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Bikewise NZ Brendan Moyle Feb 15

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This post is syndicated from Chthonic Wildlife Ramblings – Original Post

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February is once again Bikewise Month in NZ- the time when we’re encouraged to get out on the bikes as much as possible. I’ve been steadily commuting with my bike all month, but to be honest, nearly every month is Bikewise Month for me. This month- well the combination of 70%+ humidity in Auckland and the NZ cycle-helmet laws (mutter, mutter)- have made it a tad unpleasant.

I had a brief chat to my daughter on the approved ways to stop a bicycle.
The first is to steadily apply the brakes to both wheels and coming to a safe stop. This is my preferred approach.
The second is to by passed by an Auckland motorist and clipped by a wing mirror or the like. In this dismounting technique, you get flung from the bicycle to slide spectacularly over the road surface using your body.
Then comes the really important part

Do not under any circumstances lose consciousness.

Your trajectory is going to take you into the path of other cars. If you lose consciousness or hesitate, you die. You have to get off the road quickly and only then check for bleeding and broken bones.

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• cycling
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3 Comments Leave a comment

1. 
   Helen Fitt 829 days ago

   True Brendan, your second suggestion is far from ideal! That said, in my experience it doesn’t actually happen very often…

   I don’t ride in Auckland but I have ridden in lots of busy, grim places (including central London before the congestion charging and massive extension of bike lanes) and, although it often gets scary, I’ve actually only been knocked off once by a car in 16 years of regular cycle commuting…and even then I came away virtually unscathed.

   This is not to suggest that we shouldn’t take steps to improve cycle safety, on the contrary, but I worry when people argue that they don’t cycle because it’s too dangerous.

   Recent figures from Cycling England (http://www.dft.gov.uk/cyclingengland/) claim that an average of 12 to 15 people per year die in cycling accidents in England…while around 50,000 die during the same period of ‘inactivity’ related causes. Of course the two figures aren’t directly comparable (because, aside from anything else, the cohort is clearly not the same size) but, they did make me stop and think.

   It’s certainly prudent to be really careful while biking, to choose routes with safety in mind, to practice good riding skills, to ride off-road if you’re intimidated by the traffic, and to lobby for better conditions for biking…but I’d be sad if we all stopped biking because it was too scary. All activities (even inactivity!) come with a risk and life is about managing and reducing the risks as far as possible…so let’s get on to trying to make it safer for everyone!

2. 
   Brendan Moyle 829 days ago

   I’ve only had it happen to me once also :) Prudent safety precautions help a lot.

   Like you I try to minimise risks by selecting routes with safety in mind. This means making use of some of the quieter side roads and (rare) bike lanes around the Albany area.

   Most motorists do try to accommodate cyclists, but there is a small core that really don’t seem to respect cyclists (or show much awareness). Auckland though has to be conceded, is not a very bike-friendly city.

3. 
   Helen Fitt 829 days ago

   I’m really glad you’re not regularly having to drag yourself semi-conscious out of the road!

   That’s good news!

   ;-)