Safety in Numbers?

[Robert Cooper]

In another thread,

On Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 8:20 AM, Peter LaDolce <plad...@barkstromlacroix.com> wrote:

    [...] As a personal look at big group rides, I have no problem feeling at ease
    with the Tour de Cure ride start even though I have seen a number of road
    scrapes ... yet I find myself very nervous at a Wednesday Mendon Ponds ride
    start so much so that I usually just want to go home [...]

Wow, I would love to hear some analysis of this.

Have we gotten to the point where we are afraid to ride together? Is “Safety in Numbers” real or merely folklore?

Would anyone here care to address this question?

Best,

Bob

--

Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles.

http://tinyurl.com/Why-do-you-ride-like-that

[Peter LaDolce]

I think as I stated it might be in part that I am stressed up from the 13 mile ride from downtown to Mendon and then not really ”knowing” some of the riders at the start like I know Jesse, Dave, Bob, Sara, Bill,  Mike, Paul, Dwight, Otto, Gary, etc. with the knowledge that at any time the express train (see names mentioned) is going to go and I need to find that wheel or your uncoupled.  During the T de C, I know there are many other riders that are less road worthy (for lack of a better name) but trying to have fun or personal best ride so I am more relaxed at the start even though I am on the lookout for the bad stuff while not creating any myself.

 

Peter L.

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[Robert Cooper]

T

here is a lot of talk on the BicycleDriving list right now with people trying to figure out if the fatality in Maine last weekend might have been precipitated by a wheel touch and only "resolved" by the kid's falling under the semi rather than "caused by" the semi. It's plausible. Two-thousand cyclists and most of them strangers to each other, I have to assume.

Another Option: Gust of wind from the semi-tractor-trailer precipitated a wheel touch.

Bob

[Roger Weston]

Would  never think of taking a hand off the handle bars when a Semi is approaching from front or rear. The turbulence can be too much and too sudden. In the Australia Outback, small cars and pickups can get blown off the Hwy when past by the Big Triple Trailers. Whatever helpful/good rules you ride by you need to follow all the time in certain situations and still be ready for the unexpected. One last note, the act or skill of reaching for ones water bottle as well as drinking and returning the bottle to the holder needs to be practiced so you can do it without any lateral bike movement and without allowing gaps to open between you and the rider in front of you. In racing when the BIG BOYS/GIRLS drink you better drink too because something is probably about to happen.remember, everything you do on a bike needs to be practiced, sometime, somewhere, somehow without causing interference to anyone or anything else. Enjoy the Ride..

Sent from my iPhone

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[Onno Kluyt]

Pete's observation about TdC triggered a thought. This year police blocked and cleared junctions for us for the first couple of miles. I don't remember this from previous years? But that was very nice!

I also remember less nervousness with unknown riders with tenuous skills at the beginning of the ride than previously. Maybe the weather played a role there? Less riders overall?

Onno.

Sent from my iPhone

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[dl...@rochester.rr.com]

I don't think that the large number of registered riders enters into the analysis, Bob. In my 15 years on this ride, it has been my experience that the riders are in smaller groups than you'd typically see at the Wednesday night MPP ride. The ALA starts riders in groups of 50 with 5 minutes in between, and the route start is such that it is 2-3 miles before reaching a public road, at which time the groups are quite spread out. Although most of this year's route was the same as last, I thought conditions were better, with wide shoulders and less road debris and broken pavement than in years past. There is a lot of passing that necessarily goes on with a ride of this sort, and a lot of excitement especially in those first miles where this occurred. A wheel touch is always a possibility. I will also say the ALA constantly reminds the riders that the Trek is not a race, that there are to be no pacelines, no drafting, and to ride single file, yet one does see them and worse rider behavior, just as on our club rides.

dl

David Lamb
585-733-3604

"America was established not to create wealth but to realize a vision, to realize an ideal - to discover and maintain liberty amoung men." (Woodrow Wilson)

----- Reply message -----
From: "Robert Cooper" <robertco...@gmail.com>
To: "Fast Friends" <fast-f...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Safety in Numbers?
Date: Thu, Jun 20, 2013 5:21 pm

T

here is a lot of talk on the BicycleDriving list right now with people trying to figure out if the fatality in Maine last weekend might have been precipitated by a wheel touch and only "resolved" by the kid's falling under the semi rather than "caused by" the semi. It's plausible. Two-thousand cyclists and most of them strangers to each other, I have to assume.

Another Option: Gust of wind from the semi-tractor-trailer precipitated a wheel touch.

Bob

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[Robert Cooper]

I am offering this as another source of ideas regarding Safety in Numbers and not to contradict what’s already been written by the Fast-Friends, most of whom have more experience than I with riding in groups.

On his blog, Mighk Wilson says:

As group size increases ...

    Personal responsibility decreases.

    Competition and “testosterone poisoning” increase.

    Communication between cyclists decreases.

    The influence of more experienced and level-headed riders is diminished.

    Complying with traffic control devices becomes more problematic.

http://mighkwilson.com/2009/08/protecting-our-rights-from-groupthink/

This blog entry also has an interesting set of replies in the Comments Section.