Riding in Urban Jungles
Hi Mary,
I ride just up the road from you in San Jose, Ca. I have a 35cc GEBE for city commuting at 28mph. I am also an experienced casual bicyclist that has been riding in traffic for many years. To minimize exposure to traffic accidents, here are some of the things I do -
* Map out my street route and carefully select parallel roads to main car arteries. Preferentially choose streets with bike lanes (check this out for Orange County -
http://www.octa.net/bikeways.asp?category=bikeways&page=bikeways map )
* Wear an orange highway safety vest with reflectors. By looking at drivers faces, I notice this helps my visibility A LOT.
* Be constantly aware of the road condition (San Jose roadworks is poor so I have to dodge potholes, road cracks, chunks of concrete, missing utility covers in the road...besides the usual glass, dead animals, abandoned shopping carts, branches, etc etc)
* Keep a tight grip on the handlebars and ride lightly on the pedals. When you hit the unavoidable bump at 28mph, raise your butt off the seat and hold on tightly to maintain control.
* Be aware of dumb drivers who want to turn into shopping centers just in front of you (they can't judge your high speed, or they want to force the issue anyway) WITHOUT SIGNALLING.
* Keep your legs pedalling, even at full engine speed, so that cars see you are moving fast and not just slowly coasting past shopping centers and intersections. You don't have to push hard...just keep them moving for the visual effect. When cars see this, they don't turn in front of you so readily.
* For the streets I have chosen, I have to cross two busy double-lane highway merge points during rush hour. Since there are stoplights nearby, I have adopted the procedure to slowly pedal to a strategic point and park at the curb. When the traffic is stopped behind me at the stop light, and before more traffic fills the lanes, I quickly start/accelerate through the intersection to the other side. Being a strong cyclist helps here!
* One of the city streets on my trip is about 1 car + 2 feet wide. That is pretty tight with the wide trucks that ply the route. I usually pedal assist the engine to keep up with traffic from stop light to stop light. At traffic speed, most vehicles do not pass me. Depending on the road conditions (there are 5 raised manhole covers in a row on the right side of the road in 1 place), I may veer into the car lane (make sure no traffic by looking over the shoulder first!!), or ride in the gutter for a short time to clear the area. I am thinking of extending my commute route by another 1/2 mile to use a less busy route.
* I don't use mirrors because I think they vibrate too much to get a clear picture. If my life is on the line, I want to see for myself with a quick glance over the shoulder. If there is too much going on preventing a quick glance, I will just slow down and move further away from the roadway.
* Other things to consider are adding a vertical and/or horizontal flag to your bike for added visibility (they wave around when you bike), adding bright lights (I have a xenon strobe that I use at night. But, it is BRIGHT and can be easily seen in the daytime if I want to attach it)
All this being said, I know some places in Orange County can be densely packed with cars all the time. If I was FORCED to ride only on sidewalks, I would ride a bike with no engine. An engine adds weight to the bike making it slightly less nimble. With all the sidewalk obstacles, you would not safely get up to engine operating speed. And, if you are on the sidewalk running the engine, be sure to have good liability insurance for when you accidentally hit a pedestrian.
From a sympathetic commuter,
Ray
