One piece of advice...

Anonymous

Roux_guy wrote:

I would but he's a colleague and we're not really pals, ha, ha.

Is that what he said after you refused to fix his bike for him?

roux_guy

Nah, he's a bit of a git-wizard to be honest :-D .

gingaman

Couple of your names being bandied about in this article... http://www.bikeradar.com/beginners/gear ... ing-43499/

BR_Gregor

Great thread, great tips, guys. As promised on p2 of this thread, I've collected the best advice and put it on the main site: http://www.bikeradar.com/beginners/gear ... ing-43499/

Cheers,
Gregor (Communities and On Your Bike Editor)

Taterus

You guys are good at copying and pasteing.
Just be aware of your surroundings.

Kieran_Burns

I will be around to sign autographs later

garrynolan

1/ NEVER wear headphones!

2/Always carry ID and put an emergency number in your phone as 'ICE Mum/Dad etc'. ICE is In Case of Emergency. If you have an off the boys in blue etc can let someone know on your behalf.

3/ Always have working lights - even in daylight they can be used. i.e. if you're cycling under trees in dappled light it's almost impossible to see cyclists/pedestrians. I'm also a car driver and have seen cyclists 'disappear' in the shadows. Rear light especially in these conditions.

4/ Enjoy!!!

crikey

It's only riding a bike.

Stop with all the OMG, what if the sky falls in, I must wear the latest polystyrene hat and have avalanche beacon find me when I stop at the traffic lights stuff. People have been riding bikes for many, many years. They rode heavier bikes for much longer than you do, travelling further and seeing more without Garmins, without Sat-navs, with cheese and onion sandwiches and water. They did it on bikes that weighed twice as much as yours, with fewer gears and wore shirts and trousers and got wet when it rained.

It's really, honestly only riding a bike.

ai_1

crikey wrote:

It's only riding a bike.

Stop with all the OMG, what if the sky falls in, I must wear the latest polystyrene hat and have avalanche beacon find me when I stop at the traffic lights stuff. People have been riding bikes for many, many years. They rode heavier bikes for much longer than you do, travelling further and seeing more without Garmins, without Sat-navs, with cheese and onion sandwiches and water. They did it on bikes that weighed twice as much as yours, with fewer gears and wore shirts and trousers and got wet when it rained.

It's really, honestly only riding a bike.

I like it. Excellent post!

fatsmoker

crikey wrote:

It's only riding a bike.

Stop with all the OMG, what if the sky falls in, I must wear the latest polystyrene hat and have avalanche beacon find me when I stop at the traffic lights stuff. People have been riding bikes for many, many years. They rode heavier bikes for much longer than you do, travelling further and seeing more without Garmins, without Sat-navs, with cheese and onion sandwiches and water. They did it on bikes that weighed twice as much as yours, with fewer gears and wore shirts and trousers and got wet when it rained.

It's really, honestly only riding a bike.

But were they happier?

keef66

My teenage years were exactly like that. I wore no cycle specific clothing; the only concession being to tuck my right trouser leg into my sock. I had a saddlebag containing a collection of proper tools wrapped up in a large cloth, and a very heavy waterproof cape rolled up on top. Nutrition was a bale of jam sandwiches, and hydration was tapwater. Navigation was by OS map. The mobile phone was yet to be invented. (so my riding buddy was throwing stones at my bedroom window at 6am when I overslept)

The biggest difference was that I had a lot more leisure time and it was all mine to do with as I pleased.

Happier, simpler times!

fatsmoker

I remember at about 11 or 12 going for 20-odd mile rides with friends most of us with Sturmy Archer 3 speed racers, except my bro on 5 speed and one lad on a Chopper. Much less traffic, mum didn't worry. Not sure I'd let my kids do that nowadays. If I did, I'd probably have social services round.

dodgy

fatsmoker wrote:

I remember at about 11 or 12 going for 20-odd mile rides with friends most of us with Sturmy Archer 3 speed racers, except my bro on 5 speed and one lad on a Chopper. Much less traffic, mum didn't worry. Not sure I'd let my kids do that nowadays. If I did, I'd probably have social services round.

This is part of the problem, it's the perception of danger.

Roads have never been safer in terms of KSIs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reported_R ... at_Britain

Yes ^^^ lazy wiki link, I guess you can find another source that essentially says the same.

ai_1

Yep, the world hasn't become a more dangerous place. People have simply learned to be more afraid of it.
Complete risk aversion is an epidemic. While I wear a helmet and think anyone not using decent lights is an idiot, I don't think it's healthy to lock up your kids and watch them every second. Bad things might happen if you let encourage your kids to enjoy some freedom, but the chances are pretty small. On the flip side, lots of good things almost certainly will happen. However, bad things will happen if you try and keep them safely playing indoors and teach them to fear the world. And life's probably going to be a lot less memorable too.
But then I'm not a parent which I'm told disqualifies me from having an opinion.

dodgy

Yeah. Take 300 people, 100 of them cycle with a helmet, 100 cycle without a helmet and the remaining 100 don't cycle (or indeed exercise) at all. Who's taking the most risk?

Uh oh, bordering on a helmet debate, sorry folks

Anonymous

Ai_1 wrote:

Yep, the world hasn't become a more dangerous place. People have simply learned to be more afraid of it.
Complete risk aversion is an epidemic. While I wear a helmet and think anyone not using decent lights is an idiot, I don't think it's healthy to lock up your kids and watch them every second. Bad things might happen if you let encourage your kids to enjoy some freedom, but the chances are pretty small. On the flip side, lots of good things almost certainly will happen. However, bad things will happen if you try and keep them safely playing indoors and teach them to fear the world. And life's probably going to be a lot less memorable too.
But then I'm not a parent which I'm told disqualifies me from having an opinion.

People don't learn by their own mistakes / experience anymore. They read a sensational story online or in the media and forget to make their own judgement call. A few decades ago before the world got so wired into everything and everyone you just got on with it and weren't bombarded with the bullshit stories of how everything can and will kill you or give you cancer.

ai_1

Maglia Rosa wrote:

Ai_1 wrote:

Yep, the world hasn't become a more dangerous place. People have simply learned to be more afraid of it.
Complete risk aversion is an epidemic. While I wear a helmet and think anyone not using decent lights is an idiot, I don't think it's healthy to lock up your kids and watch them every second. Bad things might happen if you let encourage your kids to enjoy some freedom, but the chances are pretty small. On the flip side, lots of good things almost certainly will happen. However, bad things will happen if you try and keep them safely playing indoors and teach them to fear the world. And life's probably going to be a lot less memorable too.
But then I'm not a parent which I'm told disqualifies me from having an opinion.

People don't learn by their own mistakes / experience anymore. They read a sensational story online or in the media and forget to make their own judgement call. A few decades ago before the world got so wired into everything and everyone you just got on with it and weren't bombarded with the bullshit stories of how everything can and will kill you or give you cancer.

Yep. The news, facebook and a miriad other media sources provide almost nothing but extreme occurences and hyperbole. Those who refuse to think for themselves start considering outliers as the norm. And when there's enough such people, which unfortunately there are, these erroneous world views become the societal norm. You let your kids walk to school unescorted? Neglect! You let your child climb a tree? What are you thinking? :x
There's cases of child abuse on the news and therefore it's justifiable to lock away your kids because anything else would essentially be inviting the evil-doers to ruin their lives......
I have a friend who got annoyed with me because when I was playing with her kids I had them running around the garden. She was calling to them to slow down and be careful.... you know because kids get such awful injuries from falling over, on grass, when they're 2 and 3 years old!

Anonymous

I used to walk 5 miles to school as a kid from age 12. I used to play football with my mates until after dark sometimes. My mother worked shifts so had to even make my own tea from time to time if she was running late. Never ware my parents worried I would be abducted or were the police called and them accused of neglect. That was the norm. Im 38 and all I see are kids getting fatter, more molly coddled and even the world is becoming a greyer place. Why cant people just live? They think they do, but they merely exist. They don't actually live cos they are either too scared of what they think might happen or worse what others think. Its a social taboo to even take pictures of children playing or at school etc cos everyone thinks you might be a pedo. I can look back at my childhood with fond memories cos i have those pics of me at school playing or with my friends on the beach or playing sports. Todays kids wont be able to cos noone dare take a bloody pic of them anymore without fear of other parents being over protective

dombo6

Never ride up the inside of lorries or buses.
Overtaking slow-moving traffic on the outside is always safer as oncoming vehicles can see you and you are very unlikely to be doored.

fatsmoker

Some interesting points above, which are hard to disagree with. But how could you ever forgive yourself though if something did happen? Roads are a lot busier now and as the many threads suggest, driving standards haven't got better.

Returning to one piece of advice. Don't wear all black kit on an all black bike when the sun is out in winter time. When you move from sunlight into the shade you become almost invisible, as I saw this morning following some way behind a ninja who I thought was so ninja he had disappeared until he popped into the sun again.

dodgy

fatsmoker wrote:

Some interesting points above, which are hard to disagree with. But how could you ever forgive yourself though if something did happen? Roads are a lot busier now and as the many threads suggest, driving standards haven't got better.

This is precisely the point. Our parents weren't exposed with 24 hours of rolling news stories to scare them. Roads are busier, but KSIs are down, maybe that's because parents have scared their kids into their bedrooms.

Reminds me of the school run, one parent buys a large 4X4 to keep her kids 'safe', forgetting that now other small children are now more at risk outside the school. Then other parents buy them, and, well you know...

ai_1

fatsmoker wrote:

Some interesting points above, which are hard to disagree with. But how could you ever forgive yourself though if something did happen? Roads are a lot busier now and as the many threads suggest, driving standards haven't got better.

It's a sad state of affairs if we're willing to sacrifice everything for fear of feeling guilt. On this basis the more we know the less we should do....No. I choose not to play that game.
There is perhaps some justification for saying roads are busier and therefore risk has increased but in many other areas I think risk has remained as it was or decreased. Has climbing trees or running around in a garden gotten more dangerous? No. Are there a higher proportion of dangerous people around (thugs, paedaphiles, etc)? Doubtful. But we hear lots more about them. Has normal environmental bacteria (with the exception of MRSA etc) become more dangerous? Has dust become more toxic? NO, yet suddenly EVERYTHING seems to require disinfection and all dust must be eliminated.
Result of all of these? Less ability to evaluate physical risk. Restriction of activities out of proportion with actual risk. Increased unproductive stress. Reduced immune system. Increased allergies problems.

dodgy wrote:

fatsmoker wrote:

Some interesting points above, which are hard to disagree with. But how could you ever forgive yourself though if something did happen? Roads are a lot busier now and as the many threads suggest, driving standards haven't got better.

This is precisely the point. Our parents weren't exposed with 24 hours of rolling news stories to scare them. Roads are busier, but KSIs are down, maybe that's because parents have scared their kids into their bedrooms.

Reminds me of the school run, one parent buys a large 4X4 to keep her kids 'safe', forgetting that now other small children are now more at risk outside the school. Then other parents buy them, and, well you know...

Completely agree with you regarding the cars arms race. I've been saying that to people for years. A bigger car is generally only safer at the expense of the other car. I'd argue that if we all drive bigger cars it's an overall dis-improvement.

It's possible that some accidents have been prevented by kids being kept "safely" inside. Even if it's true I don't think it's worth the cost.

Anonymous

Ai_1 wrote:

fatsmoker wrote:

Some interesting points above, which are hard to disagree with. But how could you ever forgive yourself though if something did happen? Roads are a lot busier now and as the many threads suggest, driving standards haven't got better.

It's a sad state of affairs if we're willing to sacrifice everything for fear of feeling guilt. On this basis the more we know the less we should do....No. I choose not to play that game.
There is perhaps some justification for saying roads are busier and therefore risk has increased but in many other areas I think risk has remained as it was or decreased. Has climbing trees or running around in a garden gotten more dangerous? No. Are there a higher proportion of dangerous people around (thugs, paedaphiles, etc)? Doubtful. But we hear lots more about them. Has normal environmental bacteria (with the exception of MRSA etc) become more dangerous? Has dust become more toxic? NO, yet suddenly EVERYTHING seems to require disinfection and all dust must be eliminated.
Result of all of these? Less ability to evaluate physical risk. Restriction of activities out of proportion with actual risk. Increased unproductive stress. Reduced immune system. Increased allergies problems.

dodgy wrote:

fatsmoker wrote:

Some interesting points above, which are hard to disagree with. But how could you ever forgive yourself though if something did happen? Roads are a lot busier now and as the many threads suggest, driving standards haven't got better.

This is precisely the point. Our parents weren't exposed with 24 hours of rolling news stories to scare them. Roads are busier, but KSIs are down, maybe that's because parents have scared their kids into their bedrooms.

Reminds me of the school run, one parent buys a large 4X4 to keep her kids 'safe', forgetting that now other small children are now more at risk outside the school. Then other parents buy them, and, well you know...

Completely agree with you regarding the cars arms race. I've been saying that to people for years. A bigger car is generally only safer at the expense of the other car. I'd argue that if we all drive bigger cars it's an overall dis-improvement.

It's possible that some accidents have been prevented by kids being kept "safely" inside. Even if it's true I don't think it's worth the cost.

I remember watching a program on tv where an exec from a big car firm in the US was saying how much safer large SUVs are to other road users because they are sat higher up and have a better view etc etc. To which a road safety campaigner asked them to explain why the majority of all road deaths involving cyclists/vulnerable road users were with SUVs or large road vehicles like vans and trucks. He didn't really have an answer to that.

Problem with bigger cars is the driver feels safer so therefore forget about the safety of others. Kind of i'm alright Jack, screw the rest of you. No point being better positioned to see the road and others if you are too ignorant to even look.