Tolerence for high traffic volumes

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Pam- great advice.
I will just hop off my bike and WALK across an intersection if it seems too dangerous. Pedestrians seem to get a lot more respect from cars, and you are more visible walking across on a crosswalk with the light in your favor. Temporarily transforming into a pedestrian is a great tool in our bags of tricks!

[indysteel]

I agree that walking your bike through a dangerous intersection is a useful tool, but what Catrin said--that she does this when stopped at red lights generally--does give me a bit of pause. If, objectivley, she's having trouble getting started from a stopped position, e.g., at a red light, then it might be useful to work on that skill before trying to commute or ride in urban traffic. It's not really desirable to walk your bike through every intersection at which you get stopped after all, at least not in my opinion.

If she just has the perception that she's slow to start and annoying to traffic, then it might just be a confidence thing, but that's something you definitely need in order to deal with traffic effectively, too. Riding in traffic does take a certain mindset--not overconfidence mind you, but a healthy degree of assertiveness. For instance, when I'm going through an intersection with traffic behind me, I figure they're just going to have to deal with the slight delay. I'll get out of there way when it's safe for me to do so. If they're annoyed, then oh well.

Catrin, just to be clear, I'm not trying to make you feel bad for walking your bike through intersections; I just want to encourage you to continue working on your handling skills so that, objectively, you're a better cyclist and so that you feel more confident. I certainly don't want to sound unsupportive, as I think the progress you've made in just over a year's time is quite admirable.

I would add that I tend to think some of your bike handling issues are going to be easier to resolve when you get the Gunnar. It's likely going to be substantially lighter and more nimble than your LHT. Not that the LHT isn't a great bike, but I think it takes a bit more finesse to handle it.

[Catrin]

Good points Indy, and at this point I am unsure if it is a confidence thing or if I am really a little slow at starting at intersections. I AM trying new ways of starting my bike as the seat-post is higher and is going to get higher than it is.

I had no problem at intersections when my saddle was much, much too low I am now working on the starting thing again, but I can't go back to the old way as I do not want more injuries. This is the primary reason why I want to put off any commuting experiments until late spring or very early summer. This is not a problem with my lightly-traveled country roads, but urban roads are a different animal.

[Mr. Bloom]

Is this Gunnar a roadie? Would you consider getting a commuter to commute?

[Catrin]

Is this Gunnar a roadie? Would you consider getting a commuter to commute?

I would use my LHT for commuting - she can handle anything! She is a bomb-proof comfy tank

The Gunnar is based on a cyclocross frame and will be my go-fast bike, but I don't think I would want to use her as a commuter. There is no way I could afford another bike this year...

[OakLeaf]

Procedural question:

on a multi-lane highway, there's likely to be a considerable distance between the traffic lane and the crosswalk. When you do choose to walk the intersection, how do you get from one to the other - and how do you re-join traffic once you've reached the other side? It just seems dangerous, to me - particularly (presumably) re-joining traffic from a wheelchair cut facing perpendicular to traffic.

[PamNY]

Procedural question:

on a multi-lane highway, there's likely to be a considerable distance between the traffic lane and the crosswalk. When you do choose to walk the intersection, how do you get from one to the other - and how do you re-join traffic once you've reached the other side? It just seems dangerous, to me - particularly (presumably) re-joining traffic from a wheelchair cut facing perpendicular to traffic.

I've only done it in the city, where there's sidewalk. I move to the right just before the intersection. To rejoin traffic, I walk the bike into the street and wait till it's clear. I'm usually crossing a multi-lane road on a smaller street, not rejoining a multi-lane road.

I do it only in really odd situations -- in one case, the bike lane (on the right) just goes away and a lot of cars are turning right. I have no idea what bikes are legally supposed to do. I guess taking the lane would be legal, but New York drivers are not expecting that.

What most cyclists do -- and it's probably illegal -- is go into the crosswalk before the light changes (a time-honored New York custom) to get ahead of the cars, but this particular intersection has heavy pedestrian traffic.

[Catrin]

Procedural question:

on a multi-lane highway, there's likely to be a considerable distance between the traffic lane and the crosswalk. When you do choose to walk the intersection, how do you get from one to the other - and how do you re-join traffic once you've reached the other side? It just seems dangerous, to me - particularly (presumably) re-joining traffic from a wheelchair cut facing perpendicular to traffic.

Where I ride there are no sidewalks or cross-walks...