Month: May 2002

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Slow Moving Vehicle Triangle for Biker Visibility

Slow Moving Vehicle (SMV) Standard Road Sign

About 50% of my riding is at night. I never count on just one rear-facing light, particularly LED lights, because they are highly directional. I have a NiteRider taillight (the brightest taillight made as far as I know) on the rear rack.

Behind it is a highly-reflective Slow Moving Vehicle triangle. On my Camelbak are two blinking LEDs, one is most visible when I’m down in the drops, the other is higher, where it can be seen when I’m in a more vertical position.

In addition to the active lighting, I’m a big fan of reflector tape. I have strips of it on my cranks, frame and rims. In addition, my Shimano sandals have a large reflective dot on the back that is highly visible.

The manufacturer has some reflective material on my helmet, but I’ve added some tape to it, also.I find that motorists give me more room and respect at night because I don’t blend in with the visual noise present during the day.


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Bike Lights: Blinking Night and Day

I run with my NiteRider Pro 12E taillight blinking night and day. It’s the only LED taillight I’ve found that is visible in bright daylight.

The Pro-12E headlight has a strobing feature that’s designed (they say) to attract attention. You can set up so that the headlight is off and the taillight is blinking until you press the control button to start the flashing.

I run with the headlight off until I come to an intersection or a door zone where I want to become more visible. It’s also useful when you are on a two-lane road and someone coming at you makes a wide pass. I hit the light to let the driver know that the oncoming lane is occupied.

I’ve had a couple of cops do U-turns to talk with me. Instead of the expected hassle, they’ve complimented the long-distance visibility of my bike.

I’m a big proponent of lights, but it might be because Missouri drilled “Lights On For Safety” into me when I got my license back in the 60s.


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Not So Sexy Tan Lines

If you’re concerned about white lines on your face from your helmet straps, grow a beard.
 
Strange tan lines are part of the game. I ride in Shimano Sandals. They make for a really weird pattern.
 
Shortly after I started riding, I looked down at my hand on the keyboard and thought, “Wow, that’s an odd bruise. I can’t remember hitting my hand.” Then I looked at the left one. Same bruise mark.
 
Suddenly it dawned on me: bike gloves.
 
I consider the unusual tan lines not to be silly, but an indicator of many happy hours on the bike.
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How Many Gears Do I Need?

All of them, only one at a time and I usually need one more lower than my lowest.

Never had I the occasion to wish for a bigger, faster gear but, woe is me, I have wished for a smaller, slower, easy to climb with gear.

When I was a kid in Missouri, my bike only had one gear.


When I went back there a couple of summers ago and rode my old paper route, I realized how many fewer hills I would have walked up 40 years ago if I had had gears.

One of the first things I did to my road bike was to switch out the front chain rings for lower geared mountain bike rings.

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Well Fitted Bike Eliminates Carpal Tunnel Symptoms

I know all too well what carpal tunnel (CTS) is all about. Too many years at a keyboard and a mouse have taught me more than I want to know. And, yes, I’ve been wired up and had my muscles jerk like a frog in a skillet while a guy in a white lab coat scribbled cryptic notes.

Bike riding didn’t cause CTS, but a poorly fitting bike aggravated the symptoms.

A well-fitting bike has eliminated most of the bike-aggravated symptoms and has given me a reason to get a life away from the keyboard, which has helped the computer-aggravated symptoms.