Defensive cycling
Written by: Dan Empfield
Date: Thu May 22 2008
Let me put it this way. In a 2006 survey of 18- to 24-year old Americans, barely a third could find Iraq on a map; just over 1 in 10 could find Afghanistan; fewer than half could locate Ohio or New York. While you're on your training ride these very people are driving directly at you, cell phone in one hand, iPod in the other, steering with their knees.
This year marks the completion of three decades since I first (as Phil Liggett might say) turned the pedals in anger. In thirty years of cycling I've made ballistic contact with foreign objects my fair share of times.
But most of those occurrences took place during my first half-decade as a cyclist. I've been relatively crash-free over the last two-dozen years, excepting the odd equipment failure, or an ill-fated maneuver on deceptively slick pavement.
Upon reflection, I and my fellow veterans of the road agree that it's defensive riding that has stood us in good stead. One develops instincts that come from this truism: You can drive a truck between what motorists ought to do — what they're legally obliged to do — versus what they actually do. Just because I have the right of way does not mean I can proceed apace in the comfort that my rights, and my life and limb, will not be violated.
When I hear that another of our sport's compatriots is hit by a car, whether in training or in a race, two things come to mind: Yet another oblivious or impatient driver has taken out one of our own; and I wonder whether the cyclist was inattentive to the distance extant between a motorist's appropriate versus his actual behavior behind the wheel.
To that end, presented here is an overview of a certain few signs of danger — moments that should provoke heightened awareness — in the hope that the reader might avoid mishap.
This year marks the completion of three decades since I first (as Phil Liggett might say) turned the pedals in anger. In thirty years of cycling I've made ballistic contact with foreign objects my fair share of times.
But most of those occurrences took place during my first half-decade as a cyclist. I've been relatively crash-free over the last two-dozen years, excepting the odd equipment failure, or an ill-fated maneuver on deceptively slick pavement.
Upon reflection, I and my fellow veterans of the road agree that it's defensive riding that has stood us in good stead. One develops instincts that come from this truism: You can drive a truck between what motorists ought to do — what they're legally obliged to do — versus what they actually do. Just because I have the right of way does not mean I can proceed apace in the comfort that my rights, and my life and limb, will not be violated.
When I hear that another of our sport's compatriots is hit by a car, whether in training or in a race, two things come to mind: Yet another oblivious or impatient driver has taken out one of our own; and I wonder whether the cyclist was inattentive to the distance extant between a motorist's appropriate versus his actual behavior behind the wheel.
To that end, presented here is an overview of a certain few signs of danger — moments that should provoke heightened awareness — in the hope that the reader might avoid mishap.
CARS TURNING RIGHT
I can't begin to estimate how many times a motorist has passed right by me only to turn right at an intersection, cutting me off. But I don't tend to smack into those cars anymore, like I did when I was in my 20s. That's because I assume he's going to make a right-hand turn in front of me, whether or not he's activated his directional.
You'd be amazed how much you can divine of a motorist's knowledge and intentions through a microsecond glance at him through his car's window. Did he see me? Is he looking in his rear view mirror, or side mirror? Is he slowing down, in anticipation of executing a turn? Is he looking left at the oncoming traffic — certainly a signal of an intent to turn right — without looking back toward me?
I'll be honest. When I was a young hothead, I'd almost dare drivers to do that to me. I would get mad in advance of the act that would trigger getting me mad, because I knew it was going to happen. I was yet again going to be cut off, in contravention of my rights as a cyclist. I had not yet learned that my own high standards do not apply to everyone. Even if my standards of behavior were righteous or reasonable, they were not universal. All my railing and hand-wringing would not make it so. No, those drivers should not be turning in front of me. They should also know how to find Saudi Arabia on a map, by God. But, I live, work, and ride my bike in a world where people either choose ignorance or have it thrust upon them. Selah.
I can't begin to estimate how many times a motorist has passed right by me only to turn right at an intersection, cutting me off. But I don't tend to smack into those cars anymore, like I did when I was in my 20s. That's because I assume he's going to make a right-hand turn in front of me, whether or not he's activated his directional.
You'd be amazed how much you can divine of a motorist's knowledge and intentions through a microsecond glance at him through his car's window. Did he see me? Is he looking in his rear view mirror, or side mirror? Is he slowing down, in anticipation of executing a turn? Is he looking left at the oncoming traffic — certainly a signal of an intent to turn right — without looking back toward me?
I'll be honest. When I was a young hothead, I'd almost dare drivers to do that to me. I would get mad in advance of the act that would trigger getting me mad, because I knew it was going to happen. I was yet again going to be cut off, in contravention of my rights as a cyclist. I had not yet learned that my own high standards do not apply to everyone. Even if my standards of behavior were righteous or reasonable, they were not universal. All my railing and hand-wringing would not make it so. No, those drivers should not be turning in front of me. They should also know how to find Saudi Arabia on a map, by God. But, I live, work, and ride my bike in a world where people either choose ignorance or have it thrust upon them. Selah.
CARS TURNING LEFT
Let me tell you the story of one of my vintage crashes. I'm riding on Highway 50, in South Lake Tahoe, during a circumnavigation of that lake with a group of friends. We're one mile away from finishing our 72-mile journey.
It was a typical Summer day, with cars bumper-to-bumper on both sides of the road. We're riding on the right-hand shoulder at 20mph or better. All of a sudden, a Volvo appears out of nowhere, and we all plow into him, the whole paceline of four or five guys. We all go down. What happened? A motorist traveling in the other direction desired to make a left-hand turn across traffic. Obliging motorists traveling in our direction made a space for him. He didn't see us. We didn't see him.
Who was at fault? Technically, the driver of the Volvo turned into oncoming traffic. But a case could just as easily be made that we were guilty of "unsafe passing on the right." If a policeman is predisposed against cyclists, he's likely to see it that way.
If you have to ride in traffic like that, look for an opening in the traffic in front of you. The likeliest reason for this space is to allow a vehicle to cross the road, right in front of you.
Let me tell you the story of one of my vintage crashes. I'm riding on Highway 50, in South Lake Tahoe, during a circumnavigation of that lake with a group of friends. We're one mile away from finishing our 72-mile journey.
It was a typical Summer day, with cars bumper-to-bumper on both sides of the road. We're riding on the right-hand shoulder at 20mph or better. All of a sudden, a Volvo appears out of nowhere, and we all plow into him, the whole paceline of four or five guys. We all go down. What happened? A motorist traveling in the other direction desired to make a left-hand turn across traffic. Obliging motorists traveling in our direction made a space for him. He didn't see us. We didn't see him.
Who was at fault? Technically, the driver of the Volvo turned into oncoming traffic. But a case could just as easily be made that we were guilty of "unsafe passing on the right." If a policeman is predisposed against cyclists, he's likely to see it that way.
If you have to ride in traffic like that, look for an opening in the traffic in front of you. The likeliest reason for this space is to allow a vehicle to cross the road, right in front of you.
CAR DOORS
The scenario above is the sort of thing that might happen to cyclists who live in beach communities. An overwhelming number of triathletes and cyclists live and ride along the Pacific Coast Highway corridor. I used to be one of them in my younger years, and most of my crashing took place on that stretch of road.
Laguna Beach was my particular bad luck city. I crashed into cars, or they into me, in North Laguna and South Laguna indiscriminantly. In retrospect it was due to three enabling causes: PCH was thoroughly busy and subject to cars exiting and entering that road; this stretch of PCH was hilly, so I had less opportunity to avoid a collision when I was descending at high speed; and I was inattentive to the bad habits of motorists.
Certain cities like Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, the South Bay area of Manhattan and Hermosa Beach, feature parallel parking on Pacific Coast Highway, which grants you precious little space between cars on the number-2 lane on the left, and parked cars on the right. Again, you'd be amazed at what you can see with a quick glance: people seated in those parked cars; people's faces in their side mirrors; and of course back-up lights. When you see those back-up lights, that means the car has just backed into its parallel parking space. When the lights go out, the driver has just turned his car off. What's next? He's got to exit his car. Will he see you before he opens his door? Will he even look? Probably not.
INTERSECTIONS
Look, I don't care how much time I lose in a race. I'm just not going to assume an intersection — even one that is controlled, even one that is barricaded — is safe for my passage. Remember, people are ignorant. They are just barely smart enough to pass a driving test. Or not. You don't think that a simple lack of a valid license is going to stop someone from driving, do you?
Besides, what do you think people at 7AM are doing on the road on a Sunday morning? They're probably engaged in one of two activities: They're on their way to church, for which they will be late because of the intersection at which they're now unexpectedly sitting; or they're on their way home from whatever it was they were doing Saturday night. The truest thing you can say about these people is that they are not thinking of the consequences of your bike hitting their passenger-side door.
Here are a few things we know. Police do not show up at the intersections they're supposed to control. When they do show up, they have no training in, and so no idea about, how fast oncoming triathletes ride their bikes. They'll certainly waive through a motorist when they should not have. Even those who do understand the speed at which you ride your bike have no control over how fast a motorist will step on the gas pedal and get his vehicle through the intersection.
This is the case when in fact the police are taking care of traffic control. It's just as likely that your life and spinal cord are in the hands of 85-year-old police volunteers or 15-year-old quasi-junior police volunteers. Or by no one.
And barricades? They've never stopped a motivated driver.
Look, here's the sad truth: There is no such thing as a controlled intersection. I don't care of there's a $100,000 prize for first in my age group, and I'm in the lead. Some things are just not worth it. Some races I just don't do, because there are so many intersections with cross traffic. When I do find myself in this position, I sit up, get out of the aero bars, with my hands on the pursuits. Of course I do so in a fashion not to cause the person behind me to slam on his brakes, but my main concern is not meeting the driver face to face as I fly through his side window.
CARS COMING FROM BEHIND
It seems like a lot of my fellow cyclists are getting hit on their training rides by vehicles the cyclist cannot see, that come up from behind. This is the sort of dynamic I'm faced with most often around my house, because I live in a rural area.
I live in horse country. That means trailers. Horse trailers. Utility trailers. Trailers hauling hay. Hauling debris. Wide trailers, with tail lights that are pitched wide — wider than the trucks towing them. Pick-up trucks with trailer mirrors that stick out past their normal passenger car width.
I ride to the right, of course, but I don't move way to the right to allow the truck or car to pass. Not right away. I tend to ride 18 to 24 inches in from edge of the road, as we all do. When I hear a vehicle coming up behind me I stay right there, allowing him room to pass. When the vehicle is just about on top of me, then I move all the way to the right, as far as is safe and practical. This gives me an extra foot or so of room, to grant me the space the driver meant to grant me, but did not because he misunderstood how wide his trailer is.
The real danger on the two-lane roads where I live is when I'm going to get passed by a car at the same time a car reaches my whereabouts in the oncoming lane. Now, two cars and a cyclist inhabit the same width of road at the same time. I have no hard and fast advice for this, except to say that drivers catch a tremendous amount of information in split seconds just like cyclists do. Looking the driver of one or both vehicles in the eye, just for a second, alerts them to the danger you sense, and which they will comprehend.
NON-VEHICLE-RELATED ACCIDENTS
I was riding with a group of friends in the Santa Monica Mountains not long ago. I was near the back of the group, as we were all descending at a rate commensurate with a bike race. A lot of the turns on these roads have decreasing radii, that is, they get sharper as the turn progresses. More than once I noted that riders in front of me overshoot the turn, ending up on the other side of the yellow in the middle of a blind turn.
Defensive cycling is not simply a case of protecting oneself against bad or inattentive drivers. It's protecting yourself against roads that are imperfect or badly designed, or built with undesirable but necessary elements because of the terrain. I speak to this with a method of descending I prefer, especially on the very curvy roads like those found in mountainous areas, and which has stood me in good stead. The link to this method follows this article.
ATTENTIVE POSTURE
Those of us who've ridden for decades all know fellow athletes who tend to crash more often than others. At first, you assume it's motorist error. When it happens over and over again, or when they ride their bikes into the backs of parked cars, it's a little harder to blame the other guy. Typically, these are the inattentive riders. This might be excused but for the consequences. At some point inattentiveness, and the disinclination to practice defensive riding, shifts the onus onto the cyclist. When you decide to engage in the sport of cycling, you're the one who'll pay the steepest price in an accident, regardless of whom is at fault.
The list of problems and dangers a cyclist might face on the road are legion. They each require a tactical response, and I've listed some of them above. But, I've barely nicked the surface. The message here is strategic: what is your current posture when contemplating a road shared with motorized vehicles? The safest posture is to assume the worst from those on the other side. Then, you'll be pleasantly surprised when these drivers do the right thing and, more to the point, you're more likely to arrive home safe and sound and able to ride another day.
The scenario above is the sort of thing that might happen to cyclists who live in beach communities. An overwhelming number of triathletes and cyclists live and ride along the Pacific Coast Highway corridor. I used to be one of them in my younger years, and most of my crashing took place on that stretch of road.
Laguna Beach was my particular bad luck city. I crashed into cars, or they into me, in North Laguna and South Laguna indiscriminantly. In retrospect it was due to three enabling causes: PCH was thoroughly busy and subject to cars exiting and entering that road; this stretch of PCH was hilly, so I had less opportunity to avoid a collision when I was descending at high speed; and I was inattentive to the bad habits of motorists.
Certain cities like Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, the South Bay area of Manhattan and Hermosa Beach, feature parallel parking on Pacific Coast Highway, which grants you precious little space between cars on the number-2 lane on the left, and parked cars on the right. Again, you'd be amazed at what you can see with a quick glance: people seated in those parked cars; people's faces in their side mirrors; and of course back-up lights. When you see those back-up lights, that means the car has just backed into its parallel parking space. When the lights go out, the driver has just turned his car off. What's next? He's got to exit his car. Will he see you before he opens his door? Will he even look? Probably not.
INTERSECTIONS
Look, I don't care how much time I lose in a race. I'm just not going to assume an intersection — even one that is controlled, even one that is barricaded — is safe for my passage. Remember, people are ignorant. They are just barely smart enough to pass a driving test. Or not. You don't think that a simple lack of a valid license is going to stop someone from driving, do you?
Besides, what do you think people at 7AM are doing on the road on a Sunday morning? They're probably engaged in one of two activities: They're on their way to church, for which they will be late because of the intersection at which they're now unexpectedly sitting; or they're on their way home from whatever it was they were doing Saturday night. The truest thing you can say about these people is that they are not thinking of the consequences of your bike hitting their passenger-side door.
Here are a few things we know. Police do not show up at the intersections they're supposed to control. When they do show up, they have no training in, and so no idea about, how fast oncoming triathletes ride their bikes. They'll certainly waive through a motorist when they should not have. Even those who do understand the speed at which you ride your bike have no control over how fast a motorist will step on the gas pedal and get his vehicle through the intersection.
This is the case when in fact the police are taking care of traffic control. It's just as likely that your life and spinal cord are in the hands of 85-year-old police volunteers or 15-year-old quasi-junior police volunteers. Or by no one.
And barricades? They've never stopped a motivated driver.
Look, here's the sad truth: There is no such thing as a controlled intersection. I don't care of there's a $100,000 prize for first in my age group, and I'm in the lead. Some things are just not worth it. Some races I just don't do, because there are so many intersections with cross traffic. When I do find myself in this position, I sit up, get out of the aero bars, with my hands on the pursuits. Of course I do so in a fashion not to cause the person behind me to slam on his brakes, but my main concern is not meeting the driver face to face as I fly through his side window.
CARS COMING FROM BEHIND
It seems like a lot of my fellow cyclists are getting hit on their training rides by vehicles the cyclist cannot see, that come up from behind. This is the sort of dynamic I'm faced with most often around my house, because I live in a rural area.
I live in horse country. That means trailers. Horse trailers. Utility trailers. Trailers hauling hay. Hauling debris. Wide trailers, with tail lights that are pitched wide — wider than the trucks towing them. Pick-up trucks with trailer mirrors that stick out past their normal passenger car width.
I ride to the right, of course, but I don't move way to the right to allow the truck or car to pass. Not right away. I tend to ride 18 to 24 inches in from edge of the road, as we all do. When I hear a vehicle coming up behind me I stay right there, allowing him room to pass. When the vehicle is just about on top of me, then I move all the way to the right, as far as is safe and practical. This gives me an extra foot or so of room, to grant me the space the driver meant to grant me, but did not because he misunderstood how wide his trailer is.
The real danger on the two-lane roads where I live is when I'm going to get passed by a car at the same time a car reaches my whereabouts in the oncoming lane. Now, two cars and a cyclist inhabit the same width of road at the same time. I have no hard and fast advice for this, except to say that drivers catch a tremendous amount of information in split seconds just like cyclists do. Looking the driver of one or both vehicles in the eye, just for a second, alerts them to the danger you sense, and which they will comprehend.
NON-VEHICLE-RELATED ACCIDENTS
I was riding with a group of friends in the Santa Monica Mountains not long ago. I was near the back of the group, as we were all descending at a rate commensurate with a bike race. A lot of the turns on these roads have decreasing radii, that is, they get sharper as the turn progresses. More than once I noted that riders in front of me overshoot the turn, ending up on the other side of the yellow in the middle of a blind turn.
Defensive cycling is not simply a case of protecting oneself against bad or inattentive drivers. It's protecting yourself against roads that are imperfect or badly designed, or built with undesirable but necessary elements because of the terrain. I speak to this with a method of descending I prefer, especially on the very curvy roads like those found in mountainous areas, and which has stood me in good stead. The link to this method follows this article.
ATTENTIVE POSTURE
Those of us who've ridden for decades all know fellow athletes who tend to crash more often than others. At first, you assume it's motorist error. When it happens over and over again, or when they ride their bikes into the backs of parked cars, it's a little harder to blame the other guy. Typically, these are the inattentive riders. This might be excused but for the consequences. At some point inattentiveness, and the disinclination to practice defensive riding, shifts the onus onto the cyclist. When you decide to engage in the sport of cycling, you're the one who'll pay the steepest price in an accident, regardless of whom is at fault.
The list of problems and dangers a cyclist might face on the road are legion. They each require a tactical response, and I've listed some of them above. But, I've barely nicked the surface. The message here is strategic: what is your current posture when contemplating a road shared with motorized vehicles? The safest posture is to assume the worst from those on the other side. Then, you'll be pleasantly surprised when these drivers do the right thing and, more to the point, you're more likely to arrive home safe and sound and able to ride another day.
Articles related to this one
Descending
This popular tutorial on descending was first written in 2000 and has been reworked and updated for today. 2.14.08
This popular tutorial on descending was first written in 2000 and has been reworked and updated for today. 2.14.08
Comments
I Love To Ride My Bike, But...
srggio
Reviewed by: Sergio R Garcia, Jun 23 2008 10:20AM
I love my health more! I prefer riding on sidewalks and avoid roads with no sidewalks. It's much safer that way!
Insightful and helpful
Reviewed by: Inga, Jun 16 2008 12:08AM
As with the other reviewer, the trailer bit really made me think. I mostly ride in the city ( Chicago ) and in my 6 mile one way commute it is very common to have something almost happen. In fact it almost happens on a regular basis. I've almost been doored, not by a parked car, but by one in the flow of traffic. People have turned left in front of me causing me to slam on my brakes, the driver not realizing that I was riding that fast. A few weeks ago, however, was the scariest. I was sitting at a red light next to a curvy hilly highway off ramp one afternoon. The light turned green. I had the right of way, along with the cars next to me. Had I started in a more hurried manner I would have been hit by the driver who, coming off the highway was literally speeding at 50+ mph onto the city streets and decided, instead of stopping, to honk his horn loudly as he blew through the red light onto the city streets. Defensive cycling and mellow cycling IS very important. In urban cycling, one of the most important things I've found to be true is to try and use side streets and a route which, while it may be longer, has less traffic and allows you to ride in the middle of the street. Safe riding to everyone! great article.
great piece
sanjay
Reviewed by: sanjay, May 30 2008 3:28PM
The part about the trailer really hit home for me... I have come close to being hit not realizing there is a trailer behind a truck that just passed me.
Thank you
Eric
Reviewed by: Eric, May 30 2008 1:50PM
Thank you for your excellent stereotyping lead. Maybe next article you can offend a racial group or people of certain sexual orientation!
Nice
Cheers
Reviewed by: Rex, May 30 2008 5:55AM
Exactly what you're saying hit me once while standing in line at the market, 'my god, all these people are going out to their cars to drive away from here; the guy in front of me with two missing teeth, the woman who can't figure out her ATM card, etc.' It scared me bad. One thing I've learned is to not take anything personally on the road. I used to get very angry, but I realize now that nothing is directed toward me personally, rather I'm just another cyclist on the road and being ill-treated is indicative of a larger cultural problem or battle between bikes and cars. It's not directed at me personally. I do a lot of riding in the city (Boston) and I think also that there is an 'appropriate speed' for urban riding. Too fast could kill you (and so could too slow). I try to 'chill' and take it as it comes. Lastly, going down on your bike is eventually inevitable; it happens. Learn how to do it correctly; pull in your arms and legs and do everything to roll into and out of the fall. I've done it both ways and let me tell you that sticking out your hand to brace for impact is not the way to go!
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