Safety on a Group Ride ... or Alone
                             Bob Bayn
                        CVV Safety Officer
                 LAB Effective Cycling Instructor
                          April 4, 2000

Most everyone's first concern when they hop astride a bike is for safety.  That concern leads us to
take a variety of precautions, some more effective than others. Before you start moving, be sure
your bike is in good operating condition.  The IMBPA has developed the "ABC Quick Check":
          Air - check your tires, pressure, tread
          Brakes - check the cables, housing and pads for wear and adjustment
          Crankset - check for loose crank arms
          Quick Releases - make sure they are tight on hubs, brakes, seatpost.
          Check - shifting and brakes on a slow ride out of traffic
Then check your safety gear:
          properly fitting helmet
          eye protection - from bright light, dust, grit, bugs
          hand protection - from handlebar vibration and road rash
And, finally, check your knowledge of the rules of the road.  The LAB Effective Cycling program
summarizes them like this:
          Ride on the right, never on the left and never on the sidewalk.
          Yield to crossing traffic on more important roads.  Yielding means looking each way and
     waiting until no traffic is coming.  Signs and lights often determine which road is more
     important.  Sometimes a yield requires a stop.
          When you change lanes, yield to traffic in the new lane.  Yielding means looking forward
     and back until no traffic is coming.
          When approaching an intersection position yourself according to your destination: near the
     curb if you want to turn right, near the centerline to turn left, in between to go straight.
          Away from intersections, take a position according to your speed in traffic: slower near the
     curb, faster near the centerline.

When riding in a group, like on a CVV ride, be careful to avoid "group think."  Don't just follow
the rider in front of you out into an intersection or to a lane change.  Check the traffic and decide
for yourself if you need to yield.  Sometimes you'll see motorists expecting us to "group think."
They might yield when it's really their turn or they might hesitate too long and delay everyone
even more.

 In traffic, it often helps to break the riding group up into several smaller and well-separated
groups.  Then motorists won't have to yield to the whole group or wait for an opportunity to
overtake the whole group.  On the April Fools ride, I saw a couple of occasions where a motorist
got a little impatient with the wait and ended up passing our strung-out group all at once in the face
of oncoming traffic.

We're not second-class travelers, but a little cooperation goes a long ways toward making the roads
work for human powered vehicles along with fossil powered vehicles.  Most of our roads are wide
enough for us all to get where we are going.  Where there isn't enough room to share, riding
visibly, predictably and legally will generally get you the respect you need, when you need it.