{"id":190,"date":"2015-08-23T22:21:44","date_gmt":"2015-08-24T02:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/?p=190"},"modified":"2015-08-23T22:32:46","modified_gmt":"2015-08-24T02:32:46","slug":"whose-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/?p=190","title":{"rendered":"Whose Job?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There\u2019s a psychological adage that goes something like: people don\u2019t change \u2014 they can only learn more about their flaws<\/i>. Motorist \u2018blindness\u2019 is now being cited as a major threat to cycling safety. No argument there at all, frequently noticing that I must have forgotten to take off my cloak of invisibility before setting out for a ride. Sadly this driver affliction may be a permanent, even growing disposition. And the responsibility for safer cycling just might have to reside on the other side of the windshield \u2014 with the cyclist. A few thoughts on where this process might start.<\/p>\n

\u2018Just like riding a bicycle\u2019 \u2014 usually referring to something we (sort of) learned to do a hundred years ago and may not have used since; and for some reason assume the skill set still to be fully intact. Bikes and roads have changed \u2014 and, just possibly, so has the rider. Spend a little time getting to know your 21st century equipment, environs, and self. If you have to ask \u2018what number (gear) should I be in\u2019 \u2014 perhaps you\u2019re not ready for prime time (cycling or oil painting). Ask a vet. Old cyclists are old and cyclists for two reasons: they\u2019ve been at it for a long time \u2014 and they\u2019re still alive. Possibly have some useful tips tucked away under what remains of their hair.<\/p>\n

Remember Billy-Bob\u2019s Driving School. Same lessons apply to two wheelers. Check your bar end mirror frequently. Better yet, get a bar end mirror to check. What\u2019s going on behind you is generally as important as what\u2019s coming down the pike toward you \u2014 and a whole lot more dangerous. Turning around to have a peak is cheaper, but more wobbly and kinda the equivalent of checking that text message while driving. And recall the one about \u2018defensive driving\u2019. Insert \u2018riding\u2019 and you\u2019ve got a safer platform. If you can\u2019t make eye contact with that motorist about to pull out from the side road, he likely doesn\u2019t see you. Oh, and the \u2018always have an escape route\u2019 caution from old B-B. Good advice for the biker too. Having the room to brake, veer, or otherwise avoid is generally preferred to the road rash you\u2019ll cultivate from sliding into second.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a cycling accoutrement found in most bikers\u2019 kit bags, but that I\u2019ve yet to find for sale in any bike shop. Attitude! Comes in a variety of colors and sizes. Generally, however, seen in red and XL. And best left at home; you\u2019ll hardly ever need it. Being right<\/i> is not the same as being safe<\/i>. Taking your entitled portion of the road in the middle of the lane is often an unwise decision. 30 pound bikes don\u2019t do well in confrontations with 3000 pound cars. The universal \u2018salute\u2019 is not necessarily the best way to win friends amongst drivers. Some motorists actually like cyclists; some actually are<\/i> cyclists. A friendly wave when you\u2019re given the (deserved) right of way \u2014 and one clearly distinguishable from the its darker twin \u2014 is good politics.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the group ride<\/i>. There are some sports that are better done alone or in very small, trusted bunches of friends who would gladly sacrifice their first born for you \u2014 and who are very experienced at their chosen activity. Fly fishing, mountain climbing, and hunting come to mind. (Golf and snooker qualify as well \u2014 but those aren\u2019t sports.) And I would add group cycling. The loose canon with the shiny new 12 gauge, the enthusiast who doesn\u2019t know a peg from a carabiner, or the twitchy guy who thinks carbon fibre gives him faster internet connections are often better given a wide berth. Safety in numbers, sadly, is a myth. No good data on this one, but personal experience is that the most dangerous element on the road for a cyclist is not found behind the wheel of a pick up. He \/ she is in that group of happy, chatty, distracted, skittish, inexperienced, self-absorbed, forward-focused fellow riders \u2014 most probably the one directly in front of you and about to shift their butt position on the saddle, brake, stop peddling, or. . .\u00a0 all without warning. Reaching out and touching (wheels) almost always ends badly.<\/p>\n

And finally, the requisite rant about helmets and sidewalks. The latter are called side-WALKS for a reason. If they were intended for cyclists\u2019 use, they might be called side-rides. And, of course, the \u2018no brainer\u2019, as it were, around wearing a helmet. If your encounter is with a semi, a helmet really doesn\u2019t matter. But in those lesser meetings \u2014 car doors, gravel strewn intersections, other cyclist\u2019s wheels \u2014 that piece of plastic-coated styrofoam may just save your life. Your choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a psychological adage that goes something like: people don\u2019t change \u2014 they can only learn more about their flaws. Motorist \u2018blindness\u2019 is now being cited as a major threat to cycling safety. No argument there at all, frequently noticing that I must have forgotten to take off my cloak of invisibility before setting out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=190"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190\/revisions\/194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}