Month: December 2017

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Safety and bike riding (Part 1)

The thirtieth:
Time to remember

Article published in January 2015

2018_01

 

In 2018, we will be presenting four articles about biker’s safety. From January to April, four recommendations will be published each month. The first twelve are for those who ride bicycles and the last four are for car drivers.

 

1. Get on and off your bike as many times as necessary

Keeping away from comfort is the number one rule for the cautious biker. In most cities there are no special lanes for bikers. She will have to use improvised ways, cross streets where sidewalks have no slope, etc. Never take a risk, trying easy but dangerous maneuvers: get off your bike and walk a bit, in complete safety, however.

 

2. Wear a helmet

A bike has neither body nor bumpers, and stays upright only if the biker is able to keep its balance. The helmet will protect your head in a collision, always wear it. It will also be a sign for pedestrians and motorists that you are a responsible biker, and they will tend to show more respect to you.

 

3. Wear light colored clothes when is dark (be seen)

Early in the morning or in the evening, at night or when it is raining, traffic visibility gets poor. Who rides a bike needs to be seen by drivers and a simple, but very efficient way, is to use a light colored shirt. Or a coat, jacket, etc. White color, yellow, bold orange, or any other color that will make the biker recognizable at a distance.

 

4. Use the ringer when approaching (be heard)

Differently from a motorcycle or a car, whose purr tells you they are coming, a bicycle moves silently. If you notice that your arrival was not perceived and that it could create a risky situation, do a short “ring-ring”. It is a courtesy and will save from a fright pedestrians who walk in bike paths and also other bikers, especially when you come from behind or from the sides.

“I put down a tree because...

Trees together were a hiding place for thieves

This is the fifth text about alleged reasons to put down trees in urban areas. The objective of the present texts (a total of twelve) is to throw some light in this issue, avoiding the choice for the easiest way to solve problems: take a tree’s life.

Trees are Oxygen Producing Units (OPU), they are living beings, and their presence close to human populations is a standard of living rate. It is always good to remember that their absence could lead to the desertification of a whole region.

In the previous text, we talked about trees covering up an architectural work. When using trees as a hideout, someone does it, because a tree is covering him up. The concept of “covering up a view to humans” is a common fact among trees (especially if many) and an unfortunate excuse to put them down. See some examples:

* A highway administrator does not allow trees along the roads, because they might cover up the view to cameras or satellites.
* In war operations, armies use defoliators on forests, arguing that under the top of the trees, enemy troops could be hiding.
* In tree-lined streets, rapidly growing branches cover up traffic signs, especially during the summer.

Public safety is important, and, absolutely, none wants to stay close to a hideout of thieves. Pruning bigger branches could be a solution, in many cases. It does not kill the tree and makes it “cover up” a little less what we want to see. Another solution, laborious, though, would be replanting the trees in another area.

The question goes deeper, however. It is difficult to offer solutions, in a simple text like this, to chronic social problems such as criminality, war or bad will. Once again, it will be the individual and collective consciousness to decide the trees’ destiny. Trees don’t have a way to defend from human conduct.

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Riding around, Street Riding

The thirtieth:
Time to remember

Article published in December 2014

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In the legendary movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” we see Paul Newman having lots of fun riding a bicycle. That scene became famous, especially because of its background music, “Raindrops keep falling on my head”, an international hit by the ending of 1969 and 1970.

In the movie, the bicycle was a novelty. This is true also for children, who see it as an additional toy for them to play. They learn how to control it usually after some tumbles, and ride it with no definite course.

This initiation takes place most frequently in the backyard or in a park. What matters at this moment is prowling around, go back and forth, riding in curves. Only eventually they will be able to hold firmly the handlebar, ride in a straight line and follow some traffic discipline.

In another famous movie, “City of Angels” (1998), the protagonist Meg Ryan daydreams to her love partner while going home by bike. The happiness expressed in her face at that moment is unique. But the ending of the story shows that she was in a public way and in that situation… it would have been better to pay attention to the traffic.

We can envision here two different attitudes: riding around (moving in an unconcerned and pleasurable way) and street riding (managing a mean of transportation with respect to traffic laws). Always remember that to ride a bike safely in the cities, what matters most is to tell riding around from street riding. It is a matter of attitude.