Tag Archives: #CyclingTips

It’s not legal in California to roll through stoplights yet – though the “Idaho Stop,” as they call it, may become legal soon – so while cycling, you’re still required to obey traffic signals. But sometimes you are cycling and you get stuck at a red light that just won’t seem to turn. Crossing the intersection during a red light would be dangerous, and there are cars building up behind you. How do you get the light to change? Traffic signals are triggered not by weight, but by an electrical current induced by the metal of your bike. So, if you have metal wheels or a metal frame, the signal should be able to detect you. However, you have to be in the right place. Sometimes, you can look at the pavement and see the cuts the city made to lay down the wires. If the cuts are circular, your…
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Bicyclists can be very difficult to see at night, hence the necessity for lamps, reflectors and bright clothing at night. But recently, a group of independent bicycle dealers, industry representatives and bike advocates attended the Rider Safety Visibility Summit at California Bicycle, Inc. in San Diego to push a slightly different message: cyclists should not only use lights for visibility at night, but also during the day. It only takes a second when a cyclist enters a road environment for an accident to happen, and without lights and other visibility aids, cyclists can be hard to see for drivers. At the summit, advocates demonstrated a slew of new products that could help cyclists be noticed; for example, a Bluetooth-activated helmet containing lights and blinkers that could broadcast to other drivers the cyclist’s intention to turn. Others demonstrated super-reflective clothing and one consultant even showed off a rub-on product that would…
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