Enjoyed your blog entry. Last time I was in the market for a new mirror I looked for the Hubub but they were out of stock. It looks like a good mirror. But the TakeALook does a fine job.
Sometimes I'll be walking down the street at night and hear footsteps coming up behind me and wish I were wearing my mirror. Hope you're both recovered by now. Nick On Tuesday, August 7, 2012 1:16:03 PM UTC-4, SteveD wrote: > > Agreed, Nick. MIrrors are great. > http://pathlesspedaled.com/2012/03/gear-reflecting-about-cycling-mirrors/ > > I typically ride with a mirror attached to my shades to point that having > used it for so many years that on the very rare occasions, like the other > day, when I don't use it I still ride like I'm wearing, if you know what I > mean. And actually, I had loaned my wife my shades that day. She wasn't > using the mirror, but I did see her do a quick look over her shoulder. I > think the person on the other bike was coming up so fast that it didn't > register with my wife. It certainly didn't with me, and I'm pretty tuned > into traffic noise. > > Yep, MUPs can be like the wild west; it's safer to ride on city streets, > that's if you're obeying the traffic laws, riding with the flow of traffic, > being predictable. Riding on a MUP that are congested are highly > unpredictable where riding slow and being mindful of all the various > situations that might occur really is sensible. As for the other rider not > seeing and estimating what was ahead of her, all I can say is that she was > totally oblivious of her environment or completely blind. > > Sometimes my wife calls me the bike Nazi because I get a little uptight > about people who ride their bikes without an iota of common sense, like > riding in the opposite direction against traffic or bombing down a crowded > trail in their racing costumes. And I know I'm no saint, but I at least try > to use some common sense when riding in mixed traffic situations, i.e., > cars and pedestrians. > > Anyway, mirrors make life on a bike more comfortable in my opinion. They > may look funny when worn on a helmet or shades. But their worth it. > > On Tuesday, August 7, 2012 9:25:09 AM UTC-7, NickBull wrote: >> >> Too bad about the crash. All the bike trails I've ever been on seem to >> be like the wild west -- no law enforcement whatsoever. It's everyone for >> themselves, so the only way to survive is to have maximum situational >> awareness, know where everyone is around you both ahead and behind, and >> ride as though everyone around you will do something stupid. Clearly the >> pedestrians were wrong to be three abreast because it causes a hazard. >> Clearly the bike that passed without warning was wrong to do so, though >> they may not have been aware of the pedestrians ahead of you. >> >> But if you were wearing a mirror and took a glance in it the instant you >> saw the pedestrians (to check on whether anyone is coming up behind), then >> another glance just before you're going to move over (to check that the >> coast is still clear), and a final look over your shoulder to double-check >> the instant before you move over, then it is almost impossible to have had >> this develop into an accident. You might have had to brake hard when you >> glanced in the mirror and saw someone coming up fast. But at that stage >> you still would have had time to brake safely. >> >> I had almost the opposite incident happen to me the other day. A woman >> passed me (safely) but then slowed down somewhat so we were going the same >> speed. I was about fifteen or twenty feet behind her because I don't like >> to ride close to people who I don't know. This continued for about half a >> mile. As we were coming up on a pedestrian, I moved to the left well >> before she did, still fifteen or twenty feet back. At the last moment, she >> glanced over her shoulder, saw me, and slammed on her brakes and cursed me, >> presumably thinking I was trying to pass her. All of this drama would have >> been totally unnecessary if she had been wearing a mirror. Had she been >> wearing a mirror, then after she passed me, she would have seen that she >> wasn't dropping me, but that I was behind her at a safe distance and she >> had plenty of clearance to move left. >> >> Nick >> >> On Monday, August 6, 2012 1:58:16 PM UTC-4, SteveD wrote: >>> >>> As a commuter, I'd like to think I'm pretty good about being safe, >>> riding defensively, especially when it comes to using MUPs (multi-use >>> paths), which brings me to an incident my wife and I had yesterday on the >>> Burke-Gilman Trail just north of 70th Ave NE (or is it NE 70th?) in >>> Seattle. The last days here have been pretty nice, although very hot, the >>> trail tends to get very busy with cyclists, pedestrians, pedestrians with >>> dogs, pedestrians with perambulators, and so forth. All good stuff; there's >>> no denying that because one way or another, as individuals, we all use the >>> trail system in a variety of those roles. But not everyone understands that >>> this is a MUP, and that common sense dictates that everyone needs to look >>> out for one another, especially when the trail gets congested along the way. >>> >>> Imagine taking a leisurely ride on your local MUP on a very nice weekend >>> morning. The trail has its busy sections here and there. Cyclists and >>> pedestrians are moving along pleasantly enough; lots of "on your left" and >>> passing around people two, three abreast, cooperating with the riders. >>> You're going along at a casual 9 to 10 mph. No biggy; safe enough. >>> >>> Everyone's enjoying their day on the tree-lined trail with a nice little >>> breeze. You notice that there's a threesome of pedestrians abreast of each >>> other, chatting, about 50 feet or so ahead of you. There are other cyclists >>> "on your lefting" as they pass. The trail is getting a little congested, >>> and your preparing to slow down as you approach the pedestrians to pass. >>> "On your left," the pedestrian don't heed your warning and at the same time >>> some rider goes zipping by you without any warning as you're making your >>> move, oblivious of the situation, causing you to slam on your brakes in >>> order to not run into the people in front of you, and causes you to jar >>> your shoulder, and hit you pubic bone against the bike stem and cut your >>> leg on the chain ring as you try to stabilize your bike without taking a >>> full-on fall. And, your spouse who is riding behind you, swerves to the >>> left across the trail and into the ditch that runs alongside it so that >>> he/she doesn't rear-end you. Not a pretty scene. >>> >>> So here's the rant. These MUPs aren't high-speed highways for cyclists. >>> I'm pretty sure there's a 15 mph speed limit on the BGT. Although, I really >>> believe that most of the cyclist that use these trails are pretty sensitive >>> to how they're used, they're a number of people who ride that have no clue, >>> and do not know how to anticipate a situation before it happens, especially >>> when the trail gets congested as traffic moves along. Riding a bicycle >>> really isn't much different than driving a car when it comes to riding >>> defensively. Yes, pedestrians, on and off the trail, have the right-of-way! >>> And if we could all predict the future before it happens, wouldn't life be >>> box of chocolates. It's not that way, especially in a traffic situation. >>> We're not perfect, that's a given. But what happened to common sense, >>> courtesy, and respect. >>> >>> Anyway, I landed safely in the ditch, nothing serious happened to me or >>> my Atlantis, except for a little gouge I took in the calf from a pedal >>> spike. The rider would've kept on riding if it weren't for my wife yelling >>> at the rider to come back. Thankfully the rider did come back to listen to >>> my wife's lecture, and then mine, as a few other riders sped by without a >>> "on your left." It's too bad that the rider who caused this mess is most >>> like not going to find this post. It would be good for her to see the >>> grapefruit-sized hematoma on her upper inner thigh, and the cuts and >>> bruises on her leg. >>> >>> Steve DeMont >>> Seattle >>> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/877OxZf43zgJ. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
