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yonex
3,008 posts
38 months
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N88 said: Morning guys,
Thought I would stick a post in here rather than creating my own thread! I'm strongly considering beginning cycling to work, but I'm a tad wary of getting on the roads. Although I would say I'm pretty confident on a bike it's only ever been casual cycling when younger (age 23 now), and I've never really cycled on the roads around traffic.
Has anyone got any tips on this, are there any courses you can do etc?
Cheers! Echo the above, be seen and pay attention to the environment. Sounds obvious but all sorts of things can catch you out if you zone out when riding. Perhaps join a local cycling club, they are full of experienced people who will be keen to see you progress.
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will_
4,052 posts
73 months
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louiebaby said: N88 said: I'm strongly considering beginning cycling to work, but I'm a tad wary of getting on the roads.
Has anyone got any tips on this, are there any courses you can do etc? Confidence will certainly come from experience, and knowing where you should be on the road. Why not try your intended commute a few times at the weekend, maybe nice and early in the morning. Once you know the route, and what lane you need to be in, etc, you can concentrate more on what's going on around you. Funnily enough, the busier the town centre roads, the easier it can be, as the traffic around you is travelling slower. Have a good google and find out where the cycle routes are too. Get the right gear to be seen too. Proper lights and bright clothing will help. All this, and - presume everyone around you is an idiot and hasn't seen you, presume every gap in traffic will have a car turning accross you; never go up the inside of a moving HGV, particularly at a junction; obey the rules, stop at reds, give way to peds on crossings and have decent lights.
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hurstg01
1,914 posts
113 months
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Re wearing the right clothes - this is a must if you want to keep the commute going. Not only for comfort [amongst the 1st things you have to buy are the padded shorts  ] but also for safety; I get ribbed in my office for wearing a bright yellow cycling top when I get in and leave, and get called a moving target and "cor, you really want to be seen in that?" - well yes, I do, that's the point; It's not a fashion statement, it's a "I want to be safe and see my children after my commute every day" statement; same goes for a cycling helmet - I can't believe the number of people I see on my way to work who don't wear one......
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JQ
1,631 posts
49 months
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I have my lights on no matter what time of day I'm cycling or what the weather conditions. I have one static and one flashing front and rear. Flashing lights are more visible and static lights enable other drivers to judge your speed and distance (apparently). It does not stop other's not seeing you, but it certainly reduces the numbers that do.
Also, it's not a race. I tend to cycle as quickly as I can, to increase the health benefits - I treat it as an alternative to the gym, however, I no longer time my route. That just encouraged me to take risks, to shave a few vital seconds, I now cycle fast when I can and slow down for hazards, don't jump lights, undertake moving vehicles near junctions etc etc, it's just not worth it.
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N88
1,085 posts
49 months
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Thanks for the replies, all duly noted! I'd certainly be wearing the right attire and a helmet, it will be done through the cycle to work scheme so as part of the inital purchase I'd be getting all the right gear. I'll be doing it a few times first on my current bike to make sure it's not just a fad though!  The weekend test run is also something I had thought of, will give it a go this weekend. To be honest it's a pretty good route. There's maybe 2-3 miles of B roads to tackle but the middle section of the route is along a canal, so no problems there.
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donfisher
343 posts
36 months
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hurstg01 said: I get ribbed in my office for wearing a bright yellow cycling top when I get in and leave, and get called a moving target and "cor, you really want to be seen in that?" - well yes, I do, that's the point; It's not a fashion statement, it's a "I want to be safe and see my children after my commute every day" statement; same goes for a cycling helmet - I can't believe the number of people I see on my way to work who don't wear one...... Agreed, I find it helps with making progress in the darker months as well. Sometimes I’d have to wait behind a car at a junction or in a traffic jam if they were close into the kerb, especially cars without good low down rear visibility or just the oblivious distracted commuter (no malice). Having a great big luminous blob appear in the mirror seems to be good at alerting them to you and gets them to give you a bit more room to pass.
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dudleybloke
6,866 posts
56 months
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front mudguard arrived today. should make wet days more bearable.   topeak defender m1, 13 quid off amazon. now iv got to decide do i get the matching rear or go for a carbon one.
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DJFish
3,801 posts
133 months
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N88 said: Stuff Buy a bell and use it, pedestrians are unpredictable...
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WeirdNeville
4,558 posts
85 months
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DJFish said: N88 said: Stuff Buy a bell and use it, pedestrians are unpredictable... I've got lungs and a voice box.
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DJFish
3,801 posts
133 months
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WeirdNeville said: I've got lungs and a voice box. I'm usually gasping for breath, hence the bell.
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louiebaby
5,383 posts
61 months
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Keep a spare pair of underwear in your desk drawer. If you're packing your bag the night before and get distracted by the Olympics, they can come in handy.
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wotnot
200 posts
44 months
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louiebaby said: Keep a spare pair of underwear in your desk drawer. If you're packing your bag the night before and get distracted by the Olympics, they can come in handy. As someone who spent the whole of Monday wearing cycling shorts and very snazzy (not!) white socks under my office attire I'll second that! 
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louiebaby
5,383 posts
61 months
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wotnot said: As someone who spent the whole of Monday wearing cycling shorts and very snazzy (not!) white socks under my office attire I'll second that! Glad I'm not the only one. The trick now is to remember to replace them with clean ones tomorrow...
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bitwrx
1,029 posts
74 months
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will_ said: louiebaby said: N88 said: I'm strongly considering beginning cycling to work, but I'm a tad wary of getting on the roads.
Has anyone got any tips on this, are there any courses you can do etc? Confidence will certainly come from experience, and knowing where you should be on the road. Why not try your intended commute a few times at the weekend, maybe nice and early in the morning. Once you know the route, and what lane you need to be in, etc, you can concentrate more on what's going on around you. Funnily enough, the busier the town centre roads, the easier it can be, as the traffic around you is travelling slower. Have a good google and find out where the cycle routes are too. Get the right gear to be seen too. Proper lights and bright clothing will help. All this, and - presume everyone around you is an idiot and hasn't seen you, presume every gap in traffic will have a car turning accross you; never go up the inside of anything, ever; obey the rules, stop at reds, give way to peds on crossings and have decent lights. JQ said: I have my lights on no matter what time of day I'm cycling or what the weather conditions. I have one static and one flashing front and rear. Flashing lights are more visible and static lights enable other drivers to judge your speed and distance (apparently). It does not stop other's not seeing you, but it certainly reduces the numbers that do.
Also, it's not a race. I tend to cycle as quickly as I can, to increase the health benefits - I treat it as an alternative to the gym, however, I no longer time my route. That just encouraged me to take risks, to shave a few vital seconds, I now cycle fast when I can and slow down for hazards, don't jump lights, undertake moving vehicles ever etc etc, it's just not worth it. Mostly good advice IMO, but I've edited the bits I disagree with. Overtaking on the nearside is fapping dangerous. Not just because the car you're undertaking might turn left unannounced, but because the cars coming the other way who also want to go down that side street can't see you. At junctions in town I almost always move across to the offside of the lane so that I can see what oncoming traffic is up to, and to give them the best chance of seeing me. Obviously if everything is barrelling past at a million miles an hour this isn't practicable, but if they're doing that, they're probably not turning left, and there probably won't be space for oncoming traffic to turn across. Still keep my spidey senses up to 11 though! Each to his own and all that, but it makes me feel safer.
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will_
4,052 posts
73 months
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bitwrx said: Mostly good advice IMO, but I've edited the bits I disagree with. Overtaking on the nearside is fapping dangerous. Not just because the car you're undertaking might turn left unannounced, but because the cars coming the other way who also want to go down that side street can't see you. At junctions in town I almost always move across to the offside of the lane so that I can see what oncoming traffic is up to, and to give them the best chance of seeing me. Obviously if everything is barrelling past at a million miles an hour this isn't practicable, but if they're doing that, they're probably not turning left, and there probably won't be space for oncoming traffic to turn across. Still keep my spidey senses up to 11 though! Each to his own and all that, but it makes me feel safer. Having had two very near misses with cars making U-turns accross me as I'm filtering on the outside, I usually filter down the inside. If you're on the outside you risk cars turing out of side streets without accounting for you (again, happened a few times). On the nearside you can see junctions coming up and allow for them (both cars turning left and right). If a car does try to pull towards the kerb you can always dive onto the pavement - much more preferable to being pushed into oncoming traffic (again, has happened to me). Add the fact that cycle lanes are always down the nearside (and therefore drivers increasingly expect cyclists to be "undertaking") and in my view - subject to the circumstances - is that generally the nearside is better. As you say though, each to their own - but in my experience if I didn't filter down the inside (a) I'd never get anywhere and (b) I'd probably be dead. As I said in my original post, different rules apply near to junctions, particularly with moving traffic and particularly with HGVs. In those circumstances the safest thing is simply to stay behind and see what the vehicle is doing.
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Gizmoish
15,887 posts
79 months
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WeirdNeville said: I've got lungs and a voice box. But a bell immediately says "look out for a bike" not "there's a shouty man, look the other way"...
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DJFish
3,801 posts
133 months
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Gizmoish said: But a bell immediately says "look out for a bike" not "there's a shouty man, look the other way"... And for some reason, yelling obscenities often offends 
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AyBee
5,323 posts
72 months
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Gizmoish said: WeirdNeville said: I've got lungs and a voice box. But a bell immediately says "look out for a bike" not "there's a shouty man, look the other way"... Unless you're ringing a bell constantly to warn of your imminent approach (which I have seen ) I can't see the point in a bell. If a pedestrian steps out with warning, I can avoid and get on with my riding. If a pedestrian steps out without warning, I'd rather have both hands covering the brakes and just yell at them instead Although one female the other day did have the cheek to shout "f  k off" at me from her standing point in the middle of the road after I'd yelled at her and then narrowly missed her
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Justin Cyder
6,570 posts
19 months
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New experience today. Guy coming the other way on a decent looking road bike on a 6 foot wide cycle path without options left or right sending a text message. Staring at and tapping on the screen as I approached, wobbling this way and that, generally blocking my path.
A quick OI!! fixed it but, I was left thinking; wally, or words to that effect.
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paranoid airbag
1,341 posts
29 months
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Welp that was embarassing.
Last part of the commute - a narrow railway bridge that curves down and to the right afterwards. Singletrack, so I always keep well to the left and am prepared to stop like a good boy.
Hear some bells, quite useful in this situation, so I'm slowing down to stop. All fine. I'm on flat pedals, and everything loose around there is tucked away and kept short, so stopping should be a simple matter. You can probably guess what's going to happen next.
They come into view. I put my right foot down and all is fine. Or rather, I try, and it isn't happening, and all is not fine - I'm going right into their path because of the curve of the road. Kudos to them, they managed to avoid the crazy swerving numpty.
Yup, I had a clipless moment in flat pedals. Now there's two people who think I'm a speeding loony with no bike control. Which is only half, maybe three quarters right.
Lucky I was wearing my invisible airtech(C) helmet.
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