If you use your bicycle regularly, sooner or later you’ll find that you have to ride at night or in the rain. Though statistical studies show that it is more dangerous to ride under these conditions, they also show that the overall crash rate for bicyclists who ride regardless of weather is lower than that for bicyclists who ride only on fine days (see Jerrold Kaplan, “Characteristics of the Regular Adult Bicycle User,” Federal Highway Administration, 1975). Skill and correct equipment make it easy to ride with confidence.

NIGHT RIDING

To ride at night, you need lights. Even when streetlights show you the way, you need lights so other people can see you against the glare of car headlights. Generally, bicycle lights are more important so people can see you than they are for you to see with.

A white headlight identifies the fronts of all vehicles, bicycles too! All provinces and states require a bicycle to have a headlight at night. A red rear light is even more important, so motor vehicle drivers know you’re ahead.

TYPES OF BICYCLE LIGHTS

Three major types of lights are available for bicycles: small battery lights, generator systems and the high-powered battery systems. Choose your lights depending on where you ride.

Small battery lights are most useful for riding under streetlights. Aim the headlight so its looks as bright as possible to people ahead of you. Nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries will cut the cost of operating small battery lights. Most hardware stores sell these batteries and chargers for them. Small LED lights are inexpensive, light weight, and work well.

Unlike small battery lights, a good generator system is bright enough to light your way on dark roads. It’s the best choice for long-distance touring, where you may not be able to buy or recharge batteries. Most generator systems go dark when you stop riding; a disadvantage in stop-and-go city riding. Some generator systems have a battery backup that keeps them lighted when you stop.

High-powered battery lights are brightest of all. They’re best for night riding under demanding conditions: on dark roads or off-road. They’re much more expensive and slightly heavier than other bicycle lights, and need recharging regularly so the battery will last.

When riding at night, carry spare bulbs and batteries for your lights. It’s also a good idea to carry a small battery light as a spare to get you home in case your main lighting system goes on the blink.

Aiming your lights:

a) To alert drivers, flash the headlight by twitching the handlebars.

b) Mount a generator or high-powered battery light low, to cast the longest beam.

c) Aim taillights and small battery headlights level. Test aim by rolling the bike toward and away from a wall. The center of the beam should stay at the same height.

USING REFLECTORS

Don’t ride at night without a rear light or reflector (preferably both) and pedal reflectors are good too. Make sure that your reflectors aren’t obscured by baggage or dirt. Reflectors work well for drivers approaching from behind you; they continue to work if your taillight bulb has burned out, or if you’re stopped and your generator lights go out.

The no-excuse headlight: A flashlight strapped to the handlebar stem with a bungee cord is legal, and sufficient for city use.

It’s a good idea to use additional reflectors beyond those sold with a new bicycle. Most bicycle shops carry reflective legbands and vests. Adhesive-backed strips of reflective material are also sold for the bicycle frame and fenders.

The rear reflector sold on new bicycles isn’t as bright as it could be; it has three panels to reflect to the left, right and center. A large automotive reflector is brighter directly behind you where it’s really needed.

Be sure to aim your rear reflector directly back. If it’s tilted up or down, it may not work at all.

Don’t consider front and side reflectors to be a substitute for a headlight. Pedestrians stepping off the sidewalk in front of you have no headlights and won’t see your reflectors.

Motorists pulling out of side streets ahead of you also won’t see your reflectors, because these cars’ headlights throw their beam straight ahead — across the road in front of you.

Test your nighttime equipment: Have someone ride your bike past you at night and check to see how well your systems work. Reflective clothing is a great idea, too.

NIGHT-RIDING TACTICS

When riding at night, you can’t see drivers inside their cars to make eye contact, but you can flash your headlight at them by twitching the handlebars. Flash your headlight when you need to get the attention of a driver pulling out of a side street.

In a few cities, the risk of theft and physical attack in dark, empty places like parks, pedestrian overpasses and industrial areas seems greater than the risk of crashes on streets with a reasonable amount of traffic, in residential areas and business districts. Choose routes accordingly – cars kill a lot more people than muggers, and quiet streets are safer at night.

Rural riding at night is the most demanding of your equipment and technique. Most generator lights are not bright enough to allow you to ride downhill at full speed on an unlighted road. Stay within the limitations of your lights.

Two-lane, shoulderless rural roads with moderate to heavy traffic have a bad record for nighttime bicycle crashes. On the other hand, quiet rural roads can be very pleasant to ride at night if your headlight is powerful enough to show you the way. And a full moon night in the countryside is glorious!

At night there are generally fewer drivers on the roads; but of these drivers, a much larger percentage are drunk drivers. A useful trick on an unlighted road is to look at your shadow as a car approaches from behind. If the shadow moves to the right, the car is passing to your left.

RIDING IN WET WEATHER

Riding in wet weather can be miserable, but if you equip yourself well, you can stay comfortable.

Many bicyclists carry no wet-weather gear, and they get soaked. Some bicyclists try to use raingear borrowed from the coat rack at home. Long raincoats and ponchos can tangle with the spokes or frame. Rubberized rainsuits get as wet inside as out, because they don’t let perspiration evaporate – you’ll drown in your own sweat!

A bicyclist’s rain cape is a fine solution, along with fenders on your bike. The raincape is like a poncho but tailored to fit you in your riding position on the bicycle. It’s small and light to carry, and relatively inexpensive to buy. It has loops at the front, which you can hook over your thumbs or the brake levers, extending front like a little tent. A waist strap holds down the back of the cape. The cape should be bright yellow, or even fluorescent, to make you more visible to drivers.

The rain cape allows ventilation underneath, and so it’s the best solution on a warm, rainy day. But with the rain cape, you need a pair of full-length fenders on your bicycle. They keep dirty water and mud from flying up under your cape. A mudflap on the front fender or toeclip covers will keep your feet dry from spray kicked up by your front wheel.

High-tech rainsuits of GoreTex or other materials that “breathe” can do the job too, especially when equipped with air holes to allow for cooling. Many have reflective strips to enhance your visibility, too. And they’re gradually getting cheaper and more easily available. MEC has some good ones that are very popular.

Your riding technique needs some modification in wet weather. Rim brakes work poorly if the bicycle has steel rims — stopping distances may be increased by 10 times. High quality bikes usually have aluminum rims, which work somewhat better. It helps to wipe all rims dry by lightly applying the brakes in advance, well before you need to stop.

There are several ways around the problem of wet-weather braking, among them special brake shoes, aluminum rims or a hub brake. One of these is advisable if you ride much in wet weather. Check with your bike shop about the best choice.

In the rain, pay special attention to metal surfaces, such as manhole covers, painted traffic markings, wet leaves and oil slicks. They’re all especially slippery. Avoid riding through puddles if you can’t see the bottom — a puddle can hide a pothole.

When you get home, it’s a good idea to relubricate your bike chain, to help prevent it from rust.

Equip yourself, use reasonable caution and don’t let messy conditions keep you off your bike.

Go out and have fun!

Read Other Chapters

1. Chapter 1: A Guide to Riding in Traffic
2. Chapter 2: Where to Ride on the Road
3. Chapter 3: Riding Through Intersections
4. Chapter 4: Getting Across Non-Standard Intersections
5. Chapter 5: Steering Out of Trouble
6. Chapter 6: Using Your Brakes
7. Chapter 7: Riding in Groups
8. Chapter 8: Riding in Rain or Darkness

Whether you’re touring, training or just exploring country roads, riding with friends can add a lot of fun to your bicycling. With a local bicycle club, you can meet people and share information about routes, equipment and bicycling events. In addition, bicyclists often push themselves harder and improve more when training together.

It can spoil the fun if you run into one of your companions. Bike/bike crashes are just as common as car/bike crashes, so give some attention to safe group riding…

THE SAFETY COCOON

Imagine a “cocoon” of space around each bicycle in your group of riders. It’s easy to think that you can safely pass closer to a bicycle than a car, because the bicycle is smaller. But the bicycle can turn to the side just as fast as a car. And more suddenly. Keep 3 feet of clearance when you’re passing another bicyclist — more at high downhill speeds.

At any time, one of your companions might be about to pass you, so be especially careful to ride straight. You don’t have eyes in the back of your head, and you can’t constantly trace the position of bicyclists behind you as you ride.

When you’re about to pass another bicyclist, it’s your responsibility to do it safely. The other members of your group can’t read your mind to know that you are about to change position in the group. Check behind you before you change your lane position. Call out, “On your left” to the bicyclist you’re passing, and pass on the left of their bike.

Never sneak past another bicyclist on the right — if you do, you force the other bicyclist farther toward the middle of the road without warning.

RIDING SIDE BY SIDE

Bicyclists often like to ride side by side so they can talk with each other. It’s often done on a straight, flat road if there is a wide shoulder. There, drivers can see you from behind, and you can usually see or hear them approach. Side-by-side bicyclists occupy a whole lane. On a multilane road with light traffic, cars can pass you in the next lane.

On a narrow road or with heavier traffic, be courteous! Don’t make drivers wait for you. Pull into a single line well before cars reach you. It takes only one thoughtless rider out to the left of the group to endanger the whole group. Call out, “Car back!” to let the group know it’s time to single up.

A rear-view mirror helps you to check on the cars behind you. With a mirror, you can ride two abreast more often and still pull back into a single line to let the cars pass you.

Never ride two abreast on a hilly or winding road. Don’t make yourself into a last-moment surprise coming around a curve or over a hilltop.

Riding two abreast is legal in most states, but is not legal in Alberta, so be aware:

ALBERTA REGULATION 304/2002

Traffic Safety Act

Travel single file
78 A person who is operating a cycle on a highway in the same direction
in the same traffic lane, except when overtaking and passing another cycle,
(a) shall not operate the cycle adjacent to another cycle
travelling in the same direction, and
(b) in the case of a cycle other than a motor cycle, where more
than one cycle is travelling in the near vicinity of and in the same
direction as another cycle, shall operate the cycle directly in line with
and to the rear or front of the other cycle.

This makes an active paceline legal, as long as riders rotate regularly, so they are continuously passing each other, one at a time. If they fail to pass, they are riding side-by-side, which is illegal, and this law is sometimes enforced. You have been warned.

DEALING WITH OTHER ROAD USERS

Some bicyclists fall for a “herd instinct” when riding in groups — as if the group protected them, or there’s nobody else on the road besides the group. It’s tempting to play “follow the leader” in a group of bicyclists — tempting but dangerous.

When preparing a lane change or turn, you’re on your own lookout. It can be safe for the bicyclist ahead of you to change lane position, but not safe for you, since cars or other bicyclists could be approaching from the rear. You must look back for them just the same as when you ride alone. Look left, right, and left again for traffic at stop signs — don’t follow the rider ahead of you into an intersection.

The only exception is in a tightly organized, small group that moves completely as a unit. The first and last riders are understood to be on the lookout for the entire group. Don’t count on this service unless it’s understood in advance.

When crossing lanes, a line of bicyclists should “snake” across, each rider in turn. This way, you leave a safe passage for cars. A ragged line of bicyclists blocks the entire lane.

“Snaking” across a lane, the cyclists can allow the car passing to make its right turn, while they turn left. Each cyclist looks back before crossing the lane.

Make a neat, straight line when waiting at intersections. Groups of bicyclists who pile up at intersections block the road. This practice is unnecessary, discourteous and dangerous.

When you stop to rest, read your map or wait for companions, pull completely off the road. It’s surprising how many bicyclists fail to observe this simple caution.

DRAFTING AND PACELINE RIDING

When you ride close behind another bicyclist, you don’t have to work as hard. The bicyclist in front of you serves as a windbreak, reducing your air resistance. Experienced bicyclists take advantage of this effect, drafting each other in a paceline.

In a paceline, each bicyclist works hard for a little while at the front, and then drops back to the rear along the left side of the line of riders. Large groups may ride in two lines side by side — a double paceline, with the leaders dropping back along the outside, right and left.

In crosswinds, the lines are angled, each rider sheltering from the wind behind and beside his companions.

A well-coordinated paceline is poetry in motion, but drafting is always a little risky.

To take advantage of the windbreak effect, you must follow the rider ahead of you closely; but be wary of letting your front wheel overlap that rider’s rear wheel. If the wheels touch, you suddenly can’t balance and you’ll almost certainly take a quick, hard fall unless you have learned to lean into that rider. Other riders behind you will land on top of you. Ride in a paceline only if you’re confident and have developed full control over your bike.

Everyone in a paceline must ride smoothly, with no quick braking or swerving. Look past the rider in front of you: don’t stare at his or her rear wheel. Try to anticipate the moves the lead rider will make.

The lead rider should announce road hazards: “Glass,” “Dog right,” “Car up,” and maneuvers: “Slowing,” “Left turn.” The last rider should announce “Car back” when a car is about to pass the group.

Hand signals aren’t a good idea in a tight paceline group — it’s more important to keep both hands on the handlebars. When you pull in behind another rider to draft, call out “On your wheel” so he will know you’re there.

Four types of pacelines. The two at left are relatively easy, but the two at the right require a well-coordinated group of expert riders.

There’s a major exception to these rules of cooperation: In a mass-start road race, riders may swerve deliberately to make it hard for others.

Meanwhile, other riders lurk behind, drafting each other until the final minutes when they sprint all-out for the finish line. The tactics of a race — drafting and solo sprints, cooperation and competition — make it exciting for the racers and spectators. But leave that kind of excitement for the skilled racers.

When riding in an EBTC group, focus on safety, cooperation, and fun. Enjoy your ride!

Read Other Chapters

1. Chapter 1: A Guide to Riding in Traffic
2. Chapter 2: Where to Ride on the Road
3. Chapter 3: Riding Through Intersections
4. Chapter 4: Getting Across Non-Standard Intersections
5. Chapter 5: Steering Out of Trouble
6. Chapter 6: Using Your Brakes
7. Chapter 7: Riding in Groups
8. Chapter 8: Riding in Rain or Darkness

Picture yourself on a city path. Suddenly, you notice that you’re about to ride down a flight of stairs. Or you’re riding on a country road and there’s a bridge out just a few feet in front of you. In cases like these, your bike’s brakes could save your life. But even if you don’t have such a dramatic experience, you’ll feel more confident and go faster if you’re ready to stop quickly and smoothly.

It takes practice to get peak performance out of your brakes. You can’t just jam them on and skid to a stop as in a car. You’d fall off!

Your brakes must be in good condition to give you the most control. Good bicycle brakes work powerfully and smoothly. If your brakes are weak or grabby, it’s time for an overhaul. But in addition to good brakes you need to understand weight transfer and how it affects your stopping.

HOW WEIGHT TRANSFER WORKS

When you’re stopping — in a car, on a bike or on foot — your weight shifts to the front. You see examples of such momentum every day. When you’re running and stop suddenly, you have to put a foot out in front of yourself to keep from toppling forward. In the same way, when you stop a car, its front springs squeeze down as more weight goes to the front wheels.

Your bike doesn’t have springs, but the weight nonetheless goes to the front wheel. Try a little experiment: Walk along next to your bike. Squeeze the front brake lever. The bike will stop quickly, but the rear wheel will rise off the ground.

Then squeeze the rear brake lever. Braking will be weak, and the rear tire will skid.

The same things happen when you’re riding. If you rely too heavily on the rear brake, the rear wheel will skid and wear out your back tire quickly. On the other hand, you can go right over the handlebars if you use the front brake too hard.

How, then, do you get a powerful stop without risk? There’s a trick to learn. Use the rear brake as a signal to tell you how hard to apply the front brake.

THE REAR BRAKE’S SIGNAL

Practice on your bike in an empty parking lot. Squeeze the front lever three times as hard as the rear, while increasing force on both brake levers at the same time. With your light force on the rear brake lever, you’re braking the rear wheel only lightly.

For a powerful stop, squeeze the brake levers harder and harder — the front always three times as hard as the rear. The rear wheel will eventually skid. But by this time, most of the weight will be off the rear wheel, so it will skid only lightly. You won’t wear a big bald spot in the rear tire — though you will feel and hear the skid.

The rear wheel’s skidding is your signal to release the front brake a little. Once the rear wheel stops skidding, squeeze the front brake harder. Keep adjusting the force on the front brake lever to keep the rear wheel just below the point of skidding.

This is your braking technique for straight-ahead stops on clean, dry pavement. Under these conditions, the front wheel will never skid, and you can keep the bike under control.

You can train yourself to release the brakes whenever the bike begins to go out of control. Practice using your front brake so hard that the rear wheel actually lifts off the ground. It’s less scary to do this on soft grass. At a very low speed, 2 or 3 miles per hour, grab the front brake lever so hard that the rear wheel lifts off. Then release the brake lever instantly. Wear your helmet!

BRAKING UNDER POOR CONDITIONS

Braking technique is different when the road surface is slippery, or if you’re turning. Under these conditions, the front wheel can skid. You must brake lightly and use the front brake less.

Avoid turning and braking on a slippery surface. If your front wheel skids out, you’ll fall.
On pavement that is good except for a few places, look ahead for the slippery spots and bumps. Release the brakes as you go over the bad spots, then increase force again once you’re back on good pavement.

On dirt, gravel or any surface that looks as though it might be slippery, test the surface by applying the rear brake lightly. If the rear wheel skids easily, avoid using the front brake. Keep your speed down so that, even with your reduced braking power, you can still stop.

In wet weather, the streets will be more slippery and so will your rims. This is especially important when it first begins raining – raindrops mix with the old oil and dust on the road, making a thin greasy mud on the pavement. After it rains a while, this slippery “grease”is washed away, making the road much safer.

Dry the rims by applying the brakes lightly ahead of time. They will squeeze the water off your rims. It can take 100 feet or more before the brakes begin to work normally.

When turning, you may have a choice to swerve out of danger or stop — but don’t try to do both at once. Practice braking on turns and slippery surfaces to get a feel for these conditions.

Your training will pay off as you become more confident on the bike, in all types of riding situations. You never know when you might have to stop — and the better you can stop, the more confidently you go.

Read Other Chapters

1. Chapter 1: A Guide to Riding in Traffic
2. Chapter 2: Where to Ride on the Road
3. Chapter 3: Riding Through Intersections
4. Chapter 4: Getting Across Non-Standard Intersections
5. Chapter 5: Steering Out of Trouble
6. Chapter 6: Using Your Brakes
7. Chapter 7: Riding in Groups
8. Chapter 8: Riding in Rain or Darkness

A bicycle is a highly maneuverable machine, but that maneuverability makes it quite tippable. You have to take extra care to stay upright and read the road for the special hazards that can cause a bike to fall. Beware of any slippery or loose surface: gravel, snow, ice, leaves, oil patches, wet manhole covers and crosswalk markings. Avoid these, or ride over them slowly. Don’t turn, brake or accelerate. Be ready to put a foot down for balance.

Beware of any slippery or loose surface: gravel, snow, ice, leaves, oil patches, wet manhole covers and crosswalk markings. Avoid these, or ride over them slowly. Don’t turn, brake or accelerate, just glide ahead straight and smooth and you’ll be fine. Be ready to put a foot down for balance.

Be especially careful of diagonal railroad crossings, trolley tracks, a row of raised lane-line dots or a step between the shoulder and the travel lane. Any of them can push your front wheel to the side and sweep your bike out from under you. When you can’t avoid them, cross them as nearly as possible at right angles.

Check behind yourself for traffic, then cross a diagonal railroad crossing at a right angle.

Beware of steel-grid bridge decks, which, especially when wet, will steer your bike parallel to the gridding, making balancing difficult. Test a grid deck at a low speed, and walk or use the bridge sidewalk if necessary.

Any bump, rock or pothole more than an inch high can squash your bicycle’s tires flat against the rims, damaging the wheels. Avoid the bumps if you can, and walk your bike if the going gets too rough.

GOOD NEWS

Avoid a rock by turning the handlebars to one side; then correct your balance by turning them the other way.

Now for the good news: Thanks to your bicycle’s small size and quick steering, you can prepare yourself for situations like this one.

It’s a pleasant, two-lane country road, just wide enough for cars to pass you in your lane.

You look up at the scenery and then down at the road. There’s a rock directly in front of you. And there’s a car just behind you.

You can’t swerve left into the traffic and you don’t want to swerve to the right, into the gravel and dirt. What to do?

Make your wheels weave around the rock while riding in a straight line — the rock-dodge maneuver. Just as you reach the rock, steer quickly left, then right to correct your balance, then straight again.

Because you correct the balance quickly, your body doesn’t have time to follow the bike’s weave. You continue nearly in a straight line.

To give yourself better odds against rocks and potholes, go to an empty parking lot and practice the “rock dodge” until it becomes easy.

QUICK TURNS

In order to turn sharply to the right, twitch your handlebars to the left first, to start your lean to the right.

Picture yourself in another pinch: You’re riding along a street, approaching an intersection, and a car on your left suddenly begins a right turn. The side of the car is headed straight for you! You have to turn quickly alongside the car to get out of trouble.

To begin a turn quickly, you have to lean your bike over quickly. But how do you maneuver?

Your bicycle balances the same way you balance a yardstick on the palm of your hand. If you want to move the yardstick to the right, you move your hand to the left. Then, the yardstick leans to the right, and you follow it with your hand.

Just the same way, if you steer your bicycle out from under you to the left for a moment, then you lean right and can turn to the right.

You must first steer momentarily toward the car you’re trying to avoid.

This is called “counter-steering.” Try this technique in your parking-lot practice area.

At slow speeds at first, twitch the handlebars quickly to the left. Your bicycle will lean to the right, and then you can steer right.

Practice first at slow speeds, then at faster ones. The faster you go, the less sharply you have to steer.

The instant turn is useful in many situations.

If a car coming toward you begins a left turn, turn right into the side street with it.

If a car pulls out of a side street from the right, swerve into the side street.

It’s best to turn to the right, behind the car — but if it’s too late for that, turn left with the car.

Even if you hit the car, the nearer you’re going in the same direction, the lighter the impact.

If you’re going around a curve too fast, straighten the handlebars momentarily to drop into a deeper lean, and a tighter curve.

TOO FAST!

Sooner or later, you may find yourself going around a downhill curve too fast. A variation on the instant turn can get you through this situation in one piece.

The usual, panic reaction is to steer straight and brake. Don’t brake – then you’re likely to go headfirst off the road before you can stop.

Instead, steer with the curve:

Straighten the handlebars momentarily, as in the instant turn, to drop your bike into a deeper lean.

You’ll make it around the curve – your tires have much more traction than you normally use. Tour de France racers use tires even thinner than yours, and even that skinny rubber will grip on mountain curves at 90+ km/h! Your tires will hold, no question.

If you do skid out, you’ll fall on your side and slide to a stop.

If you’re about to ride into a wall or over a cliff, you may decide to deliberately skid out.

Lean into a turn, then hit the brakes. The fall may hurt — but not as much as the alternative.

JUMP?

There is a pothole straight ahead, and no time for even a rock dodge. You were so busy looking up at the traffic that you didn’t see the pothole ahead, and now you’re about to trash your wheels. If only you could fly . . .

Unfortunately, you can’t fly your bike like the kid in E.T., but you can jump your bike. Holding the pedals horizontal, squat down and pull up on the handlebars. Then jump up and yank your legs up under you. You’ll be past the pothole faster than reading “squat-pull-jump-yank.”

Jumping is the quickest last-resort way to avoid a pothole or other road-surface hazard. Once you get good at it, you can even use it to climb low curbs or to cross diagonal railroad tracks.

In your empty parking lot, practice jumping your bike. You must lift the front wheel, then the rear wheel as it takes its turn with the bump. Your timing depends on how fast you’re riding.

Once you know your emergency maneuvers, you’ll gain a much expanded sense of security, confidence and style. You’ll be able to “ride loose,” to use the language of California all-terrain riders. It’s a sign of an experienced rider, and it saves you and your bike a lot of wear and tear.

Read Other Chapters

1. Chapter 1: A Guide to Riding in Traffic
2. Chapter 2: Where to Ride on the Road
3. Chapter 3: Riding Through Intersections
4. Chapter 4: Getting Across Non-Standard Intersections
5. Chapter 5: Steering Out of Trouble
6. Chapter 6: Using Your Brakes
7. Chapter 7: Riding in Groups
8. Chapter 8: Riding in Rain or Darkness