Fall/ Winter 2011 Commuters

[kcmpls]

I've been biking this winter and so far so good. I have an old mountain bike, converted to a single speed, with a studded tire in front and a regular mountain bike tire in back. I've been biking from my house to Minneapolis, about 3.5 miles, then putting my bike on the bus and busing to St. Paul. It has been working pretty well.

But now it has rained and it is warm, so I'm going to look silly with my studded tire and balaclava tomorrow. I wish it would just snow and stick.

[7rider]

For the second time in 2 commutes, I've had a cyclist/commuter come up behind me, pass me, and remark about how visible I was as we rode in the dark.

I think I take lighting to a ridiculous degree. I have a road worker's day-glow reflective vest on over my winter jacket. I have a headlight, a flashing light on the back - and front - of my helmet, a light on my rack, and a light hanging from my pannier. That's 3 tail lights and 2 headlights. I have reflective trim or tape on the pannier itself, on the rack, on the rear fender, and on various spots on the frame and wheels.

So a guy came up and passed me on the MUT tonight and said "Wow. No one can ever say they didn't see you!"
"Good," I replied. "Then I know it's working, cuz that's my intent."
I also know it's working when car after car crosses the double line to give me w-i-d-e berth when passing me on the road.

[Melalvai]

So a guy came up and passed me on the MUT tonight and said "Wow. No one can ever say they didn't see you!"

And if you were to get hit in spite of your excellent lights, the insurance company would be much more likely to cough up without a fight. If they did put up a fight, your lights would be a major point in your favor.

Sadly that is something we have to think about. That's another reason I stop at every single stop sign and light: to establish a pattern of behavior that can't be questioned. And signaling. Etc.

It was so warm today! It was in the 50's I think. There was a thunderstorm in the middle of the night. It was raining when I left. My overshoes, which never worked that well anyway, won't go over my new shoes. I tried grocery sacks. It worked fine on my left foot. The one on the right foot got caught in the gears.

I'll have to ask my husband to save a bread sack (I eat my own homemade bread, he sometimes eats store bought bread), to use on my right foot. That might work better.

[WindingRoad]

7rider - I think that is awesome you have such good lighting! I actually think most drivers appreciate a degree of overkill to be honest because they just aren't expecting to see cyclists and we are easy to miss when it comes right down to it. I have a tail light on my rack, one clips on my bag and another is on the back of my helmet. I just finished the 'detailing' the other day with reflective tape strategically placed for better side visibility. I also have a 600 lumen head light, in fact sometimes I have TWO of those. Since it is the Christmas Season I added some battery powered LED lights for good measure. Driver's reactions to a bike covered in Christmas lights is absolutely priceless

[Melalvai]

Last night I discovered yet another perk of having lots of lights. I've been riding without my downlow glow for a while because I need to replace the battery. Last night my headlamp quit working. Two lights down...and I still have monkey lights, front reelight, back reelight, and back blinkie.

The headlamp was an easy fix, I just had to fiddle with the part that plugs in. Sometimes it gets finicky in the rain. But I do need to get the downlow glow taken care of! And my back blinkie is not much of a blinkie, the bit that covers the light bulb fell off so I think it's less effective. Having a surplus of lights only works if you keep them all in good repair, so when one or two do go out you still have lots left.

The bright yellow raincoat with reflective piping sure doesn't hurt anything either.

[7rider]

The bright yellow raincoat with reflective piping sure doesn't hurt anything either.

(not that this applies to you...but it made me think of this)
Good:
Saw a guy the other day riding while wearing a bright yellow jacket with reflective piping.

Bad:
But he had a black backpack on his back, which blocked most of the jacket.

Good:
The pack had a little reflective triangle on it and he had a flashing helmet light.

Bad:
He was on a road bike so hunched over so the triangle pointed straight up into the air. Not exactly visible. And the backpack obscured the tiny red flasher he had on the back of his helmet.

Lesson:
Go for a ride in your neighborhood after dark with a friend or spouse and a car. Have friend or other drive behind you and make sure your doo-dads actually do what you intend them to do (i.e., make you visible).

[Melalvai]

Lesson:
Go for a ride in your neighborhood after dark with a friend or spouse and a car. Have friend or other drive behind you and make sure your doo-dads actually do what you intend them to do (i.e., make you visible).

That's a great point! After I got my downlow glow I tried to get my husband to drive around the block while I was riding around it and tell me how visible I was. He never got around to it, but some friends commented that they'd seen me biking at night and I was super visible.

Today's commute: I got studded tires last Sunday, and all week it's been too warm for ice. Today is cold, lower 20's. It's dry, but there was a little ice at the edges of the road. If I swerved, I could manage to hit a patch of ice here and there. So I did.

But I can't wait for real snow & ice to try out the tires!