Is it overplayed, underplayed, justified? Interesting video…
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The 18 year study with census data (?) was interesting. For cycling commuters, about half the all-cause deaths.
Personally I train several times a week on the road (during the warmer season), and stick to lower traffic roads. There are some roads where I may have the right to ride, but they just don’t “feel” right. I pay attention to where the sun may be reducing driver vision in the evenings and run lights front and rear. I avoid rush hour.
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Yeah, so far all of the incidents I’ve had involved vehicles and the assholes behind the wheel. Avoiding overly traveled roads/streets is VITAL, but not 100%. People are probably more likely to use their phones while driving on smaller less busy streets than other areas. At least that would make more sense in a senseless situation.
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Ive had 2 accidents in circa 175,000miles. The last one circa 12 years saw my bars clipped by a driver blinded by the sun and carrying on at the same speed sending me into a fortunately soft verge but I took that as a warning and try to avoid going into a setting sun. The other was in London when a driver decided to turn right through traffic not expecting anyone (me) to be there. Thankfully I was expecting such a muppet and was near stationary. The only real damage was my front wheel ripped out of the forks and folded in two by the force. The actual bike I rode home (circa 100 miles) the next day with a borrowed wheel and it did over 40,000miles before it was retired. On the other hand I was ‘gifted’ bowel cancer at a relatively young age (late30s/early 40s maybe) and if I hadn’t been fairly cycling fit I’m pretty certain that would have got me.
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After watching the movie Premium Rush, which I feel is the best biking movie ever. It’s great, has great footage, and great directing. But anyway, the main character has this thing he does where he ‘looks ahead’ to see the possibilities of an encounter with a vehicle or pedestrian. Kind of like the looking ahead I had with my dirt bike, I was always trying to anticipate the next whoop or ditch, but some stuff you can’t do that with, but yeah, I’d hate to die on a ride, but we gotta go sometime. I have a varia and pretty much have a mount on all my bikes. I even use it on rail trails as someone took a wrong turn and took a trip up a rail trail near here. Didn’t hurt anyone, but ‘be prepared’.
But there are things we can do to lessen the possibility of being a victim… Ride on!
Oh, had prostate cancer come up from behind and thought that was a little ironic. Here I’m so careful riding and driving, and THAT happens. Horrific surgery, but had a fantastic surgeon and team. At least I have a better excuse for ED than ‘My bike did it to me’.
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