(NBR) National Ride Your Bike To Work Day This Friday
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- pcbikedude
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(NBR) National Ride Your Bike To Work Day This Friday
It's not bike as in scooter or mc. Bicycle! Anyone else planning on doing participating?
The scenery only changes for the lead scooterist.
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Re: (NBR) National Ride Your Bike To Work Day This Friday
I would, except that: a) my doctor would yell at me if I went to work that soon after neck surgery, and b) my doctor would yell and scream at me for getting on a bicycle that soon after neck surgery.pcbikedude wrote:It's not bike as in scooter or mc. Bicycle! Anyone else planning on doing participating?
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Re: (NBR) National Ride Your Bike To Work Day This Friday
Sorry not me..... Too many hills for "This Old Man"pcbikedude wrote:It's not bike as in scooter or mc. Bicycle! Anyone else planning on doing participating?
However, I will ride the scoot.
Aging is mandatory, growing up is optional.
My kids call me 'crazy', I prefer 'Eccentric'.
Nullius in verba
My kids call me 'crazy', I prefer 'Eccentric'.
Nullius in verba
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Oh, it's "bike" to work day. Meh. That involves physical labor, sweat and such. I though it was "ride" to work day. That's much more fun.
However that said, maybe on Friday I'll pump up the tires of my bike which after being my sole transportation for the 6 months prior to getting my scooter, has not been ridden even once since.
However that said, maybe on Friday I'll pump up the tires of my bike which after being my sole transportation for the 6 months prior to getting my scooter, has not been ridden even once since.
- Raiderfn31
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Well guys its the last Friday we CAN ride our bikes to work. May 21st, 6 P.M.,a major earthquake will destroy the world as we know it. THANK GOD me and many people on this forum have prepared for zombies. We may last awhile.
"When your lawyer looks at you like you deserve whats coming, you may begin to sweat."
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I thought Mayan calendar was aiming for December 21st. I though I had a whole riding season aheadSkootz Kabootz wrote:Oh, it's "bike" to work day. Meh. That involves physical labor, sweat and such. I though it was "ride" to work day. That's much more fun.
However that said, maybe on Friday I'll pump up the tires of my bike which after being my sole transportation for the 6 months prior to getting my scooter, has not been ridden even once since.
I am not a scooter snob.
I am a scooter connoisseur
I am a scooter connoisseur
- peabody99
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I am ashamed to say the last time I rode my bike was about 3 days before I got my scooter in 2006. I feel awful, but truthfully I was never comfortable with riding it in the city-I always felt like I was going to get hit by a car or hit a pedestrian. I still have it though...Now where I live, the hills are too steep for the bike, its a vintage (1976) Schwinn breeze with about 3 gears and it weighs a ton. Maybe I should move to the beach where it is flatter
- Raiderfn31
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I am scared to get hit with a car on my little 50cc scoot! A bike on a road with cars is just plain dangerous. I respect a persons right to ride them, but there is no way I would ride or let my kid ride on a road. A young girl was hit and killed will riding with here family a few years back here and I never forgot it. Bike lanes would be nice I guess, but with the economy Im not holding my breath here in NC.
"When your lawyer looks at you like you deserve whats coming, you may begin to sweat."
Wait, I was under the impression that this event was going to be purely supernatural in nature, taking the Godly to Heaven and leaving the rest behind. If that's the case, I'm sure there will be plenty of MB members left who can ride their bikes/scooters/whatever to work the following Friday as well.Raiderfn31 wrote:Well guys its the last Friday we CAN ride our bikes to work. May 21st, 6 P.M.,a major earthquake will destroy the world as we know it.
- Raiderfn31
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TVB wrote:Wait, I was under the impression that this event was going to be purely supernatural in nature, taking the Godly to Heaven and leaving the rest behind. If that's the case, I'm sure there will be plenty of MB members left who can ride their bikes/scooters/whatever to work the following Friday as well.Raiderfn31 wrote:Well guys its the last Friday we CAN ride our bikes to work. May 21st, 6 P.M.,a major earthquake will destroy the world as we know it.
"When your lawyer looks at you like you deserve whats coming, you may begin to sweat."
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- Mulliganal
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I won't deny that riding a bicycle in the road is dangerous, but there are factors that make it safer compared to riding one on the sidewalk, or even compared to riding a 50cc scooter.Raiderfn31 wrote:I am scared to get hit with a car on my little 50cc scoot! A bike on a road with cars is just plain dangerous. I respect a persons right to ride them, but there is no way I would ride or let my kid ride on a road. A young girl was hit and killed will riding with here family a few years back here and I never forgot it. Bike lanes would be nice I guess, but with the economy Im not holding my breath here in NC.
Perhaps most importantly, cagers understand bicycles; they've seen them a thousand times before and they know what to expect and how to deal with them, so they don't freak out so much. Bicycles also have more maneuverability than a scooter (e.g. if you have some idiot cager tailgating you, you can just swerve into the next driveway). And of course they don't go as fast: a bicyclist has more time to react to things that get in their way, and the injuries you sustain in a 15mph crash will be less severe than in a 30mph crash, and much less than a 60mph crash.
As for riding in the street vs. the sidewalk, most of the time the street is safer. For one thing, there are no pedestrians in it. Second, it's designed for wheeled vehicles, so it isn't made of 4-foot blocks of cement which might not be aligned with each other, cut-outs slanted at angles, sometimes with bumps for pedestrian traction, etc. Most of all, cagers will not see you if you're riding on the sidewalk. Ever. If they're looking at the sidewalk at all as they prepare to turn, they're looking for pedestrians at the corner, not for a bicycle approaching from behind them. Of course there are exceptions when it's safer to retreat from heavy traffic onto the sidewalk, but as a rule, bikes belong on the street.
Making things safer for bicycles can cost some money, but not as much as you might assume. There's an initiative that's getting some traction around here, called "complete streets". What they're doing is converting existing streets to be safer by doing nothing more than repainting the lines differently when it comes time to do that. Instead of just a yellow line down the middle of a two-lane street, with unmarked parking on either side, or a street with no parking but a center lane for left turns, they end up with this (probably not quite to scale):
Cagers still get a lane of traffic in each direction, bicyclists get their own lanes, and parking cagers get a safer buffer to get in and out of their cages. Bicyclists still have to watch out for opening car doors, but that's no worse than it was before. Without a left turn lane traffic sometimes slows down a bit, but that's not such a bad thing. They did this to my street last year, and I like it.
- pcbikedude
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Bikes are coming on strong here in SoCal this year. First, it is great exercise and second gas prices.weirdsong1 wrote:Wait...who still owns a bicycle?
However, just like scooters noobs, the bicycle noobs have some very bad habits about obeying traffic laws. I see quite a few running red lights and becoming obstacles for cagers.
The scenery only changes for the lead scooterist.
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- ericalm
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I could ride my bike to the train station, hop on the subway, then ride from the second station to work. Does that count?
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Expanding on what member TVB posted I found that adding the orange safety flags to my bike has really enhanced my visibility.On my first ride after adding the flags I watched in my mirror to see if there was any difference in the cage drivers behavior.I kid you not the amount of time it took for them to notice me was cut in half or better,also they give me more space between us.I also noticed while riding on the downside of hills cagers would notice me much sooner and react by slowing down more quickly.
FYI- It's my understanding that adding bright lighting to the sides of your bicycle is the single most important safety addition to your bike,after front and rear lights.Studies have concluded bikers are almost invisible while crossing intersections where the cars are to the right and left of the bicyclist.
FYI- It's my understanding that adding bright lighting to the sides of your bicycle is the single most important safety addition to your bike,after front and rear lights.Studies have concluded bikers are almost invisible while crossing intersections where the cars are to the right and left of the bicyclist.
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I have light-up pedals! No batteries required.
Also have LED arm/leg band:
I don't wear all the serious biking gear when I ride, but I look like a clown anyways…
Also have LED arm/leg band:
I don't wear all the serious biking gear when I ride, but I look like a clown anyways…
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Weather didn't cooperate. I can neither scoot nor bike today. Looks like the weekend art crawl is also going to be wet. Too bad, it's best on scoot.
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"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer ..." - Dune
"All that glitters is not golden" - Shakespeare
"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known" - Carl Sagan
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer ..." - Dune
If you ride a bicycle any time near sunrise/sunset (or at night) put lights on your bike. Why a headlight and tail light aren't standard equipment on every bicycle is beyond my understanding. Reflectors are better than nothing, but not by much. When the light is dim, drivers only look for lights.BuddyLicious wrote:FYI- It's my understanding that adding bright lighting to the sides of your bicycle is the single most important safety addition to your bike,after front and rear lights.Studies have concluded bikers are almost invisible while crossing intersections where the cars are to the right and left of the bicyclist.
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I use two of these on the back, one near the seat and on on my backpack. These are great lights, people can see you a block away.TVB wrote:If you ride a bicycle any time near sunrise/sunset (or at night) put lights on your bike. Why a headlight and tail light aren't standard equipment on every bicycle is beyond my understanding. Reflectors are better than nothing, but not by much. When the light is dim, drivers only look for lights.BuddyLicious wrote:FYI- It's my understanding that adding bright lighting to the sides of your bicycle is the single most important safety addition to your bike,after front and rear lights.Studies have concluded bikers are almost invisible while crossing intersections where the cars are to the right and left of the bicyclist.
I use a Niterider on the front of my bikes.
I also wear a lot of reflective stuff.
".....Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us......"
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Lights (at night) are required by law here, but many people violate.TVB wrote:If you ride a bicycle any time near sunrise/sunset (or at night) put lights on your bike. Why a headlight and tail light aren't standard equipment on every bicycle is beyond my understanding. Reflectors are better than nothing, but not by much. When the light is dim, drivers only look for lights.BuddyLicious wrote:FYI- It's my understanding that adding bright lighting to the sides of your bicycle is the single most important safety addition to your bike,after front and rear lights.Studies have concluded bikers are almost invisible while crossing intersections where the cars are to the right and left of the bicyclist.
Eric // LA Scooter Meetup Group // Stella 4T // Vespa LX // Vespa LXS // Honda Helix // some, uh, projects…