as if they are all the same as the ones in their area.

He has a 30 pound 12 volt auto battery attached to his Worksman.

The type of riding I do, primarily touring, training and recreational rides puts me on all types of roads and into many different situations. I take them as they come, and practice good riding techniques.

I tend to agree with the folks that would rather be on a road than a MUP. For me roads are faster, more relaxing to ride, and safer. I usually won't ride on a MUP unless we are riding through a large city or there is no other option.


Sometimes we have to take what comes and just deal with it

That and the fact that most driving is within 5 miles of home.

Mile for mile, it's not even close.