It's not the pace

I was invited to join some Meetup folks on a "relaxed pace" 20 mile bike ride. I figured I could ride a relaxed pace, so off I went to join them. The ride was to start at 10AM sharp.  I arrived with 15 minutes to spare.

photo by Alan

We rolled out with about 20 people at 10:10, not bad for Meetup.

It was a nice day for a ride.

photo by Alan

It didn't take long for me to realize that it wasn't the pace that was going to be the problem. It seems that people who ride 10-12mph don't have the best safe riding skills. I cringed as people rode within a foot of parked cars.

If there weren't cars coming, I was the only one who actually stopped at stop signs. Everyone else would call out "slowing" or "clear".

Riders would filter up along the right side of cars stopped at signals.

The group rode straight across intersections from the right turn only lanes.

I didn't figure it was my place to preach.

I'll save preaching for here. ;-)

1) Don't ride within 5 ft of parked cars. Dooring is not anything you want to have happen to you.



2) Stop at stop signs.  a) it's the law   b) it sets good example  c) it shows others that not all cyclists are scofflaws d) it is the safest thing to do. e) and if you don't you run the risk of being on YouTube.



Would you like your mother to see you blatantly disregarding the law?

3) Don't ever ride to the right side of a vehicle that may turn right. Cell phone distracted, non mirror checking, non signaling drivers will run over you........every time.

4) Make all turns from the appropriate lane positions. Motor vehicle drivers expect you proceed in the direction appropriate to your position.  Going straight when in a right turn lane puts you at risk of a "left cross" collision.

Be safe, live to ride another day.

Today's course was a nice mixture of bike boulevards, quiet residential streets, and wide shouldered city arterials.

...........road bike..........rollers.........mtb..........lifecycle.......total
Today.............20...............0..............0...............0..................20 Jan...............765...............0...............0...............0...............765
Feb................248...............0...............0...............0................248
March...........102.................0................0..............0................102
Total............1115...............0...............0...............0..............1115