Thursday, October 04, 2007

You Want Me to Ride My Bike Where???

Last Saturday, an absolutely perfect fall day, featured the second half of the League of American Bicyclists’ Road I class, taught by a bevy of LCIs (League-Certified Instructors).

The main teacher was Bert Hill. We started by reviewing the information we’d gotten from John Ciccarelli two weeks before, and then Jason Agar explained how the brakes and shifting can be adjusted, and demonstrated fixing a flat tire.

We took a written test, ate lunch, and headed to a practice area in Golden Gate Park to work on the quick stop, the instant turn, the rock dodge and looking back over one’s shoulder while traveling to assess if it is safe to change lanes and suchlike.

In the quick stop, you brake quickly and shift your weight backward to lessen the chance of catapulting over the handlebars. The front (left) brake should be applied three times as strongly as the rear (right) brake, but if you start to skid, you should ease up on the front brake.

The instant turn can be used when a car suddenly makes a turn in front of you, cutting you off; a quick stop may also be used in that case. To make an instant turn to the right, in order to stay next to the car as it turns instead of plowing into the side of it, start by jerking your handlebars quickly and briefly to the left—this actually starts a lean to the right.

Then immediately turn your handlebars to the right and also lean right, to make a sharp turn.

In the rock dodge, you flick the handlebars right or left and then back, just enough to make your front wheel go around the obstacle, while the bike and you stay pretty much where you were. It’s OK if your back wheel hits or goes over the item in question, because that is not so likely to cause a loss of control.

After skills practice, we went out for some real-life riding, north on Stanyan for a block or two. As we neared Oak St., it dawned on me that Bert meant us to ride down Oak, which has several narrow lanes going in one direction, with the park on one side, so cross traffic is reduced and speeds accordingly enhanced.

Therefore, I do not ride my bicycle on Oak St., because I do not wish to die. Page St., one block over, is a very pleasant alternative.

But cycle on Oak St. we did, with me in the rear, completely astonished that motorists weren’t honking at us. Later on, we went west on Fell St., which involved a lane change in front of a moving car. My life flashed before my eyes once again.

Of course, you don’t pull out in front of a car that is going so fast it will hit you. You look back—this itself signals that you are planning a moveassess if there is room to switch lanes, signal by pointing, switch lanes, and then thank the driver with a cheery wave.

I do take the lane quite often, but there are some situations where it seems too risky, and so I just pull over and wait until traffic is clear before proceeding, which of course is totally fine, or I ride to the extreme right side of the lane, flinching each time a car passes me with a foot to spare, which is not totally fine—it’s unsafe.

I hate to cycle along in the center of a lane with a car right behind me that would be going much faster if I weren’t there. It makes me nervous, though as John C. said two weeks ago, feeling uncomfortable is different from being unsafe, and in fact I am safest when there is no way the driver can be unaware of my presence, which he certainly is if I’m right in front of him.

Bert pointed out that most car-bike collisions are accidents, not cases of motorists deliberately running someone down.

Though I did know someone, slightly, who was deliberately run over and killed by a truck driver: Chris Roberston, beloved by several people I know.

Bert went on to say the motorist behind us is (generally) not the one we have to worry about. The real danger comes from the motorist who opens his car door without looking (especially if I am unwise enough to be riding in the door zone), the one who runs a stop light, the one who pulls out of a side street or driveway without looking, the one who turns suddenly in front of me.

It is also unsafe when a motorist tries to squeeze by me in a lane that’s almost big enough. This can be prevented by my riding smack in the center of the lane, but this is one of the situations where I often ride too far to the right, because I dread taking the lane and having an angry motorist behind me. But, as mentioned, the cyclist who does that is actually safer.

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