Looking Back

Before you do any sharp direction changes you should always look back. You cant go by ear because some cars these days make almost no noise, especially when you factor in the background city noise and wind (if your going fast enough). Also you wont hear if there's a cyclist behind you as well. So anytime you change directions...its just a good habit to learn to look back BEFORE you do so, not at the same time your doing so.

Anytime you look back make sure the path in front of you is clear and that you can ride in a straight line without having to change directions or speed. Make sure there are no possible doors or cars changing lanes or pulling out. Because while your looking back even for just half a second an obstacle can appear in your way and surprise. Never look back if the path in front of your might be taken over by a pedestrian or car.

The short look back is used to see whats in your immediate surroundings, I make these very frequently just to always refresh my escape options for anything happening. These are really quick looks that are pretty much used to reaffirm your position.

The loog look back is when your going to make large direction changes in heavy traffic...you got to make sure you the space in front of you clear for longer distances because our going to turn your head more and for a longer amount of time. There are times when I would like to get out of a bad traffic situation but I don't because I dont have the space in front of me clear enough to turn back and see whats going on. In that case just slow the bike down. I traffic whenever things get too sketchy the best answer is to just slow down and stop and wait for the situation to change...I know I say momentum is king but sometimes its not worth it to just barrel through a really bad spot and risk getting pinched.

You can either look back just by turning your head at least as possible needed in order to get a good look. This works out if your torso position is more upright when riding flat bars . Or, if your torso is lower to the ground due to riding a road bike you can look down and to the side to the view between your arms and your torso. I like to do my quick looks this way.

Make sure you know how to look back while maintaining course. You dont want to be the asshole who starts riding to the side while looking back and rear ends a car. Just go to a parking lot and practice looking back while learning to maintain course. Yes it will require a bit of flexibility of neck muscles and balance but once you learn it you'll be a lot more flexible in traffic. Little by little youll learn to get the most info about your sorroundings while turning your head at least and as quick as possible.

Pass on the outside of a turning car's curve

Always pass a car who is making a turn on its outside. 9 out of 10 times when a car is turning and its going to change its curse it will tighten its curve. You dont want to be inside of it curve especially when your in its blind spot. Whenever I see a car is going to turn, and Im turning as well in the same direction I’ll move into the outside of its curve.

Getting Skinny

Fitting through tight spots in traffic is about learning to move your shoulders, your hips and bending at the knees. You should have a really good feel for how much space your body takes up and what you can do with it to slip through tight spots such as side-view mirrors between . Obviously that takes time. But this is what works for me best in these situations.

The widest parts of your body silhouette are your sholders and your handlebars. The widest parts of cars are their mirrors. Depending on how tall you are and whether the vehicle is a truck or a convertible. You will move different body parts to slip between them.

Fastest way to get skinny is to tuck your elbows in by straightening your arms. I use that sometimes to let pedestrians on the shoulder know that I'm not trying to hit them, its more of psychological message I send to them letting them know I don't want to hit them , and just by doing that they will also more likely get out of the way a little. Its a bit of a compromise, but all interactions with cars and ped are that way, you got to give a little space to get some space. But If I see the ped doesnt do anything make space for me as well, then in my head I say “fuck you were going to play chicken”. (I wouldn't recomend you do that though.)

Car mirrors are easy to avoid depending on their height by twisting you torso (without affecting your handling too much) to make a slimmer profile. This works when then mirrors are at hip to shoulder level for you. If the mirror is closer to your hip then to your shoulder you can also just stick your hip to the opposite side.

Now if the mirrors are at shoulder height or above then you can easily just drop of the seat and sit on your top tube by lowering your knee to lower your shoulders. This is much easier to do when you have a freewheel (another reason why I don't ride fixed)

The trickiest part of slipping through cars when the mirrors of two cars are adjacent to each other. They give you no space to work with...and if they are at hip height your fucked because you cant even duck down. The trick is to wait till are not adjacent and take advantage of that small time frame and twist your torso to get through. Be careful that the drivers don't slow down or speed up and their mirrors are adjacent again while your trying to slip through. It’s happened to me many times and what usually happens is that the mirror nudges me pretty hard until it flips inward. Usually after that point I apologize to the driver and flip the mirror out. By the way, I consider it very good form to flip a mirror back out of a car that you inadvertently flip in, its just good karma. Unless you flipped it in because the fucker was trying to sideswipe you.

Also one more thing you should be aware of how wide your profile is at pedal level. This helps in knowing when you can fit when your trying to sweep across to bumpers side/length wise without having your feet scrape the bumper.

Its almost like boxing. I have fairly wide shoulders but I can fit through almost anything because I know how to manipulate my shoulders/hips to slip and duck mirrors. I flipped in many mirrors in my time trying to gauge what I can and cant fit through. I still do ones in a while. You can only sharpen your body awareness through experience, the trick is to avoid being seriously hurt while doing so.

Just like in anything else in urban cycling, you will make mistakes, you will get hurt. The trick is in minimizing the damage so that you can learn from your mistakes and not be taken out of commision. You will make fatal errors when you dont keep a cool head and have some prior knowledge (which Im trying to give you) of whats going on. You will make mistakes, but keep them minor and deal with scrapes and bruises as opposed to to dealing with head injuries,broken collar bones and punctured lungs that come when you try to ride beyond your capacity. And yes you will know when your riding beyond your capacity when your terrified shitless, if you are...slow the fuck down and get out of the my way (and the cars) and let the pros do what they do.

BTW .Be careful of fenders on busses and trucks as they stick out more than the vehicle itself.

Boulevards of Death Alleycat...Sept 25th

This is a set route through Queen's fastest, widest , and meanest streets it has to offer. Starts @ Myrtle Avenue and Woodhaven Blvd @ 3PM. Checkpoint must be done in order, If you don't know your way around Queens, then no need to worry because the manifest is the map. Few Minor details might still change, so if anything changes Ill update it. Brought to you by stoned tone and Raf.

Finish @ 57th st and Flushing Ave (entering through grand ave)

Register @ 3PM
Race @ 4PM
Finis
Awards Ceremony @ the WreckRoom (940 Flushing Ave) @ 7PM
After Party Onwards


Email me rafneg aT gmail dotcom

Let the left turners....turn.

I usually slow down for left turning drivers on two way streets despite me having the right of way. The left turner has pressure from the cars behind him who are honking and egging him on to make his turn and they also have to convince the drivers in the opposite direction going straight to slow down as to let him pass. When they make their turn, they have to be committed to it because they have oncoming car traffic going at them at full speed. I feel bad for the cyclist who is going straight as he is making the turn because he wont slow down for him. Because he rather hit the cyclist then be hit by the oncoming car. Its not on purpose (it might be in the case of some angry drivers) Its just that hes more scared of the 3000 lb car coming at him than he is of the "puny" guy on the bike. Even though you have the right of way if you find yourself in that position, either slow down and give em the right of way or get ready to dodge that car.

Also know that if you see a car waiting to make a left turn and you're the only oncoming traffic he has to face...the driver will try to intimidate you to slow down or get out of his way. Because for the most part drivers do no consider us regular traffic. This is one of the cases where the laws of the road will be broken time after time. So just be aware that left turners are very dangerous.

I know it seems like I'm backing down when I am in the right, but this is an issue where Im willing to be flexible on. Id rather be flexible and alive to keep riding then be with a broken bike or bone paying to get either fixed.

Rant on bicycle lanes part II.

Why I don’t like the separated bike lanes
.. instead of cars we have to deal with pedestrians who consider them extended sidewalks.
..Id rather deal with car drivers any day than pedestrians
..I enjoy going faster than 15mph
.. Cars are easier to spot, less erratic than oblivious pedestrians who are usually zoned out on their cellphones.
... Instead of bike lanes we should just have expanded shoulders or
... the city should promote better riding skills and driver awareness instead of wasting their money on bike lanes.
.. The main skill any urban cyclist needs is to be able to shift in and out of the shoulders to avoid obstacles. The shuffle. If most cyclist new how to do that there wouldn’t be a need for bike lanes.
... now how do we teach that skill on a large scale? I don’t know, I dont work for transportation alternatives. Maybe add the shuffle

Doors

Working as a messenger doors are my biggest fear. "They come out of nowhere" we say, how can you prevent something you have no chance of avoiding. I've been doored about 4-6 times, and they've all been bad. It seems to be at a rate of one door per 6 months. I know I WILL get doored again all i can do is trust in myself that when I do get doored that my super reflexes that I'm known for will kick in and all I come out with is a bruised elbow and not in a hospital. They cost money, more money than I have for one and I just hate that helpless feeling I get when I'm waiting for people to help me.

Shit happens, you don't need to be there when it does.

Doors will open into cyclist's paths, the question is, are you going to be the one who's there when it does. The last time I was doored I sort of blamed myself. Because If I hadn't gotten complacent I would have given myself more space that wold have bought me some milliseconds to act, or get out of the way . Usually when I ride in stalled traffic in between cars I ride slow and my eyes are scanning from car to car to try to spot the signs of door openings. But no, I was in a residential neighborhood, well and far away from the bustle of midtown and I let my guard down.

One thing I learned as a messenger is that there are zones in space which are dangerous to be due to the likely hood of someting bad happening there. Overtime you learn to spot these zones and also to not get greedy and put yourself in these zones because you don't want to slow down. I have slowed down alot from the time that I was a fresh green rookie three years ago and I hope that I will keep slowing down even more to avoid getting hurt. I don't ride like a madman in the side streets because there is no flow to the traffic there. Cars are always pulling in or out, pedestrians are jaywalking, cars slow down to look for parking and sometimes even speeding up catch the yellow light. Hit me up on an avenue though with green and I'll bet your ass Im trying to haul exactly that... ass.


Remember, doors will open but you don't have to be there when they do and if you have to be there go slow enough so you can react to it in a way that doesn't involve you going to the hospital.

Where and when car doors open mostly..
In stalled traffic - motorist and passengers are concerned about their own personal safety, not yours. So when they look outside the car to see if they can open the door they look to see if traffic is in motion, if there is not traffic in motion they sense no danger therefore dont think to look behind them to see specifically if theres anybody in the path of the door.