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  #161  
Old May 14th 18, 11:20 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Duane[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,546
Default Dynamo/LED power conditioning

wrote:
On Monday, May 14, 2018 at 5:48:57 AM UTC+2, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/12/2018 9:42 PM, AMuzi wrote:
On 5/12/2018 8:11 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/12/2018 6:49 PM, Radey Shouman wrote:
David Scheidt writes:

Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/11/2018 4:10 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/10/2018 11:19 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/10/2018 6:15 PM, John B. wrote:
:
I suspect that you, like I, are what might be
called a sensible rider.
RE, door zones, just slow down a bit so you have
time to dodge the
door if necessary.
:
:Um... no, that's not sensible.
:
:Consider what happens if you're riding just 15 kph
and a driver pops his
:door open as you pass his rear bumper. There's no
way to stop in time.
:
:If you're lucky, you'll hit his door squarely and
crumple beneath it. If
:you're unlucky, you'll snag the door edge with
your right handlebar, the
:bike will steer to the right, your body will be
thrown down to the left,
:and the motor vehicle you were worried about will
run over you.
:
:Unlike mountain lion attacks, dooring really is a
danger. Most states
:don't record it as a car-bike collision, because
they record those only
:if the car was moving. But Chicago did keep track,
and found that
:something like 20% of car-bike crashes were doorings.
:
And we have a $1000 fine for causing an accident by
dooring -- and the
cops write the tickets.
:
on't ride in the door zone. Just don't.
:
Yeah, you live in smallsville.Â* If I don't ride in
the door zone, it
takes me three times as long to get to work.
:
:Why are those the only choices? Details, please. What
happens if you
:move a few feet left?
:
My commute invovles riding past a mile (literally, one
mile) of cars
that are stopped at stop signs or lights.Â* Riding
between them and
parked cars gets me to the light or sign in one
cycle.Â* Moving to the
left puts me in stopped traffic.

:OK. That's an unusual situation, one that I think is
quite rare. We

Sounds like progress.Â* Several years ago I described
riding past more
than a mile of cars on a typical commute (not even
properly in the
city), and you simply refused to concede that such a thing
was possible,
never having observed it in your global travels.

I was being nice. I'm still pretty skeptical. Example: David
says the backup is "one mile (literally one mile)" but he
says if he rides past in the door zone he gets gets to the
light in one cycle.

The most common traffic light cycles are one minute, split
evenly between the two directions. OK, maybe this light has
longer cycles - say two minutes instead of one. Is he really
averaging 30 miles per hour as he rides past one mile of
cars in the door zone?

And I'm still curious about which city he's riding - and
now, which city you're riding in.

But again, I think such a situation must be pretty rare.
Give me more information to educate me.



typically:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfPebMP6SMg

including a non-fatal door at 6:33. I skipped through the 18 minutes,
noting there are bike stripes which weren't there back when I ride North
Clark from time to time. Overall, on one street, you get a
representational mix of urban commuter joys and sorrows.

Nothing wrong with taking a lane when appropriate but it's not always
appropriate. Or reasonable.


I watched a lot of that video, skimming some parts. Here's how it looked
to me:

The rider appeared glued to the door zone, passing dozens of parked cars
very closely. Most of the time he was doing that, the lane appeared
empty to his left. I can only assume this guy had never even heard of
door zones. I absolutely would have avoided the door zone. (And BTW, I
saw sharrows in the door zone, bike lanes in the door zone. One serious
tip is "Don't let paint do the thinking for you." Avoid that crap.)

Once that rider got deep into central Chicago, there was one place just
before the river crossing where he passed 20 - 25 cars. That's nowhere
near a mile of cars, of course.

In that situation, would I have filtered forward? Probably so. Would I
ride in the door zone to do that? Maybe yes, maybe no. Passing on the
left is usually safer than passing on the right. If I did pass on the
right and in the door zone, I'd certainly be riding very, very slowly -
like 10 mph or so. I think blasting at speed between parked cars and
stalled traffic is really foolish.

But again, that long backup is a situation that happens only very rarely
around here. I know where that happens, and I find routes to avoid it. I
do have some situations where filtering forward might save me one
traffic light cycle. In that case, I generally do not filter forward. As
with the "No Turn on Red" intersection that leads into my neighborhood,
I think it's important to demonstrate that _some_ cyclists play by the
rules. And how is a cyclist who violates laws to save a minute any
better than a motorist who violates laws to save a minute? How will I
change my life with that minute?

For the record, I've ridden downtown traffic at 5 PM in the very heart
of Pittsburgh, in a thunderstorm. I did it by following the normal rules
of the road and taking my place in the lane. I didn't get flattened by a
bus or even honked at by a driver. I got where I was going just fine.

--
- Frank Krygowski


Filming with a GoPro or the like looks always scarier than it is in real
life. You don't have to ride completely out of the doorzone. You only
need to have some reaction time. Doors don't open in a millisecond.
People blasting along cars within the doorzone thinking that it could not
happen are stupid.

Lou


The problem with that tactic is that when you have to react you may have a
car passing on your left elbow at the time. If you’re already out of the
door zone that car is either behind you snarling or passing you in the
other lane.

You still get the clown that will not wait and try to pass you in a blind
turn or before a hill and then they will likely pull back in your lane when
the oncoming truck appears, so you have to be careful. This last happened
to me twice last Saturday although there were no door zones involved. Just
2 lane country roads with a bit of traffic. Fortunately we were able to
slow enough so that he missed us.

--
duane
Ads
  #162  
Old May 14th 18, 12:24 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 824
Default Dynamo/LED power conditioning

On Monday, May 14, 2018 at 12:20:34 PM UTC+2, Duane wrote:
wrote:
On Monday, May 14, 2018 at 5:48:57 AM UTC+2, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/12/2018 9:42 PM, AMuzi wrote:
On 5/12/2018 8:11 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/12/2018 6:49 PM, Radey Shouman wrote:
David Scheidt writes:

Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/11/2018 4:10 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/10/2018 11:19 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/10/2018 6:15 PM, John B. wrote:
:
I suspect that you, like I, are what might be
called a sensible rider.
RE, door zones, just slow down a bit so you have
time to dodge the
door if necessary.
:
:Um... no, that's not sensible.
:
:Consider what happens if you're riding just 15 kph
and a driver pops his
:door open as you pass his rear bumper. There's no
way to stop in time.
:
:If you're lucky, you'll hit his door squarely and
crumple beneath it. If
:you're unlucky, you'll snag the door edge with
your right handlebar, the
:bike will steer to the right, your body will be
thrown down to the left,
:and the motor vehicle you were worried about will
run over you.
:
:Unlike mountain lion attacks, dooring really is a
danger. Most states
:don't record it as a car-bike collision, because
they record those only
:if the car was moving. But Chicago did keep track,
and found that
:something like 20% of car-bike crashes were doorings.
:
And we have a $1000 fine for causing an accident by
dooring -- and the
cops write the tickets.
:
on't ride in the door zone. Just don't.
:
Yeah, you live in smallsville.Â* If I don't ride in
the door zone, it
takes me three times as long to get to work.
:
:Why are those the only choices? Details, please. What
happens if you
:move a few feet left?
:
My commute invovles riding past a mile (literally, one
mile) of cars
that are stopped at stop signs or lights.Â* Riding
between them and
parked cars gets me to the light or sign in one
cycle.Â* Moving to the
left puts me in stopped traffic.

:OK. That's an unusual situation, one that I think is
quite rare. We

Sounds like progress.Â* Several years ago I described
riding past more
than a mile of cars on a typical commute (not even
properly in the
city), and you simply refused to concede that such a thing
was possible,
never having observed it in your global travels.

I was being nice. I'm still pretty skeptical. Example: David
says the backup is "one mile (literally one mile)" but he
says if he rides past in the door zone he gets gets to the
light in one cycle.

The most common traffic light cycles are one minute, split
evenly between the two directions. OK, maybe this light has
longer cycles - say two minutes instead of one. Is he really
averaging 30 miles per hour as he rides past one mile of
cars in the door zone?

And I'm still curious about which city he's riding - and
now, which city you're riding in.

But again, I think such a situation must be pretty rare.
Give me more information to educate me.



typically:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfPebMP6SMg

including a non-fatal door at 6:33. I skipped through the 18 minutes,
noting there are bike stripes which weren't there back when I ride North
Clark from time to time. Overall, on one street, you get a
representational mix of urban commuter joys and sorrows.

Nothing wrong with taking a lane when appropriate but it's not always
appropriate. Or reasonable.

I watched a lot of that video, skimming some parts. Here's how it looked
to me:

The rider appeared glued to the door zone, passing dozens of parked cars
very closely. Most of the time he was doing that, the lane appeared
empty to his left. I can only assume this guy had never even heard of
door zones. I absolutely would have avoided the door zone. (And BTW, I
saw sharrows in the door zone, bike lanes in the door zone. One serious
tip is "Don't let paint do the thinking for you." Avoid that crap.)

Once that rider got deep into central Chicago, there was one place just
before the river crossing where he passed 20 - 25 cars. That's nowhere
near a mile of cars, of course.

In that situation, would I have filtered forward? Probably so. Would I
ride in the door zone to do that? Maybe yes, maybe no. Passing on the
left is usually safer than passing on the right. If I did pass on the
right and in the door zone, I'd certainly be riding very, very slowly -
like 10 mph or so. I think blasting at speed between parked cars and
stalled traffic is really foolish.

But again, that long backup is a situation that happens only very rarely
around here. I know where that happens, and I find routes to avoid it. I
do have some situations where filtering forward might save me one
traffic light cycle. In that case, I generally do not filter forward. As
with the "No Turn on Red" intersection that leads into my neighborhood,
I think it's important to demonstrate that _some_ cyclists play by the
rules. And how is a cyclist who violates laws to save a minute any
better than a motorist who violates laws to save a minute? How will I
change my life with that minute?

For the record, I've ridden downtown traffic at 5 PM in the very heart
of Pittsburgh, in a thunderstorm. I did it by following the normal rules
of the road and taking my place in the lane. I didn't get flattened by a
bus or even honked at by a driver. I got where I was going just fine.

--
- Frank Krygowski


Filming with a GoPro or the like looks always scarier than it is in real
life. You don't have to ride completely out of the doorzone. You only
need to have some reaction time. Doors don't open in a millisecond.
People blasting along cars within the doorzone thinking that it could not
happen are stupid.

Lou


The problem with that tactic is that when you have to react you may have a
car passing on your left elbow at the time. If you’re already out of the
door zone that car is either behind you snarling or passing you in the
other lane.

You still get the clown that will not wait and try to pass you in a blind
turn or before a hill and then they will likely pull back in your lane when
the oncoming truck appears, so you have to be careful. This last happened
to me twice last Saturday although there were no door zones involved. Just
2 lane country roads with a bit of traffic. Fortunately we were able to
slow enough so that he missed us.

--
duane


True, every situation is different. There is no one best tactic. Keeping out of a doorzone is not always possible. In that situation realizing that you in the doorzone is the first thing you have to do and looking for escape routes: slowing down, brake or whatever. Always accompanied with an educational curse of coarse.

Lou
  #163  
Old May 14th 18, 01:30 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Duane[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 401
Default Dynamo/LED power conditioning

On 14/05/2018 7:24 AM, wrote:
On Monday, May 14, 2018 at 12:20:34 PM UTC+2, Duane wrote:
wrote:
On Monday, May 14, 2018 at 5:48:57 AM UTC+2, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/12/2018 9:42 PM, AMuzi wrote:
On 5/12/2018 8:11 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/12/2018 6:49 PM, Radey Shouman wrote:
David Scheidt writes:

Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/11/2018 4:10 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/10/2018 11:19 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/10/2018 6:15 PM, John B. wrote:
:
I suspect that you, like I, are what might be
called a sensible rider.
RE, door zones, just slow down a bit so you have
time to dodge the
door if necessary.
:
:Um... no, that's not sensible.
:
:Consider what happens if you're riding just 15 kph
and a driver pops his
:door open as you pass his rear bumper. There's no
way to stop in time.
:
:If you're lucky, you'll hit his door squarely and
crumple beneath it. If
:you're unlucky, you'll snag the door edge with
your right handlebar, the
:bike will steer to the right, your body will be
thrown down to the left,
:and the motor vehicle you were worried about will
run over you.
:
:Unlike mountain lion attacks, dooring really is a
danger. Most states
:don't record it as a car-bike collision, because
they record those only
:if the car was moving. But Chicago did keep track,
and found that
:something like 20% of car-bike crashes were doorings.
:
And we have a $1000 fine for causing an accident by
dooring -- and the
cops write the tickets.
:
on't ride in the door zone. Just don't.
:
Yeah, you live in smallsville.Â* If I don't ride in
the door zone, it
takes me three times as long to get to work.
:
:Why are those the only choices? Details, please. What
happens if you
:move a few feet left?
:
My commute invovles riding past a mile (literally, one
mile) of cars
that are stopped at stop signs or lights.Â* Riding
between them and
parked cars gets me to the light or sign in one
cycle.Â* Moving to the
left puts me in stopped traffic.

:OK. That's an unusual situation, one that I think is
quite rare. We

Sounds like progress.Â* Several years ago I described
riding past more
than a mile of cars on a typical commute (not even
properly in the
city), and you simply refused to concede that such a thing
was possible,
never having observed it in your global travels.

I was being nice. I'm still pretty skeptical. Example: David
says the backup is "one mile (literally one mile)" but he
says if he rides past in the door zone he gets gets to the
light in one cycle.

The most common traffic light cycles are one minute, split
evenly between the two directions. OK, maybe this light has
longer cycles - say two minutes instead of one. Is he really
averaging 30 miles per hour as he rides past one mile of
cars in the door zone?

And I'm still curious about which city he's riding - and
now, which city you're riding in.

But again, I think such a situation must be pretty rare.
Give me more information to educate me.



typically:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfPebMP6SMg

including a non-fatal door at 6:33. I skipped through the 18 minutes,
noting there are bike stripes which weren't there back when I ride North
Clark from time to time. Overall, on one street, you get a
representational mix of urban commuter joys and sorrows.

Nothing wrong with taking a lane when appropriate but it's not always
appropriate. Or reasonable.

I watched a lot of that video, skimming some parts. Here's how it looked
to me:

The rider appeared glued to the door zone, passing dozens of parked cars
very closely. Most of the time he was doing that, the lane appeared
empty to his left. I can only assume this guy had never even heard of
door zones. I absolutely would have avoided the door zone. (And BTW, I
saw sharrows in the door zone, bike lanes in the door zone. One serious
tip is "Don't let paint do the thinking for you." Avoid that crap.)

Once that rider got deep into central Chicago, there was one place just
before the river crossing where he passed 20 - 25 cars. That's nowhere
near a mile of cars, of course.

In that situation, would I have filtered forward? Probably so. Would I
ride in the door zone to do that? Maybe yes, maybe no. Passing on the
left is usually safer than passing on the right. If I did pass on the
right and in the door zone, I'd certainly be riding very, very slowly -
like 10 mph or so. I think blasting at speed between parked cars and
stalled traffic is really foolish.

But again, that long backup is a situation that happens only very rarely
around here. I know where that happens, and I find routes to avoid it. I
do have some situations where filtering forward might save me one
traffic light cycle. In that case, I generally do not filter forward. As
with the "No Turn on Red" intersection that leads into my neighborhood,
I think it's important to demonstrate that _some_ cyclists play by the
rules. And how is a cyclist who violates laws to save a minute any
better than a motorist who violates laws to save a minute? How will I
change my life with that minute?

For the record, I've ridden downtown traffic at 5 PM in the very heart
of Pittsburgh, in a thunderstorm. I did it by following the normal rules
of the road and taking my place in the lane. I didn't get flattened by a
bus or even honked at by a driver. I got where I was going just fine.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Filming with a GoPro or the like looks always scarier than it is in real
life. You don't have to ride completely out of the doorzone. You only
need to have some reaction time. Doors don't open in a millisecond.
People blasting along cars within the doorzone thinking that it could not
happen are stupid.

Lou


The problem with that tactic is that when you have to react you may have a
car passing on your left elbow at the time. If you’re already out of the
door zone that car is either behind you snarling or passing you in the
other lane.

You still get the clown that will not wait and try to pass you in a blind
turn or before a hill and then they will likely pull back in your lane when
the oncoming truck appears, so you have to be careful. This last happened
to me twice last Saturday although there were no door zones involved. Just
2 lane country roads with a bit of traffic. Fortunately we were able to
slow enough so that he missed us.

--
duane


True, every situation is different. There is no one best tactic. Keeping out of a doorzone is not always possible. In that situation realizing that you in the doorzone is the first thing you have to do and looking for escape routes: slowing down, brake or whatever. Always accompanied with an educational curse of coarse.

Lou


Yeah, I don't think there's any one size fits all approach other than
avoiding roads where this is an issue. Bike lanes can help if they don't
force you into a door zone.

But generally I see that newer cyclists are more concerned with the cars
behind them than the parked cars. To me, the car behind me in that
situation is more likely to see me where the person opening their door
is not.

To this latest thread deviation though, it's hard to imagine riding
somewhere where you don't have long lines of traffic at rush hour. I
can get to work in nearly the same time by bike as by car because I can
take a bike lane and pass the blocks of traffic.
  #164  
Old May 14th 18, 01:32 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
AMuzi
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 13,447
Default Dynamo/LED power conditioning

On 5/13/2018 11:15 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/13/2018 2:24 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/12/2018 6:49 PM, Radey Shouman wrote:
: David Scheidt writes:
:
: Frank Krygowski wrote:
: :On 5/11/2018 4:10 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
: : Frank Krygowski wrote:
: : :On 5/10/2018 11:19 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
: : : Frank Krygowski wrote:
: : : :On 5/10/2018 6:15 PM, John B. wrote:
: : : :
: : : : I suspect that you, like I, are what might be
called a sensible rider.
: : : : RE, door zones, just slow down a bit so you
have time to dodge the
: : : : door if necessary.
: : :
: : : :Um... no, that's not sensible.
: : :
: : : :Consider what happens if you're riding just 15
kph and a driver pops his
: : : :door open as you pass his rear bumper. There's
no way to stop in time.
: : :
: : : :If you're lucky, you'll hit his door squarely
and crumple beneath it. If
: : : :you're unlucky, you'll snag the door edge with
your right handlebar, the
: : : :bike will steer to the right, your body will be
thrown down to the left,
: : : :and the motor vehicle you were worried about
will run over you.
: : :
: : : :Unlike mountain lion attacks, dooring really is
a danger. Most states
: : : :don't record it as a car-bike collision,
because they record those only
: : : :if the car was moving. But Chicago did keep
track, and found that
: : : :something like 20% of car-bike crashes were
doorings.
: : :
: : : And we have a $1000 fine for causing an accident
by dooring -- and the
: : : cops write the tickets.
: : :
: : : on't ride in the door zone. Just don't.
: : :
: : : Yeah, you live in smallsville. If I don't ride
in the door zone, it
: : : takes me three times as long to get to work.
: :
: : :Why are those the only choices? Details, please.
What happens if you
: : :move a few feet left?
: :
: : My commute invovles riding past a mile (literally,
one mile) of cars
: : that are stopped at stop signs or lights. Riding
between them and
: : parked cars gets me to the light or sign in one
cycle. Moving to the
: : left puts me in stopped traffic.
:
: :OK. That's an unusual situation, one that I think is
quite rare. We
:
: Sounds like progress. Several years ago I described
riding past more
: than a mile of cars on a typical commute (not even
properly in the
: city), and you simply refused to concede that such a
thing was possible,
: never having observed it in your global travels.

:I was being nice. I'm still pretty skeptical. Example:
David says the
:backup is "one mile (literally one mile)" but he says if
he rides past
:in the door zone he gets gets to the light in one cycle.

multiple lighs, Frank.

I'm in chicago. The interesting part of my ride, for this
purpose,
are shown on this map:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ys...&usp=shar ing


These are the areas where I pass stopped cars. It's rare
that I'd be
doing the whole distance drawn, which google tells me is
1.75 miles, but
the section on kimball, especially between foster and
lawarance is always
bad (There's a high school there.). The section of
montrose is full
of cars, always, at my commute time. How much of that I
ride through
when the lights are red and the cars are stopped depends
on the day,
but typically I hit the light at california, and there are
cars backed
up from the light at Virginia, and often all the way to
Western, and I
ride faster than they do, even if they're moving. When
school is not in
session, I take a route that's further north and doesn't
have as much
traffic, but it has an elementary school full of stupid
parents who drive
their kids there, and let them get out where ever, so it's
impassable on
a bike (or car).


I guess I don't understand. First, it sounds like you're now
talking about far less than a mile of backup.

Second, it's a very dense grid layout. I don't understand
why you can't choose parallel streets with less traffic. It
looks like Bernard even has a bike/ped crossing over a
creek, which should cut way down on N-S car traffic.

Obviously, I don't know the area. But my first thought in
looking at the map is "Wow, look at all the choices!"

Way, way back (1977) when I first started near-daily
commuting, I discussed my route problems with an older
cycling mentor. He said "I'd absolutely go a couple blocks
out of my way if it gave me a more pleasant ride." I think
that's good advice.



Neighborhoods vary. Regarding Bell School in Chicago (where
my grandsons once attended) the minor streets have crappy
sightlines at the intersections with enough random cross
traffic as too not make a reasonable route. Morning and
afternoon minivan congestion blocks everything near the
school as Dave noted.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971


  #165  
Old May 14th 18, 02:17 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Duane[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 401
Default Dynamo/LED power conditioning

On 14/05/2018 8:32 AM, AMuzi wrote:
On 5/13/2018 11:15 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/13/2018 2:24 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/12/2018 6:49 PM, Radey Shouman wrote:
: David Scheidt writes:
:
: Frank Krygowski wrote:
: :On 5/11/2018 4:10 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
: : Frank Krygowski wrote:
: : :On 5/10/2018 11:19 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
: : : Frank Krygowski wrote:
: : : :On 5/10/2018 6:15 PM, John B. wrote:
: : : :
: : : : I suspect that you, like I, are what might be
called a sensible rider.
: : : : RE, door zones, just slow down a bit so you
have time to dodge the
: : : : door if necessary.
: : :
: : : :Um... no, that's not sensible.
: : :
: : : :Consider what happens if you're riding just 15
kph and a driver pops his
: : : :door open as you pass his rear bumper. There's
no way to stop in time.
: : :
: : : :If you're lucky, you'll hit his door squarely
and crumple beneath it. If
: : : :you're unlucky, you'll snag the door edge with
your right handlebar, the
: : : :bike will steer to the right, your body will be
thrown down to the left,
: : : :and the motor vehicle you were worried about
will run over you.
: : :
: : : :Unlike mountain lion attacks, dooring really is
a danger. Most states
: : : :don't record it as a car-bike collision,
because they record those only
: : : :if the car was moving. But Chicago did keep
track, and found that
: : : :something like 20% of car-bike crashes were
doorings.
: : :
: : : And we have a $1000 fine for causing an accident
by dooring -- and the
: : : cops write the tickets.
: : :
: : : on't ride in the door zone. Just don't.
: : :
: : : Yeah, you live in smallsville.Â* If I don't ride
in the door zone, it
: : : takes me three times as long to get to work.
: :
: : :Why are those the only choices? Details, please.
What happens if you
: : :move a few feet left?
: :
: : My commute invovles riding past a mile (literally,
one mile) of cars
: : that are stopped at stop signs or lights.Â* Riding
between them and
: : parked cars gets me to the light or sign in one
cycle.Â* Moving to the
: : left puts me in stopped traffic.
:
: :OK. That's an unusual situation, one that I think is
quite rare. We
:
: Sounds like progress.Â* Several years ago I described
riding past more
: than a mile of cars on a typical commute (not even
properly in the
: city), and you simply refused to concede that such a
thing was possible,
: never having observed it in your global travels.

:I was being nice. I'm still pretty skeptical. Example:
David says the
:backup is "one mile (literally one mile)" but he says if
he rides past
:in the door zone he gets gets to the light in one cycle.

multiple lighs, Frank.

I'm in chicago.Â* The interesting part of my ride, for this
purpose,
are shown on this map:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ys...&usp=shar ing



These are the areas where I pass stopped cars.Â* It's rare
that I'd be
doing the whole distance drawn, which google tells me is
1.75 miles, but
the section on kimball, especially between foster and
lawarance is always
bad (There's a high school there.).Â* The section of
montrose is full
of cars, always, at my commute time.Â* How much of that I
ride through
when the lights are red and the cars are stopped depends
on the day,
but typically I hit the light at california, and there are
cars backed
up from the light at Virginia, and often all the way to
Western, and I
ride faster than they do, even if they're moving.Â* When
school is not in
session, I take a route that's further north and doesn't
have as much
traffic, but it has an elementary school full of stupid
parents who drive
their kids there, and let them get out where ever, so it's
impassable on
a bike (or car).


I guess I don't understand. First, it sounds like you're now
talking about far less than a mile of backup.

Second, it's a very dense grid layout. I don't understand
why you can't choose parallel streets with less traffic. It
looks like Bernard even has a bike/ped crossing over a
creek, which should cut way down on N-S car traffic.

Obviously, I don't know the area. But my first thought in
looking at the map is "Wow, look at all the choices!"

Way, way back (1977) when I first started near-daily
commuting, I discussed my route problems with an older
cycling mentor. He said "I'd absolutely go a couple blocks
out of my way if it gave me a more pleasant ride." I think
that's good advice.



Neighborhoods vary. Regarding Bell School in Chicago (where my grandsons
once attended) the minor streets have crappy sightlines at the
intersections with enough random cross traffic as too not make a
reasonable route. Morning and afternoon minivan congestion blocks
everything near the school as Dave noted.



One of the streets I use to get to work is undergoing repairs now and
the detour is past an elementary school. The combination of the usual
minivan/suv traffic and the late to work commuters makes this really bad
so I changed to a route about 5k more to avoid this. The good part is I
get to ride a bit longer.
  #166  
Old May 14th 18, 02:52 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Frank Krygowski[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10,538
Default Dynamo/LED power conditioning

On 5/14/2018 5:18 AM, wrote:
On Monday, May 14, 2018 at 5:48:57 AM UTC+2, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/12/2018 9:42 PM, AMuzi wrote:
On 5/12/2018 8:11 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/12/2018 6:49 PM, Radey Shouman wrote:
David Scheidt writes:

Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/11/2018 4:10 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
: Frank Krygowski wrote:
: :On 5/10/2018 11:19 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
: : Frank Krygowski wrote:
: : :On 5/10/2018 6:15 PM, John B. wrote:
: : :
: : : I suspect that you, like I, are what might be
called a sensible rider.
: : : RE, door zones, just slow down a bit so you have
time to dodge the
: : : door if necessary.
: :
: : :Um... no, that's not sensible.
: :
: : :Consider what happens if you're riding just 15 kph
and a driver pops his
: : :door open as you pass his rear bumper. There's no
way to stop in time.
: :
: : :If you're lucky, you'll hit his door squarely and
crumple beneath it. If
: : :you're unlucky, you'll snag the door edge with
your right handlebar, the
: : :bike will steer to the right, your body will be
thrown down to the left,
: : :and the motor vehicle you were worried about will
run over you.
: :
: : :Unlike mountain lion attacks, dooring really is a
danger. Most states
: : :don't record it as a car-bike collision, because
they record those only
: : :if the car was moving. But Chicago did keep track,
and found that
: : :something like 20% of car-bike crashes were doorings.
: :
: : And we have a $1000 fine for causing an accident by
dooring -- and the
: : cops write the tickets.
: :
: : on't ride in the door zone. Just don't.
: :
: : Yeah, you live in smallsville.Â* If I don't ride in
the door zone, it
: : takes me three times as long to get to work.
:
: :Why are those the only choices? Details, please. What
happens if you
: :move a few feet left?
:
: My commute invovles riding past a mile (literally, one
mile) of cars
: that are stopped at stop signs or lights.Â* Riding
between them and
: parked cars gets me to the light or sign in one
cycle.Â* Moving to the
: left puts me in stopped traffic.

:OK. That's an unusual situation, one that I think is
quite rare. We

Sounds like progress.Â* Several years ago I described
riding past more
than a mile of cars on a typical commute (not even
properly in the
city), and you simply refused to concede that such a thing
was possible,
never having observed it in your global travels.

I was being nice. I'm still pretty skeptical. Example: David
says the backup is "one mile (literally one mile)" but he
says if he rides past in the door zone he gets gets to the
light in one cycle.

The most common traffic light cycles are one minute, split
evenly between the two directions. OK, maybe this light has
longer cycles - say two minutes instead of one. Is he really
averaging 30 miles per hour as he rides past one mile of
cars in the door zone?

And I'm still curious about which city he's riding - and
now, which city you're riding in.

But again, I think such a situation must be pretty rare.
Give me more information to educate me.



typically:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfPebMP6SMg

including a non-fatal door at 6:33. I skipped through the 18 minutes,
noting there are bike stripes which weren't there back when I ride North
Clark from time to time. Overall, on one street, you get a
representational mix of urban commuter joys and sorrows.

Nothing wrong with taking a lane when appropriate but it's not always
appropriate. Or reasonable.


I watched a lot of that video, skimming some parts. Here's how it looked
to me:

The rider appeared glued to the door zone, passing dozens of parked cars
very closely. Most of the time he was doing that, the lane appeared
empty to his left. I can only assume this guy had never even heard of
door zones. I absolutely would have avoided the door zone. (And BTW, I
saw sharrows in the door zone, bike lanes in the door zone. One serious
tip is "Don't let paint do the thinking for you." Avoid that crap.)

Once that rider got deep into central Chicago, there was one place just
before the river crossing where he passed 20 - 25 cars. That's nowhere
near a mile of cars, of course.

In that situation, would I have filtered forward? Probably so. Would I
ride in the door zone to do that? Maybe yes, maybe no. Passing on the
left is usually safer than passing on the right. If I did pass on the
right and in the door zone, I'd certainly be riding very, very slowly -
like 10 mph or so. I think blasting at speed between parked cars and
stalled traffic is really foolish.

But again, that long backup is a situation that happens only very rarely
around here. I know where that happens, and I find routes to avoid it. I
do have some situations where filtering forward might save me one
traffic light cycle. In that case, I generally do not filter forward. As
with the "No Turn on Red" intersection that leads into my neighborhood,
I think it's important to demonstrate that _some_ cyclists play by the
rules. And how is a cyclist who violates laws to save a minute any
better than a motorist who violates laws to save a minute? How will I
change my life with that minute?

For the record, I've ridden downtown traffic at 5 PM in the very heart
of Pittsburgh, in a thunderstorm. I did it by following the normal rules
of the road and taking my place in the lane. I didn't get flattened by a
bus or even honked at by a driver. I got where I was going just fine.

--
- Frank Krygowski


Filming with a GoPro or the like looks always scarier than it is in real life. You don't have to ride completely out of the doorzone. You only need to have some reaction time. Doors don't open in a millisecond.


I strongly disagree. It's true car doors don't open in a millisecond,
but it's also true that you can't stop or swerve in time if someone
opens a door when you're at their back bumper. Work the numbers. Your
reaction time would probably be close to one second, which means you
wouldn't even have time to squeeze the brakes, let alone decelerate to a
stop. And no, you won't have time to swerve either.

And if you did swerve into a clear space to the left, why are you not
riding there in the first place?

Also, keep in mind that snagging a car door with your right handlebar
can easily be more traumatic than hitting a car door fully square. It
whips the bike's steering to the right, and the cyclist gets judo-thrown
to the ground at the left, sometimes in front of a passing car.

People blasting along cars within the doorzone thinking that it could not happen are stupid.


On that, we agree.

--
- Frank Krygowski
  #167  
Old May 14th 18, 03:59 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Radey Shouman
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,747
Default Dynamo/LED power conditioning

Frank Krygowski writes:

On 5/13/2018 5:32 PM, jbeattie wrote:
I ride in the door zone on the commute into work. Otherwise, you sit
in traffic all morning. You do it carefully, and it's legal under
Oregon law. I've been doing that for 32 years on the same road
(sad fact) without getting doored.


Wow. I've had car doors pop open just as I passed the car with plenty
of clearance. If I were four feet further right, I'd have gotten
doored.


On the other hand, it's possible that the door opener saw you, and
realized you were safely out of the way. This is the flip side of "I've
been passed closely many times, had I been further left I would have
been creamed." Both sets of accidents are completely hypothetical, yet
you chooose to sneer at only one.

Noted that caution in the door zone is well advised.

Now with all this fretting, I just know I'm going to get doored on
Monday! I also squeeze around a lot of construction and the giant
garbage trucks that park in the lane at morning rush hour -- just to
compound the mess.


Squeezing by slowly is one thing. Riding through at speed is another.


--
  #168  
Old May 14th 18, 04:55 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
David Scheidt
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,346
Default Dynamo/LED power conditioning

Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/13/2018 2:24 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
: Frank Krygowski wrote:
: :On 5/12/2018 6:49 PM, Radey Shouman wrote:
: : David Scheidt writes:
: :
: : Frank Krygowski wrote:
: : :On 5/11/2018 4:10 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
: : : Frank Krygowski wrote:
: : : :On 5/10/2018 11:19 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
: : : : Frank Krygowski wrote:
: : : : :On 5/10/2018 6:15 PM, John B. wrote:
: : : : :
: : : : : I suspect that you, like I, are what might be called a sensible rider.
: : : : : RE, door zones, just slow down a bit so you have time to dodge the
: : : : : door if necessary.
: : : :
: : : : :Um... no, that's not sensible.
: : : :
: : : : :Consider what happens if you're riding just 15 kph and a driver pops his
: : : : :door open as you pass his rear bumper. There's no way to stop in time.
: : : :
: : : : :If you're lucky, you'll hit his door squarely and crumple beneath it. If
: : : : :you're unlucky, you'll snag the door edge with your right handlebar, the
: : : : :bike will steer to the right, your body will be thrown down to the left,
: : : : :and the motor vehicle you were worried about will run over you.
: : : :
: : : : :Unlike mountain lion attacks, dooring really is a danger. Most states
: : : : :don't record it as a car-bike collision, because they record those only
: : : : :if the car was moving. But Chicago did keep track, and found that
: : : : :something like 20% of car-bike crashes were doorings.
: : : :
: : : : And we have a $1000 fine for causing an accident by dooring -- and the
: : : : cops write the tickets.
: : : :
: : : : on't ride in the door zone. Just don't.
: : : :
: : : : Yeah, you live in smallsville. If I don't ride in the door zone, it
: : : : takes me three times as long to get to work.
: : :
: : : :Why are those the only choices? Details, please. What happens if you
: : : :move a few feet left?
: : :
: : : My commute invovles riding past a mile (literally, one mile) of cars
: : : that are stopped at stop signs or lights. Riding between them and
: : : parked cars gets me to the light or sign in one cycle. Moving to the
: : : left puts me in stopped traffic.
: :
: : :OK. That's an unusual situation, one that I think is quite rare. We
: :
: : Sounds like progress. Several years ago I described riding past more
: : than a mile of cars on a typical commute (not even properly in the
: : city), and you simply refused to concede that such a thing was possible,
: : never having observed it in your global travels.
:
: :I was being nice. I'm still pretty skeptical. Example: David says the
: :backup is "one mile (literally one mile)" but he says if he rides past
: :in the door zone he gets gets to the light in one cycle.
:
: multiple lighs, Frank.
:
: I'm in chicago. The interesting part of my ride, for this purpose,
: are shown on this map:
: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ys...&usp=shar ing
:
: These are the areas where I pass stopped cars. It's rare that I'd be
: doing the whole distance drawn, which google tells me is 1.75 miles, but
: the section on kimball, especially between foster and lawarance is always
: bad (There's a high school there.). The section of montrose is full
: of cars, always, at my commute time. How much of that I ride through
: when the lights are red and the cars are stopped depends on the day,
: but typically I hit the light at california, and there are cars backed
: up from the light at Virginia, and often all the way to Western, and I
: ride faster than they do, even if they're moving. When school is not in
: session, I take a route that's further north and doesn't have as much
: traffic, but it has an elementary school full of stupid parents who drive
: their kids there, and let them get out where ever, so it's impassable on
: a bike (or car).

:I guess I don't understand. First, it sounds like you're now talking
:about far less than a mile of backup.

:Second, it's a very dense grid layout. I don't understand why you can't
:choose parallel streets with less traffic. It looks like Bernard even
:has a bike/ped crossing over a creek, which should cut way down on N-S
:car traffic.

It's one way, the wrong way. There's also a stop sign on every
corner. (That's also the chicago river, not a creek). And you can't
get across the big east west streets.

In general, the problem with taking the side streets in chicago is that
you still have to cross the main ones. Foster has a peak traffic volume
of ~1800 cars an hour, so you're not getting across it on a bike without
a wait. There are plenty of places in Chicago where the side streets are
reasonable choices. There are others where they are not, because you
can't get across the major streets, or because they're too narrow, have
too much traffic, are a maze of one ways, or otherwise not suitable for
use as a through route. The river and the highways constrain things
in a bunch of places.


--
sig 25
  #169  
Old May 14th 18, 07:15 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Roger Merriman[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 385
Default Dynamo/LED power conditioning

Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/14/2018 5:18 AM, wrote:
On Monday, May 14, 2018 at 5:48:57 AM UTC+2, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/12/2018 9:42 PM, AMuzi wrote:
On 5/12/2018 8:11 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/12/2018 6:49 PM, Radey Shouman wrote:
David Scheidt writes:

Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/11/2018 4:10 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/10/2018 11:19 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/10/2018 6:15 PM, John B. wrote:
:
I suspect that you, like I, are what might be
called a sensible rider.
RE, door zones, just slow down a bit so you have
time to dodge the
door if necessary.
:
:Um... no, that's not sensible.
:
:Consider what happens if you're riding just 15 kph
and a driver pops his
:door open as you pass his rear bumper. There's no
way to stop in time.
:
:If you're lucky, you'll hit his door squarely and
crumple beneath it. If
:you're unlucky, you'll snag the door edge with
your right handlebar, the
:bike will steer to the right, your body will be
thrown down to the left,
:and the motor vehicle you were worried about will
run over you.
:
:Unlike mountain lion attacks, dooring really is a
danger. Most states
:don't record it as a car-bike collision, because
they record those only
:if the car was moving. But Chicago did keep track,
and found that
:something like 20% of car-bike crashes were doorings.
:
And we have a $1000 fine for causing an accident by
dooring -- and the
cops write the tickets.
:
on't ride in the door zone. Just don't.
:
Yeah, you live in smallsville.Â* If I don't ride in
the door zone, it
takes me three times as long to get to work.
:
:Why are those the only choices? Details, please. What
happens if you
:move a few feet left?
:
My commute invovles riding past a mile (literally, one
mile) of cars
that are stopped at stop signs or lights.Â* Riding
between them and
parked cars gets me to the light or sign in one
cycle.Â* Moving to the
left puts me in stopped traffic.

:OK. That's an unusual situation, one that I think is
quite rare. We

Sounds like progress.Â* Several years ago I described
riding past more
than a mile of cars on a typical commute (not even
properly in the
city), and you simply refused to concede that such a thing
was possible,
never having observed it in your global travels.

I was being nice. I'm still pretty skeptical. Example: David
says the backup is "one mile (literally one mile)" but he
says if he rides past in the door zone he gets gets to the
light in one cycle.

The most common traffic light cycles are one minute, split
evenly between the two directions. OK, maybe this light has
longer cycles - say two minutes instead of one. Is he really
averaging 30 miles per hour as he rides past one mile of
cars in the door zone?

And I'm still curious about which city he's riding - and
now, which city you're riding in.

But again, I think such a situation must be pretty rare.
Give me more information to educate me.



typically:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfPebMP6SMg

including a non-fatal door at 6:33. I skipped through the 18 minutes,
noting there are bike stripes which weren't there back when I ride North
Clark from time to time. Overall, on one street, you get a
representational mix of urban commuter joys and sorrows.

Nothing wrong with taking a lane when appropriate but it's not always
appropriate. Or reasonable.

I watched a lot of that video, skimming some parts. Here's how it looked
to me:

The rider appeared glued to the door zone, passing dozens of parked cars
very closely. Most of the time he was doing that, the lane appeared
empty to his left. I can only assume this guy had never even heard of
door zones. I absolutely would have avoided the door zone. (And BTW, I
saw sharrows in the door zone, bike lanes in the door zone. One serious
tip is "Don't let paint do the thinking for you." Avoid that crap.)

Once that rider got deep into central Chicago, there was one place just
before the river crossing where he passed 20 - 25 cars. That's nowhere
near a mile of cars, of course.

In that situation, would I have filtered forward? Probably so. Would I
ride in the door zone to do that? Maybe yes, maybe no. Passing on the
left is usually safer than passing on the right. If I did pass on the
right and in the door zone, I'd certainly be riding very, very slowly -
like 10 mph or so. I think blasting at speed between parked cars and
stalled traffic is really foolish.

But again, that long backup is a situation that happens only very rarely
around here. I know where that happens, and I find routes to avoid it. I
do have some situations where filtering forward might save me one
traffic light cycle. In that case, I generally do not filter forward. As
with the "No Turn on Red" intersection that leads into my neighborhood,
I think it's important to demonstrate that _some_ cyclists play by the
rules. And how is a cyclist who violates laws to save a minute any
better than a motorist who violates laws to save a minute? How will I
change my life with that minute?

For the record, I've ridden downtown traffic at 5 PM in the very heart
of Pittsburgh, in a thunderstorm. I did it by following the normal rules
of the road and taking my place in the lane. I didn't get flattened by a
bus or even honked at by a driver. I got where I was going just fine.

--
- Frank Krygowski


Filming with a GoPro or the like looks always scarier than it is in real
life. You don't have to ride completely out of the doorzone. You only
need to have some reaction time. Doors don't open in a millisecond.


I strongly disagree. It's true car doors don't open in a millisecond,
but it's also true that you can't stop or swerve in time if someone
opens a door when you're at their back bumper. Work the numbers. Your
reaction time would probably be close to one second, which means you
wouldn't even have time to squeeze the brakes, let alone decelerate to a
stop. And no, you won't have time to swerve either.

And if you did swerve into a clear space to the left, why are you not
riding there in the first place?

Also, keep in mind that snagging a car door with your right handlebar
can easily be more traumatic than hitting a car door fully square. It
whips the bike's steering to the right, and the cyclist gets judo-thrown
to the ground at the left, sometimes in front of a passing car.

People blasting along cars within the doorzone thinking that it could
not happen are stupid.


On that, we agree.

It also is true that the door zone can happen in places you’d not expect I
know two people who got doored in multi lane roads by someone stepping out
into stop start traffic, one was a passenger of a car who got fed up
waiting so opened her door into the clear lane, other was a bus passenger
who the driver foolishly opened the doors for, and stepped out into the
path etc.

Roger Merriman


  #170  
Old May 14th 18, 07:18 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 824
Default Dynamo/LED power conditioning

On Monday, May 14, 2018 at 3:52:36 PM UTC+2, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/14/2018 5:18 AM, wrote:
On Monday, May 14, 2018 at 5:48:57 AM UTC+2, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/12/2018 9:42 PM, AMuzi wrote:
On 5/12/2018 8:11 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/12/2018 6:49 PM, Radey Shouman wrote:
David Scheidt writes:

Frank Krygowski wrote:
:On 5/11/2018 4:10 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
: Frank Krygowski wrote:
: :On 5/10/2018 11:19 PM, David Scheidt wrote:
: : Frank Krygowski wrote:
: : :On 5/10/2018 6:15 PM, John B. wrote:
: : :
: : : I suspect that you, like I, are what might be
called a sensible rider.
: : : RE, door zones, just slow down a bit so you have
time to dodge the
: : : door if necessary.
: :
: : :Um... no, that's not sensible.
: :
: : :Consider what happens if you're riding just 15 kph
and a driver pops his
: : :door open as you pass his rear bumper. There's no
way to stop in time.
: :
: : :If you're lucky, you'll hit his door squarely and
crumple beneath it. If
: : :you're unlucky, you'll snag the door edge with
your right handlebar, the
: : :bike will steer to the right, your body will be
thrown down to the left,
: : :and the motor vehicle you were worried about will
run over you.
: :
: : :Unlike mountain lion attacks, dooring really is a
danger. Most states
: : :don't record it as a car-bike collision, because
they record those only
: : :if the car was moving. But Chicago did keep track,
and found that
: : :something like 20% of car-bike crashes were doorings.
: :
: : And we have a $1000 fine for causing an accident by
dooring -- and the
: : cops write the tickets.
: :
: : on't ride in the door zone. Just don't.
: :
: : Yeah, you live in smallsville.Â* If I don't ride in
the door zone, it
: : takes me three times as long to get to work.
:
: :Why are those the only choices? Details, please. What
happens if you
: :move a few feet left?
:
: My commute invovles riding past a mile (literally, one
mile) of cars
: that are stopped at stop signs or lights.Â* Riding
between them and
: parked cars gets me to the light or sign in one
cycle.Â* Moving to the
: left puts me in stopped traffic.

:OK. That's an unusual situation, one that I think is
quite rare. We

Sounds like progress.Â* Several years ago I described
riding past more
than a mile of cars on a typical commute (not even
properly in the
city), and you simply refused to concede that such a thing
was possible,
never having observed it in your global travels.

I was being nice. I'm still pretty skeptical. Example: David
says the backup is "one mile (literally one mile)" but he
says if he rides past in the door zone he gets gets to the
light in one cycle.

The most common traffic light cycles are one minute, split
evenly between the two directions. OK, maybe this light has
longer cycles - say two minutes instead of one. Is he really
averaging 30 miles per hour as he rides past one mile of
cars in the door zone?

And I'm still curious about which city he's riding - and
now, which city you're riding in.

But again, I think such a situation must be pretty rare.
Give me more information to educate me.



typically:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfPebMP6SMg

including a non-fatal door at 6:33. I skipped through the 18 minutes,
noting there are bike stripes which weren't there back when I ride North
Clark from time to time. Overall, on one street, you get a
representational mix of urban commuter joys and sorrows.

Nothing wrong with taking a lane when appropriate but it's not always
appropriate. Or reasonable.

I watched a lot of that video, skimming some parts. Here's how it looked
to me:

The rider appeared glued to the door zone, passing dozens of parked cars
very closely. Most of the time he was doing that, the lane appeared
empty to his left. I can only assume this guy had never even heard of
door zones. I absolutely would have avoided the door zone. (And BTW, I
saw sharrows in the door zone, bike lanes in the door zone. One serious
tip is "Don't let paint do the thinking for you." Avoid that crap.)

Once that rider got deep into central Chicago, there was one place just
before the river crossing where he passed 20 - 25 cars. That's nowhere
near a mile of cars, of course.

In that situation, would I have filtered forward? Probably so. Would I
ride in the door zone to do that? Maybe yes, maybe no. Passing on the
left is usually safer than passing on the right. If I did pass on the
right and in the door zone, I'd certainly be riding very, very slowly -
like 10 mph or so. I think blasting at speed between parked cars and
stalled traffic is really foolish.

But again, that long backup is a situation that happens only very rarely
around here. I know where that happens, and I find routes to avoid it. I
do have some situations where filtering forward might save me one
traffic light cycle. In that case, I generally do not filter forward. As
with the "No Turn on Red" intersection that leads into my neighborhood,
I think it's important to demonstrate that _some_ cyclists play by the
rules. And how is a cyclist who violates laws to save a minute any
better than a motorist who violates laws to save a minute? How will I
change my life with that minute?

For the record, I've ridden downtown traffic at 5 PM in the very heart
of Pittsburgh, in a thunderstorm. I did it by following the normal rules
of the road and taking my place in the lane. I didn't get flattened by a
bus or even honked at by a driver. I got where I was going just fine.

--
- Frank Krygowski


Filming with a GoPro or the like looks always scarier than it is in real life. You don't have to ride completely out of the doorzone. You only need to have some reaction time. Doors don't open in a millisecond.


I strongly disagree. It's true car doors don't open in a millisecond,
but it's also true that you can't stop or swerve in time if someone
opens a door when you're at their back bumper. Work the numbers. Your
reaction time would probably be close to one second, which means you
wouldn't even have time to squeeze the brakes, let alone decelerate to a
stop. And no, you won't have time to swerve either.


Strange that I haven't been doored my whole cycling carreer, and we Dutch start at an early age as you know.


And if you did swerve into a clear space to the left, why are you not
riding there in the first place?


Of coarse if that is possible or the best option. Swerving is not the only option.



Also, keep in mind that snagging a car door with your right handlebar
can easily be more traumatic than hitting a car door fully square. It
whips the bike's steering to the right, and the cyclist gets judo-thrown
to the ground at the left, sometimes in front of a passing car.

People blasting along cars within the doorzone thinking that it could not happen are stupid.


On that, we agree.


Phweh...saved by the bell.

Lou


 




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