Cycling UK Forum

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
Of course we shouldn't go too overboard and thank someone just doing what is expected of them.

Why ever not?

Snap!


viewtopic.php?f=7&t=101910&start=15#p959041

Well, the evening ride home after this post featured a wonderful full moon, and not one but two motorists were so carefully hanging back I had to wave them through.

Not a single problem since, other than freezing cold and soaking wet tonight.

So I reckon peak idiot has indeed been passed.

I sometimes use a rucksack but much prefer a pannier, because of both sweat & also comfort.

Why not consider a bar bag - clip on & they can be surprisingly capacious, easily enough for your commute.

Can get in the way of lights though

Well, *obviously* I'm a highly tolerant person who always rides and drives defensively. Doesn't everyone?

Seriously, it's interesting that my defensive riding (ie not in the gutter) was actually cited by the close overtaker as justification for the close pass.

I don't buy the suggestion that drivers are getting worse. It's a long time since anything has been thrown at me from a moving car, for instance, but that has happened in the past. Also, if you read anything on the history of the CTC, driver behaviour has long been a big issue.

I do agree that on occasion, cyclists can react aggressively and unhelpfully to minor transgressions from motorists or other road users. I think it sometimes comes from a siege mentality borne of vulnerability.

Anyway, off now to cycle home through the dark and drizzle. Hopefully back to the normal post-work de-stress.

I have the plug in red eye which looks to have the same fitting. I turned upside down on the seatstay, no problem. Not sure why that’s not OK for yours but I guess yours is heavier with the battery and also doesn’t have the cable as an emergency anchor if the fitting fails. I also wedged a bit of something in to fettle it to just the right angle – just cardboard rather than cork, but same idea as yours.

There’s something about darkening mornings which worsens behaviour.

Today I had
- First emergency stop. A motorist (with a defective light) clearly saw me but decided to turn right across me regardless
- Second emergency stop. Presented by a milk float on the wrong side of the road coming straight at me having cut the corner
- First close overtake (motorist with defective rear light)
- Second, this time *very* close overtake. I caught up with this one and had a full and frank exchange of views. I was presented with the following excuses: You were too far out; I’m a cyclist too; I was over the white light so it was OK.

Normally the ride is a stress reliever. Not today.

Let's hope it was "peak idiot".

MikeF wrote:But you don't know it's on unless you can see it or is there an indicator somewhere?

It's mounted on the seatpost, it's so bright the reflected light off the rear rack makes it look like I have neon tubes behind me. I'm assured is write striking from behind for exactly that reason.

I run one of these.

http://www.ultimatesportsengineering.co ... ng-cable-0

If the front light is on, so is the rear, and you only need to recharge one light rather than two.

But they are very pricey.

MikeF wrote: does it appear to the oncoming motorist as one those ultra dazzling cycle lights? Also the flashing lights might be "dazzling" and annoying so they keep the high beam on.

I used to use just the joystick on steady; I keep it on flashing out of sheer paranoia of SMIDSY - been there, done that and don't want a repeat! The Strada was added for battery life and also to have a backup. My experience with either joystick alone, strada alone or both is that *unless* they are set to dazzle, a majority of motorists leave full beam on. If they are sensibly dipped, most motorists ignore and continue on at full speed and with full beam.

On busy roads, where motorists aren't generally on full beam, I angle them down further and turn to the dimmer setting. I don't *want* to be annoying.

MikeF wrote:The problem with lighting is that we as cyclists do not know how we appear to other road users.

I think I've got a pretty good idea. The unwelcome conclusion I've come to is that unless I'm a pain in the buttock by being dazzling, motorists pay me no attention. But perhaps I'm wrong.

From the thread on being followed too close

661-Pete wrote:They are also a help at night on dark country lanes, encouraging oncoming motorists to dip their lights. I dutifully and religiously switch my super-bright front lamp to low power whenever someone approaches, but that doesn't always seem to register....

Interested in others' experiences on this.

I've found that *unless* I have a front light which is dazzling for oncoming traffic on back roads, motorists more often than not leave their full beam on. Despite me being ultra visible in reflective everything. It's not they don't see me, they just don't seem to register that dazzling a cyclist is an issue in the same way, or worse, than dazzling a motorist.

Whereas if have have mine on full power and/or adjusted higher than advisable, they always dip theirs. As though once dazzled themselves they realise they oughtn't to dazzle me.

Which leaves me either blinded or feeling guilty that I'm dazzling motorists. A rock and a hard place. Generally I now leave mine on full but cover it up with a glove as long as approaching cars dip theirs.

My lighting rig is an Exposure Strada for main beam, plus a joystick flashing for visibility and a helmet mounted small falshing light too. And a plug in for the strada at the back (which is brilliant, ultra bright an no need to separately recharge), extra flashing rear light just to be sure and a helmet mounted rear flasher.

I was privileged to have the opportunity to do the Ardechoise this year. Just got the invite for next year's event which I can't do.

So this is just to encourage anyone with some time and money- if you want to do a cycling event, I can't imagine a better one. To my surprise, the invite says only 59 British took part this year.

15,000 people
1-4 days ( you choose)
80-650km (you choose)
Impeccable logistics
Utterly barmy French party atmosphere.

We did the "velo marathon" over 2 days, flying to Geneva then driving.

What would you recommend as the best cycling event in the world?

http://ardechoise.com/en

Keep well oiled in winter.

Replace chain and cassette at spring equinox.

Looks like Sir Bradley agrees with my back of the fag packet, so it must be right

In keeping with the recent British cycling tradition of marginal gains... ...temperature in the velodrome set to 28 degrees, warm enough to give a performance advantage – an increase in temperature of three degrees results in a 1% increase in speed, due to the increased movement among the air molecules that makes it easier for the cyclist to shove himself and his bike through them...

...The one element that was out of Wiggins’s control was the British weather, and that failed to co-operate; an anti-cyclone with pressure at 1036 cost him about 700 metres, he believed.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/j ... our-record

Is that so? I often feel that the air is somehow 'thicker' on hot days, and imagined that it was something to do with air currents rising from the hot asphalt. Is that wrong?

I fear it is.

The air is actually not only less dense with rising temperature, but also with *rising* humidity, as the molecular weight of water is less than that of air.

So, entirely counterintuitively, for low air resistance, you want a hot, humid day. Think really muggy summer day - with low air pressure, so likely thunderstorms.

On the other hand, a cold crisp day in winter will actually have considerably higher air resistance, featuring low temperature, high pressure and low humidity. A quick back of the fag packet sum suggests by as much as 15%!

I guess it feels "heavy" because of the difficulty in losing heat.