For the bike nerds...

Bike Lights - I live and commute in London and rate Hope lights extremely highly.  I have used the Hope 2 daily for the autumn/ winter daily commutes for the last two or three years.  Nothing has failed or shows any sign of doing so - even the battery holds its charge. I have recently purchased the R4 front and District rear lights.  My opinion is that in town particularly, street lighting patterns can almost render cyclists invisible to motorists and lights are the best means of being seen.  The Hope lights aren't cheap, but the rechargeable battery pack means that I never make do with near failing batteries/ levels of visibility - something I was guilty of doing previously.  High viz/ reflective clothing is too dependent on direct light hitting them - again, street lighting is not constant, with hotspots and areas of near shadow.  Stand at the side of a busy road one evening and watch cyclists along a stretch of, say, 200 metres and you should see what I mean.

Traffic Lights - In town, I am guilty of passing through red lights.  This is heavily qualified however - I always slow and check if pedestrian crossing lights are holding traffic from crossing my path.  If the pedestrian lights are red, I stop.  Every time.  If the pedestrian lights are green I will only proceed if there are no pedestrians crossing my direction of travel - it is very stressful for pedestrians not knowing if bikes will stop or not.  When the above criteria apply ie pedestrian lights green but no pedestrians crossing I proceed.  My logic is that many accidents occur at junctions and in my opinion the safest approach is to get away from junctions without the accompaniment of motorists jockeying for position.

General Safety - bikes are without doubt dangerous - sometimes due to inattention of the cyclist; more often down to inattention from motorists.  A bizarre accident befell a friend recently - he was travelling very slowly (less than 5mph) and accidentally bumped into the tyre of the bike in front.  He fell off, the guy in front fell off and they landed in a heap.  The outcome was a broken femur, more than 50 staples, titanium rod and ties around the bone and four months before being able to walk unassisted.  Nobody's fault, just a silly accident.

Cars - I'm not in agreement with the sentiment that motorists should be put away for long periods when involved in accidents.  My greater concern is the number of toys built into or added to cars.  I am referring to music systems, ipods, iphones, satnavs, etc.  Until the use of these is properly controlled, people will continue to be involved in accidents.  Use of moblile phones should be prohibited when the vehicle is moving - end of story in my opinion.  No exceptions for blue tooth/ hands free, etc.  I continue to be amazed at the number of people who continue to use their phones - for talking and for texting while on the move, with resultant extremely dangerous antics on show!

Car Lights (lack of) - Another pet hate of cars are those fitted with the constantly illuminated dashboards.  The number of times I see these cars being driven in very poor light with no lights on is incredible - the people seemingly don't realise there is a problem, because the dashboard is lit up like a Christmas tree!  Illuminated dashboards should be linked to automatic lights which cannot be overriden!

Squishy Cyclists - ultimately we are extremely vulnerable when out on bikes with a bit of polystyrene on our heads and thin lycra elsewhere.  Pedestrians and, more so, drivers (ie people!!) do not always behave the way you expect.  Taxi drivers in London are particularly effective at delivering left-field surprises whilst hunting fares.  The laws of probability are severely stacked against cyclists - we will almost always have our number tested once or twice a year.  I try to take a very defensive approach when it comes to vehicles and pedestrians (in the last three years I have still managed to run straight into pedestrians who incredibly just ran out into the road completely ignoring the lights). Defence is the only way I can think of working with the probability tables.  Where there is any impact, it is almost always going to hurt.  How much is not always predictable (refer to note about low speed accident above).  So, my golden rule is to be careful whenever there are dangers around, which is almost always!

Peter

Peter, I'm with you on Hope lights. Very bright and easily seen by most drivers. Exposure are the other ones i would recommend too. I used Catseyes for years quite happily. Then i changed just because it seemed like a good light etc, ( a bit like buying a 'thing' for your hifi!) and it is, fabulous, and as i say much brighter.

I come in from Catford, round a few back roads onto the Old Kent Road and then cutting through Webber St to Waterloo Bridge up through Covent Garden to the back of Tottenham Court Rd. What is your rough route in?

james

PS Peter do you find you get a wider berth in city traffic with the District?

My commute is very short - from Highbury to Holborn - all 3 miles of it!

Personally, I think the front light is the more important in town to maximise your chances of being seen by motorists coming out of side streets.  Out on the road is where I'd place more emphasis on the rear light to make sure drivers approaching at pace see you.

I'm not sure if motorists give more space but I cringe on a regular basis at other cyclists who seem happy to have a light even though it may have been on the last dregs of power for the last 6 months - a hint of a feint red glow being their only alert to motorists...

Motorists reactions at junctions - there is a very base mentality from motorists (and cyclists) moving off from junctions i.e. every one wants to be at the front often with little regard for others around them - whether they be cars, bikes, motorbikes; and even if only to sprint 50 yards to stationary traffic.  The changing of the lights is like a starters gun and makes for a dangerous place to be clipping in to your pedals on a bike.

Peter

The changing of the lights is like a starters gun and makes for a dangerous place to be clipping in to your pedals on a bike.

This is why I use rat-traps rather than toe-clip pedals. Much safer and quicker in traffic, even though I now will not ride the bike in town off segregated cycle paths.

ATB from George

I'd take issue with that. Bicycles (and bicyclists) hardly ever kill anyone.Motorists kill and main each other with disturbing regularity. They also kill cyclists and pedestrians. Surely it is the cars and associated motorists that are dangerous.

Not around here. Cars generally wait for cyclists to get moving. I usually veer a little to the right using the width of the cross street, away from any overtaking car whilst I get up to speed. I then carefully merge back in as required. Cars almost always politely allow me to do so.

If there is no room to get clipped in and get up to speed without getting squeezed, take the lane and just make the car wait until it is safe to pass.  They probably won't run you down out of frustration (although if you're in Australia, they just might).

Great comment.

I think at some level, motorists are also bitterly unhappy that they don't have the motivation and spirit to get out there on the bike themselves. They want adventure, but don't have the courage to pursue it . They see their lives increasingly being consumed by the mundane, destructive, soul-destroying and pointless world of traffic, and wish they were flying free like the scoff-law cyclist. More than a teeny bit jealous, methinks.

Winky

You have misunderstood the context of my statement - the danger I refer to applies to the cyclists, not those with whom they may come into contact.

Peter

Sounds good to me!  London is ever so slightly different - I think you may be a bit shocked were you to take to the streets over here at peak times.  We have green bike only boxes painted on the road at many junctions to allow cyclists a head start.  Motorists often take exception to this and are doing quite well if they manage to stop before the front of their vehicle doesn't oversail the entire box.  Motorcyclists too seem to believe they are permitted to stop here - they aren't by law, but it makes no difference in practice.  Cyclists too, feel compelled to cut up fellow cyclists without a thought to the potential consequences of their aggressive behaviour.  Yep, Canada sounds good!!

Peter

Pete, please may I ask which battery pack you're using for R4 and District? Thanks, Mark

Mark

I just use the standard battery pack with the splitter cable allowing both lights to be powered off the single pack.

My commute is only 3 miles in and the same or up to 10 miles home, depending on whether I take in a couple of hills around Highgate.  I top up the charge once a week.

I'm not sure what I would do if I travelled further in terms of battery packs, particularly as I've not tried to establish real world burn times on the different settings.
Peter

Thanks Peter. Do you ever train on Hillway nr Swains Lane? Not as long but quieter.