This morning's commute and other commuting stories

make out any 'no you go' gestures from the driver which leads to weird politbess chicken mexican stand offs.

I nearly get taken out daily by someone pulling out/in because someone else has flashed them to do so. Wish everyone would just mind their own business and drive/wait as they're supposed to.
For some reason people think they're the only person on the road and if they say it's fine to pull in front of them, no way there'll be any cyclists in the actual bike lane they're beside

Ah yes, Im very familiar.
Admittedly, though, I have been lucky recently with the person who was flashed doing the looking out for oncoming traffic.
Still a fright I didnt need.

Whilst I concur that massive bright / flashy bike lights are fucking annoying…

Pretty sure the reason people feel compelled to deploy them are because they are terrified of being run down by some unobservant cunt driver, and they’ve bought into the prevailing narrative that the best defence for a cyclist is to make themselves as visible as possible.

I'm sure you're right. Isn't that a sad state of affairs though

I was thinking about this on my ride home today. Hi vis makes a cyclist more visible, but a bright light actually obscures them. In a funny way, it'd almost be more beneficial if there was a way of illuminating the cyclist themselves, but I can't see how you'd do this without blinding yourself in the process.

Some kind of drone to bathe you in a spotlight from above, I reckon. Like a UFO doing an abduction.

I bet you can get Sam Brownes with rows of LEDs.

Can’t remember the name of the company, but I did once find a light that pointed both forwards and downward, creating a circular patch beneath the rider. Seemed really quite good to be honest.

Think it was an Australian company?

Ding.

https://www.bikeradar.com/news/ding-downward-and-forward-facing-light-exclusive-first-look/

If only they still existed, it’s a great idea.

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Ped angrily shouts “watch where you’re going” at me.

The funny bit is that I was doing exactly that, gave him a massive wide berth, but still managed to give him a surprise as he looked up from his phone. The irony seemed to be lost on him.

Website says new website and products coming soon.

I had one of the lights, but because I was surrounded by a pool of light, I wasn't aware of cars driving up behind me, as their headlights blended into the pool. That was a bit off putting for me

I find these side lights really useful for making yourself more visible.

https://brightside.bike/brightside-bike-sidelight/

A reflective strip on your tyres is pretty good for side visibility too

Reflective marathons and mudguards on my commuter. Almost need to get someone else to ride it past me to see how visible it is.

Ah that’s a cool idea.

The publicity photos for that light show you'd be much more visible to drone pilots. I'm sold.

Umm. Just buy a second wide beam white light and mount it somewhere (top tube?) pointing down?

Reflective marathons and mudguards on my commuter. Almost need to get someone else to ride it past me to see how visible it is.

During the various iterations of my commuting bike I got someone else to ride it (at night) whilst I drove past in a car. Helped me understand how it looked from the front/back/side.

Also spoke reflectors are cheap and really stand out in car headlights.

My commuting bike ended up as:-

• Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres with reflective sidewalls
  
• 20+ spoke reflectors in each wheel
  
• Front dynamo powered light was a B&M Ixon or similar - solid beam, angled down
  
• Rear dynamo powered light (B&M D'Toplight plus) had a built in reflector and capacitor to continue to run after stopping, solid light and not eye-searingly bright at all
  
• Shimano double sided SPD Click'R pedals (with built in reflectors) - easy to use with normal shoes
  
• Generic cheap relatively-dim blinky lights front and rear
  
  

Next step would have been reflective tape on the tubes/forks/mudguards but I stopped commuting before I got to this stage.

General questions were:-

• What do I look like from behind
  
• What do I look like from in-front
  
• What do I look like from the side (assuming I'm waiting at a junction or waiting to turn into a side road)
  
• What do I look like when signalling (especially turning right)
  
• For all of the above, what do I look like when stopped
  
  

Dynamo lights are great, but if you don't get the ones with built in capacitors then they simply turn off when you stop.

Reflectors may look a bit shit in daylight but IDGAS, they do help.

IMHO (based on what I see when driving), flashing lights are better for being seen (since they seem to stand out more) but too powerful and they piss off everyone. But it's much harder to judge how far away a blinky light is, so I used a combination of brighter/solid lights and dimmer/flashing lights. The flashing lights were also a backup should the dynamo have problems (my shoddy wiring).

I've driven behind plenty of cyclists with such bright rear lights that I've been almost blinded, especially on rainy days where the light appears all over the windscreen due to the rain. I've certainly had to drop back further than I normally would but I guess I'm not the typical moton. I certainly wouldn't want to be doing that to a less attentive or more aggressive driver behind me.

Having done years of night-time riding on Audaxes you quickly get told if your rear lights are obnoxious to other riders.

Retroreflective on moving bits (wheels/pedals/feet) are great for grabbing attention and saying "BIKE" to other road users rather than going "hmm, odd light ahead, might be some kind of street furniture, no need to move out".

Most of my cycling kit has some reflective trim somewhere. SPD shoes have reflective patch on the heel. Reflective trim/patches on sleeves/gloves make signalling more obvious.

Then again, I'll occasionally ride home half pissed on a bike with no lights. There but for the grace of the SkyFairy go I.

Did you close pass them for the authentic experience?

a pal of mine had a pair of these sealskinz overshoes with lights in the heels, they were really noticeable.
https://www.sealskinz.com/products/all-weather-led-cycle-overshoe

i also quite like the idea of a light up water bottle for side visibility. might give one a go.
https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/topeak-iglow-bottle-cage

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20% off too from Brightside website with January20 code

I don't see the £5 builders hi-vis vest I found in a hedge at work in there :p

But agreed, I noticed just lights in town aren't always enough when driving.

Sure, I actually look out for cyclists. A bright city light / incoming headlights misery from drivers can be enough to "hide" somebody slightly and not all drivers care.

A bit of side and front/back reflection is really a good idea.

My cycle lights also cast side-lights, it's the "light and motion" brand.

So it's white at the front, then green side-lights.
Red at the back, then orange side-lights. That one also "pulses" for extra attention.

I don't see the £5 builders hi-vis vest I found in a hedge at work in there :p

EN 1150 compliant hiviz from Paris-Brest-Paris in 2011. :tick:

Someone got a picture of me asleep at the side of the road during that ride. Where has it gone? Aha: https://www.greenbank.org/audax/pbp_01.jpg

Also remember if you only have a blinking light that it's OFF for around 50% of the time. If it's only a slow blink, there's a pretty good chance a driver will miss it if they're not looking directly at you.