scared to ride in town

[Raptor]

Raptor wrote:
> biker. I've hit maybe three cars in my life (parked or stopped - my bad), but have NEVER been hit.
> So you see, it can be done safely.

I lie. I forgot about the time I got tagged by a suspected illegal alien (he drove off, a
hit-n-run). It was a minor bump that merely bent my left crankarm, but millimeters from being very
bad. If I hadn't been distracted by a totally separate Stupid Driver Trick, I would have seen him.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall "I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we
could to protect our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security." --Microsoft VP in
charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.

 

[Gabrielle]

On Sun, 01 Jun 2003 20:18:24 -0700, determined wrote:

> Ok, I have a mountain bike... But I'd like to start riding to work, for health reasons and
> environmental reasons. I've never ridden in town, and I live in Portland, OR. I'm very intimidated
> by cars, heavy traffic, maneuvering intersections, etc. I only have a 5 mile ride one way, which
> is perfect IMO, and I just haven't had the courage to try this ride for fear of getting run over
> by a car!
>
> What's the best way to break into riding in a city?
>
> determined

<digging through my file of local bike info>

I have a map called "Bike There!" published by Metro. The streets are color-coded by amount of
traffic, there are arrows that show one-way streets, different arrows that show grades, and red
circles around "difficult intersections". Mine is from 1995 so I imagine you'd want an updated copy.

I also have an "East Multnomah County Bicycling Guide" that shows much of the same info, except it
goes out to Orient.

Any of your LBSs should have these maps, or you could probably call the Metro bicycling program.

Try the bicycle transportation alliance: http://www.bta4bikes.org/ I would recommend that you stick
to the streets that have bike lanes. Portland is very bike-friendly compared to, say, Washington,
DC. But, I have noticed that Portland drivers aren't a whole lot better than DC drivers--just in
Portland they are not trying to run you over out of any malicious intent (usually).

 

[x]

RE/
>Pete They don't want to hit you any more than you want them to, if only to avoid the scratched
>paint and the paperwork...

True most of the time...but not all the time. Witnessed it myself form the safety of my car. Called
the cops, perp talked his way out of it with near-zero effort.
-----------------------
PeteCresswell

 

[Clydesdalemtb]

Just remember to remind the responding officer that "I didn't see him!", is an admission of guilt,
NOT an absolution of responsibility.

 

[James Messick]

"determined" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:4mzCa.1100667$S_4.1112447@rwcrnsc53...
> Ok, I have a mountain bike... But I'd like to start riding to work, for health reasons and
> environmental reasons. I've never ridden in town, and
I
> live in Portland, OR. I'm very intimidated by cars, heavy traffic, maneuvering intersections, etc.
> I only have a 5 mile ride one way, which
is
> perfect IMO, and I just haven't had the courage to try this ride for fear
of
> getting run over by a car!
>
> What's the best way to break into riding in a city?

Be afraid, be very afraid! Ride as if you're invisible to the drivers.

 

[Determined]

Thanks to everyone for all of the advice! Quite a helpful bunch, aren't ya'll? I did try a city ride
today through some of the busier areas, and the worst part, at least today, was breathing the fumes
from the vehicles. My eyes, nose and lungs burned for hours. Does this get better over time?

det

"determined" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:4mzCa.1100667$S_4.1112447@rwcrnsc53...
> Ok, I have a mountain bike... But I'd like to start riding to work, for health reasons and
> environmental reasons. I've never ridden in town, and
I
> live in Portland, OR. I'm very intimidated by cars, heavy traffic, maneuvering intersections, etc.
> I only have a 5 mile ride one way, which
is
> perfect IMO, and I just haven't had the courage to try this ride for fear
of
> getting run over by a car!
>
> What's the best way to break into riding in a city?
>
> determined

 

[Gyp]

determined wrote:
> What's the best way to break into riding in a city?

I think all of the good ones have gone (eye contact, space on road etc) but really all that's left
is nerve. Like youeself I wasn't looking forwards to riding on roads. What really got my over it was
doing the "London Bike Ride" Heart Radio where sponsoring the event which was a 26 mile ride through
the center of London.

London not being the most friendly of towns to drive in I rarther naively assumed they your close
the roads for us. <Chuckle>Boy was I wrong.. There where so many of us we forced cars off the road
and took over it was great.

The best bit was on the embankment stretch there were road works and it was a hot day. The folks
moving inch by inch on the road did not look happy when thousand after thousand cyclists came
through there ranks like water off a ducks back.

Anyways afterwards my opinion on cars had changed, in most built up areas I now seem them as slow
moving obstacles. Whilst this doesn't give me imunity to them hitting me (Common sense and avoiding
them does) I do feel a lot better about riding among them now.

Gyp

 

[Stephen Baker]

Gyp says:

> What really got my over it was doing the "London Bike Ride" Heart Radio where sponsoring the event
> which was a 26 mile ride through the center of London.
>

<snip>

>Whilst this doesn't give me imunity to them hitting me (Common sense and avoiding them does) I do
>feel a lot better about riding among them now.

London...... Memories of Hyde Park Corner at rush-hour, Piccadilly Circus, Ealing Broadway (not in
that order, mind you..... ) Commuted from South Norwood to Willesden every day by bike in 1975. The
only really indispensible tools are a good pair of gloves (for knocking on cars to remind the driver
that you are there if they try to squish you against another car, or bus) and a 6-footdayglo orange
stick with a dayglo lime ball on the end so they can see you (sometimes) and so you can say "Look,
officer - how the fsck could they miss seeing me with this thing tied to the bike...".

Happy days.

Steve

 

[Shaun Rimmer]

Corvus Corvax <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "determined" <[email protected]> wrote
> > I'm very intimidated by cars, heavy traffic, maneuvering intersections, etc. I only have a 5
> > mile ride one way,
which is
> > perfect IMO, and I just haven't had the courage to try this ride for
fear of
> > getting run over by a car!
>
> Take a look at:
>
> http://bicyclesafe.com/index.html
>
> It'll give you some good tips on vehicular cycling. Even better, pick up a copy of "Effective
> Cycling" by John Forester and read chapters 26-35. You _can_ ride safely in heavy traffic, but it
> requires education and practice.

And balls of steel.

Shaun aRe - 'clang!'.......ahem.

 

[Penny S.]

Gyp thoughtfully penned:
> Anyways afterwards my opinion on cars had changed, in most built up areas I now seem them as slow
> moving obstacles. Whilst this doesn't give me imunity to them hitting me (Common sense and
> avoiding them does) I do feel a lot better about riding among them now.
>
> Gyp

I still see them as carriers of idiots when I"m on my bike... the water balloon incident and the
firecracker incident just reinforce that.

Penny

 

[Mark Hickey]

ClydesdaleMTB <[email protected]> wrote:

>Just remember to remind the responding officer that "I didn't see him!", is an admission of guilt,
>NOT an absolution of responsibility.

I just got the police report on my own accident, and happily the driver was sited for "making an
unsafe turn". Hooray.

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles http://www.habcycles.com Home of the $695 ti frame

 

[Mark Hickey]

"jimbo(san)" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Mark Hickey wrote:
>
>> I've managed to miss the cars on my motorcycles, and had on my road bike through 100,000+ road
>> miles - until:
>>
>> http://www.habcycles.com/bikecrash.html
>>
>> Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles http://www.habcycles.com Home of the $695 ti frame
>
>But was the bike okay????? ;-)

Almost. One of my aerobar extensions was bent up pretty good (but the bar end shifter left a GREAT
big scratch through the middle of the body-induced dent in the door). The front wheel never touched
the truck, but went UNDER it. I should mention that the truck was a Ford F350 (large), four wheel
drive with some extra height, and was straddling the road and sidewalk when I clobbered him.

Basically I didn't have time to brace or brake, so all the bike had to stop was the bike. My helmet,
OTOH, had to stop me. It obviously didn't fare so well. That didn't stop me from walking it into the
local Supergo store and telling the clerk "this helmet failed while I was just riding along...". The
sad thing is, he looked like he almost thought I was serious (or more accurately, seriously trying
to scam him).

Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles http://www.habcycles.com Home of the $695 ti frame

 

[Clydesdalemtb]

Mark Hickey wrote:
> ClydesdaleMTB <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>>Just remember to remind the responding officer that "I didn't see him!", is an admission of guilt,
>>NOT an absolution of responsibility.

> I just got the police report on my own accident, and happily the driver was sited for "making an
> unsafe turn". Hooray.

Can you say "Compensatory and Punitive Damages"?-)

 

[Chris Thurrott]

On 6/1/03 11:18 PM, in article 4mzCa.1100667$S_4.1112447@rwcrnsc53, "determined"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Ok, I have a mountain bike... But I'd like to start riding to work, for health reasons and
> environmental reasons. I've never ridden in town, and I live in Portland, OR. I'm very intimidated
> by cars, heavy traffic, maneuvering intersections, etc. I only have a 5 mile ride one way, which
> is perfect IMO, and I just haven't had the courage to try this ride for fear of getting run over
> by a car!
>
> What's the best way to break into riding in a city?
>
> determined
>
>

Try this link:

http://www.massbike.org/info/bostraf.htm

 

[John Santos]

As soon as you work your up to the busier streets, get a reflective vest (like the kind construction
workers get) and a mirror. If decide to stick with commuting (not just to work, but everywhere),
swap your knobbie tires with slicks. One more thing - read "Commuting by Bike" by Will Orobko.

And when you do ride, try to stick to the road as much as possible. The one time I went to the
sidewalk, I was broadsided by an idiot who didn't see me in spite of my bright yellow jacket
spangled with reflective tape.

 

[crazy6r54]

I use a headlight,red flashing taillight, Fireflies on the tube stems and light color or yellow
shirt or jacket.

Fire up MTB 03