[TriLUG] [OT] TriLUGger on the news

[tomed at bellsouth.net]

It's definitely dangerous - the question is is it MORE dangerous than driving
a car. You could find thousands of stories of deaths in car accidents; it
doesn't even make the news, with around 45,000 deaths per year in the US.
Who knows how many casualities.

There's a lot of controversy out there as to the stats on bike deaths
per mile traveled, or per hour on the road, vs car deaths.

One thing though - a car, with it's protected, comfy environment, gives a
false sense of security. That's one reason people talk on the phone,
read, do anything except drive.

Plus, death in a car accident is the devil we all know, and choose to ignore.
Death on a bike is much more - what? - something that seems obvious?

Tom Ed

At Tue, 22 May 2007 09:31:32 -0400,
David McDowell wrote:
> 
> just throwing this out there... I'm a mountain biker, single track
> trails, and I refuse to ride on the roads.  I appreciate all the
> cajones you all have to wanting to do that, but I won't.  I mean,
> there are websites out there dedicated to people who got creamed while
> biking on the road.  Drivers simply don't respect you.  I'd rather die
> breaking my neck running into a tree than being hit by a car.  At
> least that way I know it was my fault, or I could blame the tree...
> 
> btw, Sharper Image has an electric scooter (plug-in for recharge)... I
> have NO clue the specs on it, saw it in the store the other day.
> 
> :p
> David
> 
> 
> On 5/22/07, Scott Chilcote <scottchilcote at earthlink.net> wrote:
> >
> > I bike commuted between Cary and RTP much of the time between '95 and
> > '02, when I started working at home most of the time.  In all those
> > years I was never touched by a car.  People would get mad and shout once
> > and a while, but they honk and yell at each other too.  Once I had a
> > sandwich tossed at me.  I also chose to leave the roadway at times
> > rather than get squeezed between two passing trucks, but at most it
> > delayed me by half a minute.
> >
> > The two most critical things for me were carefully selecting the route
> > (I changed employment sites five times) and learning how to ride
> > effectively in traffic.
> >
> > Choosing a good cycling route to work is a lot different than what you'd
> > want to use in a car.  Primary roads (highways) are of course out.
> > Secondary roads are usually too busy as well, and often have no
> > shoulders like 54 in Cary and Durham.  You have to take a close look at
> > a map, and sometimes go exploring to find connectors that have extra
> > lanes or wide shoulders.
> >
> > For heading through Morrisville, I'd use roads like Evans, Sheldon, Town
> > Hall, McKrimmon, and Davis (which has good shoulders most of the way).
> > If there's a back way to get from one major road to another, like Slater
> > Road from Airport Blvd to Emperor/Miami or Hopson from Davis to 55,
> > those are the ones I'd try to string together.
> >
> > Irritated drivers are the worst thing I had to deal with, but choosing
> > less traveled roads that had room to pass most of the time helped a lot.
> >  The second part is attitude.  You can ride your bike like a
> > pedestrian, or you can ride it like just one more vehicle in traffic.
> > Fit into the flow of traffic and ride predictably as much as possible.
> > A friend who is an LAB certified cycling instructor uses the phrase
> > "driving your bike".
> >
> > It isn't a cure-all.  People in cars get mad at other people in cars, so
> > cyclists are hardly immune.  But there is a lot we can due to minimize
> > the interactions.
> >
> > I'll throw in a third item too - having a good rear view mirror and
> > learning how to use it while bicycling.  Mine is on my helmet.  It
> > provides a lot of confidence to be able to see how the traffic situation
> > is developing in advance.  If there's an eighteen wheeler coming from
> > behind and another large truck up ahead coming this way, I have the
> > option of looking for a place to pull off and subtracting myself from
> > the equation.
> >
> > http://commutebybike.com/cats/commuting-101/
> > http://www.trilug.org/~chilcote/Bike/rtp-bicycle-commute-FAQ.html
> >
> > Enjoy the ride.
> >
> > --
> > Scott C.
> > --
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> >
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