Getting Easier

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Great job!!!!
It will seem less dangerous or scary the more you do it- you will develop your traffic skills. I too recommend throwing some high-vis screaming yellow top or vest on- I think they really help keep drivers alert to you. I got a couple of loose hi-vis yellow t-shirts and I just cut the sleeves off and throw them on over whatever I'm wearing sometimes. Instant lightweight safety vest!

Keep up the good work!!

[Biciclista]

you go girl!
we are the pioneers, the adventurous women who take charge of their lives and get on our bikes and ride!

As you continue to ride, the scardycats will quiet down. I have the same problem here.

[Grog]

Fantastic! And it will only get better from here.

Yes do tell your co-workers that if they are concerned for your safety they should be mindful when they drive and give ample room to cyclists. And smile to them, too.

Or they could also get on the road with you. Safety in numbers!

Enjoy!

[Heifzilla]

Great job!!!!
It will seem less dangerous or scary the more you do it- you will develop your traffic skills. I too recommend throwing some high-vis screaming yellow top or vest on- I think they really help keep drivers alert to you. I got a couple of loose hi-vis yellow t-shirts and I just cut the sleeves off and throw them on over whatever I'm wearing sometimes. Instant lightweight safety vest!

Keep up the good work!!

The t-shirts are really a great idea for a cheap, lightweight vest.

I was able to feed my hot pink addiction and get a hi-viz vest all in one. I found a company that sells SCREAMING HOT PINK safety vests that also have the 3M relfective striping. The yelling is because it really is SCREAMING HOT PINK. DH brought the package in, and since I had used his CC to order it the label was in his name, so he opened it. He told me he was blind for several minutes afterwards

[OakLeaf]

Just beware of anything other than hi-viz yellow in dusk conditions - when light is low, but enough daylight that motorists won't necessarily be burning headlights to activate your retro-reflective strips.

I recently bought a SCREAMING orange top for running, and yes it screams, just like your pink. (They call the color Cherry Tomato apparently, but it really is a bright safety orange.) When I took it into the changing room to try it on, the orange that stood out so brightly on the rack on the shop floor, almost disappeared in the low light. For comparison I grabbed a true hi-viz yellow Brooks top and brought into the changing room. Unlike the orange, the yellow stayed lit up.

I have one of those Brooks tops already, and I don't like the fabric well enough to buy a second one, so I bought the orange. But I wear the orange one only in bright sunlight. If it's full dark, then reflective matters more than color obviously. If it's cloudy or toward evening, it's yellow and only yellow for me.

[Heifzilla]

Just beware of anything other than hi-viz yellow in dusk conditions - when light is low, but enough daylight that motorists won't necessarily be burning headlights to activate your retro-reflective strips.

I recently bought a SCREAMING orange top for running, and yes it screams, just like your pink. (They call the color Cherry Tomato apparently, but it really is a bright safety orange.) When I took it into the changing room to try it on, the orange that stood out so brightly on the rack on the shop floor, almost disappeared in the low light. For comparison I grabbed a true hi-viz yellow Brooks top and brought into the changing room. Unlike the orange, the yellow stayed lit up.

I have one of those Brooks tops already, and I don't like the fabric well enough to buy a second one, so I bought the orange. But I wear the orange one only in bright sunlight. If it's full dark, then reflective matters more than color obviously. If it's cloudy or toward evening, it's yellow and only yellow for me.

I agree with you on the yellow. My husband, Mr. Engineer, insists that the hi-viz hunter orange is the best color for dusk...he said it's proven that people can see it, why else would they use it for hunters since hunters are usually out at dusk, yadda yadda. I found a chart that said that the lime yellow color is actually the best: http://www.ndt-ed.org/EducationResou...htresponse.htm and still, DH argues with me. That lime green/yellow is right in the sweet spot for the human eye, around 550 nanometers, so we see it the best.

[Eden]

When I lived in Pittsburgh,for a short time they started painting fire engines "easy eye green" for the same reason - the human eye is super sensitive to it. I don't think it lasted - tradition won out and they went back to red....but signs, like pedestrian crossing signs, have been slowly migrating over from school bus yellow to easy eye out here in Seattle where I live now.

[GLC1968]

The town I lived in in FL had all the firetrucks hi-vis lime green. It hurt our eyes to look at them - it would be really bad if motorists felt the need to shield their eyes when they saw them and then got into accidents!

I wear a hi-vis yellow/green jersey for my afternoon commute - but I'm actually not sure it's the best choice. About half my commute is rural and it's pretty close to the same color as the wheat fields and the trees in the setting sun. I would bet that I'm blending into the background too much when I'm not in the city.

Good job on the half-commutes! I'm doing the same thing but I've been driving to work with my bike on the car, biking home and then biking back the next day. It is 20 miles each way for me, so this is the most I can handle right now!

[Heifzilla]

I wear a hi-vis yellow/green jersey for my afternoon commute - but I'm actually not sure it's the best choice. About half my commute is rural and it's pretty close to the same color as the wheat fields and the trees in the setting sun. I would bet that I'm blending into the background too much when I'm not in the city.

This is part of my reasoning for going with the hot pink. The majority of my ride is rural, and is either grasses on the side of the road, or trees. The pink definitely jumps out against the green or yellow of the grasses.

Also, familiarity breeds contempt. People are getting so used to seeing the lime yellow-green on construction workers that they start to blend into the background (and believe me, since this is Illinois they see a lot of construction workers, LOL). You just don't see very many people wearing this screaming shade of pink as you drive down the road.

And another thing I have noticed as well is that fluorescent colors make a huge difference. I have one non-fluorescent orange hunting vest that is no where near as bright as the fluorescent orange hunting vest I also have. Even though my first vest is screaming orange, it is no where near as bright to me as the fluorescent one. Same goes for my pink vest. It is definitely fluorescent, and while is is very similar in color to many of the hot pink things I wear (scrubs, for example), it "pops" way more because of the fluorescent quality. Fluorescing is extremely apparent under a UV (black) light. Since sunlight also has the UV wavelength in it, anything fluorescent will also pop somewhat in sunlight, which is what makes fluorescent fabric so vivid to us. There is even more UV light at dusk (and dawn) to cause fluorescent fabrics to continue to "pop" out while everything else seems to fade into the background due to the lower light levels. This is why fluorescent materials are recommended for safety at dusk and dawn.

Here's a good article: http://www.ipmba.org/reviews/The_Nee...ty_Apparel.pdf It explains how hi-viz apparel really helps others to see you. Page 3 is the nitty gritty.

[bikerHen]

Good job! Your commute milage is about the same as mine. I started at 6 miles each way, five years ago, and now do 13'ish in the AM and 11'ish in the PM. For me, it's just the right milage. Long enough to feel like I did something but not enough to wear me out. Time wise about an hour each way. Just keep at it. I have come to terms with the hills I ride everyday. Yes they still suck but I just grind up them every morning and enjoy going down them every afternoon. bikerHen

[cylegoddess]

I was doing ( before it started to get so cold I couldnt stand it) 18km per way.( about 14 miles). If i was tired, Id pop the bike on a bus a part way, and then ride the rest!

[Groundhog]

Great job!!!!
It will seem less dangerous or scary the more you do it- you will develop your traffic skills. I too recommend throwing some high-vis screaming yellow top or vest on- I think they really help keep drivers alert to you. I got a couple of loose hi-vis yellow t-shirts and I just cut the sleeves off and throw them on over whatever I'm wearing sometimes. Instant lightweight safety vest!

Keep up the good work!!

Good on you, Herfzilla!

I got a SCREAMING yellow jacket this winter which also converts to a vest (Pearl Izumi http://www.rei.com/product/772147 ). It has lots of nice pockets. I wore it as a vest today and yesterday, even in our 85 degree weather. It didn't make me too hot and the color really pops. My kids say it hurts their eyes.