Cycling Safety

Crashes. Accidents. Safety. These are themes that crop up usually when one of us is involved in such incidents or we witness one. Responses range from ‘cycling is too dangerous’ to ‘it won’t happen to me’. Neither of which illustrate the nuance or depth of cycling safety.

Some argue that we should not enter races, or if we do enter, then we should ride together. Others argue that since we are friends first and cyclists second, we should just arrange cycling tours. These are understandably concerned responses. Sadly, they don’t aptly solve the problem.

Reflection

Incidents

It is important to reflect and gain perspective. This is my start. All sports, nay all activities, including cycling, have risks, which one has to accept if it is something one aims to do. One has to also analyse one’s own crashes and those of friends. In the last year among my group of friends :

• One person crashed while sorting out his Garmin when on tour with friends.
• One person crashed in a race when his back wheel slipped out.
• I innocuously fell after completing a Sunday recovery ride hitting gravel at our meeting point.
• One person slid and fell cornering a wet roundabout returning home after a training ride
• One person crashed in a race after hitting an inexperienced rider’s back wheel.
• Two riders were narrowly missed by an apparently inexperienced rider with no brakes who subsequently ploughed into 4 other riders.

There was an equal number of accidents in rides with friends as there were in races. Most were individual ‘mistakes’ or ‘lapse in concentration’ with only 2 accidents outside personal control. 2 accidents resulted in ride limiting injuries with several weeks of recovery.

Analysis

While there are many experienced riders in my group there are also some who are not as experienced. Worryingly there are some who are blasé. It is not uncommon to see 3 riders abreast when only 2 should be together. Often some skip robots especially on busy intersections. Many that ignore riders in front of them forming a large cluster at a red robot frustrating already irate drivers and increasing rider risks. There are some who occasionally ride with no hands on their handle bar and others who sway sideways unable to hold their line. Unless safety  is not just spoken about but practiced, one is just as vulnerable, if not more so, in training and social rides with friends.

Way Forward

So what then are the solutions. Some ideas:

Cycling Safety

This is an important topic better articulated by cycling safety experts. See the following articles:

• Tips to Keep Safe on the Road by the Pedal Power Association
• Cycling Safety suggestions for South African conditions, via Arrive Alive

Technical skills.

One has to improve one’s technical skills which includes group riding, bike handling, efficient pedaling, cornering, bike maintenance, among others.

Fitness

A common underlying cause of many accidents is fatigue. Increasing one’s fitness is one way of mitigating this.

Traffic rules

Like cars, cyclists are beholden to the same rules. Below are some pointers which we can agree to and commit:

• Stop at all red traffic lights and stop signs
• Ride single file on single lanes and double on multi lane roads.
• At least one hand on the handle bar at all times
• Actively use hand signals to alert other road users when turning or changing lanes
• Counter intuitively, I feel if cyclists went out of their way to be more considerate and courteous to other road users, we may just start to slowly achieve some reciprocity.

Strategy

Ride and race according to your own comfort level. Drop a group back or move to a group more aligned with your current racing level. Within the peloton whether it is a race, club or social ride one has to be clear on one’s intention in navigating each. This must be natural and intuitive based on one’s experience, level and predetermined approach.

Concentration

Cycling requires a higher degree of continuous concentration unlike most sports. This requires sufficient prior rest, high degree of natural alertness, rapid response, fitness, preparation and mental tenacity. The better riders have this in abundance. Identify and learn from them but work on developing strong concentration skills for long duration.

https://rekordcenturion.co.za/69738/cycling-safety-tips/

Summary

Committed and consistent self-improvement together with attitudinal change towards other road users are the glue. These are my thoughts, I would love to hear yours.