Control And Release

And here I thought I was the only smart biker in the world. Turns out there's a term for the kind of defensive riding I do on narrow roads: "Control and release". At least that's what John Schubert calls it in the latest issue of Adventure Cyclist. Here's what it means: When you are in a narrow lane that does not have room for a bike and a car without the car crossing the center line, the bike should actually move farther out into the lane when opposing traffic (or blind turns or hills) approach, thus completely preventing the car from attempting to slip by you in your lane (which forces either the oncoming car or the bike off the road). When traffic and/or visibility improves, the bike moves back to its normal position in the lane (more or less in the right tire track) and the car passes.

Although this may seem assholey, in fact it's for everyone's good because THERE'S NO WAY FOR A BIKE AND A CAR TO FIT SAFELY IN MOST LANES. (The only alternative would be for the bike to ride on the shoulder to let the car pass; I've done it on particularly busy roads, but it's ridiculous.)

I have been doing this for years, particularly on M-22 south of Empire, which is absurdly narrow with a sand shoulder, and Hamilton Rd. in Okemos, which has curbs and an occasionally impassible sidewalk (due to snow and ice).

A decent video describing lane controlling and general bike etiquette in traffic is here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU4nKKq02BU&feature=player_embedded. Interestingly, they advocate using an extended right arm to signal right turns, rather than the anachronistic upraised left hand. That makes sense. However, when they point out that bikes must use lights at night, they conveniently overlook the fact that there are no bike turn signals. So, again, bikes don't follow the same rules. They showed a biker riding at night with headlight and taillight, very nice, but then the rider did a token hand turn signal which was obviously invisible to the drivers behind him. A car driver would get a ticket for that. Furthermore, the riders in the video are constantly looking over their shoulders to check for traffic (that's safe?) because they don't have mirrors. Can cars and motorcycles drive without mirrors? I think not.

Obviously the recommendations for biking in traffic are fine, but still, as I argued in a previous post, when all is said and done, bikes don't have the same rules as motor vehicles, and they certainly don't have the same rights–I'd be arrested riding down Grand River Avenue in one of the traffic lanes at rush hour. And let's not forget the little problem I have at traffic lights that have car sensors: unless a car comes along, the light will never turn green for a bike.

So "control and release" is good riding practice, but it illustrates the inherent difference between cars and bikes in traffic. If we really had the same rights, we would always ride down the middle (or even left side) of the lane. But that would get us arrested.

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More On Lights

As I was riding to work this week (even colder: 9˚) the bulb on my Specialized Vegas headlight burned out. Not a big problem, as I had the Cateye el300 in reserve for just such an occasion, but it do present me with a dilemna: What to do about the Specialized light? It hasn't been made or sold in years and years, and you can't just go down to Ace Hardware for a 4V, .6A xenon bulb. (At least, I don't think you can.) A search on the web did turn up a source for replacement bulbs: http://www.reflectalite.com/, located in England. Pleasantly low-tech web site listing model numbers, descriptions, prices, and shipping costs, which you use to calculate total cost by hand. Arrange money transfer through PayPal, mention model number, etc, and cross your fingers (at least that's what I did). Shortly after I sent payment, I received email confirmation that my bulb was in the mail. At little over $9, which is a lot cheaper than replacing the light would have been.

I have been using the Cateye in the meantime. It works, in that it casts some light ahead of me, but not really. Better than nothing, but not much better. I'm going to experiment with mounting it at the fork crown, to see if I can make the light spot a little longer. Unfortunately, it really needs to be a little wider, and I can't figure out a way to do that. Perhaps a six-foot pole off to the right of the bike.

Update: I take back some of the bad things I said about the Cateye EL 300. Turns out the batteries that came with it were low on juice. (They pooped out on my ride home last night, after only a few hours of burn time.) When I replaced them with nice new Energizers, the light was actually quite nice. Not a lot dimmer than the halogen. (I'll use rechargables when the Energizers give out; I bought the disposables at a convenience store on the way home.)