What are your cycling best and worst recomendations?

[7rider]

Worst recommendation/advice: "High visibility (clothing, accessories, gear, trim, etc) will make you safe."
No clothing - or color - has such magical properties. Unless it's a full body air bag or something. But that would be sort of awkward on a bike.
Color can help (no guarantees tho) make you visible, but that is a far different animal than "safe."

Best recommendation/advice: Assume that idiot in the car doesn't see you.
Corollary: Ride like you are invisible.
Ride defensively and ride safely.

[tealtreak]

Worst recommendation/advice: "High visibility (clothing, accessories, gear, trim, etc) will make you safe."
No clothing - or color - has such magical properties. Unless it's a full body air bag or something. But that would be sort of awkward on a bike.
Color can help (no guarantees tho) make you visible, but that is a far different animal than "safe."

Best recommendation/advice: Assume that idiot in the car doesn't see you.
Corollary: Ride like you are invisible.
Ride defensively and ride safely.

3X on these sentiments- I have half seriously told my bike friends that I am getting an orange flag like my Grandma put on her bike.....

[goldfinch]

You can't really assume that every driver can't see you. Life doesn't work that way. If we assume we are invisible we would stop at every intersection when there is oncoming traffic that might decide to turn. We wouldn't ride slower than traffic because someone might right hook us. We would never take the lane. We have to ride defensively and be as visible as we can be, but nevertheless we do make some assumptions about being seen. As a practical matter, we have to.

I never go out anymore without high visibility clothing and flashing lights but I know it doesn't make me safe. Maybe it makes me safer though.

[OakLeaf]

You can't really assume that every driver can't see you. Life doesn't work that way. If we assume we are invisible we would stop at every intersection when there is oncoming traffic that might decide to turn. We wouldn't ride slower than traffic because someone might right hook us. We would never take the lane. We have to ride defensively and be as visible as we can be, but nevertheless we do make some assumptions about being seen. As a practical matter, we have to.

I never go out anymore without high visibility clothing and flashing lights but I know it doesn't make me safe. Maybe it makes me safer though.

No, I disagree.

Riding as if you're invisible (except to that 10% of motorists who do see you and are trying to kill you on purpose) doesn't mean stopping indefinitely until there's no traffic whatsoever on the road.

It means being prepared to swerve or brake hard if I need to, and having the skills to do so.

It means having complete situational awareness at all times, looking far up the road and using my peripheral vision and my mirror to identify potential hazards, what I call "seeing with my whole eyes." Not being distracted by music, phone calls, my training computer, or even deep conversations with other riders.

It means choosing a lane position based not only on motorists' *ability* to see me if they're so inclined, but also for the availability of escape routes if I need one; the ability to ride predictably i.e. not having to swerve to avoid grates, holes or debris; and the availability of traction (absence of traction-robbing paint, oil, sand, gravel or water) in case I do have to use those swerving/braking skills.

I'm all about hi-viz clothing too, but I'm realistic about what it does. It gives a heads up to the ones who would've seen me and done the right thing anyway - does them the courtesy of helping them see me earlier.

But mostly, I call it "exhibit A." I don't want my family to have to go through what I see in the news all the time, that a dead or injured cyclist is excoriated by news media, the public, and even the prosecutors and cops who should be enforcing the law against the motorist, because they were wearing the wrong clothes. They will find a way to make it my fault regardless, that's what they do, but that's one less thing they'll be able to use.

[goldfinch]

No, I disagree.

Riding as if you're invisible (except to that 10% of motorists who do see you and are trying to kill you on purpose) doesn't mean stopping indefinitely until there's no traffic whatsoever on the road.

It means being prepared to swerve or brake hard if I need to, and having the skills to do so.

It means having complete situational awareness at all times, looking far up the road and using my peripheral vision and my mirror to identify potential hazards, what I call "seeing with my whole eyes." Not being distracted by music, phone calls, my training computer, or even deep conversations with other riders.

It means choosing a lane position based not only on motorists' *ability* to see me if they're so inclined, but also for the availability of escape routes if I need one; the ability to ride predictably i.e. not having to swerve to avoid grates, holes or debris; and the availability of traction (absence of traction-robbing paint, oil, sand, gravel or water) in case I do have to use those swerving/braking skills.

I'm all about hi-viz clothing too, but I'm realistic about what it does. It gives a heads up to the ones who would've seen me and done the right thing anyway - does them the courtesy of helping them see me earlier.

But mostly, I call it "exhibit A." I don't want my family to have to go through what I see in the news all the time, that a dead or injured cyclist is excoriated by news media, the public, and even the prosecutors and cops who should be enforcing the law against the motorist, because they were wearing the wrong clothes. They will find a way to make it my fault regardless, that's what they do, but that's one less thing they'll be able to use.

As a practical matter we don't disagree on the importance of defensive riding skills.

[TigerMom]

Worst Recommendation: Garmin 800. Extremely difficult to use and expensive and, supposedly, you have to pay extra for the Garmin maps; but it is the only GPS map device that is small for biking with long battery life that I know of. I am not a computer genius, but both my husband and I have trouble downloading and seeing bike routes and getting turn-by-turn directions.

Best Recommendation: biking gloves are a must. The gloves help prevent skinning your hands when you fall, preventing hand sunburns, used to wipe your "snot", prevents branches from scratching you up, etc. I throw my gloves/albuterol inhaler into my helmet and hang the helmet on my bike, so that I will forget neither my helmet nor my gloves.

[OakLeaf]

both my husband and I have trouble downloading and seeing bike routes and getting turn-by-turn directions.

Where are you downloading the routes from? There's a problem with MapMyRide, has been for a few years now, and their lack of interest in fixing it makes me think they want everyone to subscribe and use their phone app, which makes sense - being able to download for free from there sucked revenue out of their stream.

Try RideWithGPS.com (subscription options also available, but their free maps work). I don't have the 800, I have the older 705, but I know plenty of people with 800s who don't have the trouble you're describing.


(Or - maybe I misunderstood your post - did you install some free maps? That might be your problem. I know there are free options available, but I bought Garmin's maps for ease of use as well as respecting the license.)

[gnat23]

Usually when I rave about "best", it has to do with a particular piece of equipment that saved my butt under particular conditions. For instance, tubular CX tires are friggen' magical when you're taking a sharp fast turn on gravel. It's seriously like velcro, not a single hint of slipping or wobbling. However, I cannot recommend putting tubulars on, say, a commute bike, unless you're good at gluing quickly under duress on the shoulder of a busy street.

I've found OMG IT'S COLD redemption from Rapha's merino neck gator, Specialized's Deflect gloves (especially when I was skiing and that was all I had, heh), and Defeet's Wool-E-Ator socks.

Now that it's finally getting warm, my "bests" are a little more generic: the new Specialized Purist bottles, Sidi Dominator 5 shoes, and the giant green tin of Bag Balm.

If there's been one thing that rubbed me the wrong way, literally, it was Castelli's super-short bike shorts that went under their magical riding dress. The shorts were the perfect length to complement the dress (and I have stories of my husband finally riding behind me on the singletrack), but a few hours of pedaling rendered the inside of my thighs raw like hamburger. Ouchie.

-- gnat!

[Dogmama]

Best:
Continental 4 season tires

Worst:
Sunscreen that runs into your eyes. Ouch.