exclamation point: Defensive Cycling

When I first moved to Long Island in 2008, I took a long ride around my new town and its beautiful waterfronts. As I was casually cruising through the final tenth-of-a-mile stretch through the neighborhood, a speeding van nearly ran me over. The driver, on an oxygen tank I might add, scolded me for riding down the "middle" of the street. She huffed some expletives about cyclists, to which I calmly responded: "You realize this is a neighborhood where kids play, and not a freeway?" See, many impatient drivers [redundant, I know] use this side street to circumvent traffic lights. People also live here and park on the street, so I defensively tend to ride away from the parked cars to avoid the unfortunate mishap of someone carelessly opening a car door without looking for an oncoming bicycle.[Painful]

Forget those hours of online or comedy defensive driving courses--the quickest and most effective way to learn defensive driving is to ride a road bicycle on Long Island. From May until the end of September I will usually log more miles on my bicycle than my car. [Full disclosure: I live about four miles from my office] Not only is cycling a beautiful way to see parts of New York, it also teaches me to be a more defensive, and hopefully more careful driver.

The first rule of the road for cyclists is to pretend you are a car and never assume the car drivers see you. On Long Island, between the cigarette lighting, the texting, the redlight running, the honking, and the phoning, it is not difficult to figure out the cyclist is invisible. Also, when approaching an intersection, know that drivers in Suffolk County will always overshoot the stop sign and put half the front end of the car into the oncoming traffic before slowing down. Again, bikes are invisible.

Perhaps it would help to educate drivers a little bit about why cyclists do what they do. Sometimes we come out of the two-foot-wide bike lane we have been allotted and venture into the car lane. Most of the time this happens not because we prefer the car lane; it is because we want to avoid the potholes, debris, beer bottles, and roadkill in the bike lane. And sometimes cars are parked there [often illegally] or other cyclists are pedaling the wrong way toward us. The signs asking drivers and cyclists to share the road are not without purpose.

Now to be fair, as a cyclist and self-appointed traffic cop for the universe, I can complain about cyclists on behalf of drivers. Just because we may be in a peloton or a gaggle of cyclists does not mean we own the road. We need to share with cars, not just other cyclists. If the urge to ride two- or three- abreast takes over for that essential roadbike conversation, at least move into single file when you hear and see a car. [By the way, New York City Traffic Rules & Regulations § 1234 prohibits more than two cyclists riding abreast] It helps to cycle defensively: look ahead; plan ahead; and pay attention. Signal to cars where you are going and what you are doing with [appropriate] gestures, ride with traffic, and observe stop signs and red lights as a car would.

It also helps to be polite with other cyclists. Always pass on the left and let the cyclist know you are doing so, and the person being passed should courteously move slightly to the right to allow you over safely.

We can enjoy the big race of life without compromising the health and safety of our selves or others. And cars, be patient. The fact that we are on our bicycles means we are not out on the road in our cars!