| POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Sharing the Road
 No roads
or bike paths will be closed to other forms of traffic for our exclusive
use; we will be sharing the entire route with vehicular traffic
and/or other cyclists. Please take care of yourself on the road and cycle
defensively. Use caution at all times while riding!
Helmets
Helmets must be worn at all times
while riding, both on the road and in town.
Traffic Laws
You must obey all traffic
laws at all times.
Approaching
Vehicles
The best riding maneuver we ever learned when approaching a vehicle is
to always aim your bike for just behind the back bumper of the car. That
way
you will
always
avoid
getting hit by the front.
Also do not stop in middle of the road, and never
cross the center line or try to beat traffic. Never ride more than two
abreast, and always ride single file when not doing so would impede traffic. Turning
If you are turning left or right, indicate you are doing so by fully extending
out your left or right arm and pointing the direction you are turning and
yelling "LEFT" or "RIGHT" very
loud so other people can hear you, especially cyclists behind you. These
are the safest, most intuitively obvious signals on the road you can possibly
make.
IF YOU ARE TURNING RIGHT DO NOT PUT YOUR LEFT ARM UP AT AN ANGLE LIKE
MOST CYCLING BOOKS TELL YOU TO DO. MOST OTHER PEOPLE WILL NOT HAVE ANY
IDEA WHAT DIRECTION YOU ARE TURNING AND IT IS NOT NEARLY AS OBVIOUS AS SIMPLY
STICKING OUT YOUR RIGHT HAND AND POINTING YOUR FINGER TO THE RIGHT.
Slowing and Stopping
IF YOU ARE SLOWING OR STOPPING ABSOLUTELY
NEVER REMOVE EITHER HAND FROM THE BRAKES AND POINT DOWN TO INDICATE
YOU ARE
SLOWING OR
STOPPING. This is one of the stupidest and most
dangerous actions you can
possibly do on a bicycle because you are taking your hand off the brakes
at the moment you need to use the brakes the most. Doing this significantly
decreases the likelihood you will be able to stop in time before going into
oncoming traffic or cross traffic and significantly increases the chance
that you can get hit or killed by an oncoming vehicle.
If you are slowing
or stopping the best thing to do is check to see if there are any cars
behind you, then just yell "SLOWING" or "STOPPING" very
loud so other people can hear you, especially cyclists behind you. |
