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Tag Archive for: CyclingSavvy

daytime running lights

Daytime Lights: Magic Bullet Or Not?

February 7, 2018/13 Comments/by John Schubert

Two recent tragic bicyclist deaths in Florida resulted in a local newspaper column extolling the importance of daytime running lights. Without going into detail about these tragedies, I’ll say one thing: It’s doubtful that either death would have been prevented by daytime running lights.safety equipment for cycling

That’s the thing about tragedies and safety equipment. Whatever safety equipment you’re enamored of — daytime running lights, protective padding, helmets — it will help some times, but not others. But when you’re upset because a friend died, that kind of thought-chopping doesn’t come to mind.

Of this you can be sure: Safety equipment is an area where “always” and “never” don’t exist, and where emotional baggage leads all of us to want to cling to a magic solution.

As an expert witness in bicycle crash reconstruction cases,  I believe daytime running lights are usually superfluous. Yes, there are specific occasions where they do help. But they often are used as a makeshift solution for problems best solved by behavior change. If daytime running lights are offered as a do-it-all solution, they become grist for victim blaming when a cyclist was doing nothing wrong.

When To Light Up

Let’s start with the situations where daytime running lights do help. These would include fog, heavy rain, the sun low on the horizon, confusing lighting, and short sight distances on curvy roads.

Fog can reduce visibility to a very short distance. Where I live, in the hills of eastern Pennsylvania, the hilltops can be in the clouds and the valleys can be clear. Sometimes I may need daytime running lights — very bright ones at that — to be seen in the fog. But a half-mile later, I’m out of the fog, and visibility is good.

Some of the curviest country roads make a case for daytime running lights. Even so, if you measure the actual sight distance on a curvy country road, you’ll be surprised at how far it really is.  There’s plenty of space to slow down from curvy-road driving speed to cyclist speed. But there’s no harm in giving the overtaking motorist a wake-up call.

man cycling with daytime running lights

Scott Slingerland, executive director of Bethlehem, PA’s Coalition for Appropriate Transportation, demonstrates the effectiveness of daytime running lights earlier this month in Easton, PA.

view from rear of man cycling with daytime running lights

Scott is easy to see coming and going. But is this because of his lights?

Lane Position

It’s your lane position that affects how soon you’re seen, often more than any light can. This is especially true on curvy roads. If you’re hugging the curb on a curve to the right, you come into view later than a rider using a lane control position.

Dappled mottled light, on a tree-shaded road, makes a case for daytime running lights. The brain takes longer to assemble the picture of a bicyclist in such lighting conditions.behavior more important for cyclist safety than daytime running lights

Daytime running lights need to be bright enough to be conspicuous in daylight. If not, they’re no more effective than a rabbit’s foot. How often have you seen a bicycle light, in bad need of new batteries, blinking feebly — in broad daylight? I saw several on a recent trip to Philadelphia. A dim, poorly aimed daytime blinkie just sucks up the electricity to make the light even less effective at night when that rider absolutely needs it.

Brightness costs money. The least expensive bike lights (less than $10 for a front-and-rear set from a major discount retailer) are usually bright enough for nighttime use. But I wouldn’t bet on those lights being noticed on a sunny day. To be seen in daylight, you want a more powerful light. The taillights that have a strobe function (Portland Design Works Danger Zone and Planet Bike Superflash are two that come to mind) cost more than this. So do brighter headlights.

I recommend that you test daytime running lights in the situation when you might use them. Turn them on, take them outside, and see how they appear from 50 paces away. Do they jump out at you? Are you sure? Remember, you’re an alerted observer, and you are far more attentive to them than the people you want to see them. Those people are un-alerted observers.

When the Sun is Low: Your Shadow Points to the Danger

Does a daytime running light really solve the sun-low-on-the-horizon problem?

when the sun is low, your shadow points to the danger

While the world probably looks clear to this cyclist, his shadow points toward drivers on a high-speed arterial road who have the sun in their eyes – and may not see him as he violates their right-of-way

As we teach in CyclingSavvy, the sun low on the horizon can be a serious problem. Your shadow points in the direction of people who can’t see you. And in the class, we tell people to take a different route or to wait a few minutes for the lighting conditions to change.

The need to verify your lights’ adequacy is most especially true when the sun is low and casting glare. In that situation, you’re asking your daytime running lights to overpower the entire sun! If you do a good observation experiment — with several observers, please — take good notes and tell us what you saw. We’ll publish it. Bonus points if you take a good photo.

Blinded By The Light

What if your light is too bright? At a minimum, you annoy people. You distract drivers from their ongoing job of absorbing visual information and then going on to the next bit of visual information.

It’s a fad — a bad fad, in our opinion — to make emergency vehicle lighting so bright and so discordant that it’s difficult to look away from it. But look away you must, in order to focus on the path you need to travel. The driver needs to watch where she’s going, and watching the light display interferes with that.

Some of today’s lights are strobes, rather than light-emitting diodes. Are they too bright? In some situations, yes. For daytime running lights in pea-soup fog, probably not.

Remember, in normal lighting conditions, a cyclist in a black shirt is easy to see from 200 yards away. And all of us have an obligation to be looking when we drive.

Daytime running lights make you more visible, certainly. But if you were already visible, does making you more visible help? I don’t think so. You need to be relevant as well as visible. The nature of driving is that the driver discards most visual information. When he sees a bicyclist on the shoulder, his brain thinks, “That cyclist is out of my way, and he’s not a factor.” A blinking light is unlikely to change that thought process.Do daytime running lights make you more visible in court?

Any search engine will find you dozens of articles in which daytime running lights are praised as if they are mother’s milk. In those articles, people who don’t use daytime running lights are badmouthed. This is stunningly irresponsible, because it aids and abets victim blaming where it matters most — in court.

Imagine yourself, the victim of a motorist-at-fault car/bike collision. You were plainly visible. But the defense counsel brings out a stack of articles telling you what a jerk you were for not using daytime running lights. He asks you to read them aloud on the witness stand. Your emotions go south and your blood pressure skyrockets. After the first dozen articles, he calls for a break, and out in the hall, offers you $100 to settle the case then and there.

So. . . use daytime running lights mindfully. And promote them cautiously.

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/daytime-running-lights.jpeg 267 400 John Schubert https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png John Schubert2018-02-07 11:30:392018-08-23 18:39:12Daytime Lights: Magic Bullet Or Not?
savvy cyclist

The Cyclist’s Dilemma

January 31, 2018/3 Comments/by Bruce Lierman

When I begin bicycle training discussions, I often ask students what word they associate with cycling.

Most commonly, that word is Freedom.

Think back to your childhood. Your bicycle was quite likely the first technology you encountered that significantly expanded your independence. Once you had confidence in your operation and navigation skills, you were free! You could undertake longer excursions, and choose your own path.

You probably also chose how you rode. Absent significant instruction — or even if you had instruction, absent direct supervision — you made your own decisions about how you interacted with other vehicles or roadway users.

Many adult cyclists hold onto beliefs they derived from their early cycling experiences. These include:

  • You can ride a bike if you can balance and steer it
  • Getting from Point A to Point B is a question of navigating a lawless terrain where pragmatism is the first principle
  • The way to be successful on a bike is to capitalize on its form and design — its narrow profile and maneuverability — and to exploit the limitations of cars
  • Bicyclists don’t have to obey laws designed for motorists

Given our early preconceptions, who would see any need for further education in bicycle operation and traffic rules? Who would judge it worthwhile to learn how to adapt their cycling to principles based on traffic rules? As cyclists, must we give up our freedom and act like drivers? Are we really less privileged than pedestrians?

men riding bikes on sidewalk and on road

Who’s actually safer on his bike? Where is it easier to ride?

Childhood misconceptions imperil us as cyclists. These misconceptions impede a disciplined approach to easier and safer cycling.

There’s much to learn about how you as a cyclist can reduce the prospect of a crash, and even be able to predict where conflicts and stress are likely to occur, and how avoid them.

On top of this are the incredible benefits of savvy cycling: Understanding how to exploit subtle principles and traffic patterns adds tremendous value to your cycling. The fascinating thing about traffic patterns is that exploiting them not only makes cycling safer. It makes cycling more enjoyable and less stressful. Solving a few hard spots in your daily commute can make all the difference in your attitude when you arrive at your destination.

small savvy cycling session allow instructors to focus on students

CyclingSavvy offers small sessions that allow instructors to focus on each person’s needs.

The beliefs we accept as beginning cyclists or infer from the behavior we see in other cyclists can lead us into a stressful, hostile, and dangerous world. CyclingSavvy instructors know that there is another direction, and most anyone can take it if we can just get them to spend that 9 hours with us; to educate oneself about the most common types of traffic conflicts, and learn how to avoid the situations that lead to these conflicts.

So the dilemma for cyclists is whether to accept the constraints of traffic and learn how to use them, or to ignore them and make it up as they go.

The paradox is that while it appears cyclists give up independence by accepting and responding to the principles of traffic, they actually gain freedom of travel. Knowledge of traffic patterns and the skill to analyze any roadway situation will increase, not decrease, the places you can go by bike. Seemingly insurmountable obstacles to travel can be diagnosed, broken down, and overcome.

Come learn how.

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/bruce-lierman.jpeg 279 400 Bruce Lierman https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png Bruce Lierman2018-01-31 11:30:142018-08-23 18:39:43The Cyclist’s Dilemma
ebike law

E-Bikes: Education, Training & The Law

January 17, 2018/10 Comments/by Clint Sandusky

Electric pedal-assisted bikes are becoming more prevalent at bicycle industry trade shows and bike shops. They’re being ridden for recreation and transportation, at MTB races, and even now by some public safety agencies across the US and beyond. My purpose in writing this post is to point cyclists and cycling instructors in the direction of educational, training, skills and legal aspects associated with e-bike use. This serves only as a starting point. Never stop learning and improving your skills, whether on a “traditional” bike or e-bike!

clint sandusky at interbike 2017

Clint Sandusky at Interbike 2017, with an e-bike in the Bosch “Circuit” test track staging area

My experience and knowledge of e-bikes comes from riding eMTBs at Interbike trade shows, at home, and at a recent Southern California bike patrol class. I’ve also read countless articles on e-bike use in public safety and by the community. At Interbike 2017 I attended the presentations on e-biking offered by Bosch, People For Bikes and the International Mountain Bicycling Association. But don’t call me Mr. E-Bike. I’m always learning, too!

Education & Training

In her recent post “Savvy E-Biking To A Car-Free Future,” Karen Karabell writes:

[T]here’s a catch [to e-biking] many people don’t realize. With speed comes a greater need to understand the traffic environment: sight lines, door zones, blind spots, and common motorist mistakes caused by underestimating speed. Without this understanding, an e-bike may be just as likely as any other bike to gather dust in the garage after a few close calls. This is why the engagement of CyclingSavvy and e-bike owners needs to happen, and can’t be a moment too soon.

As a longtime bike patrol instructor and now bicycle safety advocate, I TOTALLY agree!

I’ll take Karen’s thoughts one step farther. Additional training and/or evaluation MUST be done for riders wanting to use an e-bike during any CyclingSavvy, Public Safety Cyclist or other bicycle safety course. This should be done prior to the start of a class (not on Day 1) to ensure the rider understands how to safely operate an e-bike and is skilled enough to use it. This also means that bicycle safety instructors — even if they don’t ride e-bikes — now need familiarity with their operations and challenges in traffic.bike safety instructors need to know how to operate e-bikes

Important topics and basic principles that should be discussed prior to or at CyclingSavvy or other courses where cyclists ride or are considering riding e-bikes include:

  • Hazards and conflicts associated with higher-speed riding. With speed comes responsibility!
  • Maneuvering and stopping considerations. E-bikes are 15 pounds or so heavier than their equivalent “traditional” counterparts
  • The dynamics of lane control, and a solid understanding of cyclist behaviors and how to use them. If you’re riding an e-bike at its maximum speeds, you want to do so ONLY when you’re practicing “driver behavior.” DON’T ride an e-bike fast on edge of the road, or on sidewalks
  • Legal & safety issues (to be discussed below)

When e-bikes are used during any type of cycling class, they must be inspected prior to use to ensure they’re safe and adequate.

By ensuring the rider has adequate knowledge and ability to use an e-bike and that the bike is safe to use, time and attention won’t be diverted from the other students in a class. IPMBA and the agency I teach bike patrol courses for are looking at these very issues.

Safety & Legal Issues

The adage of “speed kills” is a legitimate concern when using an e-bike, both for you and fellow roadway users. As an example, a Class 3 e-bike provides assistance only when the rider is pedaling, and ceases to provide assistance when the e-bike reaches 28 mph. Twenty-eight mph!!! You must have excellent bike handling skills and know how to protect yourself when you’re riding that fast. Simply manipulating the different modes of pedal-assist can be distracting for a novice cyclist.

Cyclists using e-bikes need to know how they and their bikes work together, especially under high-speed, emergency and/or adverse conditions. As Clint Eastwood said in the movie Magnum Force: “A man’s got to know his limitations.” Therefore, the faster you intend to go, the more skill and training you need.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Bicycle Products Suppliers Association were the first to define e-bikes. Initially California, then other states defined and regulated e-bikes into three classes as follows:

  • Class 1: Max pedal assist of 20 mph
  • Class 2: Max throttle assist of 20 mph
  • Class 3: Max pedal assist of 28 mph

“Conversion kits” are also available, allowing someone to turn a “traditional” bicycle into an e-bike. Cyclists should be very leery when adding this technology to their existing bicycles, especially due to the likelihood of insufficient braking systems and frames!

An NL Times (Netherlands) article from last September noted that “The number of fatal traffic accidents involving e-bikes is increasing, especially among older people.” Is this because Europe has embraced the use of e-bikes much more than the US, or because elderly people may tend to be less fit and skilled in higher-speed cycling?

Cyclists riding e-bikes both on- and off-road MUST know local, state and federal laws/regulations/definitions pertaining to all types of e-bike use, especially if they’re riding a Class 3 e-bike. This includes riding on sidewalks, bike lanes, shared-use paths and trails. I recommend e-bikers contact their local jurisdictions and/or land management agencies for up-to-date laws and regulations on where they’ll be riding.

Resources

cap says "Make America Fun Again" with bikesPeople For Bikes offers a handy guide to your state’s specific e-bike laws.

Lots of useful info at the Electric Bike Association, the industry voice for e-bikes.

While we don’t endorse specific products, Bosch powers many of the e-bikes on the road, and offers excellent information on the mechanics and technology of e-biking.

Bottom Line

Technology can be a wonderful thing in bringing people to cycling, and riding e-bikes is certainly FUN!!!

However, cyclists choosing to ride e-bikes — for their safety and the safety of others — NEED to take important steps to learn how to interact safely, legally and with less stress with all users of the road. A CyclingSavvy course will do that for you!

As always, be safe out there, everyone!

CA Post bike patrol

My best buddy, Eric, showing off his personally-owned Trek eMTB at a recent California POST bike patrol course.

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ebikes-clint.jpeg 301 400 Clint Sandusky https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png Clint Sandusky2018-01-17 11:30:552018-08-23 18:41:10E-Bikes: Education, Training & The Law
ebikes

Everyone’s A Racer Now

January 10, 2018/6 Comments/by Karen Karabell

How fast is your city? You might have missed this info at the bottom of last week’s post about electric bikes. For most trips, an e-bike could get you to your destination as quickly as your car.

The trick is knowing how to keep yourself safe while you zip around.

chart of average US driving speeds

Part Two

Four days after returning to St. Louis, I walked into my local e-bike dealer with my credit card ready. My husband and I didn’t own a cargo bike. After riding my sister’s electric cargo bike in Nashville, I wanted to see for myself if an e-cargo bike could truly replace car trips.

E-cargo bike pictured from the rear

One less car.

While we looked around the store, my husband noticed a lovely commuter bike. “That one’s used,” Archie, the dealer, told us.

It looked hardly used, and was deeply discounted. Harold and I would be able to ride together!

We bought it, and that hasn’t happened. Harold prefers his 100 percent human-powered bikes. There’s certainly good reason for that. With e-bikes it’s easier to get in trouble, because of the higher speeds a person can go. Harold calls himself “Old Turtle.” He likes to go slow.

I love using both e-bikes. To my surprise, I’m on the commuter much more than the cargo e-bike. I was on the commuter e-bike when I crashed.

A previous owner named the bike “Black Beauty.” I call it the “Black Stallion,” because it zips along like the most gorgeous beast.

When I had my accident, I was riding on Kingshighway, one of our town’s major arterial roads. The Stallion and I were zipping over to The Hill, an Italian neighborhood about three miles from my home. I was in the outer of three lanes and stopped at a red light with other traffic. I planned to turn right, and had already signaled my intentions to the driver behind me.Speedy e-bikes

While waiting at the light, I glanced to my left at a woman in a white car. She thankfully saw me, too, because of what happened next.

The light turned green. A shiny red pickup truck in front of me started to go. The Stallion took off as I engaged both the throttle and pedal assist, which was in its highest speed.

Then the driver in front of me stopped.

I slammed on my brakes to avoid hitting the back of the truck. Because this e-bike’s back end is heavy — that’s where the battery is — I didn’t fly over the handlebars. But I did lose control. I fell to the left on the road, and was suddenly blocking two of the three lanes of traffic.

At the time I had a milk crate zip-tied to the rear rack. As I fell over, the crate’s contents spilled onto Kingshighway. (Yes, after this escapade I started using a bike cargo net.)

The woman in the middle lane stopped her white car and jumped out. “Are you OK?” she asked. “I’m fine,” I responded as I stood and lifted my bike back up. “I just didn’t want to hit the truck in front of me.”

I don’t know what story she told that night at her dinner table, but that’s my version. Mainly I was embarrassed, holding up TWO of the three lanes of traffic going in my direction. All I wanted was to get out of the way.

The woman found my U-lock in front of her car. She picked it up and gave it to me. I waved apologetically to all the people I was holding up and walked my bike and bruised ego onto the sidewalk.

e-bike and empty arterial road

This is typically how the Kingshighway bridge looks as I cross it. There’s nothing scary about empty pavement!

e-bike on sidewalk overlooking next traffic wave.

While the light is red, though, lots of others pull up and wait at the light with me. When I slammed on my brakes and crashed to avoid hitting a pickup truck in front of me, this bike and I blocked two of the three traffic lanes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll make a mistake once, but not twice. As soon as I got home, I described what happened to my fellow CyclingSavvy instructors. I needed to talk about this. I never dreamed I could smash a bicycle into the back of someone else’s vehicle! CSI Brian Cox, a fellow e-bike enthusiast and bike shop owner in Southern California, had excellent advice.

“Leave a car length between you and the motorist in front of you,” Brian wrote. “You now have the speed to beat motorists off the line and you are responsible to not hit the motorist in front of you.

“With a people-powered bicycle, you did not have the acceleration capability you now have with a motorized bicycle.”

CSI John Schubert offered framing that I’d never considered.

“With an eBike, we ordinary riders can now ride at racing speeds,” he observed. “We therefore need the vigilance, razor sharp attention, and caution that go with riding that fast.”

Hmm. John’s right, though when I’m practicing “driver behavior,” I’ve felt fine riding the bikes at their max speeds of 20 to 25 MPH.

E-bikes magnify the need to understand both cyclist and motorist behaviors. For example…

My e-bikes have indeed replaced my car trips. But I’m well aware that they are still bikes — and that no motorist wants to be behind me, even if I am going as fast as Lance.

This is part of being savvy, too: How to help others who want to go faster than you do so, easily and without conflict.

Then — especially on an e-bike — you invariably pull right up behind them at the next red light. Just make sure not to hit ’em.

CSI Shannon Martin had comforting words.

“As more riders adopt e-bike technology, experiences like yours will help riders understand the power of the machines they ride and the need for sound bicycle handling skills to keep themselves safe.”

 

 

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ebikes-karen2.jpeg 227 400 Karen Karabell https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png Karen Karabell2018-01-10 11:30:402018-08-23 18:41:43Everyone’s A Racer Now
ebikes

Savvy E-Biking To A Car-Free Future

January 3, 2018/11 Comments/by Karen Karabell

Part One

My sister warned me. “After you ride mine, you’ll want one.”

She was talking about her electric bicycle. Ironically, she’d never heard of e-bikes until I suggested she buy one.

Pull quote highlighting text: Nashville terrain kept her from bike commutingShannon learned to ride when she was 11, but for the next 30 years or so, showed no interest in bicycling, except to comment on observations she’d made from behind the wheel of her car.

During those years we enjoyed lively conversations about bicycling. If Shannon asked my opinion, I’d give it. Otherwise, I tried not to proselytize.

I’ve been an avid transportation cyclist for years, but I’m well aware that this is a tough sell to most Americans.

“C’mon now. Can it possibly be safe AND courteous to ride a bicycle in traffic?”

Adult bicycling education is an even tougher sell.

Savvy cycling makes transportation cycling a no-brainer. Yet you don’t learn this stuff overnight. Savvy cycling needs to be experienced. Then it takes time to process what you’ve experienced. There’s a lot to absorb, and deep cultural conditioning to overcome. So, I didn’t push my love of cycling on my sister.

But then, out of the blue in the Spring of 2016, Shannon called with shocking news.

“I bought a bicycle,” she said.

“Really?” I responded. Nothing she could tell me would have surprised me more.

Once Shannon decided to get a bike, education was an easy sell! Shannon is the kind of woman who becomes an expert at anything she sets her mind to. She read voraciously about bicycling and signed up for CyclingSavvy Online (there were no CyclingSavvy instructors in Nashville at the time). She loved the online course so much that she decided to travel to St. Louis to take an in-person workshop.

Shannon on trike in St. Louis

Shannon used her recumbent trike when she participated in a St. Louis CyclingSavvy workshop in August 2016

Pull quote highlighting text: I'm a textbook example of how an e-bike transformed me into a cyclist.

Shannon discovered for herself 1) the tremendous control she could have over her safety while riding and 2) that it was impossible for her to significantly delay motorists. Trust me, she tried. One of her vehicles is a recumbent tricycle. You have to change lanes to pass those things.

In traffic-choked Nashville, she figured that she could get to her office almost as quickly on her bike as in her car. She was ready to ride everywhere. Then Middle Tennessee’s “hills” put the kibosh on her plans to become a bicycle commuter, at least temporarily.

Nashville features gorgeous mountainous terrain, a challenge for anyone who commutes by bike. Shannon has no shower at her office. She didn’t want to carry multiple sets of clothes, and needed to look professional when she arrived. I suggested she consider an e-bike, even though I knew next to nothing about them.

She researched various brands, and rode e-bikes in New York City and Nashville. She decided to patronize a local dealer, and bought not one but two: a cargo and a commuter. I loved hearing about her adventures with each e-bike, which served very different purposes.

When I went to Nashville last April to celebrate Shannon’s birthday, we rode her e-bikes around town.

She was right.

I wasn’t “sold,” though. I was captivated.

Riding an e-bike in Nashville traffic

Shannon riding on Hillsboro Road in Nashville, Tennessee

E-bikes aren’t replacements for bikes. They replace cars. They can move you across town, and over steep hills, at higher speeds with less effort while still offering clean, low-cost transportation. What a tremendous opportunity to change the conversation about transportation, and maybe finally make bicycling normal in America.Pull quote highlighting text: With speed comes a greater need to understand the environment.

But there’s a catch many people don’t realize. With speed comes a greater need to understand the traffic environment: sight lines, door zones, blind spots, and common motorist mistakes caused by underestimating speed. Without this understanding, an e-bike may be just as likely as any other bike to gather dust in the garage after a few close calls.

This is why the engagement of CyclingSavvy and e-bike owners needs to happen, and it can’t be a moment too soon.

“I am a textbook example of how an e-bike transformed someone who doesn’t ride into a cyclist,” Shannon said.

That, and a solid knowledge of savvy cycling. Shannon went on to become a CyclingSavvy Instructor. (I wasn’t kidding when I called her an expert.)

Now that I’ve told you some of Shannon’s story, I want to tell you mine. But that’ll have to wait until next week.

Next Week: The Crash

The Reality of Speed

While pondering how to make the shidduch of e-bike owners and CyclingSavvy, I did some Googling. It hopefully won’t be news to you that personal automobiles are a major cause of global warming. But do you truly appreciate how shockingly inefficient cars are at getting us anywhere?

chart of average US driving speeds

How fast is your city? If you click through, you’ll likely be surprised at how slow motorists are in cities. Your e-bike can get there just as quickly.

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ebikes-karen1.jpeg 239 400 Karen Karabell https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png Karen Karabell2018-01-03 11:30:532018-08-23 18:42:18Savvy E-Biking To A Car-Free Future
savvy cycling

The Cycle of Habit and the Habit of Cycling

December 27, 2017/11 Comments/by Mighk Wilson

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

I’m a habitual reader, bordering on addiction. I’ve always got (at least) one book going, and when I finish it I’m immediately looking for my next “fix.”

At the recommendation of my wife, Carol, I’m now reading The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg. It’s an engaging and enlightening investigation of how our habits are formed, how difficult it is to change them, and how we can create new ones.

My other major habit is, of course, cycling. My habits of reading and cycling began around the same time, and perhaps for the same reasons. My earliest memories of reading are tearing through the SRA Reading Lab cards, starting in first grade. First grade was also when I finally managed to get the training wheels off my bike and ride on two unfettered wheels. Both served my curiosity and desire for freedom and exploration. As a teen I’d sometimes carry a book on my summer break cycling explorations in rural northeast Ohio. I’d often stop in a park in some small town and read. Today I cannot imagine a life without either habit.

I’ve certainly thought of my cycling as a habit, but never in the clinical sense as explored in Duhigg’s book. Perhaps that’s why I’ve always bristled when asked by a non-cyclist acquaintance I haven’t seen for some time: “Are you still bicycling?” It sounds vaguely accusatory to me, like: “Are you still an alcoholic?” I’ve been so permanently hard-wired as a cyclist that it’s just like a chemical addiction.

Unlike most adult cyclists, I didn’t give up cycling when I got my driver’s license, then pick it up again some years later when looking for a way to “get back in shape.” I never had to “create a new habit” for cycling, so I may not be the best person to tell you how to do that. But building any new habit requires removing barriers to the new behavior, and then rewarding yourself when you do it.

Removing barriers could include putting your bike in the most convenient place to be used, buying a floor pump so it’s easy to keep your tires inflated or – best of all – being comfortable riding on the streets where you live and work, so you don’t feel like you have to load your bike onto your car and take it to a trail to ride.

And rewards? Well, that’s the easy part. Cycling burns calories, so you can reward yourself with your favorite food or drink.

“Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.”               – Mark Twain

What keeps so many of us from biking more is other peoples’ habits – particularly motorists. So much of what we hear and see in bicycle “advocacy” is really not advocacy of cycling at all; it’s advocacy to suppress or change the habits of motorists. As hard as it can be to change your own habits, it’s many times harder to change the habits of others. Especially when those others outnumber you 100-to-1. Motorists don’t necessarily improve their habits when a bike lane, sidewalk or sidepath is built, or when a new law is passed.

In order to change a habit you need a cue and a reward. Finger-pointing is counterproductive. Telling others “You have to change your habits for my sake” is a non-starter. Even if they did want to change, are they going to get enough opportunity and practice to learn a new habit?

For example, the most common crash between a motorist and bicyclist is when the motorist is pulling out from a driveway or side street preparing to turn right and the cyclist is coming down the sidewalk facing on-coming traffic. The average motorist might look just a few feet to the right where a pedestrian might be. But to see a cyclist approaching at 12 miles per hour, that driver will need to look at least 100 feet down the sidewalk to the right. They rarely do. In most areas the chance that such a driver will encounter an approaching cyclist is very small. A cyclist might come by once every fifteen minutes.

So even a motorist consciously trying to build a new habit is going to get little opportunity to practice. The cues are rare, and so are the rewards. The same can be said for all the other less-common types of conflicts.

Advocates like to tout the safety of cycling in The Netherlands, but may not realize that Dutch drivers have always had far, far more opportunity to build the habits of scanning for, yielding to, and safely passing cyclists. Long before the Dutch started building so many bikeways, it was common to see 10 to 15 percent bicycle traffic in their cities. That means one out of every seven to ten street users is a cyclist. Think of the habit-building opportunity in such an environment compared to the average American street, where cyclists are less than 1 percent.

Rather than tell millions of others to change their habits in an environment that discourages them from doing so, what if we changed our cycling strategies to take advantage of the habits drivers already have?

That’s what CyclingSavvy is: A set of strategies designed to take advantage of the habits American motorists have now. Our challenge at American Bicycling Education Association is to make successful cyclist safety strategies habitual for American cyclists. With a New Year around the corner, that will be – continues to be – our resolution.

What’s your resolution to make cycling a stronger habit for you and your friends? What cues and rewards will you use? Please share your comments below!

 

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/cycle-of-habit.jpeg 297 400 Mighk Wilson https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png Mighk Wilson2017-12-27 11:30:092018-08-27 20:49:01The Cycle of Habit and the Habit of Cycling
stephen mckenney steck

Palpable and Priceless

December 13, 2017/1 Comment/by Stephen McKenney Steck

Recently I completed 1,000 consecutive days of riding my bicycle an average of 17 miles each day. During those 1,000 days, I cycled an average of 90 minutes each day. The cumulative mileage ridden totaled 17,907 miles–enough to have cycled almost three-quarters of the way around our planet.

I understand such consistent focus is called a “streak.”

man wearing bike helmet on bike trail

Stephen McKenney Steck

I Googled the phrase “notable cycling streaks.” In less than a second, 279,000 search results appeared.

A brief look at a few of the search links made me realize my 1,000-day streak places me in the “slacker” category, at least compared to a cyclist who has ridden 24 consecutive years or 8,760 days.

My streak standard of measure is not complicated. I ride daily and for at least 30 consecutive minutes per day. When not on a tour, I cycle alone and in the early morning hours before full sunrise. I’ll allow myself the use of an indoor stationary cycle if need be, though that’s not yet happened. I can stop after the first 30 minutes, say for attending a church service or meeting a friend for coffee, and then I resume whatever route I’m on until I’m done for that daily ride.

Two to four times per year, I ride in organized events or on solo cross-country rides. The streak applies here, too. On cross-country rides, I do take a break on the 7th day, but still maintain my streak commitment on that “rest” day by cycling the requisite 30 minutes.

I keep a journal in a spreadsheet-like format recording usual stats like speed, miles, moving time, heart rate, calories burned, etc. I link each day’s results to a cumulative total so I can easily see my streak results.

grandpa and grandson with beach behind them

Stephen with his grandson, Lawson Stephen Horner

Here’s the important point: I credit CyclingSavvy courses for giving me the confidence to safely navigate urban, suburban and rural country roads. Without their incredibly helpful instructors, cycling and my streak would never become something I look forward to each day and each mile.

I admit to being fascinated by the streak concept — not only the derived physical and emotional benefits, but also what I learn about managing my own “system resources” like nutrition, rest, heart rate, conditioning, bike fit, concentration and applying what I observe to my newfound interest in cycling centuries (100-plus miles as one daily event). I’m likely to turn these centuries into a streak-within-a-streak by cycling at least one century per month.

All of this is pretty comfortable to do as I live in Florida, where it’s possible to cycle outdoors any day of the year. I’m not sure I can maintain the century streak on a cross country ride as terrain and the 50-60 miles per day routine together with a full load drags me down a bit! But I’m giving it serious consideration.

I have loved cycling since I was a kid. In fact, at age 14, I held Florida’s title as the state’s second fastest junior road-bike cyclist of 1957. I don’t boast too much about this as there were only 3 of us in the final deciding race. I knew I couldn’t out sprint the ultimate winner, and the remaining cyclist crashed on the last mile. Thus I claimed second place by simply crossing the finish line!

By my late teens I started a 50-plus-year career in broadcasting. Soon, I grew away from cycling because of challenging career opportunities and building a family. At age 55 I took up marathon running until I retired from work at age 64. Proudly, I’ve completed all 67 marathons in which I ran. I’m a member of the U.S. 50 State Marathon Club and the 7 Continents Club (yeah, including Antarctica!).

highlighted text bicycling and soaring spiritsWhy do I streak? I’m a persistent guy and don’t shy away from challenges. Upon retirement, I drifted back to cycling with a desire to ride across the United States. Getting in condition for such long daily rides led me to realize that I had cycled 20 to 30 days in a row. I wondered how long I could maintain such a practice and only then realized that’s a streak!

After 1,000 consecutive days, you can appreciate the benefits. For instance, I’m the hero of my medical doctors when compared to their more sedentary patients. My mental health is always enhanced when I’m on my bicycle. My appreciation for nature is amplified by what I see as I cycle around the country and in my own community. And my spirit soars on the bicycle as the world around me unfolds –- in an embrace that’s palpable and priceless — mile after mile and day after day.

You bet. I’m gonna keep at this streak thing!

man and touring bike in front of pacific ocean at san diego

With his Co-Motion Pangea touring bicycle, Steve finishes his east-to-west cross-country ride at the Pacific Ocean in San Diego, CA

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/stephen.jpeg 299 400 Stephen McKenney Steck https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png Stephen McKenney Steck2017-12-13 11:30:362018-09-24 23:55:48Palpable and Priceless
katherine tynan

The Day CyclingSavvy Saved My Life

December 6, 2017/1 Comment/by Katherine Tynan

With encouragement from my circle of friends, my New Year’s resolution was to make 2016 a year of bicycling. The amount of time I’d spent on a bicycle ebbed and flowed over the decades since I ditched training wheels. As 2016 unfolded, I was making significant progress on the goal: To put more miles on my bike than on my car.

Serendipitously, 2016 would be the year savvy cycling came into my life. I’ll never forget two sentences I heard that summer on an August afternoon:

“If you find yourself to the right of a turning truck, get off the road!” said Instructor Matthew Brown during Truth and Techniques of Traffic Cycling, the classroom session of Cycling Savvy. He was describing why cyclists should never ride to the right of a big truck. “They can’t see you and will crush you as they turn.”

I was taken aback to be hearing this for the first time. Information this important should be part of EVERY conversation about bicycling for transportation!

Matthew further emphasized this point during the next day’s Tour of St. Louis. In Forest Park, he walked us to the corner of Clayton Road and Skinker Blvd. There we observed for ourselves the deep ruts in the ground from off-tracking tractor trailers.

5 women stand next to a man holding a boy on street corner Amoco sign in background

Matthew Brown (holding his son) shows the evidence of big trucks off-tracking as they turn right.

 

I signed up for CyclingSavvy out of intellectual curiosity.  I had been riding for transportation for many years, and was fortunate to have picked up some best practices.

I went into the workshop already feeling confident about bicycling in the travel lane. I already signaled my turns, stayed out of the door zone, rode in the same direction as other traffic, used lights at night and had decent bike handling skills. Ten hours later I headed out with new techniques and ideas in my back pocket, should the need arise.

Brompton leaning on street sign pole for W Brompton Avenue in Chicago.

My vehicle of choice for travel.

A few months later I found myself with an afternoon to explore Chicago by Brompton. Encouraged by my Sweet Success in Skokie the previous evening, I was excited to enjoy a beautiful fall afternoon. I scribbled a few addresses and directions on a piece of paper, and was off with a power pedal to explore Chicago’s north side. With the Cubs in the World Series and the Chicago Marathon taking place, the easiest way to get around the Windy City would be on my flexible and maneuverable vehicle.

I was making my way back from exploring The 606, a former elevated rail track turned into a greenway. I was riding on a road with one travel lane and one bike lane in each direction.

There wasn’t on-street parking to create a door zone. The block was long so I’d have a while before I’d need to negotiate with possible right-turning traffic. The winds were strong that day, which gave me another reason to use the bike lane. I was not moving much faster than a pedestrian.

I pedaled along my merry way. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a yellow blinking light on the bus passing me in the travel lane. In a split second I had both hands on my brakes, pedals level, and torso over my saddle, throwing my weight back in an emergency stop.

Seemingly oblivious to my presence on the road, the bus driver pulled the bus over to its stop right in front of me.

I put a foot down and watched as while the bus loaded and unloaded.

I took several deep breaths and attempted to compose myself. My understanding of traffic patterns, bicycle handling skills, and brakes in good working order had just saved my life.

I don’t know why I was irrelevant to the bus driver. Perhaps he or she saw me and underestimated my speed. Understandably, the driver’s attention was probably on the traffic in front of the bus, and on the passengers on the sidewalk waiting to board.

Woman in blue windbreaker pedals folding bicycle to pair of cones on parking lot

Katherine practicing Quick Stop during Train Your Bike, CyclingSavvy’s parking lot skills session

In a perfect world, I would have done more route planning. That day my route planning consisted of a quick check to make sure streets I was using didn’t have door-zone bike lanes. After all, this was a leisurely afternoon ride. If I wasn’t having fun I’d hop on transit.

A bicycle lane on a road with regular bus service wouldn’t be my first choice–nor were Chicago headwinds. In my estimation the benefit of traveling at a slow pace outweighed the risk of riding in that bike lane. It was my choice that day in heavy traffic conditions with no other release option.

Without a doubt, CyclingSavvy saved my life that afternoon.

Being an empowered bicycle driver turned a potentially deadly situation into a footnote on an otherwise delightful trip. I’m thankful for the simple ways I can keep myself safe on the road.

Brompton bicycle leaning on the gate to Wrigley Field.

Friendly way to travel to the “friendly confines” of Wrigley Field.

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/kat-savvy-safe.jpeg 225 400 Katherine Tynan https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png Katherine Tynan2017-12-06 11:30:152018-08-27 20:53:28The Day CyclingSavvy Saved My Life
american bicycling education association

On Giving Tuesday, ABEA Gives Joy

November 28, 2017/0 Comments/by Carol Wilson

Why do I give to the American Bicycling Education Association? Why does anyone give to ABEA?

Because ABEA’s programs give back so much to the people touched by them.

Consider Orlando Huguet Jr., Safety & Training Coordinator for the Risk Management Division of Fort Lauderdale’s Human Resources Department. Earlier this month he was a participant in ABEA’s flagship program, CyclingSavvy.

Perfecting bike handling skills in sunny Orlando, Florida.

Orlando Huguet Jr. practicing emergency stopping with CyclingSavvy instructors Lisa Walker and Mighk Wilson.

Orlando wants to become a CyclingSavvy Instructor, so he can teach Fort Lauderdale employees best practices for bicycling. That he gave one of his precious weekends to travel to Orlando, FL, to take the course speaks volumes about the reputation of the CyclingSavvy program. But it was what he wrote afterward that really caught our attention:

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you and the rest of the CyclingSavvy team for facilitating such a very informative and interactive course.

Until I had attended your course, I thought I knew everything I needed to know on how to safely ride my bicycle. Your course is really amazing in that it changes old ways of bicycle riding thinking and opens a rider’s eyes to new and safer ways on how you should be cycling, as well as expanding your travels to other areas around town.

I never thought I would be riding my bike down the middle of a three and four lane road way or making left turns at major intersections.

But your course gives the rider a sense of renewed confidence and opens the bike owner to having more hours of safe riding enjoyment that they perhaps never thought possible.

I look forward to joining the CyclingSavvy Team and I am excited to help promote more potential bikers to take to the road with more confidence and in absolute safety.

And so one student from one CyclingSavvy class will lead a ripple effect of giving to others, as Orlando goes on to become a CSI so he can further share his newfound knowledge.

What other investment pays such handsome dividends?

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us and the holiday season is rushing along at full speed, on this Giving Tuesday I hope you’ll pause a moment and consider making a gift to the American Bicycling Education Association.Savvy cyclists are expected, respected and normal.

We rely on your donations to operate. Many people think ABEA must be a large organization with deep pockets to produce such high-quality programs and train outstanding CyclingSavvy Instructors. But actually ABEA is still quite small. Last year’s budget was in the five digits. We stretched–well, we begged a little, too–to cover the upfront costs of developing CyclingSavvy Online. This year we stretched again to hire Shannon Walsh, ABEA’s new associate executive director, to help with marketing and the development of ABEA’s programs. In the history of bicycle education, CyclingSavvy is a quantum leap forward. We want everyone to know how easy it can be to choose bicycling!

This holiday season we are thrilled to have received not one but TWO matching gifts for donations up to $1,000. The donors behind these gifts especially hope you will donate to ABEA. For now, if you join or donate to ABEA, up to $1,000 of your gift will be matched TWICE, meaning your gift is tripled.

Your donation will enable ABEA to expand CyclingSavvy to new places across the U.S. and reach more people with this life-changing and life-saving program.

In the few years of CyclingSavvy’s existence, we’ve received numerous testimonials as glowing as Orlando’s. We are thrilled by each and every one. Right now we need your support to keep ABEA and CyclingSavvy going and growing.Help others discover empowerment for human-powered travel.

Our fundraising goal between today and year end is $10,000. If we reach our goal all with donations of $1,000 and below, that will mean $30,000 for ABEA! If you’re not already a member, please join today! If you are a member, we deeply appreciate your generosity in providing a year-end gift. ABEA is a 501(c)(3) educational organization. Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

A heartfelt thank-you to ALL our donors who made it possible for Orlando to experience CyclingSavvy. It’s deeply gratifying to know that he will continue to pass along safest and best practices for bicycling.

See what you started? Please make your gift today, on Giving Tuesday, or as soon as you can. Keep spreading the joy of savvy cycling. Remember your gift up to $1,000 will be tripled while we have double matching gift offers. Help us reach our goal of $10,000 which, with matching gifts, means $30,000 for ABEA to provide groundbreaking bicycling education to more people like Orlando!

 

 

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/giving-tuesday.png 209 400 Carol Wilson https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png Carol Wilson2017-11-28 11:30:382018-08-27 20:54:16On Giving Tuesday, ABEA Gives Joy
american bicycling education association

Team ABEA

November 22, 2017/0 Comments/by Carol Wilson

Did you know the American Bicycling Education Association has a team? Not a cycling team, a Cycling Education team!

Strategies to make bicycling easy, even under challenging conditions.

CyclingSavvy co-founder Keri Caffrey teaching last weekend in Orlando

While we ride our bikes (a lot), you’ll find team members engaged in many other activities. We write posts for The Savvy Cyclist. Want to contribute? Let Karen Karabell know. She’s the editor, and will send you a link to editorial guidelines.

We maintain ABEA’s websites. It’s a big job building a new national organization! We have several websites serving different purposes.

You may already know that ABEA is the non-profit parent of CyclingSavvy and CyclingSavvy Online. Have you explored I Am Traffic? This ABEA site is an incredible resource for planners, engineers, law enforcement and the general public. Team ABEA also maintains CyclingSavvy.Bike, offering the best instructor resources available anywhere.

Other Team ABEA activities include:

Savvy cyclists enjoying one of the nation's best bike expos.

Team ABEA earlier this month at the Philly Bike Expo. L-R: Karen Karabell, Marc Caruso, John Schubert, John Allen, Gary Cziko, Mighk Wilson, Shannon Walsh and Bruce Lierman

  • Continually improving CyclingSavvy and developing other new course materials
  • Teaching CyclingSavvy all over the U.S.
  • Presenting webinars as part of continuing education for CyclingSavvy instructors
  • Recruiting and training new CyclingSavvy instructors
  • Making improvements to the CyclingSavvy registration system
  • Creating video for our courses and websites
  • Designing printed materials
  • Planning conference and meeting logistics
  • Strategizing in board meetings
  • Networking with potential new students, donors, board members and business partners
  • Reaching out to thank donors
  • Doing ABEA’s financial reporting and preparing Form 990
  • Promoting ABEA and CyclingSavvy at bicycling and community events, in social media and in other online venues

Plus activities such as visiting ABEA folks in other cities for the sheer fun of bicycling around in a new town and meeting new people!

Besides donating time and talents, many members of Team ABEA make financial contributions — some small, some large, all important to ABEA’s success.

With Giving Tuesday around the corner, we want to recognize those who have given of their time, talents and/or treasure to support ABEA over the past year:

Jenn Bowers, Board President

Lisa Walker, Board Vice President

Randy Profeta, Board Treasurer

Eli Damon, Board Secretary

Bruce Lierman, Board Member

Karen Karabell, Board Member

Debra Sension-Hall, Board Member

Lucas Cruse, Board Member

Gary Cziko, Board Member

Mighk Wilson, Executive Director

Shannon Walsh, Associate Executive Director

Laura Hallam, Administrative Director

Alan Forkosh

Allen Muchnick

American Diabetes Association

Art Ackerman

Becky Afonso

Beth Gellman

Big Orange Cycling Club

Brian Cox

Bruce Dowell, Redlands Water Bottle Transit Co.

Carol Wilson, Care Accounting Services

Clint Sandusky

Courtney Reynolds

Darell Dickey

Diana Steele

Diane Jenks

Dwight Kingsbury

Eberhard Veit

Esther Lumsdon

Florida Department of Transportation

Frank Krygowski

Great Rivers Greenway

Gruppo Sportivo Andiamo

Harold Karabell

Hokan

Jason Aufdenberg

Jason Buckner

Jeffrey D. Stanton

Jeffrey Viscount

Jim Baross

John Allen

John Brooking

John F. Cinatl

John Schubert

Josh StevensWe respect ourselves, and know that when riding our bicycles, our safety is a product of our behavior.

Judy Frankel

Justin McMurtry

Karen Loewen

Katherine Tynan

Kea Wilson, Strong Towns

Kelley Howell

Keri Caffrey

Kimberly Cooper

Kirby Beck

Lee Sisselsky

Mark Nockleby

Matthew Brown

Melissa Brown

Monica Llorian

Pamela Murray

Patricia Huff

Patrick Smith

Penni Smith Gryder

Pete van Nuys

Phyllis Laufer

Reese Howell

Richard Abraham

Richard Wharton

Robert Cooper

Robert Henderson

Robyn McCutcheon

Sarah Cushman

Scott Chilcote

Sean Wilson, President, Southern California/Nevada Cycling Association

Seth Davidson, Law Office of Seth Davidson

Shannon Martin

Stephen McKenney Steck

Susan Kropscott

Susan Sachs

Tricia Kovacs

Valerie Sivicek

Walter Ezell

Western Riverside Council of Governments

William Carpenter

Should your name be on this list? If so, please accept my sincere apologies! So many people have contributed that I’m certain I’ve unintentionally left someone out. Please let me know. We’ll update our records. Each person is a treasure. However you choose to help, you help ABEA become that much stronger!

Many of the folks above are CyclingSavvy instructors, though certainly not all. I’m not a CyclingSavvy instructor. But savvy cycling strategies changed my life. I started giving to ABEA because I wanted to give other people the same advantages I now have thanks to CyclingSavvy.

What I gained was far greater. Besides increasing my own knowledge, I made many new friends and opened doors to experiences that have greatly enriched my life. I am forever grateful.

ABEA has a place for and a need for many types of people. Join the team working for educated and empowered bicyclists. We invite you to go to abea.bike and become a member today. ABEA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Financial donations are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

We hope to see you on our team, in any way you’re able to participate. Give to ABEA and discover how much ABEA can give back to you. Contact us if you are interested in volunteer opportunities or becoming a CyclingSavvy instructor. And be sure to join ABEA today!

What if you could go anywhere by bike? You can! Let us show you how.

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/deb-child.jpeg 165 400 Carol Wilson https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png Carol Wilson2017-11-22 11:30:102018-08-27 20:55:36Team ABEA
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CyclingSavvy is a program of the American Bicycling Education Association. Our mission is to provide programs and resources for the education of bicyclists as drivers of vehicles, and bicycling-related education for traffic engineers, transportation planners, law enforcement professionals, educators, and the general public.

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