When is it too risky to commute by bike?

ritzvin

Rosemary7391 wrote: »

Massively depends on the route. My dad occasionally cycled to work alongside a canal - and I got the impression that the toughest time was spring, because the towpath got very overgrown very quickly and it wasn't that easy to see the edge of the path. He never did end up swimming, thankfully, but he did stop doing it!

Our main recreational bike path along the river, is also along/underneath the 190 in quite a few spots, and thus the plows wind up dumping massive mountain-esque piles of snow right onto the path...it takes a while for it all to melt, so those areas are fairly impassable in the early spring.

MeanderingMammal

7elizamae wrote: »

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

7elizamae wrote: »

So, those of you who ride a bike in all kinds of weather, when do you skip the ride?

To an extent it depends if it's a simple commute, ten miles to my local office, or a multimodal commute; London by train.

Locally I'll use my CX bike so deep enough snow to make that untenable.

In London I'm on my Brompton, so heavy rain or snow. At least on the Brommie I can fold it up and take it on the bus in London.

Riding defensively; dominating the roadspace, exploiting shelter and taking opportunities at junctions help a lot. Don't cower in the gutters.

You are not messing around! You'd probably laugh if you saw me biking. I don't even know what those things ("exploiting shelter," etc) mean! I commute on a multi-use trail, avoiding the roads at every opportunity. I'm only on the roads for about 2.5 of 9 miles. So, I'm a pansy. A happy pansy content to move along at 15 mph. And the freezing, dark fog still spooks me.

A lot of road safety is about projecting your own confidence, and exerting control. You've as much right to be on the road as cage dwellers snug in their air conditioned boxes. That means taking up an assertive road position, in the middle third of the lane, or further out if the roadspace becomes constrained. You want to make it a conscious decision to pass you safely. If you're in the nearside you encourage driers to squeeze past you, and that gets worse when the road becomes constrained.

If you're approaching a junction and there is a larger vehicle, use the space that provides to make progress. Recognise that a bus or a lorry, or even a long wheel base van, will move around the road differently, and that gives you opportunities to use the gaps.

Where traffic is slow moving, run between the queues of traffic to move up. Move ahead of the queue at traffic lights, so that you can react positively when they change.

Riding positively needn't mean riding aggressively, stay calm. Recognise that drivers are stupid, and the ones that aren't stupid are trying to kill you. Don't get stressed out about it, you'll outlive them.

7elizamae

7elizamae wrote: »

Okay, I'm inspired. I went in the dark frost this morning and it was fine. I slowed down on the bridges where it looked frostiest. I'm still a little nervous about freezing weather, but I really want to stick with the bike commute.

Several of you said you avoid driving rain. I've done plenty of that. It's not really a problem if I have the right clothes. My face is wet. I put my mascara on after I ride. But rain isn't anything that would stop me.

Heavy wind is impressive, but wouldn't stop me.

It's the fog I don't like. But I'm going to try to stick with it.

The weather has been cold but dry and only a little fog and frost on the ground, so I've stuck with it all month!

Of course it's been super dark up here in the PNW, but I did purchase a new Noxgear light vest that I am very happy with. They're on sale if anyone is in the market for a bike/running light: https://www.noxgear.com/tracer360

TimothyFish

7elizamae wrote: »

7elizamae wrote: »

Okay, I'm inspired. I went in the dark frost this morning and it was fine. I slowed down on the bridges where it looked frostiest. I'm still a little nervous about freezing weather, but I really want to stick with the bike commute.

Several of you said you avoid driving rain. I've done plenty of that. It's not really a problem if I have the right clothes. My face is wet. I put my mascara on after I ride. But rain isn't anything that would stop me.

Heavy wind is impressive, but wouldn't stop me.

It's the fog I don't like. But I'm going to try to stick with it.

The weather has been cold but dry and only a little fog and frost on the ground, so I've stuck with it all month!

Of course it's been super dark up here in the PNW, but I did purchase a new Noxgear light vest that I am very happy with. They're on sale if anyone is in the market for a bike/running light: https://www.noxgear.com/tracer360

I love my noxgear vest.

NoxeemaJackson

To be honest, biking in fog terrifies me, especially near cars.
I cant say what you should do except invest in reflective tape for your clothes and bike lights. I have blinking lights on both tires. It helps alot.

TimothyFish

I do everything I can to be very visible when I ride. Even if they don't like cyclists, drivers don't want to hit them because it would mess up their car. If the conditions make it difficult for people to see me I don't ride in it unless I have to.

sgt1372

TimothyFish wrote: »

I love my noxgear vest.

Think I'll buy one of these.

I don't run or ride a bicycle but think it would be good to carry for an emergency while driving at night if you need to change a tire or be in the roadway for some reason.

If I still road a motorcycle, I'd wear it while riding at night too. Car drivers are just as clueless when it comes to motorcycles as they are with bicycles.

Crossing at intersections in front of motorcycles because they say they didn't see the motorcyclist (even in broad daylight) is a common hazard.