In the last installment of "Claim Your Lane!" we discussed my opinion of mirrors vs. learning to become more aware of the area that one is navigating while on the bike. The next logical question is "What can I do to navigate better on my bike?" The first thing to think about is what I call "Taking the Long View." This applies to riding alone, in a group, on a straight road or in a curve.
I drove 18 wheelers as a young man and have over 600,000 miles experience in a vehicle which is large, cumbersome, and almost impossible to stop quickly. I learned from the long time pros that they looked far ahead to make sure that nothing "sneaked up" on them. They also developed a constant "Plan B" to navigate out of a problem if it happened. When I started racing bikes after leaving the long haul trucker arena, I realized that we as cyclists have some of the same problems. We can't change direction as easily as we want, we have big problems with potholes and gravel and when faced with a collision with a car, we lose.
A natural part of bike riding is looking forward, but doing so with too close a focus. Automobile and motorcycle racers learn to look into the turn where they are headed to, not immediately in front of their wheel. This applies to bicycle riding at any speed. I see experienced and novice cyclists with their heads down looking immediately in front of their wheel, whether in a pack or not. The ability to learn to look forward, not down, and pay attention to what is happening further out front is one of the most important techniques that cyclists can learn to significantly improve their safety, competence and fun.
Now that we are looking forward and effectively choosing our path and thus our destiny, it is appropriate to think about another area of conflict, intersections. Let's discuss traffic lights as there is no question that we as cyclist vehicles need to obey the laws and stop for the light. We do have more choices than cars and trucks and I will share how I handle this gray area. The thoughts I have are based on my experience and again, may be controversial.
When approaching an intersection with no cars things are easy. I change to the gear I will need when starting, pull up slowly to a stop and stay balanced so that I can stay clipped in until the last minute. Then I unclip, turn the wheel the opposite direction to make sure that I lean in the correct direction, point the toe and "just" touch it to the ground while balancing on the saddle. I may choose to slide forward out of the saddle and put my whole foot down but usually don't unless tired. This technique works great while driving a tandem too.
I stay to the right of the lane so cars can pull up alongside me, and they will have room to blast off when the light changes. We don't accelerate as well as cars so I try to stay out of their way until I get enough momentum to look behind me and claim the lane.
If there is traffic backed up at a light I will usually "split" the lane meaning I will carefully navigate between the right hand car line and the line to their left. I want to get to the front of the intersection if possible as it is safer to start at the front. Additionally if the light changes I will still have momentum to pull into the line and move right. I split that lane because drivers of cars typically won't squeeze me between them as they don't want to hit another car. They will push me off into the ditch, however, so I avoid that right area which may have a right turn lane as well. When I get to the front of the line I will slowly cross the right line of cars and stop at the front just to the right of the leading car.
Lane splitting is counter intuitive and is an advanced move, plus may be illegal in some states. I don't want to turn you into a criminal but want to show you how I navigate in an urban setting while dealing with cars that are actually quite predictable.
The last part of this discussion focuses on stop signs. We all roll through stop signs and I think that it is in fact the safest thing to do! Since we do not accelerate well and we are approaching an intersection more slowly than a car, combined with the fact that we can see and hear things in an intersection that many people in cars cannot, I believe that we are acting more prudently and safely to slow, look, listen and go through the stop sign intersection cautiously than to stop and have to start again.
I gave a talk to a group of cyclists recently and stated this perspective knowing there was a police officer in the room. I didn’t get arrested but did state that I chose this form of civil disobedience because it made sense. In closing I would ask you all to consider how you ride a bike and do so in a safe way that makes sense. If you are really paying attention you are doing more than most people in cars, trucks or motorcycles. Let's hope we can all transfer this driving ability to the cars as well!
KGS Bikes is known around the world as the premiere bicycle fitting studio and boutique. Kevin Saunders, President, has over 25 years experience in bicycle fitting and high-end bicycles. In addition to fitting services, KGS Bikes sells bicycles from Parlee, Serotta, Zinn, Co-Motion and Guru. Visit www.kgsbikes.com for more information.
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