E:\LETTERS\AGposted.TXT --------------- posted to rec.bicycles.misc AG: Aunt Granny's Advice, or How to become an elderly cyclist: This post is the first of a weekly series of grandmotherly aphorisms. Each subject line will begin "AG:" for your killfiling convenience. It seems obvious that the first thing you have to do is to learn and obey the traffic laws, but it isn't that easy. You have to learn, UNDERSTAND, and RESPECT the traffic laws. If you don't understand a rule, you can't possibly obey it, nor can you tell when it applies and when it doesn't. posted --------------- posted to rec.bicycles.misc AG: Stoplights I once witnessed an egregious example of not understanding the rules: A traffic light changed and a car stopped in the intersection to wait for it to turn green again. Though we call it a stop light, a red light doesn't mean "stop". It means "it is not your turn to use the intersection". Had the driver understood this, he wouldn't have remained in the intersection when it wasn't his turn. The most-common way to avoid entering an intersection is to stop, but it's also permitted to move slowly enough that the light turns green just as you reach it, or to turn off on a side road if one presents itself. Likewise, a green light isn't a command to shut your eyes and plow straight ahead. A green light grants permission to enter the intersection if it is, in your considered opinion, safe to enter the intersection. posted --------------- posted to rec.bicycles.misc AG: parked cars When overtaking a parked car, treat it as though its door were already open. There is no way to be quite certain that there is nobody in the car. Ride down the center of the lane, allowing as much space for the parked car as for the oncoming traffic. Closing speeds are greater for the oncoming traffic, but it's only in spy movies that moving cars suddenly change shape. Do not allow yourself to be overtaken while overtaking. If you have to stop dead and wait for traffic to clear, stop dead and wait for traffic to clear. If you have to get off and walk around the car on the sidewalk, get off and walk around the car on the sidewalk. If you have to take another route, take another route. As soon as you can, learn how and when to "take the lane". posted --------------- posted to rec.bicycles.misc AG: when to avoid the primary position When riding on a road, the default position is the right-hand wheel track -- that is, you put your rightmost wheel where everybody else puts his rightmost wheel. (Change "right" to "left" if your country drives on the left.) Many people believe that "default position" means "the position I grab with both hands and my teeth, close my eyes, and hang onto no matter what." What "default" means is "what I do WHEN I HAVE NO REASON TO DO SOMETHING ELSE". We could list reasons to do something else all week and never run out. The first one to come to mind: that track *is* where everybody puts his rightmost wheel, and, on many roads, pound it into rubble. In such a case, I usually ride on the comparatively-smooth path between the wheel tracks -- unless the track is broken so badly that it's hazardous to cross it, in which case I ride just outside the track and grimly vow to find another road next time. Left turns are another reason to leave the default path. The correct line for approaching an intersection where you intend to turn left might be the middle of the lane, the left-hand wheel track, the next lane over, or something else -- but it's *never* as far right as the right-hand wheel track. (Unless it's such a difficult turn that you mean to turn right and make a U-turn, or get off the bike and press the pedestrian button.) When other traffic is continuous and there is a wide shoulder, your place is four feet from the line of motorized traffic. That's four feet between his outside mirror and your elbow, NOT four feet between wheel tracks. posted --------------- posted to rec.bicycles.misc AG: hydration Take the first sip of water as you are rolling out the driveway. It sets the proper rhythm, and lets you know you forgot to clean your bottle while you can still go back and do something about it. A man riding his first September Century complained to another rider that the water he'd been drinking was sloshing in his stomach. The other rider said "You're supposed to take it in small sips, not big gulps." The first man thought this meant that he should replace each big gulp with one small sip, and would have been in dire straits if the place where he ran out of steam and had to get off the bike had not been serving his favorite beverage. He sat for a hour sipping slowly, then got back on the bike and finished the ride -- taking small sips *frequently*. posted --------------- posted to rec.bicycles.misc If you lock your lock to your frame or a wire pannier, it won't fall out and get lost -- and it guarantees that you won't look the bike to something when you haven't got the key. posted --------------- posted to rec.bicycles.misc When you are riding in a narrow bike lane and hear a car behind you, watch until you see it in your rear-view mirror, then reflect that you are smaller than a car and wait a bit longer. When you are quite sure that the driver can see you clearly, wobble over the bike-lane line into his lane, then immediately wobble back to the middle of the bike lane. When you can see that the driver has selected his route and decided on how much clearance to give you, move as far toward the edge of the road as you dare -- that six inches might matter. ---------------