If you turn your head to look behind you on a bike, you'll swerve out into the road.
Not true. You can, with your handlebars raised high, riding in a completely upright position (or almost completely upright position...) turn your head without your shoulders moving pulling your bars to the side, which i'm 99.99% sure is what causes this phenomenon. On my last 2 commuter bikes, that i should mention i log the most miles on, the handlebars have been either level with the saddle or just above the saddle and I have gotten very comfortable in staying straight on my line in the lane and turning my head to glance behind me to see why the car behind my isn't passing or if that scary sound is a semi truck trying to slow down and pass me while i'm hauling ass down a hill. So more often than not, I think it's a weird riding position that causes the pulling out into the lane thing when cyclers turn their heads. If you're riding a beach cruiser with your arms completely extended out to hold on to the ridiculously wide or ape hanger style handlebars, this position will also force your shoulders to roll and pull you off your straight line. Where I'm going with this is that a "normal" upright riding position with your arms comfortably holding your handlebars and not super extended straight out in front of you, will allow you to turn your head comfortably and look behind you to check out the gaggle of geese you just passed or the old lugged steel bicycle that just cruised by.
If you don't support the Idaho stop law, you're an idiot!
In Idaho, they have a law that allows bicycle riders to run red lights and stop signs. Here's how it works: You roll up to the stop sign and if it's clear, you don't stop, you treat it like a yield sign and keep on a truckin. If it isn't clear, you wait so you don't get run over or collide with another bicycle. Simple huh? At a red traffic signal, you have to stop, and if it's clear, you roll through. The red light is treated like a stop sign. I'll repeat this: YOU MUST STOP AT REDLIGHTS!!! But!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! then you can roll through when it's clear! Yep. Makes sense to me. The safety of this simple concept is still constantly debated among cycling groups including some heavy hitters on a national level. It's just dumb. They make points like "we don't want kids running redlights and getting hit!". Well what the heck do you think is happening all over the United States right now?!?!?!??!??!?!?!?!?!?! Kids are doing really stupid things on bikes and getting hit by cars! Everyday!!!! So why not let bicycles be a bigger part of the traffic system and let them be what they are, which is a vehicle that takes a lot more human energy to propel than a car. They are not cars! ARE NOT CARS!!! and shouldn't be treated just like cars. But if we're going to "Share the road" then we need to acknowledge the need for more bicycle positive ideas like this. And get these things signed into law in our localities. I'm not going to get started on the need for more than a 10 second investigation into bicycle involved traffic accidents and fatalities either, well at least not here (I'll spare the 2 people that will read this the hour of ranting!!!).
On a much more personal note, being sober has been an amazing experience. At day 83 this is possibly (more than likely) the longest I've been sober in more than 10 years. I am done drinking. Most people who know me have never seen the negative impact drinking has had on my life. They've only seen the happy drunk out in public hanging with friends. They haven't seen the guy that hates himself for not being able to control this aspect of his life. They guy who drank alone. Frequently. The guy who couldn't quit, the guy who cried when he admitted this aloud to his girlfriend after denying it to himself for years... Emotions are all real now. This has been the most profound transition in my life. I feel more alive than i have for years. I get sad. I get happy. I get angry. It's all real. I'm not living in a slightly disconnected state, distancing myself from the people i care about the most by always holding up a wall of emotional numbness. It's been an interesting experience, social anxiety is something that I haven't dealt with since my late teens or maybe early 20's, but it's real and I'm experiencing it occasionally now. Friendships are more solid, love is more true, time spent so much more valuable.
I'll quit with this little bit of thought: No one walking down a sidewalk yells to cyclers speeding down the road to "GET ON THE FUCKING SIDEWALK!"
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