Giving up on road

[DCilliams]

Maybe pool noodles will help

https://qz.com/1620913/the-best-cycl...qivq9EyomwFZs4

[vincenz]

Originally Posted by DCilliams

Maybe pool noodles will help



https://qz.com/1620913/the-best-cycl...qivq9EyomwFZs4

I just saw this and though how brilliant it is. It may look silly, but I bet it works.

[peanutgallery]

Car bait no more

Be safe out there in the wilds that pavement presents

[makoti]

Originally Posted by vincenz

I just saw this and though how brilliant it is. It may look silly, but I bet it works.

My first thought was "How does that feel when they get close enough to hit it? Are you going to be pushed off balance?"

[pobrien]

I could see using the pool noodle on open highway areas where you are very alone on a bicycle. I mounted a touring flag to my rear pannier when riding from Vancouver to Kamloops with a friend at University in 1985 or 1986.

We used them as the Fraser Canyon roads are narrow and were full of heavy traffic back then. I think the pool noodle would have been better but I don't think they even existed back then.

I would feel fine with a pool noodle on a highway ride for sure. I would also use lights front and rear though hard to keep them charged through a long day on the highway.

Great idea. thanks for sharing it.

[peanutgallery]

Are you serious ? A pool noodle

That'll learn 'em

Originally Posted by pobrien

I could see using the pool noodle on open highway areas where you are very alone on a bicycle. I mounted a touring flag to my rear pannier when riding from Vancouver to Kamloops with a friend at University in 1985 or 1986.

We used them as the Fraser Canyon roads are narrow and were full of heavy traffic back then. I think the pool noodle would have been better but I don't think they even existed back then.

I would feel fine with a pool noodle on a highway ride for sure. I would also use lights front and rear though hard to keep them charged through a long day on the highway.

Great idea. thanks for sharing it.

[93KgBike]

There's an Almanac of Highway Free Travel waiting to happen.

[bigbill]

I commuted in the PNW and I used a piece of wooden dowel zip tied to my rack that stuck out 2' on the left with reflective tape and a Superflash on the end.

[oliver1850]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Where are you riding? No shoulder, lotsa traffic?..Pick your 'battles', is what I do. I don't ride on certain roads, I never ride a road w/o a shoulder..never.

Does that make me a 'second class citizen'? So what, riding a toy..it's not worth it to be 'dead right'...

Don't come to ride in my area. Only shoulder within 10 miles of me is deeply grooved. Guess you might be able to ride a fat bike on it.

[type2sam]

Originally Posted by DCilliams

Maybe pool noodles will help

https://qz.com/1620913/the-best-cycl...qivq9EyomwFZs4

I actually ran into sort of the opposite today. Came to a stop sign with an SUV beside me, at the end of a narrow bridge downtown. I let the SUV go first, and quickly realized that one of the kids in the back seat has his window open and has a curtain rod extended 3 feet out the window, pointed in my direction.

Managed to swerve right and get the whiskey tango foxtrot out under my breath for fear of corrupting a child.

Driver was oblivious.

Back to the thread...I tend to link together dirt segments with a little road as possible these days. Any road that Google Street view hasn't covered yet is typically good. I've also invested in a Light & Motion VIS180.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by Seramount

if you actually do this, you are a nutcase.

I find that edging out into traffic, and then moving back towards the shoulder as the car gets close, gives me a bit more margin when they actually pass. I use a mirror to see where the car it.

Might look like I'm swerving, but I'm not. I tend to take a line in the lane, and then give up most of the lane at the last minute. It tends to force the car to swing wide...

And by the way, the state of nutcaseness is pretty much a requirement for membership here. Remember, we are the lunatic fringe, when it comes to bikes...

[Dave Ferris]

Originally Posted by David Tollefson

Moreso than distracted driving, I see a problem where drivers feel they have the right to not have to slow down.

This X 100. 40 years of running and riding on the streets of LA - and besides the distracted driving with the phones - I don't ever recall seeing more people simply not slowing down when they see you, in addition to the excessive speeding. I know it's not my imagination, or an old guy rant, that's it's considerably worse now.

Even coming up to stop signs/lights, making a turn, when the road narrows , in a zone where's there's signs posted for tree trimming or construction.

It's like they're all hyped up on Red bull or something. Out of control, out of their minds !!

If my trail wasn't a 2000' climb in 3 miles and more stress on my patella tendinitis aka runner's knee coming down, my feet would never touch the street. Same with my bike.

[beaverstuff]

Originally Posted by C40_guy

I find that edging out into traffic, and then moving back towards the shoulder as the car gets close, gives me a bit more margin when they actually pass. I use a mirror to see where the car it.

Might look like I'm swerving, but I'm not. I tend to take a line in the lane, and then give up most of the lane at the last minute. It tends to force the car to swing wide...

And by the way, the state of nutcaseness is pretty much a requirement for membership here. Remember, we are the lunatic fringe, when it comes to bikes...

This last March 16, wearing international yellow from shoulder to ankle, and riding correctly on the right side of the road, I was rear-ended by a car. Luckily i'm on this side of the sod, with some abrasions and soft tissue damage to me. My bike (lucky bike) suffered only a broken rim; the tube & tire were still inflated! I wish I could inflate my shoulder. Gonna need surgery.
There's an expression: "dead right". You can be both riding correctly and be dead.

[paredown]

Originally Posted by pbarry

Dang! How are you doing?

No, I'm good--I was expecting the third idiot to pass so I was already on the brakes--and getting ready to bail if I had to...