Bike Skills Class #2: Safety

OVERVIEW

In terms of safety, riding a bike has the disadvantage of leaving the rider completely exposed in the event of a collision. However, it offers the distinct advantage of 360 degree views with no blind spots and the ability to accelerate/decelerate quickly and fit through the narrowest spaces. Due to these factors, sometimes simply following the rules of the road on a bike isn’t good enough. In fact, some of the best (err… dumbest) cyclists choose to use their incredible maneuverability, lightning-fast reaction times, and group communication to counteract the dangers they face. I don’t recommend doing anything in this video (for both safety and legal reasons), but it demonstrates that people following zero road rules can be extremely safe (with respect to the number of risks they take) by following a few specific guidelines: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPZZF2PbNko .

This class is not meant to teach you how to be an alleycat racer. However, we can take the general principles they apply and combine them with the common sense that they don’t use to make you into a very safe cyclist. This class will involve sketching and discussing scenarios on a whiteboard as well as acting them out on bikes. To get an idea of what we’ll be talking about, check out: http://bicyclesafe.com/ .

Bring a bike if you have one. If not, we can grab a few from the gear room. If we have time, we’ll also briefly go over best practices for trail riding safety (though they’re mostly the same as biking on the road, minus the cars).