Art Of Bike Safety

A FitOldDog On The Go iPhone Video

To Have A Life, Do Stuff

Art? Obstruct But Don’t Irritate!

Bike safety is a real challenge for Ironman triathletes.

“I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.” Life is brief, don’t waste it, doing nothing!

Bike safety? During Ironman training, we spend a lot of time on the road. Fortunately, we’re not without a certain degree of control over the motorized traffic.

The keys are,

• Bright lights (I use DiNotte).
• Wide angle mirror (death usually comes from behind, in the form of a large wing mirror).
• Awareness of the traffic.
• Using what control you have (it isn’t much).
• Being ready to ride off into the grass, if absolutely necessary.
• Don’t ride alone, if it can be avoided.

I was cruising along today, in heavy traffic, and it occurred to me that I was too polite.

If I ride right on the white line, to give traffic more room, they often take more chances.

This results in near misses, for me, as cars and trucks hurtle by. They rush to squeeze their massive SUVs, between oncoming traffic and my squishy body. These drivers seem to ignore double yellow lines and blind corners.

Then I realized:

If I don’t consider it safe for them to pass me, I can block their way, without irritating them too much – just a couple of feet away from the edge of the road stops them in their tracks.

Too wide makes them mad.

Just wide enough, slows them down, without too much anger.

So I decided to make that video. Bike in one hand. iPhone in the other [DON’T DO THIS IF YOU CAN’T CONTROL YOUR BIKE, REALLY WELL!].

Some parts aren’t so clear, due to wind noise, but I was pleased with it.

Ride safe.

FitOldDog!