Less Dorky Mirror

Which is less dorky: a mirror on the helmet or a mirror
on the handlebars?

I've resisted mirrors all my life, but I must ride a two lane
road with a 55 mile an hour speed limit with absolutely no
paved shoulder. I hug the white line right now, looking back
sometimes but with the chance of going into the road or into
the gravel.

Thanks,

Mike

Michael wrote:
Which is less dorky: a mirror on the helmet or a mirror
on the handlebars?

I use a helmet-mounter mirror.

Bill "more dorky, and effective (IMO)" S.

In article ,
"Michael" writes:
Which is less dorky: a mirror on the helmet or a mirror
on the handlebars?

I've resisted mirrors all my life, but I must ride a two lane
road with a 55 mile an hour speed limit with absolutely no
paved shoulder. I hug the white line right now, looking back
sometimes but with the chance of going into the road or into
the gravel.

Some handlebar mirrors effectively widen your handlebar,
and thereby makes your bike 'wider' in the eyes of drivers.
Especially the ones that velcro onto MTB handlebars.

I scare other riders with my handlebar width + mirror.
But most of them are too willing to ride in the door
zone, anyway.

It can help to look a little scary, and a handlebar mirror
can do that. Heck, you don't even have to use it. But as
(I think it was Clint Eastwood's 'Diry Harry') said: "A
man's got to know his limitations."

A lot of folks will jump on the part where you say you
hug the white line. Actually, if you're just over the
crest of hill, that might be the best place to be, because
in that situation, there's absolutely /nothing/ you can
do to enhance your visibility. Otherwise, it's best to
be where you can be seen and respected. Even if reluctantly
respected. At least you get to keep your skin on.

You say it's a 2-lane. I assume the lanes are narrow.
Those are the most uncomfortable roads to ride on, when
the traffic is thick. If there are plentious opportunities
for traffic behind you to pass you, I'd say take the lane.
If there isn't, and there's nowhere to ditch, I'd say find an
alternate route. If there's no alternate route, I don't know
what to say.


good luck,
Tom

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This sounds like a good case for riding on the wrong side of the road.
I know this will start a war but it is what I do when I 'must' ride on a
road with no bicycle lanes. When you are going against traffic at least
you can see the cars coming and pull off into the dirt on the side if need
be. I have been hit by a car while riding properly on the right with no
bicycle lane. Teenager in a low rider Datsun pickup. His mirror hit my
elbow wnough to hurt me and knock his mirror loose and the kid never
stopped. The road was wide enough for him to pull around and there was no
traffic coming. If I had been a 'Wrong Way Rider' I could have just gone
into the dirt. Being legal is a small consolation if you get killed.
BTW, this is only for country roads, which it sounds like if it is a 55
MPH road.
Now everyone else can tell me what bad advice this is.
FWIW I have to ride my MTB about 20 miles on the road to get to the good
off road stuff.
Bill Baka


On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 01:05:33 -0500, Michael
wrote:

Which is less dorky: a mirror on the helmet or a mirror
on the handlebars?

I've resisted mirrors all my life, but I must ride a two lane
road with a 55 mile an hour speed limit with absolutely no
paved shoulder. I hug the white line right now, looking back
sometimes but with the chance of going into the road or into
the gravel.

Thanks,

Mike





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In article ,
Bill writes:
This sounds like a good case for riding on the wrong side of the road.

If it's a high-speed, narrow-laned road w/ lots of curves
and/or hills and no opportunities for fast traffic behind
to overtake, it might be a good case for riding on neither
side of the road.

If you can do what the cars can't do, it might be worth it.
But if you can't do what the cars also can't do, it's
definitely not worth it. And cars generally can't get away
with wrong-way driving.


regards,
Tom

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"Bill" wrote in message
news
This sounds like a good case for riding on the wrong side of the road.
I know this will start a war but it is what I do when I 'must' ride on a
road with no bicycle lanes. When you are going against traffic at least
you can see the cars coming and pull off into the dirt on the side if need
be. I have been hit by a car while riding properly on the right with no
bicycle lane. Teenager in a low rider Datsun pickup. His mirror hit my
elbow wnough to hurt me and knock his mirror loose and the kid never
stopped. The road was wide enough for him to pull around and there was no
traffic coming. If I had been a 'Wrong Way Rider' I could have just gone
into the dirt. Being legal is a small consolation if you get killed.
BTW, this is only for country roads, which it sounds like if it is a 55
MPH road.
Now everyone else can tell me what bad advice this is.
FWIW I have to ride my MTB about 20 miles on the road to get to the good
off road stuff.
Bill Baka

You wrote:
"When you are going against traffic at least you can see the cars coming
and pull off into the dirt on the side if need be"

But I wonder how you know WHEN to dive for the dirt. It's not as if every
car will force you off the road, but from a distance, it will probably look
like there won't be enough room for any of them. As cars approach, they
probably move over to make more room, but how can you tell for sure that
they will? If they do, then it wouldn't have mattered what side of the road
you're on and if they don't, it will be too late for you to do anything
about it anyway.

One more thing, there's a potential for meeting cyclists head-on. Do you
pull off the road for them? If not, there's less room than ever.

All in all, as you suspected, you have offered bad advice. If the road is
that unrideable, don't ride it!

-Don

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 00:14:32 -0700, Bill wrote in
message :

This sounds like a good case for riding on the wrong side of the road.
I know this will start a war but it is what I do when I 'must' ride on a
road with no bicycle lanes. When you are going against traffic at least
you can see the cars coming and pull off into the dirt on the side if need
be.

Looks like the usual confusion of the specific with the general. In
general there is no doubt that riding with the traffic flow is much
safer. Some people are thrown clear of burning cars because they are
not wearing seat belts. Is that a good argument for not wearing a
seat belt?

Hits from behind are extremely rare. Most crashes are from cars
failing to yield right of way; by putting yourself where they are
looking for traffic you do a lot to reduce the chances of that - and
if we're resorting to anecdotal evidence, the only time I've been
forced to bail out was by an overtaking car coming the other way. If
I'd been wrong-way riding I'd have been dead.

Start with Effective Cycling. That's known to work.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

"Michael" wrote in message
...
Which is less dorky: a mirror on the helmet or a mirror
on the handlebars?

I've resisted mirrors all my life, but I must ride a two lane
road with a 55 mile an hour speed limit with absolutely no
paved shoulder. I hug the white line right now, looking back
sometimes but with the chance of going into the road or into
the gravel.

Thanks,

Mike


Not sure about the "Dork Factor", but if you want a mirror that truly works
well, get the Take a Look mirror. It has a wide field of view, and can be
mounted to your glasses, or your helmet. Here are some reviews:
http://www.mtbreview.com/reviews/Ext...ct_86204.shtml

http://users.rcn.com/icebike/Equipme...ingmirrors.htm

I often ride on roads with 45-50mph traffic, with no shoulder and fairly low
traffic volumes. With the mirror, I can easily see traffic from behind.
When I see someone coming from behind, I move a foot or so to the left when
they are still quite a ways back. This forces them to start swinging wider
in order to pass me. As they get close, I drift back to the right so there
is a good amount of space when they go around me. With the mirror, I can
easily monitor the overtaking traffic and if they are not moving far enough
to their left, I have at least 2-3 feet of lane to my right that I can dive
into.

FWIW, if there is oncoming traffic at the same time, I move to the center of
the lane and signal with a rearward-facing left hand and a shake of my head
that they are not to pass. When it's clear, I move to the right and wave
them around. I've found that this assertive approach is appreciated and
respected by most drivers (especially elderly drivers), who are otherwise
unsure of how to safely pass a bicycle. I even get waves from folks as they
pass (all five fingers most of the time).

~_-*
....G/ \G
http://www.CycliStats.com
CycliStats - Software for Cyclists

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 00:14:32 -0700, Bill wrote:

This sounds like a good case for riding on the wrong side of the road.

There is never a reason for riding against traffic. You're only confusing
the motorist, egregiously breaking the law, and adding to the potential
impact speed vs. subtracting from it.

Please refrain from riding until you can wrap your head around this.
Seriously--no offense meant at all.

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 01:05:33 -0500, Michael wrote:

Which is less dorky: a mirror on the helmet or a mirror
on the handlebars?


It's all about how you pull it off--only you can make it "dorky".

You know those hideous drooping pants that have become the teen signature
over the last decade? From what I've heard, the root of this style is what
happens in jail: they take your belt and shoelaces, so in addition to
being rather at the disadvantage in a cage, you've the additional
humiliation of having your pants falling down.

Well, somewhere along the line a guy thought--hey I'll just run with it
and behaved like he meant for his pants to snuggle around mid crack. The
others were impressed and brought this syle to the street with an attitude
that says--you tell me that my pants are falling down and I'll whup you so
damn hard they'll send me to the place where belts are confiscated!

Take concept, apply to helmet mirror.