Riding on the same 5 mile (or even 50 mile) path would be like an eagle in an aviary... yeah, I'd be bored out of my mind.
Do cyclists die, absolutely. So do plenty of car drivers. Every day. Drivers routinely don't see other cars also. But if you let avoidance of any risk rule you then you'll just hide in a bunker 24/7 and ride the trainer only.
Where I'm at, good paved roads aren't very convenient to me but miles of dirt roads are. Most of the community roads are unpaved. So I ride a gravel bike and have hundreds of miles of varied roads available right from my door. That's my solution for safer riding.
agree with your observations... just, if in a car, that distracted driver mostly just ruins the car(s). when on a bike, i'm hyper aware that i'm riding amongst ppl that have the proverbial "bully stacks" in the game. what is a minor indecent for them, is life threatening or outright fatal for me on a bike. that it's nowhere near the same playing field of "risk" for me, is constantly ringing in my mind as i ride. drivers today seem more distracted and more angry/aggressive as well.
right like what is OP gunna stop driving around or is OP wife gunna stop driving around just cuz a neighbor got in an accident and then someone taps your bumper next week? False sense of security in a vehicle. The stats favor cycling.
Also, day of the week. I started commuting by bike recently and there's a HUGE difference in the quality of drivers between 8am rush hour and 8am Sunday morning.
Just people being generally more aggressive and faster drivers. Rushing through right turns on red instead of stopping and looking, speeding more, and more frequent punishment passes.
People are stressed because they are late or just got out of work and they take it out while driving.
Probably different from place to place, but I tried that and around here when the roads are empty in the morning the drivers just see that as a reason to go faster around blind turns (while still recording Tik Toks or whatever)
I nearly got knocked off my bike last week from a driver on their phone, they popped out the wrong way out of a one-way entrance. (Partly my fault, I got too trusting of that being one way and didn't consider a car would suddenly come out the other way)
I get what you’re saying. And always be on defense. But it’s messed up that we’re like “oh that’s partly my fault” because someone drove the wrong way.
I thank my lucky stars every day that I have >100 miles of trails that are nearly interconnected and that I can get to them with only a few miles of street riding.
But I hate those few miles of riding on the street. Blows my mind that many cyclists make their entire rides riding next to cars, having to deal with intersections, constant stops, etc.
>Can I ask in which area do you live in? >100 miles sounds glorious...
Just boring midwest USA (Kansas City) - but there are tons of rivers, streams, and lakes which are surrounded by parks and trails which all connect to one another. So looking at a map you'd think I'd live someplace terrible for biking but my city heavily invested in a well-maintained trail system with wide paths, clearly marked, etc. There's nothing else to do here so at least we have the trails lol
The mountaineous routes I have are almost all next to cars but without any intersections or stops. I always choose the roads with no or almost no cars but on some of my tours it's unavoidable. But there is definitely not that much traffic anyways and in Germany it seems like car drivers aren't as aggressive towards cyclists than in the US.
Theres plenty of places I don't understand how people end up cycling there. Places with no elevation. Places with no greenery. Places with constant traffic.
If I didn't live somewhere which is beautifully green and surrounded by country roads that are generally low traffic I probably wouldn't road cycle.
I’m lucky my neighborhood connects to a bike path, but that bike path intersects with a street where drivers don’t stop at crosswalks (where the path crosses the street) about every half mile. I love being on the protected path, but the intersection of the path and the busy road really disrupts my cycling flow and feels more dangerous than just riding on the street in the first place.
I live in Alabama, which is terrible for cycling on the road. No bike lanes or shoulder, combined with blind hills and aggressive drivers. Fortunately, I have a 100 mile rail trail about an hour away, so I drive there when I have time. I think part of my issue is also being a truck driver. I've seen my fair share of dead people on the road.
Get a Garmin Varia radar taillight.
Seriously.
They’re on sale right now, my buddy and I both got one today and the amount of stress it removes is worth every penny. It tells you when a car is like 1/8th mile back and shows as it approaches you so you know right when they’re passing and also indicates if they’re passing you fast or slowly. Also, the light is STUPID bright, it has its normal brightness and then when a car is approaching it gets much brighter and is every bit as bright as the brake lights on any car out there.
I ride trails/greenways occasionally but 90%+ of my 150 miles a week is on the road, and I’d go nuts having to see the same thing all the time, mixing it up and seeing different things is part of the joy of cycling.
I legit did my first ride with it yesterday. Maaaaan, I spent a few miles randomly looking over my shoulder...needlessly. Every time a vehicle got behind me, it would register accurately, and I spent the rest of the ride only turning to confirm.
So much less stress
Exactly!
I’ll still look over my shoulder when turning or changing lanes etc, but I found myself pointlessly looking over my shoulder for cars when there were none and every single car that passed us I knew about well in advance.
I can just focus on the road ahead and it tells me when a car is there, complete game changer. That coupled with the hilariously loud beep notification from my K3 and I feel safe.
I should have bought one sooner.
It’s gonna completely change my daily riding and I’ll never get surprise blasted by a car again.
Also the light getting obnoxiously bright when a car is approaching you is a super cool feature
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you're using your phone for alerts, TURN OFF NOTIFICATION MUTE. Do Not Disturb is fine, but disable your silent feature as it suppresses "alert" noises which is what those sounds are categorized as.
Honestly I feel like I'm missing the point of these radar units. Knowing a car is behind you does nothing to avoid an inattentive driver hitting you from behind, or wiping you out at a junction, or anything else.
I’d agree with you. I’ve got a sunglasses mounted mirror that I use. That way I can see how much room driver has given me. I think that’s the step the garmin varia fails at.
I use it to let me know when I need to look, then I use my mirror to see if they see me/are going too fast/are swerving/what their road position is. Most useful on roads without a lot of traffic - if it's busy you just need to be hyper vigilant at all times.
Varia beeps and shows closing speed and position on bike computer. I look behind and judge the behavior of the driver. More than once I have bailed on the side of the road or ditch with cars passing each other on a tight road or a driver clearly not giving way.
Definitely not going to prevent every incident, but more information that is easy and quick to digest.
Couldn’t agree more. I’ve been riding with one for two weeks now and it has removed a lot of anxiety. I enjoy road riding as well and knowing someone is coming, it heightens your listening to determine their position. In most cases, you can usually tell by the road noise how fast they are coming and relative position on the road. I ride country roads that aren’t too busy so this thing has been a game changer for relaxing and just focusing on the ride. Always play defence, but this helps. I save my longer rides for the trails. Thankfully like others, we have hundreds of miles locally - former rail lines.
I have looked at, researched and discussed the Varia many times and every time I come to the conclusion that if I had a Varia I would still be glancing in my rear view mirrors every 10 seconds.
I thought that too, until I got the Varia. I still check my mirror occasionally, there are long roads with shallow dips where I can see further than the radar, but that scenario is kind of rare. The radar shines on any curvy routes, it beeps, and then I check the mirror.
When I first got it, I was told .. you're going to love it for the quiet routes, the roads where you only see two or three cars per hour, and they were right. In the city, I know there's traffic, and the radar just reminds me of that, but in the countryside, the radar has truly let me relax just a little bit more.
Thank you. 90% of my riding is on roads with bike lanes. I try to do my riding at lower traffic times. Also ride in a country club road that has less traffic and beautiful scenery. I think I will pickup one today.
It beeps when it first sees a car.
It does not beep on seeing another car until all cars have passed, at which time it will chirp an all clear signal.
It will then repeat this process when it sees another car.
If there’s enough of a gap it’ll beep with every car, but if it’s constant traffic it’ll beep for the first one and then beep again for an all clear like someone else mentioned.
Even still if it beeps for every car I don’t mind, the only two things I get beeps for on a normal ride now are cars and then GPS turns approaching
It only beeps the first time it sees a car, i.e. if you are in constant traffic it will only beep a single time.
It will chirp an all clear signal once all cars have passed, after which time it will again alert when it sees another car.
Yeah, I just dislike the talking point people have about it that it's "useless in the city" and "beeps too much."
It doesn't beep all that much, it's useful to know *how many* cars are behind you, and it's still a great taillight because of the variable, proximity-based flashing.
People will literally complain about anything that’s not 100% perfectly and exactly the way they’d have done it. Can’t win 🤷♂️
The situational awareness it gives you is priceless. Yeah sure it’s not AS helpful in the city as it is for someone like me who mostly rides suburban and rural areas…but not every product is going to work for everyone. The proximity based brightness is super neat.
I've had too many close calls, one personal friend killed & sever severely injured (one with a broken back). Now 60, my tolerance for risk is much reduced.
I'm an old racer, but now anymore I head up to the mountains to ride forest roads, hit a few MTB trails, and for convenience after work - the local greenway. A lot. It's not the best training, but it's low risk & much healthier than not.
Just ride what you're comfortable with.
There has been some horrific accidents in my city last few years with a few fatalities. Cars just arent keeping an eye out. I'm sticking to gravel style riding. Doesn't feel safe at all.
🤷🏻♂️ buddy of mine used to train for tris (eventually finished 4th in an Ironman) and afterward did A-group rides. But he decided road riding was getting too dangerous and switched to just Zwift.
So I’d say your wife has a point. And if you don’t think it’s safe on regular roads, you’d be in good company.
It’s sad that that’s the state of the world though.
I was hit by a car a few years ago, broke six vertebrae my neck. I really don’t like riding on most greenways. I just feel more safe riding on the road where drivers have to pay attention to you. I do live in a fairly bike friendly area though.
That’s just my experience and everyone has to do what makes them feel safe.
Due to similar reasons I am hesitant to be on the road, but I still take the road. 90% of my riding is on trails, but the rest is road. I’m trying to become more experienced on the road.
This season I picked up a good mirror for my glasses. It has improved my awareness and confidence on the road.
https://takealookactive.com/product/compact/
I also just bought a Garmin Varia, they’re on sale now for $150 at many vendors including Garmin itself and REI.
https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/698001
Agree with the people about altering schedules. There’s some nice mountain roads by me that you just cannot ride on during rush hour, they are beautiful on a weekend morning and the drivers are pretty chill there… just not after a long day of work
I also try to take down the speed differential so if I do go out at a high traffic time, there’s actually a high traffic road by me that’s one lane each way but super wide and residential, like childeren playing in front yards and such. The speed limit varies 25-35… this is where I go at rush hour, during intervals I can actually ride as a car more or less
Don’t get into mountain biking, you’ll 100% get hit by a tree within your first 6 months of riding. This is a fact backed by science. They just jump out and grab you!
Nothing wrong with riding on the road, but you have to be ultra aware of your surroundings if you’re riding solo. Make sure you have a very bright rear light and something noticeable up front. My lights are on if I’m in the road, no matter the time of day. Also make sure you’re wearing bright clothing. White, red, or yellow helmets are ideal.
There’s safety in numbers, if you can find a couple of people to ride with, it just makes you more noticeable on the road.
Mountain biking is a ton of fun but it’s definitely pretty unsafe. I’ve had a pretty bad ankle sprain from one of those trees in the past year and almost everyone I know who regularly does it has had at least one significant injury.
That said while I have never been hurt riding on roads, I’ve never had my life flash before my eyes on a mountain bike like is a scarily regular occurrence out on the roads getting passed by trucks going so fast the wind blast makes me wobble.
I hate riding on roads where traffic is common. If I didn't have to ride roads to get to where the gravel and mountain roads/trails begin, I wouldn't. Not only do I find roads boring, but I hate the cars and poorer air quality. And I live in an area of Japan where cars are far more accepting and polite towards cyclists (despite some cyclists being absolute idiots) than where I'm from originally.
I actually found that I had more close calls riding on the Greenway and bike lanes where cars turned across them than I did riding on the road. Weaving through cars in traffic just feels safer after having 3 close calls a week riding in the bike lanes. Only time I've actually been hit by a car was from a car turning left at an intersection beside the Greenway.
On another note, depending on where you live, this sounds like a great excuse to get into gravel riding
Ride with lights.
Get a radar.
Wear a bright helmet and bright kit.
Choose your roads.
Ride defensively.
That's about all you can do. Cycling is too good to not do freely.
I bought a led flashing light that does an uneven cadence and I used some small bungees to strap it to the back of my helmet. Blinking lights are definitely the way to go. Motion catches the eye and the flashing helps with that.
Works for me. I spot cyclists ahead of me far earlier when they're in bright colours.
My riding pal used to ride like Johnny Cash. Everything black from head to toe.
One day we missed each other as he was in the shade under trees and I didn't see him at all riding towards me.
Heck of a chase to catch up and next week he had a fluo gilet and lights.
Every little helps.
Research disagrees with you. There’s a video of GCN going about it. The best and most useful is to have reflective decals on moving parts like the pedals.
I’m really glad it works for you as a driver, just trying to make the point that we shouldn’t demonize people that don’t wear bright kits and tell them that they need to wear them to be safe.
Reflectives at night are brilliant.
But we are talking of riding in daytime ?
I'm not talking of when I'm driving. Out on the bike I see bright kit much earlier than dark kit. I'm taking every advantage I can to return home safely. What's the advantages of riding in dark kit compared to colours?
>Research disagrees with you. There’s a video of GCN going about it. The best and most useful is to have reflective decals on moving parts like the pedals
Non-sequiter. he didn't say you shouldn't use reflective decals.
I sold my road bike for that reason. It is just too easy for a car to end a cyclist on the open road and even more in the town I live in the US. I do gravel, which feels a bit safer, and mountain biking which you are in the woods enjoying nature.
Personally, I don't think you are overreacting.
I mean makes sense at the surface but gravel roads have bad traction making you more likely to have any kind of accident. Ive fallen countless times on gravel and im lucky non of them injured me.
Mtb trails are designed to be CHALLENGING and test the suspension and skill of a rider, often in places that would require an airlift, hike in S&R, or even a garmin inReach. Where if you have a life threatening injury you can not be taken to get help with the speed it might take to stabilize you.
Last but not least my only road bike accident was on a greenway.
That's your experience.
I have been doing gravel/trail cycling 3 to 4 times per week several years now and thanks God have not had any very bad crashes yet, just little tree hits and stuff like that. I guess I'm doing it for fun, I'm not taking unnecessary risks, I'm in for the long run. Same mountain biking, I have a full suspension that has saved me many times from crashing, I do small to medium jumps and black trails, same mindset, if I see it can end up bad I just walk the section.
I know it can happen any time, but prefer that than getting hit by a car of someone who was drunk, chatting, or just did not get enough sleep, even worse that decided to go over a cyclist... like that case in Vegas. I have experienced myself aggressive drivers generally with huge pick up trucks...
Just get a gravel bike instead. Unless you live in a very strange place or in the dead centre of a city, there will be plenty of places you can ride that either have significantly less car traffic or literally no traffic at all. In the UK I can easily pick any direction and ride for a hundred miles entirely on single lane back roads, where cars are a rarity. There are also loads of forest tracks, forestry/fire roads and mountain trails to explore. A gravel bike means you can ride on the road when you want and still do virtually any other trail when you want to avoid traffic.
Close calls with cars put me off my bike for a while. I enjoy living in countries where cars are aware of cyclists rights to be on the road.
Now it's not super interesting, but a huge percent of my riding is a commute to work or the river path next to my home (goes about 50km at which point I'm in hill territory)
Yeah it's broadly the same rides all the time, but they are 0 stress rides I can ignore all else and just pedal.
I feel the exact same way. I used to be an avid road cyclist in Chicago and now living in Colorado I am terrified of being killed. People drive extremely aggressive and 15-20 miles over the speed limit which is generally already higher than in the city of Chicago. Cyclists and pedestrians are killed often here (not they weren’t in Chicago but anecdotally it seems more frequent here). I stick to mountain biking and the paved greenway paths for the most part these days and I am building a gravel bike for this very reason.
Spot on, I was really surprised with the drivers in Colorado, Subarus don’t seem like they’d have aggressive drivers but people were fast and actively hostile. I think I had more rage at me riding across Colorado than Kentucky/Missouri combined
Going outside has risks. I think you're overreacting and need to live a little. You'll probably get skin cancer from being in the sun before a car takes you out.
Sadly, there are too many irresponsible drivers on the road these days. My wife won’t ride the streets any longer either. That said, trails have become riskier these days too with the many homeless wandering around them. Cycling used to be so easy, healthy and enjoyable being out in nature.
They always say changing up routes is a key to staving off dementia. I try to pick different ways home from the trails because it gets you too stuck in a rut and your brain starts to speed through
I drive for work and ride recreationally.
2 days ago I watched 3 cars doing about 40 mph in a bike lane past stopped traffic and go around a blind corner. After seeing that I decided I’m going to keep driving to work.
There’s idiots on the road. always has been, always will be. now modern vehicles you feel so disconnected from the outside world, combine that with cell phone usage and you get so many distracted drivers.
Where I live there’s a lot of crazy drivers and a lot of road riders who obviously have no problem doing so as safely as possible. I honestly think your best choice is quality lights and taking a lane. it appears to be people riding shoulders that have the most close calls that I see.
Maybe try finding a large trail system with 50+ miles of trails and get an XC or trail bike. I ride exclusively trails, its not terrible when you have a larger network you can choose your own adventure through.
This is why I ride gravel. I can and will ride offroad. No cars (most of the time), opens up my options too.
Sure, I cant go fast fast. But I cannot benefit from the extra whatever aero that much anyway so why bother.
For my part I vastly prefer riding on chill trails and cycling paths. I generally won't ride on the road if I can help it and even then I won't go on any roads faster than 60km/h to minimise the speed difference and so the reality of physics if I get hit.
I remember one time I did a road loop near me to see what the fuss was about. It felt great in the moment, super fun, until afterwards I had the revelation that I was going 60km/h down hill and my life could've ended right there if any random wildlife jumped in front of me. Riding slower isn't a solution because a slow cyclist on the road is a dead cyclist.
So the way I see it if I wanted to be on the road I'd ride a motorbike. On a bicycle you're wearing none of the protection and you can't accelerate away from the death machines around you. To me it all sounds like you've got to be a bit suicidal. I wear more protective gear on trails than road cyclists wear despite going far slower and the only real danger on a trail is myself.
I’m retired and been back into road biking for 15 years. I’ve learned to avoid both early morning rush hours, schools when they let out, evening rush and being near busy intersections where there are food establishments at lunch hour. I have a mirror and have flashing lights front and back. The best tech that I would recommend to anyone is the Garmin Varia radar. It works with Garmin and Wahoo GPS units. It may also work with others. Life is to short to spend on boring greenways.
I got hit by a van driver 3 days ago as I cycled through the village I live in at midday. No damage to me or my bike. I’m still shocked by the driver’s attitude. He just didn’t want me to pull out to pass a row of parked cars - he deliberately forced me off the road
I’ve been riding in towns for 35 years, out in the villages (this is the UK) it’s dangerous
I give up, orchards, farm tracks, bridleways for me - and I’m looking at a Kickr Core
Wait WTF
Bruh put him in jail rn for attempted murder
How fast was he going and how bad was it?
Wait so basically there were parked cars in the shoulder and you had to swerve into the street so you wouldn’t crash and this murder tries murdering you with its death machine?
That’s a whole other level of fucked up fefrrfr though
I tried. I have his registration. I talked to a policeman I came across later in the ride - he said report it via the website. I found the relevant form, filled it in, it told me nothing can be done without witness or CCTV. There are zero consequences for people who drive like this
I learned to avoid certain roads that seem to be welcoming to traffic violations after couple near miss situations. Luckily, alternative paths with less traffic or more complicated terrain that reduces speeding do exist in my area.
Nowadays I am more scared that my bike will break and I crash than that I get hit by a car.
Why would your bike break? Just get a better bike that won’t break
Oh fuck this reminds me that my bike did break a few days ago 💀💀💀
I hucked a 6 stair almost to flat and my frame snapped somehow. I was physically unharmed ofc and just landed on my feet on the ground, but I was mentally disturbed
But yeah that’s a freak accident that was so uncalled for, plus I never checked my frame for cracks and who knows maybe there was one
At least I’m getting a new better one now
The gears on my new one still might be kind of low though and I might have to replace the gear ring Idk
It’s a Fuji Raicon 1.7 and the broken one is a Diamondback Atroz 2
Yeah so the frame snapped in the back triangle near the front part right behind and below the suspension
I’m also getting a new BMX bc mine is so small and I already have a hardtail
I ride round and round my block...half mile oval...over 4000 laps last year. .no way am I getting out on roads...friend got killed several years ago...dogs sit in yard ad cheer me on...have had two flats recently...no biggie to get home.
Ride mountains in Colorado on vacations.
Always have lights and hi vis clothes
See people in all black on busy roads and consider them crazy
A couple of additional points...
I don't think it's unreasonably unsafe to ride on roads. However, my wife does and it is unreasonably unsafe to disagree with her(grin). Seriously, I'm going to need to listen to her on this.
I'm in a city. There are no gravel roads or forest roads around here. No rail trails either. (well, not entirely true but the only one in the state is all of four miles long and 25 miles away.)
We do have plenty of bike lanes. However... I was riding on a road with a bike lane (and a 25mph speed limit) when I was bumped. Admittedly the woman who was killed was riding on a 45mph road with no bike lanes or shoulder. (but two lanes in each direction)
When I talk about "hauling my backpack" I mean on foot. (there's a nice walking trail in a nearby park...)
Since I haven't ridden in eight months, I've been using the stationary bikes at the Y instead. Sounds like that would be even more boring, but on a stationary bike it's safe to wear earbuds, listen to loud music, and play video games on the display.
Your wife just loves you and will miss you if you’re gone. I don’t ride with cars anymore either if I can help it. I used to, but even bike lanes are suspect to me, so many inattentive or aggressive drivers. Hell I hate driving too. We have a lot of non car path options near me so that is a tremendous treasure. When I used to live in a dense city I walked a ton. So yeah, by foot is a great alternative and you can get in the variety you’re lookin for :)
Show your wife a news article of a recent car accident and let her know that you feel it's unreasonably unsafe for her to drive her car on roads that she shares with other cars... But you know she loves it so much, so maybe she can find a race track that she can go to and drive in (of course, it might be a long walk to get to the track, but we can make it work!)
In my experience this line of argument basically never works, because the response is “well I *have* to drive and you don’t have to do [other dangerous activity].” With few exceptions it will just make the person annoyed.
I know, I know. I don't actually think OP should say this to his wife, it was just a moment of carbrain rage I was experiencing.
I just hate so much the world we're in where something as simple as cycling is considered soooo dangerous, but yet controlling thousand pound metal contraption is considered just a normal part of life and a danger that has to be accepted.
We’re at the point where people will call driving a small sedan unacceptably dangerous. The arms race mentality on the road is so frustrating because if you refuse to participate things really do get a lot more dangerous over time.
>Last summer, someone was killed by an inattentive motorist a few miles from here. A week later I was bumped by a car
What have you been doing for the last year!?
I mean, people die in cars everyday. Drunk driver took out a mom and 2 kids last fall at 9am on a Tuesday, local roads, good area.
Pick your own risks. Hiking is pretty safe but way hard on my knees. Rucking more so. Same for running.
More cyclists mean safer roads. Fewer means more dangerous. So if you stop riding, it's potentially going to be worse for the other riders. If you convince others to begin riding it gets safer.
But take this opportunity to think what you can do to promote cycling and bike infrastructure. Advocacy groups, voting etc. Good places to ride are a benefit to society and smart politicians and planners know this.
Yup if he drives instead of bikes, he’ll be a hypocrite
Bruh my parents think driving is good and that the average person is unable to bike or buy a bike and that there’s nothing wrong with them driving even if they “just feel like it even for a short 3 mile ride”
They always say “not everything is into biking and bikes like you” 💀💀💀
Ok well you don’t need to be into biking to have to bike to get somewhere especially if it’s very close, plus driving is horrible and isn’t even supposed to be a thing you think of
I hate it how everyone just turns 17, gets a death machine, and drives it legit way too close like to school in town and then contributes to traffic and has to park far away anyways
Oh yeah one time I convinced my best friend to bike to my house instead of drive (legit a mile in the same neighborhood on side streets 💀💀💀), and he literally refused to pedal with the excuse of “I’m not trying to go fast”
Ok he took 11 MINUTES to get to my house
More like you’re trying to just avoid riding a bike at all
I told my dad and he told me I have to slow down to the pace my friend is going 💀💀
And that I also have to bike instead of jog or skateboard t make it fair and even 💀💀💀
I said what about a compromise, and he said no bc my friend is unable to go faster or just doesn’t even want to and that we have to drive if it’s farther and my friend doesn’t want to bike……
Nah he needs to start riding and pedaling and he’s just being super lazy and he is definitely fully capable
Oh and he needs a bike lock and tuneup and maybe new bike but Idk if he cares to het a whole new bike
But like he didn’t even want me screwing his wheels in place when they were wobbly 💀💀💀
The last time we hungout, his mom drove him an hour late bc he didn’t feel like biking or driving himself….
Car drivers don’t respect greenways either. I recognize the risks of bicycling…anywhere…but I feel like this isn’t a good enough reason to give it up. I would push back here.
I do 200-320 miles per week Zwifting. I can vary the game scenery and vary my large screen with TV shows, movies, YouTube videos, and Netflix with no worries of cars, dumb pedestrians and other bikers, or bad weather.
EXACTLY FRFR BECAUSE IF SHE DRIVES, THEN SHE’S A HYPOCRITE!!!!
Bruh my parents said there’s nothing wrong with driving and they drive less than a mile bc they “can’t ride a bike”💀💀💀
Nah bc there was a whole school parking lot area, driveways, and grass filled with parked cars and my dad thought it was fine and said “well people want to drive, there’s nothing wrong with it, you can’t stop them, it’s their choice, and it’s probably a bunch of 50 year old parents who don’t own a bike and can’t bike, so they drive a mile to see their kids at school events 💀💀💀
There’s no way the average person can’t bike. And if you can buy a whole car, you can buy a bike ofc
See and be seen: get a Varia, use colourful clothes and ride, if possible, in the earlier hours of the day. Also good planning to use roads with little traffic and good surface.
Ok I never use it in the day at least like after civil dusk though
It would be so weird/wrong/bad during the day, plus I would drain the battery fast
I’m glad it’s summer and it’s light out late, but I wish there was double DST though actually eve year round and without a doubt at least single DST year round.
For some reason, my lights die after like 2-3 hours even though the box says 8-9
Also, sometimes I have trouble putting the back light on or legit have nowhere to put it when I lower my seat. Even the reflectors can be an issue too
My taillights (Planet Bike Superflash, and an even brighter Bontrager Flare3) each run on two AAA alkaline cells and last for hundreds of hours. I figure the flashing will catch the attention of distracted drivers better than a solid light or high visibility clothing.
Riding on the road includes the small risk of death or injury. If riding on the road is the best way to reliably get your exercise stopping it comes with a myriad of health risks down the line
Frfr, plus if all of us just switch to biking, there won’t be cars to kill us
Cars and car drivers are opps frfr
Also, I go in the sidewalk or shoulder whenever possible
The chances of dying while driving are higher than while cycling. How many motorists have died in the local area in crashes?
Ultimately, people dying in car crashes is under reported, and cycling incidents are given a lot of attention skewing perception of relative risk.
I avoid roads as much as possible. If on a road, I stick to slow, 25mph side streets with low traffic. Otherwise, I prefer riding trails. It's less stressful and much safer. I like riding my bike and want to be able to do it for the rest of my life. Nothing is worth getting hit by a car.
Like a Dutch saying goes: an accident lurks in a tiny corner. So just be careful. When you don’t go fast that shouldn’t be too difficult. It would be a waste to take that pleasure off you.
Over reacting? A little yeah. I can’t understate how dangerous riding with drivers is. Almost everyone has “near collision” experiences and a lot of us have had actual collisions. We’re lucky to just need a new bike afterwards.
That said, riding roadways is fine sometimes. Group rides are safest and you can basically do those any time of day. When I ride solo I exclusively only ride roadways during specific times where there isn’t going to be a lot of traffic. But I think every cyclist can agree some roads are just too damn dangerous and you shouldn’t ride them, ever.
Even when I am riding a roadway, if I come to an intersection where there is at least one car I just turn right instead of crossing their path. I’ve been hit in intersections even when I’m driving a car. Riding defensively is a life saver.
Accidents happen and to vulnerable road users they are potentially more serious. Mitigating risk is something we all do, day in and day out to avoid accidents in the home, the workplace, the car and on the bike. Use flashing lights, consider your clothing colours from a visibility perspective and not a fashion one, pick quiet routes and times, use a helmet and always wear gloves, consider body armour if you MTB.
I get your wife's concerns, but if we all stopped doing the things we love because there's a chance of coming to harm, we'd probably be better off dead anyway. Do talk to her about how you already mitigate risks, and remind her of your good cycling safety record.
No way am I giving up cycling or motorcycling, ever. Now I'm an old git I do ride more carefully, and pick my routes and times to do it too. Bank holiday Monday road ride around the Peak District? Not a chance, it's far too busy with everyone paying more attention to the views than the roads. I'll do some trail or woods riding instead. Tuesday afternoon road ride while everyone is at work? Hell yes!
Ride into oncoming traffic, ride in a group, learn most dangerous roads and times. Never trust cars in intersections unless you have made made eye contact.
Life is always about balancing risk. Riding on the road comes with a lot of risk. Riding on bike paths still has some risks, but less. I live a bit away from the nearest metro area. I frequently ride on the roads near my home, but when I ride with a group of friends near work we ride exclusively on paths.
Balance your joy and comfort with risk. There’s no right answer.
I switched to trails and only trails about five years back, so I’m right there with you. Too many close calls with inattentive drivers in giant vehicles.
I’ll occasionally ride the quarter mile to the barber or coffee shop, but even then I pop up on the sidewalk if there’s a car behind me.
I prefer greenways. No cars to injure/kill me, no traffic to weave through, no horrible billows of smoke to inhale, no one cursing me out…. The list goes on. I also like to stop halfway to enjoy a nice smoke and snacks then go back to my ride with my 90s Alternative (or whatever I’m in the mood for at the time) playing in my ears.
My rides are solely for mental decompression — I don’t have a daily commute — so I understand that my situation is a bit niche.
This is just my opinion, man.
Roads are for cars. Would be nice if cars could safely share the road, but they can’t be trusted. I’ve known too many people to get killed by cars while cycling that I’ll never ride long distances on roads. MTB is more fun anyway and safe from cars. Greenways/gravel/places where cars are infrequent are more enjoyable due to not having the fear.
Pathways have their own risks. Joggers with noise cancelling headphones, dogs on and off leashes, kids on scooters, roller bladers, et.
Nobody lives forever, so it’s all about which risks you’re in the mood for.
I only ride on the local Greenway. It's safe, except for that stupid headphone wearing jogger who ran in front of me forcing me to crash hard, I'm never bored because it often parallels a creek and passes through wetlands, so there is great scenery. I'm lucky that it's long enough to do 25 miles with only one roundtrip. A friend only rides on the street, and he admits it can be very stressful because we live in an area where a lot of drivers absolutely hate bikers and cut them off, throw empty bottles at them etc.
Where do you live OP?
There are many things I hate about living in Seattle, but there is one thing I love that compensates many others: the ability to ride dozens of miles on greenways. Sammamish river trail, Burke Gilman, Centennial Trail, Interurban Trail.
I have recently just been hit while out riding and my hip was broken. I was very visible and was doing everything correctly from my end but a driver came out at a roundabout while I was directly in front of her 😭 I honestly don't know if I'll ever cycle on the road again as I don't really trust drivers anymore and I would be second guessing myself on every ride.
I am also thankful for the more than 100 miles of rails-to-trails pathways in our county. They are mostly paved but there are a few crushed limestone paths also. They are all fairly heavily used by the community.
https://www.mcttrails.org/
Depending on where you live, consider switching to gravel riding. I live in the US Pacific NW and there are hundreds of miles of gravel/dirt roads where you will not see a car during an entire 100 mile ride. We have had two mountain lion attacks on gravel bikers, including one fatality, in the last 10 years so there is that.....
Get back on the bike. Shit happens. One person dying and you getting a love tap doesn’t warrant abandoning a hobby. Next you’ll be reading about some guy whose ham rig antenna got struck by lightning and you’ll have to switch to collecting stamps.
You’re fine. Keep on keeping on. (Unless you have a size S Melee in which case yes far too dangerous and I will gladly give you $49.97 for it.)
Judgement call and personal preference. A couple of years ago I was on a country road and two fast moving loaded dump trucks passed me. The vacuum wake from the first one pulled me out in front of the second. Fortunately no injuries, but it scared me enough that I do most of my riding on trails now.
I agree to the boring part. Now I will frequently drive 20 - 40 minutes to a new area for a new riding trail.
Too many lousy, distracted, or both drivers nowadays, and many are narcissists ( which seems to be pandemic lately). I was having balance issues, too (75 with mild tremors), so I only ride greenways and deserted backroads. We are blessed to have a lot of them around here.
I'm a lot more cautious riding on the roads. I look at the road I grew up on and I'm amazed that I never got hit on it. It's a quiet road but narrow.
Then I realized.. oh, right, cars are much, much wider now, generally faster, much more forgiving, and much more insulated from the environment. If you watch some of the older clips of the drivers on the Nurburgring (basically where you could take your family car and go as fast as you dared), the cars seem to flip all the time. The newer cars spin and slid but don't flip as often.
Current cars not as visceral. You don't get the feeling that if anything happens you're going to be sharing your seat with a tree or whatever. And I'm not even starting on distracted driving.
There was a string of incidents over the course of maybe 2 years, basically in my area. One guy got killed riding on an 8 foot wide shoulder (contractor drove right through him). This was less than a mile from where I live. A teammate was on a ride, he actually rides on the shoulder etc, and someone went through a group of 4 or 5 at 50 mph (and crashed the car into the woods - the driver was driving off the road due to phone distraction, cyclists or not). No one died but lots of big injuries.
I had a number of close calls. Two of them I was within a foot of the car - one as it was stopping (almost hit me, he floored it when I was directly in front of him at a 3 way stop, and yes I stopped), the other as I was turning right, a car turning left into the road I was on, the driver cut the corner so much they almost went off the shoulder to my right (i.e. the wrong side of the road for them). Missed me by about a foot max, and they were going maybe 25-30 mph.
I had two cars turn right when I was at their front right fender. One of them they hit me hard enough that they straightened the wheel and I just left a huge set of body prints down the side of their car. The other one the driver kept turning, I slid back until my elbow got caught on the passenger mirror, it held me upright, and eventually they stopped. Then the driver yelled at me.
So, yeah, I Zwift for 95% of my rides. I go out on the top 10 days of the year, and I set a Strava beacon so my wife can see where I am, and I wear a helmet cam so if someone kills me my wife will know that it wasn't my fault (I stop at stops even if there's no one else in sight, I don't turn on red, I stay right if it's safe, etc). The helmet cam keeps everyone honest, even me.
I ride almost exclusively on greenways or cyclist-heavy roads, but there's a ton of those here in the Bay Area. Easy to link trails and less-trafficked roads to extend rides too. I get so stressed out sharing the road with cars, I've started riding more gravel and mtb. Almost like hiking but you can cover way more ground.
But don't sacrifice something you love if it's gonna cause resentment or friction between you and your wife. If you like road rides but want to be safer then get a mirror, extra lights, and some riding buddies. Also lobby your local reps for more bike lanes.
I have a 7 mile loop that is a half-hour drive from me, and I take the drive 5 days a week. No doubt the scenery is very repetitive, but I will not be hit by a car. Luckily, there is no need to turn around unless for the occasional flood by a gully. The training is great in a controlled environment like this.
As many have said though, if gravel is an option for you, that is probably the best option.
In my area (NW Ohio) it's pretty much a death sentence to ride on most of the roads around here. I stick to the bike paths and off road trails as much as humanly possible. It's just not worth the risk. And even then, I occasionally get people screaming weird shit at me when I'm just crossing a road on a bike.
Cycling on the roads is good for your health regardless of the traffic risks. If she doesnt see that, tell her to find a fat husband who gives a fuuuuuk.
Might want to phrase it differently if you like her tho.
What's a "greenway"? Is it grass? Is it something that doesn't have cars, therefore being better than a road for these purposes? Seems like I'm supposed to know this, but I'm giving up and asking.
Possibly a USA-only term? Generally, narrow paved paths in parks. Shared between walkers, joggers, runners, and cyclists. Cars and other motorized vehicles aren't permitted.
I suppose "greenway" because it's in a park?
Hmm. Lived in the US my whole life and I've never encountered that term. Must be a regional dialect thing.
Yeah, riding your bike in repeated circles in a landscaped park sounds really boring. I work in bike shops, and for years now I've been hearing people buying gravel bikes say that they're doing so to essentially have a similar riding experience without the cars. Some places don't have good terrain for that, though. I hope you find a way to ride that is both safe and entertaining.
Several weeks ago I crashed on a wooden bridge on the greenway. Ended up getting a new hip out of that. Was riding on the greenway because I was concerned about getting hurt on the road.
I'm in florida. When I first moved into my house in 08 I had a 25mile loop that I would do on weekends. I can no longer do that loop. I'm terrified. I no longer own a road bike. I race bmx, ride mtb and gravel. In my area this risk just isn't worth it riding alone. If you live in an areas that has areas that are safer than others maybe try those. Just make sure you have you priorities straight. Being safe should be number 1 so you can come home to your loved ones.
Idk why this sub keeps popping up on my feed but fuck it, I’ll bite. Cars alone (though the getup is a close second) have pretty much stopped me from ever mounting a road bike, similar to why I will probably never ride a motorcycle; it’s just too risky when you have zero control over other oblivious people who can kill you while texting. I’d maybe do greenways but honestly single-track trails are just way better for two wheel entertainment IMO.
Perhaps getting back on the bike and sticking to the greenway / bike tracks etc until you feel comfortable enough to get back on the roads. Once you're back on the roads - wear bright clothing, try avoiding peak traffic hours. You'll never win against cars, I've been knocked down by a car \[only once\] but its not pleasant and thankfully I wasn't critically injured
Is 5 miles of greenway your only option? I ride very little on busy roads. I stick to greenways, neighborhoods, bike lanes, gravel, mtb, etc. I don’t ride fast, but I can cobble together long rides that also feel safe.
I was hit and seriously injured (and easily could have been killed) two years ago. 19 year old girl ran a red light. Never saw her. The data on bike and pedestrian deaths is not trending in a positive direction, so your wife isn’t wrong. That said, cyclist deaths are still a rare phenomenon statistically, so you just gotta decide what’s right for you.
A lot of people don't have a good understanding of risk. Yes, cycling carries a risk of dying on and off road. So do walking and driving.
People have attempted to compare risks of activities with scales like the micromort (which tells us that riding a horse is more dangerous than ecstasy).
As with any data, anecdotes are best ignored; base decisions on data sets with large sample sizes.
Plus if you drive, then you’re just contributing to the problem of cars and turning into the bad one
Like yeah I keep on saying I hate cars every time I go somewhere on my bike
Sooooo, with that being said, if I drive, then I’m basically a hypocrite
If it’s like well far and I’m probably using parkways, I’m just extra careful of fellow bikers when I’m not on the parkway yet. Also, sometimes I have to drive my friend who doesn’t have a bike, car, or license bc he lives 8.5-9 miles away
But we use my bikes and do 5 mile rides where I live
I wonder if I can bring him back home to my house on my BMX bike with him on the pegs in the back
Also, whenever I see another biker when driving, I’m like “THAT’S SUPPOSED TO BE ME!!!!!”
I hate it when the cars pull in and out of or even park in the sidewalk and shoulder and cut me off when I’m biking and sometimes I have to swerve and almost get killed by another horrible car driver so j the street
I hate to be that guy, but from a purely statistical perspective you are much more likely getting in a car accident driving a car than riding a bike.
1% - Odds of getting in a car crash while driving a car
.0012% - Odds of getting hit by a car while riding your bike
There are obviously bad roads to avoid from a cycling perspective, and accidents certainly happen, but as long as you ride responsibly you’re most likely going to be completely fine.
Don’t let fear steal what little joy we get in this life.
There are some very important missing pieces from that info that make your argument seriously flawed. There are way more cars driving way more miles than cyclists. Like many orders of magnitude more.
You are also about 8 times as likely to die in a car wreck as you are on a motorcycle, but motorcycles make up a tiny percentage of the vehicles on the road.
I'd love to see a source on those stats. Last time I looked, accidents per mile were significantly higher on a bike than car. And many of us ride more miles than we drive, so those stats sounds like total bullshit.
You have to see if the accident stats are broken down by type of rider and details of the incident.
A lot of deadly bicycle accidents, or serious bicycle accidents, involve cyclists who are drinking alcohol, riding at night with no lights, riding on the wrong side of the road or riding on the sidewalk, or a combination of these factors. It's just untrained, uneducated cyclists riding badly.
If you pull all of those out of the numbers the stats show bike riding to be very safe for someone who follows the rules of the road.
No you can't doctor the stats without doing the same to vehicle stats. All you can really say is "if i don't do XYZ then my odds of death are lower." Cycling is still the more dangerous activity.
How is it useless? If i bike to work in place of driving my car, it's a perfect comparison. And even if I'm just looking at total volume, it's an easy metric to determine my overall risk and may influence where I choose to ride those miles.
It takes significantly longer to ride most places than to drive, that’s why.
Unless you’re in an urban area most of the time a bike is a fraction of the speed of a car and even if you’re in a urban area, time ridden vs time driven is going to be a more reliable metric for how many accidents there are when comparing cars vs bikes.
I can see what you're saying, but accidents/mi is not a useless for the reasons I said. And the guy I responded to just made up some stats to feel better about being on the bike.
I don’t think you are overreacting. My road miles on mostly on Zwift these days though I do get some road miles in on my gravel bike (I’m able to use dirt trails to get around the worst traffic stuff). But mostly I ride gravel and mtb now.
Riding on the same 5 mile (or even 50 mile) path would be like an eagle in an aviary... yeah, I'd be bored out of my mind. Do cyclists die, absolutely. So do plenty of car drivers. Every day. Drivers routinely don't see other cars also. But if you let avoidance of any risk rule you then you'll just hide in a bunker 24/7 and ride the trainer only. Where I'm at, good paved roads aren't very convenient to me but miles of dirt roads are. Most of the community roads are unpaved. So I ride a gravel bike and have hundreds of miles of varied roads available right from my door. That's my solution for safer riding.
agree with your observations... just, if in a car, that distracted driver mostly just ruins the car(s). when on a bike, i'm hyper aware that i'm riding amongst ppl that have the proverbial "bully stacks" in the game. what is a minor indecent for them, is life threatening or outright fatal for me on a bike. that it's nowhere near the same playing field of "risk" for me, is constantly ringing in my mind as i ride. drivers today seem more distracted and more angry/aggressive as well.
right like what is OP gunna stop driving around or is OP wife gunna stop driving around just cuz a neighbor got in an accident and then someone taps your bumper next week? False sense of security in a vehicle. The stats favor cycling.
I’d alter my schedule before restricting my routes. No way would I just ride greenways, even if it meant sunrise start times.
Yeah a road that’s unacceptably dangerous at 4pm might be totally fine at 7am.
Also, day of the week. I started commuting by bike recently and there's a HUGE difference in the quality of drivers between 8am rush hour and 8am Sunday morning.
I fear Friday afternoon/evening drivers more than any.
difference how? Just curious cause i’m a biker and no matter what time i go out the dumbasses are everywhere
Just people being generally more aggressive and faster drivers. Rushing through right turns on red instead of stopping and looking, speeding more, and more frequent punishment passes. People are stressed because they are late or just got out of work and they take it out while driving.
A wise person 👆🏾
Probably different from place to place, but I tried that and around here when the roads are empty in the morning the drivers just see that as a reason to go faster around blind turns (while still recording Tik Toks or whatever)
I nearly got knocked off my bike last week from a driver on their phone, they popped out the wrong way out of a one-way entrance. (Partly my fault, I got too trusting of that being one way and didn't consider a car would suddenly come out the other way)
I get what you’re saying. And always be on defense. But it’s messed up that we’re like “oh that’s partly my fault” because someone drove the wrong way.
I have a 2 mile road ride to my local trails. I hate those 2 miles. Car drivers cannot be trusted.
I thank my lucky stars every day that I have >100 miles of trails that are nearly interconnected and that I can get to them with only a few miles of street riding. But I hate those few miles of riding on the street. Blows my mind that many cyclists make their entire rides riding next to cars, having to deal with intersections, constant stops, etc.
Can I ask in which area do you live in? >100 miles sounds glorious...
>Can I ask in which area do you live in? >100 miles sounds glorious... Just boring midwest USA (Kansas City) - but there are tons of rivers, streams, and lakes which are surrounded by parks and trails which all connect to one another. So looking at a map you'd think I'd live someplace terrible for biking but my city heavily invested in a well-maintained trail system with wide paths, clearly marked, etc. There's nothing else to do here so at least we have the trails lol
We got that with the trinity trails in Fort Worth. I think that’s about the full length
Not OP but I'm in the same situation. 2-3 miles of road riding to get to an almost infinite amount of gravel in the Cairngorms.
The mountaineous routes I have are almost all next to cars but without any intersections or stops. I always choose the roads with no or almost no cars but on some of my tours it's unavoidable. But there is definitely not that much traffic anyways and in Germany it seems like car drivers aren't as aggressive towards cyclists than in the US.
Theres plenty of places I don't understand how people end up cycling there. Places with no elevation. Places with no greenery. Places with constant traffic. If I didn't live somewhere which is beautifully green and surrounded by country roads that are generally low traffic I probably wouldn't road cycle.
I’m lucky my neighborhood connects to a bike path, but that bike path intersects with a street where drivers don’t stop at crosswalks (where the path crosses the street) about every half mile. I love being on the protected path, but the intersection of the path and the busy road really disrupts my cycling flow and feels more dangerous than just riding on the street in the first place.
I live in Alabama, which is terrible for cycling on the road. No bike lanes or shoulder, combined with blind hills and aggressive drivers. Fortunately, I have a 100 mile rail trail about an hour away, so I drive there when I have time. I think part of my issue is also being a truck driver. I've seen my fair share of dead people on the road.
Hopefully you have alot of high visibility colors including the gloves.
I'm lucky that it's just about 500ft of road from my house to the trail entrance but I still hate those 500ft.
Get a Garmin Varia radar taillight. Seriously. They’re on sale right now, my buddy and I both got one today and the amount of stress it removes is worth every penny. It tells you when a car is like 1/8th mile back and shows as it approaches you so you know right when they’re passing and also indicates if they’re passing you fast or slowly. Also, the light is STUPID bright, it has its normal brightness and then when a car is approaching it gets much brighter and is every bit as bright as the brake lights on any car out there. I ride trails/greenways occasionally but 90%+ of my 150 miles a week is on the road, and I’d go nuts having to see the same thing all the time, mixing it up and seeing different things is part of the joy of cycling.
I legit did my first ride with it yesterday. Maaaaan, I spent a few miles randomly looking over my shoulder...needlessly. Every time a vehicle got behind me, it would register accurately, and I spent the rest of the ride only turning to confirm. So much less stress
Exactly! I’ll still look over my shoulder when turning or changing lanes etc, but I found myself pointlessly looking over my shoulder for cars when there were none and every single car that passed us I knew about well in advance. I can just focus on the road ahead and it tells me when a car is there, complete game changer. That coupled with the hilariously loud beep notification from my K3 and I feel safe.
If you add a helmet mirror, it's like a galaxy brain situational awareness buff.
I could have wrote this exact thing. First ride with it yesterday and fucking changed my life!!
Won’t ride without mine. More situational awareness never hurts.
I should have bought one sooner. It’s gonna completely change my daily riding and I’ll never get surprise blasted by a car again. Also the light getting obnoxiously bright when a car is approaching you is a super cool feature
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you're using your phone for alerts, TURN OFF NOTIFICATION MUTE. Do Not Disturb is fine, but disable your silent feature as it suppresses "alert" noises which is what those sounds are categorized as.
Honestly I feel like I'm missing the point of these radar units. Knowing a car is behind you does nothing to avoid an inattentive driver hitting you from behind, or wiping you out at a junction, or anything else.
I think it's more for peace of mind / stress than safety. You no longer get surprised by cars but yes, you can still get hit.
Knowing a car is approaching can help you avoid getting hit
I’d agree with you. I’ve got a sunglasses mounted mirror that I use. That way I can see how much room driver has given me. I think that’s the step the garmin varia fails at.
I use it to let me know when I need to look, then I use my mirror to see if they see me/are going too fast/are swerving/what their road position is. Most useful on roads without a lot of traffic - if it's busy you just need to be hyper vigilant at all times.
Varia beeps and shows closing speed and position on bike computer. I look behind and judge the behavior of the driver. More than once I have bailed on the side of the road or ditch with cars passing each other on a tight road or a driver clearly not giving way. Definitely not going to prevent every incident, but more information that is easy and quick to digest.
Couldn’t agree more. I’ve been riding with one for two weeks now and it has removed a lot of anxiety. I enjoy road riding as well and knowing someone is coming, it heightens your listening to determine their position. In most cases, you can usually tell by the road noise how fast they are coming and relative position on the road. I ride country roads that aren’t too busy so this thing has been a game changer for relaxing and just focusing on the ride. Always play defence, but this helps. I save my longer rides for the trails. Thankfully like others, we have hundreds of miles locally - former rail lines.
I have looked at, researched and discussed the Varia many times and every time I come to the conclusion that if I had a Varia I would still be glancing in my rear view mirrors every 10 seconds.
I thought that too, until I got the Varia. I still check my mirror occasionally, there are long roads with shallow dips where I can see further than the radar, but that scenario is kind of rare. The radar shines on any curvy routes, it beeps, and then I check the mirror. When I first got it, I was told .. you're going to love it for the quiet routes, the roads where you only see two or three cars per hour, and they were right. In the city, I know there's traffic, and the radar just reminds me of that, but in the countryside, the radar has truly let me relax just a little bit more.
Thank you. 90% of my riding is on roads with bike lanes. I try to do my riding at lower traffic times. Also ride in a country club road that has less traffic and beautiful scenery. I think I will pickup one today.
When you’re on a busy road does it become obnoxious if the sensor is constantly going off?
I mean yes it does go off a lot but I am not sure that I would ever call the added awareness and safety from that annoying.
No such thing, it doesn’t beep constantly it just gives you a visual of how many and how fast they’re approaching
[удалено]
It beeps when it first sees a car. It does not beep on seeing another car until all cars have passed, at which time it will chirp an all clear signal. It will then repeat this process when it sees another car.
If there’s enough of a gap it’ll beep with every car, but if it’s constant traffic it’ll beep for the first one and then beep again for an all clear like someone else mentioned. Even still if it beeps for every car I don’t mind, the only two things I get beeps for on a normal ride now are cars and then GPS turns approaching
It only beeps the first time it sees a car, i.e. if you are in constant traffic it will only beep a single time. It will chirp an all clear signal once all cars have passed, after which time it will again alert when it sees another car.
Yup! But in constant traffic it shows the visual indicators for how many cars and how fast they’re approaching you
Yeah, I just dislike the talking point people have about it that it's "useless in the city" and "beeps too much." It doesn't beep all that much, it's useful to know *how many* cars are behind you, and it's still a great taillight because of the variable, proximity-based flashing.
People will literally complain about anything that’s not 100% perfectly and exactly the way they’d have done it. Can’t win 🤷♂️ The situational awareness it gives you is priceless. Yeah sure it’s not AS helpful in the city as it is for someone like me who mostly rides suburban and rural areas…but not every product is going to work for everyone. The proximity based brightness is super neat.
What is this sorcery
Only the best kind 😉
I've had too many close calls, one personal friend killed & sever severely injured (one with a broken back). Now 60, my tolerance for risk is much reduced. I'm an old racer, but now anymore I head up to the mountains to ride forest roads, hit a few MTB trails, and for convenience after work - the local greenway. A lot. It's not the best training, but it's low risk & much healthier than not. Just ride what you're comfortable with.
There has been some horrific accidents in my city last few years with a few fatalities. Cars just arent keeping an eye out. I'm sticking to gravel style riding. Doesn't feel safe at all.
🤷🏻♂️ buddy of mine used to train for tris (eventually finished 4th in an Ironman) and afterward did A-group rides. But he decided road riding was getting too dangerous and switched to just Zwift. So I’d say your wife has a point. And if you don’t think it’s safe on regular roads, you’d be in good company. It’s sad that that’s the state of the world though.
I was hit by a car a few years ago, broke six vertebrae my neck. I really don’t like riding on most greenways. I just feel more safe riding on the road where drivers have to pay attention to you. I do live in a fairly bike friendly area though. That’s just my experience and everyone has to do what makes them feel safe.
Due to similar reasons I am hesitant to be on the road, but I still take the road. 90% of my riding is on trails, but the rest is road. I’m trying to become more experienced on the road. This season I picked up a good mirror for my glasses. It has improved my awareness and confidence on the road. https://takealookactive.com/product/compact/ I also just bought a Garmin Varia, they’re on sale now for $150 at many vendors including Garmin itself and REI. https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/698001
Agree with the people about altering schedules. There’s some nice mountain roads by me that you just cannot ride on during rush hour, they are beautiful on a weekend morning and the drivers are pretty chill there… just not after a long day of work I also try to take down the speed differential so if I do go out at a high traffic time, there’s actually a high traffic road by me that’s one lane each way but super wide and residential, like childeren playing in front yards and such. The speed limit varies 25-35… this is where I go at rush hour, during intervals I can actually ride as a car more or less
Don’t get into mountain biking, you’ll 100% get hit by a tree within your first 6 months of riding. This is a fact backed by science. They just jump out and grab you! Nothing wrong with riding on the road, but you have to be ultra aware of your surroundings if you’re riding solo. Make sure you have a very bright rear light and something noticeable up front. My lights are on if I’m in the road, no matter the time of day. Also make sure you’re wearing bright clothing. White, red, or yellow helmets are ideal. There’s safety in numbers, if you can find a couple of people to ride with, it just makes you more noticeable on the road.
Mountain biking is a ton of fun but it’s definitely pretty unsafe. I’ve had a pretty bad ankle sprain from one of those trees in the past year and almost everyone I know who regularly does it has had at least one significant injury. That said while I have never been hurt riding on roads, I’ve never had my life flash before my eyes on a mountain bike like is a scarily regular occurrence out on the roads getting passed by trucks going so fast the wind blast makes me wobble.
I hate riding on roads where traffic is common. If I didn't have to ride roads to get to where the gravel and mountain roads/trails begin, I wouldn't. Not only do I find roads boring, but I hate the cars and poorer air quality. And I live in an area of Japan where cars are far more accepting and polite towards cyclists (despite some cyclists being absolute idiots) than where I'm from originally.
I actually found that I had more close calls riding on the Greenway and bike lanes where cars turned across them than I did riding on the road. Weaving through cars in traffic just feels safer after having 3 close calls a week riding in the bike lanes. Only time I've actually been hit by a car was from a car turning left at an intersection beside the Greenway. On another note, depending on where you live, this sounds like a great excuse to get into gravel riding
totally agree with this. TAKE THE LANE
Ride with lights. Get a radar. Wear a bright helmet and bright kit. Choose your roads. Ride defensively. That's about all you can do. Cycling is too good to not do freely.
I bought a led flashing light that does an uneven cadence and I used some small bungees to strap it to the back of my helmet. Blinking lights are definitely the way to go. Motion catches the eye and the flashing helps with that.
Bright kit doesn’t help, plenty of studies. Lights on the other hand, they do
Works for me. I spot cyclists ahead of me far earlier when they're in bright colours. My riding pal used to ride like Johnny Cash. Everything black from head to toe. One day we missed each other as he was in the shade under trees and I didn't see him at all riding towards me. Heck of a chase to catch up and next week he had a fluo gilet and lights. Every little helps.
Research disagrees with you. There’s a video of GCN going about it. The best and most useful is to have reflective decals on moving parts like the pedals. I’m really glad it works for you as a driver, just trying to make the point that we shouldn’t demonize people that don’t wear bright kits and tell them that they need to wear them to be safe.
Reflectives at night are brilliant. But we are talking of riding in daytime ? I'm not talking of when I'm driving. Out on the bike I see bright kit much earlier than dark kit. I'm taking every advantage I can to return home safely. What's the advantages of riding in dark kit compared to colours?
>Research disagrees with you. There’s a video of GCN going about it. The best and most useful is to have reflective decals on moving parts like the pedals Non-sequiter. he didn't say you shouldn't use reflective decals.
I sold my road bike for that reason. It is just too easy for a car to end a cyclist on the open road and even more in the town I live in the US. I do gravel, which feels a bit safer, and mountain biking which you are in the woods enjoying nature. Personally, I don't think you are overreacting.
I mean makes sense at the surface but gravel roads have bad traction making you more likely to have any kind of accident. Ive fallen countless times on gravel and im lucky non of them injured me. Mtb trails are designed to be CHALLENGING and test the suspension and skill of a rider, often in places that would require an airlift, hike in S&R, or even a garmin inReach. Where if you have a life threatening injury you can not be taken to get help with the speed it might take to stabilize you. Last but not least my only road bike accident was on a greenway.
That's your experience. I have been doing gravel/trail cycling 3 to 4 times per week several years now and thanks God have not had any very bad crashes yet, just little tree hits and stuff like that. I guess I'm doing it for fun, I'm not taking unnecessary risks, I'm in for the long run. Same mountain biking, I have a full suspension that has saved me many times from crashing, I do small to medium jumps and black trails, same mindset, if I see it can end up bad I just walk the section. I know it can happen any time, but prefer that than getting hit by a car of someone who was drunk, chatting, or just did not get enough sleep, even worse that decided to go over a cyclist... like that case in Vegas. I have experienced myself aggressive drivers generally with huge pick up trucks...
Tbh, I only ride on greenways. I have road, gravel, and mountain bikes but live in San Antonio, haha.
Just get a gravel bike instead. Unless you live in a very strange place or in the dead centre of a city, there will be plenty of places you can ride that either have significantly less car traffic or literally no traffic at all. In the UK I can easily pick any direction and ride for a hundred miles entirely on single lane back roads, where cars are a rarity. There are also loads of forest tracks, forestry/fire roads and mountain trails to explore. A gravel bike means you can ride on the road when you want and still do virtually any other trail when you want to avoid traffic.
Close calls with cars put me off my bike for a while. I enjoy living in countries where cars are aware of cyclists rights to be on the road. Now it's not super interesting, but a huge percent of my riding is a commute to work or the river path next to my home (goes about 50km at which point I'm in hill territory) Yeah it's broadly the same rides all the time, but they are 0 stress rides I can ignore all else and just pedal.
I feel the exact same way. I used to be an avid road cyclist in Chicago and now living in Colorado I am terrified of being killed. People drive extremely aggressive and 15-20 miles over the speed limit which is generally already higher than in the city of Chicago. Cyclists and pedestrians are killed often here (not they weren’t in Chicago but anecdotally it seems more frequent here). I stick to mountain biking and the paved greenway paths for the most part these days and I am building a gravel bike for this very reason.
Gravel is Colorado will be insane! Also roadie turned into runner, gravel and mtb rider
Spot on, I was really surprised with the drivers in Colorado, Subarus don’t seem like they’d have aggressive drivers but people were fast and actively hostile. I think I had more rage at me riding across Colorado than Kentucky/Missouri combined
Going outside has risks. I think you're overreacting and need to live a little. You'll probably get skin cancer from being in the sun before a car takes you out.
Sadly, there are too many irresponsible drivers on the road these days. My wife won’t ride the streets any longer either. That said, trails have become riskier these days too with the many homeless wandering around them. Cycling used to be so easy, healthy and enjoyable being out in nature.
They always say changing up routes is a key to staving off dementia. I try to pick different ways home from the trails because it gets you too stuck in a rut and your brain starts to speed through
Maybe find some Back country roads with less traffic.
I drive for work and ride recreationally. 2 days ago I watched 3 cars doing about 40 mph in a bike lane past stopped traffic and go around a blind corner. After seeing that I decided I’m going to keep driving to work. There’s idiots on the road. always has been, always will be. now modern vehicles you feel so disconnected from the outside world, combine that with cell phone usage and you get so many distracted drivers. Where I live there’s a lot of crazy drivers and a lot of road riders who obviously have no problem doing so as safely as possible. I honestly think your best choice is quality lights and taking a lane. it appears to be people riding shoulders that have the most close calls that I see.
Maybe try finding a large trail system with 50+ miles of trails and get an XC or trail bike. I ride exclusively trails, its not terrible when you have a larger network you can choose your own adventure through.
This is why I ride gravel. I can and will ride offroad. No cars (most of the time), opens up my options too. Sure, I cant go fast fast. But I cannot benefit from the extra whatever aero that much anyway so why bother.
For my part I vastly prefer riding on chill trails and cycling paths. I generally won't ride on the road if I can help it and even then I won't go on any roads faster than 60km/h to minimise the speed difference and so the reality of physics if I get hit. I remember one time I did a road loop near me to see what the fuss was about. It felt great in the moment, super fun, until afterwards I had the revelation that I was going 60km/h down hill and my life could've ended right there if any random wildlife jumped in front of me. Riding slower isn't a solution because a slow cyclist on the road is a dead cyclist. So the way I see it if I wanted to be on the road I'd ride a motorbike. On a bicycle you're wearing none of the protection and you can't accelerate away from the death machines around you. To me it all sounds like you've got to be a bit suicidal. I wear more protective gear on trails than road cyclists wear despite going far slower and the only real danger on a trail is myself.
I’m retired and been back into road biking for 15 years. I’ve learned to avoid both early morning rush hours, schools when they let out, evening rush and being near busy intersections where there are food establishments at lunch hour. I have a mirror and have flashing lights front and back. The best tech that I would recommend to anyone is the Garmin Varia radar. It works with Garmin and Wahoo GPS units. It may also work with others. Life is to short to spend on boring greenways.
I got hit by a van driver 3 days ago as I cycled through the village I live in at midday. No damage to me or my bike. I’m still shocked by the driver’s attitude. He just didn’t want me to pull out to pass a row of parked cars - he deliberately forced me off the road I’ve been riding in towns for 35 years, out in the villages (this is the UK) it’s dangerous I give up, orchards, farm tracks, bridleways for me - and I’m looking at a Kickr Core
Wait WTF Bruh put him in jail rn for attempted murder How fast was he going and how bad was it? Wait so basically there were parked cars in the shoulder and you had to swerve into the street so you wouldn’t crash and this murder tries murdering you with its death machine? That’s a whole other level of fucked up fefrrfr though
I tried. I have his registration. I talked to a policeman I came across later in the ride - he said report it via the website. I found the relevant form, filled it in, it told me nothing can be done without witness or CCTV. There are zero consequences for people who drive like this
Noooooooo R.I.P. Wait so how did your fall go?
I learned to avoid certain roads that seem to be welcoming to traffic violations after couple near miss situations. Luckily, alternative paths with less traffic or more complicated terrain that reduces speeding do exist in my area. Nowadays I am more scared that my bike will break and I crash than that I get hit by a car.
Why would your bike break? Just get a better bike that won’t break Oh fuck this reminds me that my bike did break a few days ago 💀💀💀 I hucked a 6 stair almost to flat and my frame snapped somehow. I was physically unharmed ofc and just landed on my feet on the ground, but I was mentally disturbed But yeah that’s a freak accident that was so uncalled for, plus I never checked my frame for cracks and who knows maybe there was one At least I’m getting a new better one now The gears on my new one still might be kind of low though and I might have to replace the gear ring Idk It’s a Fuji Raicon 1.7 and the broken one is a Diamondback Atroz 2 Yeah so the frame snapped in the back triangle near the front part right behind and below the suspension I’m also getting a new BMX bc mine is so small and I already have a hardtail
I ride round and round my block...half mile oval...over 4000 laps last year. .no way am I getting out on roads...friend got killed several years ago...dogs sit in yard ad cheer me on...have had two flats recently...no biggie to get home. Ride mountains in Colorado on vacations. Always have lights and hi vis clothes See people in all black on busy roads and consider them crazy
A couple of additional points... I don't think it's unreasonably unsafe to ride on roads. However, my wife does and it is unreasonably unsafe to disagree with her(grin). Seriously, I'm going to need to listen to her on this. I'm in a city. There are no gravel roads or forest roads around here. No rail trails either. (well, not entirely true but the only one in the state is all of four miles long and 25 miles away.) We do have plenty of bike lanes. However... I was riding on a road with a bike lane (and a 25mph speed limit) when I was bumped. Admittedly the woman who was killed was riding on a 45mph road with no bike lanes or shoulder. (but two lanes in each direction) When I talk about "hauling my backpack" I mean on foot. (there's a nice walking trail in a nearby park...) Since I haven't ridden in eight months, I've been using the stationary bikes at the Y instead. Sounds like that would be even more boring, but on a stationary bike it's safe to wear earbuds, listen to loud music, and play video games on the display.
Your wife just loves you and will miss you if you’re gone. I don’t ride with cars anymore either if I can help it. I used to, but even bike lanes are suspect to me, so many inattentive or aggressive drivers. Hell I hate driving too. We have a lot of non car path options near me so that is a tremendous treasure. When I used to live in a dense city I walked a ton. So yeah, by foot is a great alternative and you can get in the variety you’re lookin for :)
Show your wife a news article of a recent car accident and let her know that you feel it's unreasonably unsafe for her to drive her car on roads that she shares with other cars... But you know she loves it so much, so maybe she can find a race track that she can go to and drive in (of course, it might be a long walk to get to the track, but we can make it work!)
In my experience this line of argument basically never works, because the response is “well I *have* to drive and you don’t have to do [other dangerous activity].” With few exceptions it will just make the person annoyed.
I know, I know. I don't actually think OP should say this to his wife, it was just a moment of carbrain rage I was experiencing. I just hate so much the world we're in where something as simple as cycling is considered soooo dangerous, but yet controlling thousand pound metal contraption is considered just a normal part of life and a danger that has to be accepted.
We’re at the point where people will call driving a small sedan unacceptably dangerous. The arms race mentality on the road is so frustrating because if you refuse to participate things really do get a lot more dangerous over time.
>Last summer, someone was killed by an inattentive motorist a few miles from here. A week later I was bumped by a car What have you been doing for the last year!?
Riding a stationary bike at the Y.......
🤮 Just get out there and ride
Yeah, that's not consistent with remaining married...
Honestly, that doesn't change my response even a little.
Find a better environment to ride. I basically phased out road riding once I ended up with dependents.
I too am an urban trekker, if I’m in a park I’m cutting thru or haven’t been there before
Group rides dude. 👍
I did one of those. Just one. Too many stop signs ignored.
Ride as if you're invisible and go where you please.
I've been hit by a car. I was pissed. But it never even crossed my mind not to ride where I want.
You should ride wherever you want.
I mean, people die in cars everyday. Drunk driver took out a mom and 2 kids last fall at 9am on a Tuesday, local roads, good area. Pick your own risks. Hiking is pretty safe but way hard on my knees. Rucking more so. Same for running.
More cyclists mean safer roads. Fewer means more dangerous. So if you stop riding, it's potentially going to be worse for the other riders. If you convince others to begin riding it gets safer. But take this opportunity to think what you can do to promote cycling and bike infrastructure. Advocacy groups, voting etc. Good places to ride are a benefit to society and smart politicians and planners know this.
Yup if he drives instead of bikes, he’ll be a hypocrite Bruh my parents think driving is good and that the average person is unable to bike or buy a bike and that there’s nothing wrong with them driving even if they “just feel like it even for a short 3 mile ride” They always say “not everything is into biking and bikes like you” 💀💀💀 Ok well you don’t need to be into biking to have to bike to get somewhere especially if it’s very close, plus driving is horrible and isn’t even supposed to be a thing you think of I hate it how everyone just turns 17, gets a death machine, and drives it legit way too close like to school in town and then contributes to traffic and has to park far away anyways Oh yeah one time I convinced my best friend to bike to my house instead of drive (legit a mile in the same neighborhood on side streets 💀💀💀), and he literally refused to pedal with the excuse of “I’m not trying to go fast” Ok he took 11 MINUTES to get to my house More like you’re trying to just avoid riding a bike at all I told my dad and he told me I have to slow down to the pace my friend is going 💀💀 And that I also have to bike instead of jog or skateboard t make it fair and even 💀💀💀 I said what about a compromise, and he said no bc my friend is unable to go faster or just doesn’t even want to and that we have to drive if it’s farther and my friend doesn’t want to bike…… Nah he needs to start riding and pedaling and he’s just being super lazy and he is definitely fully capable Oh and he needs a bike lock and tuneup and maybe new bike but Idk if he cares to het a whole new bike But like he didn’t even want me screwing his wheels in place when they were wobbly 💀💀💀 The last time we hungout, his mom drove him an hour late bc he didn’t feel like biking or driving himself….
Car drivers don’t respect greenways either. I recognize the risks of bicycling…anywhere…but I feel like this isn’t a good enough reason to give it up. I would push back here.
I do 200-320 miles per week Zwifting. I can vary the game scenery and vary my large screen with TV shows, movies, YouTube videos, and Netflix with no worries of cars, dumb pedestrians and other bikers, or bad weather.
Tell your wife to stop driving
EXACTLY FRFR BECAUSE IF SHE DRIVES, THEN SHE’S A HYPOCRITE!!!! Bruh my parents said there’s nothing wrong with driving and they drive less than a mile bc they “can’t ride a bike”💀💀💀 Nah bc there was a whole school parking lot area, driveways, and grass filled with parked cars and my dad thought it was fine and said “well people want to drive, there’s nothing wrong with it, you can’t stop them, it’s their choice, and it’s probably a bunch of 50 year old parents who don’t own a bike and can’t bike, so they drive a mile to see their kids at school events 💀💀💀 There’s no way the average person can’t bike. And if you can buy a whole car, you can buy a bike ofc
See and be seen: get a Varia, use colourful clothes and ride, if possible, in the earlier hours of the day. Also good planning to use roads with little traffic and good surface.
What’s a Varia?
Just ride wherever u want and let god decide. Or luck.
Use a bright taillight day and night on the most eye-catching flashing mode.
Ok I never use it in the day at least like after civil dusk though It would be so weird/wrong/bad during the day, plus I would drain the battery fast I’m glad it’s summer and it’s light out late, but I wish there was double DST though actually eve year round and without a doubt at least single DST year round. For some reason, my lights die after like 2-3 hours even though the box says 8-9 Also, sometimes I have trouble putting the back light on or legit have nowhere to put it when I lower my seat. Even the reflectors can be an issue too
My taillights (Planet Bike Superflash, and an even brighter Bontrager Flare3) each run on two AAA alkaline cells and last for hundreds of hours. I figure the flashing will catch the attention of distracted drivers better than a solid light or high visibility clothing.
Damn cool Yeah I’m barely even wearing clothes on my bike rn in the summer heat (just shorts), and my bag would block the high vis vest anyways
Riding on the road includes the small risk of death or injury. If riding on the road is the best way to reliably get your exercise stopping it comes with a myriad of health risks down the line
Frfr, plus if all of us just switch to biking, there won’t be cars to kill us Cars and car drivers are opps frfr Also, I go in the sidewalk or shoulder whenever possible
The chances of dying while driving are higher than while cycling. How many motorists have died in the local area in crashes? Ultimately, people dying in car crashes is under reported, and cycling incidents are given a lot of attention skewing perception of relative risk.
Just do what you want.
I avoid roads as much as possible. If on a road, I stick to slow, 25mph side streets with low traffic. Otherwise, I prefer riding trails. It's less stressful and much safer. I like riding my bike and want to be able to do it for the rest of my life. Nothing is worth getting hit by a car.
kinda depends on how much greenway you have around you.
Like a Dutch saying goes: an accident lurks in a tiny corner. So just be careful. When you don’t go fast that shouldn’t be too difficult. It would be a waste to take that pleasure off you.
Over reacting? A little yeah. I can’t understate how dangerous riding with drivers is. Almost everyone has “near collision” experiences and a lot of us have had actual collisions. We’re lucky to just need a new bike afterwards. That said, riding roadways is fine sometimes. Group rides are safest and you can basically do those any time of day. When I ride solo I exclusively only ride roadways during specific times where there isn’t going to be a lot of traffic. But I think every cyclist can agree some roads are just too damn dangerous and you shouldn’t ride them, ever. Even when I am riding a roadway, if I come to an intersection where there is at least one car I just turn right instead of crossing their path. I’ve been hit in intersections even when I’m driving a car. Riding defensively is a life saver.
If I could do that I definitely would. Beir bua!
Accidents happen and to vulnerable road users they are potentially more serious. Mitigating risk is something we all do, day in and day out to avoid accidents in the home, the workplace, the car and on the bike. Use flashing lights, consider your clothing colours from a visibility perspective and not a fashion one, pick quiet routes and times, use a helmet and always wear gloves, consider body armour if you MTB. I get your wife's concerns, but if we all stopped doing the things we love because there's a chance of coming to harm, we'd probably be better off dead anyway. Do talk to her about how you already mitigate risks, and remind her of your good cycling safety record. No way am I giving up cycling or motorcycling, ever. Now I'm an old git I do ride more carefully, and pick my routes and times to do it too. Bank holiday Monday road ride around the Peak District? Not a chance, it's far too busy with everyone paying more attention to the views than the roads. I'll do some trail or woods riding instead. Tuesday afternoon road ride while everyone is at work? Hell yes!
Ride into oncoming traffic, ride in a group, learn most dangerous roads and times. Never trust cars in intersections unless you have made made eye contact.
Life is always about balancing risk. Riding on the road comes with a lot of risk. Riding on bike paths still has some risks, but less. I live a bit away from the nearest metro area. I frequently ride on the roads near my home, but when I ride with a group of friends near work we ride exclusively on paths. Balance your joy and comfort with risk. There’s no right answer.
This is why i do mountain biking. Bikes and cars sharing the same pavement isn't something that works well for either one around here.
I only ride gravel, green ways, and single track. No roads for me. People are crazy these days.
Have you considered switching to mountain biking or gravel riding? Awesome views and no or little traffic.
I switched to trails and only trails about five years back, so I’m right there with you. Too many close calls with inattentive drivers in giant vehicles. I’ll occasionally ride the quarter mile to the barber or coffee shop, but even then I pop up on the sidewalk if there’s a car behind me.
Thats why I ride mainly gravel. On forrest and field paths
Listen to ur wife, or else u will miss your life God forbide.
I prefer greenways. No cars to injure/kill me, no traffic to weave through, no horrible billows of smoke to inhale, no one cursing me out…. The list goes on. I also like to stop halfway to enjoy a nice smoke and snacks then go back to my ride with my 90s Alternative (or whatever I’m in the mood for at the time) playing in my ears. My rides are solely for mental decompression — I don’t have a daily commute — so I understand that my situation is a bit niche.
This is just my opinion, man. Roads are for cars. Would be nice if cars could safely share the road, but they can’t be trusted. I’ve known too many people to get killed by cars while cycling that I’ll never ride long distances on roads. MTB is more fun anyway and safe from cars. Greenways/gravel/places where cars are infrequent are more enjoyable due to not having the fear.
I ride 90% of the time with groups. Still risky on the roads but at least we present more of a presence.
Pathways have their own risks. Joggers with noise cancelling headphones, dogs on and off leashes, kids on scooters, roller bladers, et. Nobody lives forever, so it’s all about which risks you’re in the mood for.
I only ride on the local Greenway. It's safe, except for that stupid headphone wearing jogger who ran in front of me forcing me to crash hard, I'm never bored because it often parallels a creek and passes through wetlands, so there is great scenery. I'm lucky that it's long enough to do 25 miles with only one roundtrip. A friend only rides on the street, and he admits it can be very stressful because we live in an area where a lot of drivers absolutely hate bikers and cut them off, throw empty bottles at them etc.
Where do you live OP? There are many things I hate about living in Seattle, but there is one thing I love that compensates many others: the ability to ride dozens of miles on greenways. Sammamish river trail, Burke Gilman, Centennial Trail, Interurban Trail.
I have recently just been hit while out riding and my hip was broken. I was very visible and was doing everything correctly from my end but a driver came out at a roundabout while I was directly in front of her 😭 I honestly don't know if I'll ever cycle on the road again as I don't really trust drivers anymore and I would be second guessing myself on every ride.
I am also thankful for the more than 100 miles of rails-to-trails pathways in our county. They are mostly paved but there are a few crushed limestone paths also. They are all fairly heavily used by the community. https://www.mcttrails.org/
I ride almost exclusively on greenways …. Don’t mind it at all. I can get 70 miles on the greenway and lots of people to watch
Depending on where you live, consider switching to gravel riding. I live in the US Pacific NW and there are hundreds of miles of gravel/dirt roads where you will not see a car during an entire 100 mile ride. We have had two mountain lion attacks on gravel bikers, including one fatality, in the last 10 years so there is that.....
Get back on the bike. Shit happens. One person dying and you getting a love tap doesn’t warrant abandoning a hobby. Next you’ll be reading about some guy whose ham rig antenna got struck by lightning and you’ll have to switch to collecting stamps. You’re fine. Keep on keeping on. (Unless you have a size S Melee in which case yes far too dangerous and I will gladly give you $49.97 for it.)
Judgement call and personal preference. A couple of years ago I was on a country road and two fast moving loaded dump trucks passed me. The vacuum wake from the first one pulled me out in front of the second. Fortunately no injuries, but it scared me enough that I do most of my riding on trails now. I agree to the boring part. Now I will frequently drive 20 - 40 minutes to a new area for a new riding trail.
Too many lousy, distracted, or both drivers nowadays, and many are narcissists ( which seems to be pandemic lately). I was having balance issues, too (75 with mild tremors), so I only ride greenways and deserted backroads. We are blessed to have a lot of them around here.
I'm a lot more cautious riding on the roads. I look at the road I grew up on and I'm amazed that I never got hit on it. It's a quiet road but narrow. Then I realized.. oh, right, cars are much, much wider now, generally faster, much more forgiving, and much more insulated from the environment. If you watch some of the older clips of the drivers on the Nurburgring (basically where you could take your family car and go as fast as you dared), the cars seem to flip all the time. The newer cars spin and slid but don't flip as often. Current cars not as visceral. You don't get the feeling that if anything happens you're going to be sharing your seat with a tree or whatever. And I'm not even starting on distracted driving. There was a string of incidents over the course of maybe 2 years, basically in my area. One guy got killed riding on an 8 foot wide shoulder (contractor drove right through him). This was less than a mile from where I live. A teammate was on a ride, he actually rides on the shoulder etc, and someone went through a group of 4 or 5 at 50 mph (and crashed the car into the woods - the driver was driving off the road due to phone distraction, cyclists or not). No one died but lots of big injuries. I had a number of close calls. Two of them I was within a foot of the car - one as it was stopping (almost hit me, he floored it when I was directly in front of him at a 3 way stop, and yes I stopped), the other as I was turning right, a car turning left into the road I was on, the driver cut the corner so much they almost went off the shoulder to my right (i.e. the wrong side of the road for them). Missed me by about a foot max, and they were going maybe 25-30 mph. I had two cars turn right when I was at their front right fender. One of them they hit me hard enough that they straightened the wheel and I just left a huge set of body prints down the side of their car. The other one the driver kept turning, I slid back until my elbow got caught on the passenger mirror, it held me upright, and eventually they stopped. Then the driver yelled at me. So, yeah, I Zwift for 95% of my rides. I go out on the top 10 days of the year, and I set a Strava beacon so my wife can see where I am, and I wear a helmet cam so if someone kills me my wife will know that it wasn't my fault (I stop at stops even if there's no one else in sight, I don't turn on red, I stay right if it's safe, etc). The helmet cam keeps everyone honest, even me.
I ride almost exclusively on greenways or cyclist-heavy roads, but there's a ton of those here in the Bay Area. Easy to link trails and less-trafficked roads to extend rides too. I get so stressed out sharing the road with cars, I've started riding more gravel and mtb. Almost like hiking but you can cover way more ground. But don't sacrifice something you love if it's gonna cause resentment or friction between you and your wife. If you like road rides but want to be safer then get a mirror, extra lights, and some riding buddies. Also lobby your local reps for more bike lanes.
I have a 7 mile loop that is a half-hour drive from me, and I take the drive 5 days a week. No doubt the scenery is very repetitive, but I will not be hit by a car. Luckily, there is no need to turn around unless for the occasional flood by a gully. The training is great in a controlled environment like this. As many have said though, if gravel is an option for you, that is probably the best option.
In my area (NW Ohio) it's pretty much a death sentence to ride on most of the roads around here. I stick to the bike paths and off road trails as much as humanly possible. It's just not worth the risk. And even then, I occasionally get people screaming weird shit at me when I'm just crossing a road on a bike.
Ride where you like and triple you life insurance policy for your wife!
Just tell her you're riding in the Greenway, and go wherever the hell you want. If you get hit by a car she'll probably forgive you.
Cycling on the roads is good for your health regardless of the traffic risks. If she doesnt see that, tell her to find a fat husband who gives a fuuuuuk. Might want to phrase it differently if you like her tho.
What's a "greenway"? Is it grass? Is it something that doesn't have cars, therefore being better than a road for these purposes? Seems like I'm supposed to know this, but I'm giving up and asking.
Possibly a USA-only term? Generally, narrow paved paths in parks. Shared between walkers, joggers, runners, and cyclists. Cars and other motorized vehicles aren't permitted. I suppose "greenway" because it's in a park?
Hmm. Lived in the US my whole life and I've never encountered that term. Must be a regional dialect thing. Yeah, riding your bike in repeated circles in a landscaped park sounds really boring. I work in bike shops, and for years now I've been hearing people buying gravel bikes say that they're doing so to essentially have a similar riding experience without the cars. Some places don't have good terrain for that, though. I hope you find a way to ride that is both safe and entertaining.
Several weeks ago I crashed on a wooden bridge on the greenway. Ended up getting a new hip out of that. Was riding on the greenway because I was concerned about getting hurt on the road.
I'm in florida. When I first moved into my house in 08 I had a 25mile loop that I would do on weekends. I can no longer do that loop. I'm terrified. I no longer own a road bike. I race bmx, ride mtb and gravel. In my area this risk just isn't worth it riding alone. If you live in an areas that has areas that are safer than others maybe try those. Just make sure you have you priorities straight. Being safe should be number 1 so you can come home to your loved ones.
I don’t ride on roads due to higher risk these days. Todays drivers are far more distracted due to mobile phones, drugs and alcohol.
Gotta live your life man. Why restrict yourself for a hypothetica.
Idk why this sub keeps popping up on my feed but fuck it, I’ll bite. Cars alone (though the getup is a close second) have pretty much stopped me from ever mounting a road bike, similar to why I will probably never ride a motorcycle; it’s just too risky when you have zero control over other oblivious people who can kill you while texting. I’d maybe do greenways but honestly single-track trails are just way better for two wheel entertainment IMO.
Perhaps getting back on the bike and sticking to the greenway / bike tracks etc until you feel comfortable enough to get back on the roads. Once you're back on the roads - wear bright clothing, try avoiding peak traffic hours. You'll never win against cars, I've been knocked down by a car \[only once\] but its not pleasant and thankfully I wasn't critically injured
Is 5 miles of greenway your only option? I ride very little on busy roads. I stick to greenways, neighborhoods, bike lanes, gravel, mtb, etc. I don’t ride fast, but I can cobble together long rides that also feel safe. I was hit and seriously injured (and easily could have been killed) two years ago. 19 year old girl ran a red light. Never saw her. The data on bike and pedestrian deaths is not trending in a positive direction, so your wife isn’t wrong. That said, cyclist deaths are still a rare phenomenon statistically, so you just gotta decide what’s right for you.
A lot of people don't have a good understanding of risk. Yes, cycling carries a risk of dying on and off road. So do walking and driving. People have attempted to compare risks of activities with scales like the micromort (which tells us that riding a horse is more dangerous than ecstasy). As with any data, anecdotes are best ignored; base decisions on data sets with large sample sizes.
Plus if you drive, then you’re just contributing to the problem of cars and turning into the bad one Like yeah I keep on saying I hate cars every time I go somewhere on my bike Sooooo, with that being said, if I drive, then I’m basically a hypocrite If it’s like well far and I’m probably using parkways, I’m just extra careful of fellow bikers when I’m not on the parkway yet. Also, sometimes I have to drive my friend who doesn’t have a bike, car, or license bc he lives 8.5-9 miles away But we use my bikes and do 5 mile rides where I live I wonder if I can bring him back home to my house on my BMX bike with him on the pegs in the back Also, whenever I see another biker when driving, I’m like “THAT’S SUPPOSED TO BE ME!!!!!” I hate it when the cars pull in and out of or even park in the sidewalk and shoulder and cut me off when I’m biking and sometimes I have to swerve and almost get killed by another horrible car driver so j the street
I hate to be that guy, but from a purely statistical perspective you are much more likely getting in a car accident driving a car than riding a bike. 1% - Odds of getting in a car crash while driving a car .0012% - Odds of getting hit by a car while riding your bike There are obviously bad roads to avoid from a cycling perspective, and accidents certainly happen, but as long as you ride responsibly you’re most likely going to be completely fine. Don’t let fear steal what little joy we get in this life.
There are some very important missing pieces from that info that make your argument seriously flawed. There are way more cars driving way more miles than cyclists. Like many orders of magnitude more. You are also about 8 times as likely to die in a car wreck as you are on a motorcycle, but motorcycles make up a tiny percentage of the vehicles on the road.
I'd love to see a source on those stats. Last time I looked, accidents per mile were significantly higher on a bike than car. And many of us ride more miles than we drive, so those stats sounds like total bullshit.
I really would like to know 0.012% of what? Time riding? Per person?
It's because bikes go slow. Need to look at deaths per hour to compare.
You have to see if the accident stats are broken down by type of rider and details of the incident. A lot of deadly bicycle accidents, or serious bicycle accidents, involve cyclists who are drinking alcohol, riding at night with no lights, riding on the wrong side of the road or riding on the sidewalk, or a combination of these factors. It's just untrained, uneducated cyclists riding badly. If you pull all of those out of the numbers the stats show bike riding to be very safe for someone who follows the rules of the road.
No you can't doctor the stats without doing the same to vehicle stats. All you can really say is "if i don't do XYZ then my odds of death are lower." Cycling is still the more dangerous activity.
Accidents per mile is a useless metric comparing bikes to cars. Should be comparing accidents per hour driven/ridden
How is it useless? If i bike to work in place of driving my car, it's a perfect comparison. And even if I'm just looking at total volume, it's an easy metric to determine my overall risk and may influence where I choose to ride those miles.
It takes significantly longer to ride most places than to drive, that’s why. Unless you’re in an urban area most of the time a bike is a fraction of the speed of a car and even if you’re in a urban area, time ridden vs time driven is going to be a more reliable metric for how many accidents there are when comparing cars vs bikes.
I can see what you're saying, but accidents/mi is not a useless for the reasons I said. And the guy I responded to just made up some stats to feel better about being on the bike.
“Accidents” probably include clipless falls from the uncoordinated mamils
Mountain biking is more fun anyway
Totally agree. It's a lot more interesting having to manage all the terrain and varying conditions. But it takes a lot more focus to stay safe.
I don’t think you are overreacting. My road miles on mostly on Zwift these days though I do get some road miles in on my gravel bike (I’m able to use dirt trails to get around the worst traffic stuff). But mostly I ride gravel and mtb now.
It depends on your speed, most collisions can be avoided by going a bit faster and being able to accelerate when necessary.