Confessing Evangelical

Continuing my blog's Holiday From Theology (too hot and humid to quote long chunks of Hermann Sasse Think Deep Thoughts at the moment)... as a public service announcement, here's a link to the most helpful article I've ever read on cycling: Effective Cycling: The Cure for Un-Riding!. It's based on the book Effective Cycling by John Forester, "the crusty old-timer del tutti crusty old-timers", which aims to teach people how to ride properly in traffic.

The basic, core, positive principle - the paradigm, if you will - that can reduce your risk of collision on the roads by a factor of four, is this:

WHEN YOU'RE ON A BIKE,
ACT LIKE A MOTORIST
As the writer goes on to point out, "this does not mean fling trash on the roadside or discharge firearms at people who get in your way". Rather, it means remembering that:

...motorists are familiar with normal traffic patterns and tend to follow them. As a result, they generally avoid smacking into each other. If you play by the same rules, they will generally avoid smacking into you.

In particular, here are four golden rules given in the article for cyclists to follow:

1. Ride straight. (Riding in a parking lane and weaving in and out of traffic to dodge the parked cars is a no-no.)
   


2. Make right turns from the right-hand lane.
   


3. Avoid passing on the left. [i.e. don't "under-take" stationary traffic]
   


4. Stay off the damn sidewalk.
   

(Note: throughout this post, I've transposed the "lefts" and "rights" for the benefit of UK readers. US readers should refer to the linked article).

This contrasts with some of the other behaviour-patterns seen all-too often among cyclists - such as the "youth" I witnessed on Monday evening, riding his mountain bike (why is it always a mountain bike?) along the "damn sidewalk" by a main road near our home, before turning into an adjoining road and proceeding to ride up the wrong side of the road, which - by the grace of God - was free of oncoming traffic. The writer describes this cycling (mis-)behaviour in memorably vivid terms:

As you have seen, or (eek!) have done, there are other ways people have learned to ride bicycles. Call it "un-riding." Un-riders ride on sidewalks, and get smacked. Un-riders initiate right turns from the far left ("safe") lane and get smacked. Un-riders pass in the left gutter in an intersection and get smacked by left-turning traffic. Un-riders walk their bikes through intersections, and don't get smacked, but are un-riders, literally. In short, un-riders play by a different set of rules, and pay the consequences.

The problem is, the writer continues, that people ride their bikes in the way they were taught as children. If you ride a bike in traffic, you need to learn to ride it like an adult, rather than being one of the "thousands of grown-up children un-riding around on bikes". This article is a good start. Please read it. Lecture over!

Update: You can check out your cycling personality profile by taking this quiz. My scores: 76% Effective Cyclist (yeah, right, I'll remember that next time I'm pushing my bike up a hill while small children race past me on their BMXs), 14% Speeding Messenger, 4% Loon (for giving honking motorists the finger, figuratively speaking at least), 4% Sidewalk Scurrier (just because I'd rather take the car if it's raining! Huh!).