The cars facing us in the left lane on southbound Primrose are turning left onto Colonial. Those drivers want to make the light, so they're looking for the first opportunity to dash across — creating the potential for a left cross.
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Traffic flow is dynamic. It often has different characteristics at different times of day. It is also influenced by road design as well as upstream and downstream interchanges. Once you understand these influences, you can predict and exploit these patterns for easy travel through complex situations.
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A week after taking the November 12-13 CyclingSavvy Weekend course, John Alexander sent me an email asking what was the best way to ride over the Lake Mary Blvd/I-4 interchange. Most people (including experienced road cyclists) regard that interchange as impossible for a cyclist. But John didn’t. He wrote, “I ‘analyzed’ the drive up...
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“‘I’ll see it when I believe it’ is more accurate than ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’” – Social psychologist Karl Weick Regular readers of this blog know we recommend an assertive lane position when the lane is too narrow to share.  Our rationale was initially that when a cyclist is in the...
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The left cross is the crash type we bicyclists have most in common with motorcyclists. The techniques for preventing it are the same as those taught in motorcycle school. Of course, it’s much easier to learn in motorcycle school because there is no baggage of taboo or fear surrounding operating a motorcycle away from...
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Updated: 3/21/12 The thought of making a left turn from a multi-lane road is one of the things that makes people think vehicular cycling requires speed and athletic prowess. It seems like it would be a really difficult thing to do. But most of the time it’s...
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Mindful: Bearing in mind; regardful; attentive; heedful; observant We write often about vehicular cycling, AKA Effective Cycling. The focus of vehicular cycling discussion and education is usually on the mechanics of how to position ourselves, handle certain road configurations and avoid the mistakes of other road users. The mechanical components of cycling education are:...
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Narrow 2-lane roads can be more difficult than multi-lane arterial roads. No one likes making people wait behind them. It helps to be conscious of your actual impact on traffic. Sometimes 20 seconds feels like a lifetime, but does making motorists wait 20 seconds warrant pulling off the road or sacrificing your safety to...
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Cyclists hit by turning trucks is a repeating news story which highlights the most serious deficiency in our system — education of cyclists. Sometimes these crashes are caused by the truck driver passing a cyclist prior to turning right, but very often they are caused by the cyclist passing the truck on the right....
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A freeway entrance can create an intimidating road configuration for cyclists. It often involves a long right lane which diverges into an on-ramp. Cyclists operating with a typical far-right-curb bias can find themselves suddenly cut off by high-speed, right-turning traffic. Some will ride a foot to the right of the thru lane, blocking the...
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