As a cyclist, you will eventually find yourself riding downtown in traffic. I try to avoid these areas, but when you’re putting in some serious miles, or if you live in the city and have to ride out to the country roads, it’s hard to avoid them all the time.

Here are some tips to stay safe when you encounter these areas:

1. Pretend drivers don’t see you.

Pretend drivers don’t see you, because they probably don’t! You really should expect people to hit you or force you off the road, simply because they are oblivious to your presence. They might have their mind on something, not expect to see any cyclists on a certain road, or of course they could be on their cell phones.

To increase your safety, try to maintain a “cushion” around you. Typically this would involve time and space factors, allowing you to escape danger if necessary (like if a disrespectful motorist encroaches on your personal space.)

A similar tip: some people say to look drivers in the eye to make your presence known… well, if they’re not looking at you in the first place, what good does that do? (If they are looking at you, then hopefully they’re not planning on running you over!)

2. Watch parked cars.

Be careful around parked cars, too, because they can still be hazardous!

Don’t ride too close or you might get doored. (That’s when a car door opens right in front of you and you hit it.) If you have to ride somewhat close, watch for people’s heads. If someone is in the car, there’s a good chance of getting doored.

And certainly watch for lights on and wheels turned towards the road – the car might pull out in front of you.

3. Be visible.

The more visible you are, the easier it is for drivers to see you.

Reflective tape, reflective clothing. Don’t wear a black outfit at night.

4. Don’t run red lights.

It seems obvious (since it is illegal,) but running a red light usually puts you right in front of fast moving cars. That’s not smart.

And drivers hate it. It happens all the time in big cities where traffic sucks, so it’s somewhat expected there, but still…

5. Expect the worst, crazy stuff.

Pedestrians and drivers do some crazy stuff. Just when you think a person will walk normally, they’ll start dancing around and knock you down.

Drivers will pass too close or not pass at all, or wave you through an intersection that you can cross perfectly well, legally, according to the traffic signal.

In the future, follow these tips and you’ll ride safely through traffic and can enjoy the rest of your ride!

Ever been out on a road ride, on nice back roads, only to find yourself at a red light trying to cross a busy highway? Or maybe you ride or commute early in the morning and you’re stuck at red lights by yourself?

Chances are, you either waited patiently for a car to come up behind you to trip the sensor, or you just ran the red light when things looked clear. The former method wastes time; the latter puts you in danger of getting hit by a careless driver or getting a ticket from the cops.

One time I was first in line at a light, in front of a few cars, and none of us triggered the green. I’m betting it’s because the first car didn’t get close enough to me (so there wasn’t much mas over the sensor,) but when the light passed us by, the drivers were pissed because there was a cyclist in the way, apparently screwing things up. So I had to run the red light and hightail it out of there before I got run over from behind!

Luckily there are a couple techniques you can use to get a green light while riding your bike, and avoid angering the motorists behind you.

But first, we need to look at how these lights work. In most cases, the traffic lights are triggered by inductive loops which are placed beneath the road’s surface. You’ll notice these as you come up to the light – there are usually two parallel strips cut into the road (with wire down there, covered in a sealant that looks like caulking,) spaced to fit underneath a car’s tires.

Here is a picture of one of these buried loops:

So when a big, heavy car pulls up to the light, it sits on these strips and triggers the sensor.

Bikes aren’t as big or wide, so even when the sensor is properly calibrated, cyclists need to be a little more creative…

Technique 1: Ride the Strip

To make the most of our small mass, we need to ride directly over the strip for as long as possible. (You want as much of your bicycle’s mass over the strips as possible.)

Typically there are two strips like this:

What I do is slow down and coast directly on top of one strip, then trackstand for a while until the light changes to green. I usually drop one pedal to the 6 o’clock position, placing more metal closer to the ground.

(Sometimes there are three strips, in which case you can ride down the center one.)

I have done this successfully, and it’s my first recommendation.

Technique 2: Run the Red Light

It’s possible that the loop is not working, so if you can’t get the green light, you might have to just run the red light.

Obviously you want to wait for a break in traffic before proceeding!

Check the local laws to be sure, but it can be legal to run the red light if it does not seem to work properly.

In my experience, this commonly occurs in left turn lanes with green arrows. I’ve been in left turn lanes facing oncoming traffic, and they get their green turn arrow, but I still get a red light, even though I should be getting a green arrow, too.

If that’s the case, the good news is that most (if not all) other lanes of traffic will have a red light.

Technique 3: Buy the Green

I don’t recommend this unless absolutely necessary, and I don’t even know that it will help you at all (I haven’t tested it,) but I have heard that there is an easy way to trip the inductive loop, even if you’re on a bicycle…

By placing a special magnet on the bottom of your bike! There is a ready-made kit for this, as well as plenty of the special “neodymium magnets” on sale at various stores.

Supposedly these powerful rare earth magnets could create enough electromagnetic force to trip the sensor.

Technique 4: Piggyback the Cars

This technique only helps at busy intersections, but when used smoothly, it can make life easier on you.

The goal is simple – don’t be the first vehicle at the stop line.

When coming up to a light, you make your way into a line of traffic. If you have to speed up to get there, or slow down to wait for cars behind you, do it. Then you just roll up to the light behind a couple cars that will surely trigger the sensor.

Unfortunately, getting a green light on your own is never easy. And if the light is controlled by a camera, that’s totally different, and even more difficult to trigger!

(Tip: Make yourself appear as large as possible, kind of like the traffic camera is a black bear that you need to scare away!)

And if none of those tips help you, I guess it’s time for technique 5 – find a new route!

Ever thought about how cool it would be to have a folding commuter bike that just happens to glow in the dark? If so, Puma has the bike for you!

The bike is called The Glow Rider and it’s part of Puma’s Urban Mobility line. The glow-in-the-dark paint absorbs light during the day so that it glows during your evening commute, hopefully making you more visible to drivers. Color options include green, orange, and yellow.

The bike also folds for easy storage, and the wire that stabilizes the frame doubles as a bike lock!

Official website: Puma Urban Mobility

[Via dvice]

______________________________________________________________
All “Product Previews” are simply products I have found that look really cool or interesting. The product has not yet been reviewed, so I’m not advising you to buy or not to buy the product.