18
Chapter 2
NO EXCUSES, BIKE TO WORK
NO EXCUSE
Don’t let any of the following stop you being healthier/better at your job/sexier/faster/richer...
“Cycling is dangerous.”
SAFETY IN NUMBERS Studies in many countries have shown that the number of motorists colliding with walkers or cyclists doesn’t increase equally with the number of people walking or bicycling. A 91 percent increase in cycle use since 2000 in London has been accompanied by a 33 percent reduction in cycle casualties since the mid-1990s. A 2003 study by Peter Lyndon Jacobsen, a Californian public health consultant, concluded that: “Since it is unlikely that the people walking and bicycling become more cautious if their numbers are larger, it indicates that the behavior of motorists controls the likelihood of collisions with people walking and bicycling.”
Do it wrong, and it can be. But august bodies such as the British Medical Association have long argued that the health benefits of cycling far outweigh the risks. The real danger to life is a sedentary lifestyle. Coronary heart disease is the West’s biggest killer, and cycling has a huge part to play in reducing deaths from CHD and obesity. Naturally, such a thought will be far from your mind when you venture, with a bike, on to a busy road for the very first time. You don’t want to go on roads? At some point, you’ll have to. Roads go everywhere; bike paths tend not to. Don’t use the same busy roads you would, automatically, use in a car. With some research, better routes can be found, perhaps on a mix of secondary arterial roads, bike paths, and park cut-throughs. This can sometimes work out shorter than the ‘direct’ car route on freeways and fast highways. For sure, cycling in traffic can be scary but there are tactics you can employ which will see you through. The key to safe cycling in traffic is remembering you’re operating a vehicle, you’re not a fast pedestrian: claim your road space, don’t be a ‘gutter bunny’; ride predictably; be ultra-aware of your surroundings; anticipate driver behavior; try to make meaningful eye contact with drivers crossing your path; ride with hands covering the brakes; watch for car doors opening in your face; and don’t take risks such as red-light running. Do not assume motorists have seen you, even if you’re wearing a garish jacket or are festooned with blinkies. Do not assume that a green light means you should proceed without caution, motorists sometimes blast through red lights. The same warnings work for pedestrians, too. They can look at you, and still walk in front of you. They can also appear out of nowhere. Cyclists need Superhero x-ray vision, constantly scanning the route ahead, watching for inattentive drivers and daydreaming pedestrians (both can be clamped to iPods and cellphones). Use quiet back roads until you gain the speed and confidence to travel alongside motorised traffic. This has the benefit of getting you to explore new parts of your locality, no bad thing. Much urban traffic in big cities - especially at peak times - is slow, packed tight in lanes, and, when inching along, of little danger. However, when speeding away from lights or making nonindicated turns or crossing right in front of you, cars can be bad news. Bikes are nimble and can jump into safe gaps but don’t assume your fragility is a talisman against impacts. Motorists are travelling in shells, insulated from the real world. They’re texting, drinking coffee, listening to the radio, dealing with squabbling