T’is the season to be REFLECTIVE!!!

[Dirt]

Autumn may not quite be in the air yet, but the daylight hours are definitely coming later and later. I really noticed it a lot on this morning. I didn’t hit what I would call “dawn” until I was almost to Rosslyn. That brings up a great topic — visibility!

It doesn’t take a lot of reflective stuff to be seen by cars and other cyclists. Not sure if you can have too much reflective gear though. Be careful.

I really noticed that walkers and runners have not noticed the change of daylight status. I encountered at least a dozen ninjas (invisible people lacking any reflective gear… many wearing dark clothes) and their ninja dogs.

In true-to-me form, I used to get upset at this. Now I just stop and offer them some reflective gear. I always try to keep 3 or 4 spare reflective leg/arm bands on my rig that I can hand out to the local ninjas. I buy a stack every payday in the fall from a local bike shop. I also pick up a reflective dog leash or two if I notice some regulars with unreflective canines.

Most people are pretty receptive to having some reflective gifts. A few have gotten angry and yelled at me. I try to reply with a smile, but have at times suggested that many decaffeinated brands taste as good as the real thing.

Be safe out there.

Pete

Topic

[Tim Kelley]

Relevant.

Also relevant.

BikeArlington has reflective arm/leg band giveaways that we could probably hook you up with if you were so inclined…

[skreaminquadz]

@Dirt 940 wrote:

I try to reply with a smile, but have at times suggested that many decaffeinated brands taste as good as the real thing.

Ha – this is hilarious!

It’s a good thing you’re doing out there Dirt. I’m glad to know there are people out there like you!

[Dirt]

@Tim: Thanks. I’ll pass that info along when I talk to my daily ninjas.

@SQ: Thank you, sir. My attitude doesn’t always last. After a while I get impatient and grumpy about this stuff too. Most of the time the positive interactions are enough to keep me being positive. If I have a string of grumpy ninjas, my sarcasm level can go WAY up. I had a lovely conversation with Mr. “I’m gonna walk on the left side of the trail so I can see traffic coming at me” yesterday. I left not long after the conversation had degraded to me asking if he drives on the left side of the road so he’s better able to see approaching traffic. He didn’t see the relevance.

I know that I’m not going to change people’s minds. Sometimes having a positive interaction with a cyclist can be a good thing. It is good for me because it keeps me thinking positively about most of humanity.

Unfortunately I seem to have attracted another stalker/aggressive driver in Falls Church/Arlington. That is another topic for another thread.

[Author]

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