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@ShawnoftheDread 126439 wrote:

Since our trains don’t seem to be able to be fully automated, with only what’s directly in front of them to worry about, I don’t see how self-driving cars are going to save us.

FWIW, Google has one of the largest self-driving car programs around, and they’ve logged over 1 million miles of automated driving in 2 dozen vehicles without a single at-fault accident. Of the accidents they have been in (wiki says 14), most of them were being rear ended by other drivers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_driverless_car

I think people will be surprised how quickly we have autonomous cars. The tech is most of the way here.

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@Steve O 126399 wrote:

Oddly, he seemed to be focused on the person in the car. He suggested that when a car runs a red light, the driver is protected by the frame and air bags, etc.–seemingly forgetting that it’s not the safety of the person in the car he should be most concerned about. Weird.

This illustrates our approach to driver safety over the past few decades. Basically, making the cars much more safe to be in a crash, while doing almost nothing to stop them from crashing into each other in the first place (which is admittedly largely a driver issue, not an issue with the car itself).

It can be scary out there. I definitely try and check both ways even when I have a green, because some people just don’t pay attention.

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I’ve ridden the C&O many times on the road bike with 23mm slicks. Its fine. I probably wouldn’t want to ride for hours like that, but georgetown to 41st is no problem whatsoever.

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@Amalitza 126029 wrote:

You are on a bike. They are in cars. Cars go faster than bikes. Therefore, they must pass you. It is not their fault. It is an irrefutable law of nature. :p

I experience this coming into my office, where people will pass me as we approach the line to the security gate, where they have to immediately come to a full stop to wait in line to get through the gate. Basically, they are just cutting in line in front of me. But, you know, cars go faster than bikes, so… 😮

On my old commute, there were some steep hills where I would easily keep up with ~30mph car traffic. I’ve had cars try and pass me while I was maybe 10 feet from the car in front of me. They pull into the other lane, pull next to me, then sort of hover confusedly there. :rolleyes:

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@JustinW 125976 wrote:

If cyclists truly want to own that space, they should consider applying for a permit allowing exclusive use for a couple of hours at times. I bet the NPS would agree to that in exchange for a decreased amount of poor behavior at other times.

I sincerely doubt they would. Hains is a large, popular park; its highly doubtful the park service would shut the whole thing down for the exclusive use of one group (especially since the argument is “this group is unable to behave like civil human beings around other users, so they should totally get their own exclusive time!”).

I won’t be surprised at all if/when cyclists lose the right to ride there, or find its suitability as a race track severely curtailed.

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@Tania 124536 wrote:

I have different rims but I wonder if it’s not the pro4s. I love how fast they are but they are a real pain in the as…thumbs.

I suspect its the rim/tire combo. I have pro4s and they go on my Kinlin rims with no more difficulty than any other road tire. Maybe those wider rims make things more difficult.

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I’m from PA and frequently travel around the lancaster area when I’m home. Amish there don’t use bikes. The kids mostly ride primitive scooters (or sometimes rollerblades) from what I’ve seen. It does vary though. I worked construction as a summer job in college and the foundation guys were amish and drove a truck and used power tools. Mennonites seem similar to Amish but are usually far less restrictive about technology (I’ve visited Mennonite farms that extensively used mechanical equipment).

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@vvill 124438 wrote:

No idea about MTB, I’m yet to ride significant miles on those tires!

In addition to all the other factors, it really depends on where you mostly ride. Drive to Wakefield and ride there (almost entirely dirt, no pavement time) and tires last a long time. Ride pavement to trailheads or go to Frederick a lot (lots o’ rocks) and you’ll see shorter life. Pavement riding is really hard on MTB tires.

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It depends on the type of tire. I tend to get around 2k out of standard 23mm road tires (GP4000s, Pro3s, etc). I used to get 4k out of Panaracer Paselas on my old fixie. High end road tires are designed for light weight, low rolling resistance and grippiness. Not necessarily long life.

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Yeah, blinkiness is way down the list of things I care about for a taillight, and not even on the list for a headlight. Blinking lights are decent attention getters but suck for judging position and speed. I’ve always had excellent luck with a very bright solid taillight and a supplemental blinky. If I had one taillight, it would be solid, not blinking.

I don’t think headlights should blink at all. Ever. I see zero utility to it.

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Its been a sporadic but constant issue at the Shed for years now. Lots of tension between locals and various user groups who use the land. Hunters don’t care for riders and hikers (and feel they’ve been there longer), eco-nuts don’t want bikes in the woods, and some locals don’t like anyone.

I think that historically its mostly been limited to the DH runs (or trails perceived to be, like the drop trails above fishing creek).

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@Tania 122814 wrote:

Edit Sept 03 – I absolutely loathe the rubber band mounts of the SecurityIng and L&M Urban 800 lights. They’re a pain to put on and take off (don’t want to leave them on my bike while bike is locked up) and THEY MOVE. Ugh.

Yeah, I moved from L&M and Dinotte (which have the more rigid clip on style) to these, and they aren’t great. I put the lights on and tend to leave them there though. I do make sure to wrap a little electrical tape around the bars where they go which helps keep them from sliding around.

The rubber band mounts seem to be where a lot of the industry is though. Cheaper to make and more adaptable to different bar diameters. They are common even on expensive lights.

Self contained is definitely nicer if you have to take them off and on a lot.

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@TwoWheelsDC 123507 wrote:

The lights/reflectors argument in this particular case seems like a distraction. The cyclist was hit from behind, while in the right lane of a three lane road that is lit. I’m sorry, but if you don’t see an unlit/unreflectored cyclist on a wide open road with street lights, you either aren’t paying attention or need to have your eyes checked. If you can’t see a cyclist in such conditions, how the f*&k are you going to see any other type of obstacle in the road at night? I can’t count how many times I’ve been driving at night and there have been deer standing in the road, but because I wasn’t overdriving my headlights, I was able to stop in time to avoid them.

Its worth noting that the section they cite is on a right hand curve, which is the worst combination for poor lighting and cyclists, because the car headlights wouldn’t be illuminating the right edge of the road very well.

As far as I can tell, speed limit in that area is 40mph. Which means traffic is realistically going 40-50mph.

Maybe the lights/reflectors discussion is a distraction, but I know I would in no way be comfortable riding on a 3 lane road with 40mph traffic after dark sans lights, no matter how well lit it is. Streetlights aren’t as useful as people think; I’ve still had trouble seeing runners and cyclists after dark even where streetlights exist (especially if they are wearing dark clothes), and I’m someone who scans crosswalks at turns and looks specifically for cyclists when I’m in a car. It comes back to visual clutter; variable lighting can actually make it hard to notice stuff than it being continually dark.

It comes back to what Crickey7 said earlier: people simply tend to overestimate how visible they are.

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@Crickey7 123483 wrote:

I think people overestimate how visible they really are.

This, basically. Its good to actually have someone check your visibility when you first start riding at night. How good is that light/reflective stuff actually in practice? I think people also don’t consider that a light that looks ok in pitch blackness may not work as well on actual roads, which have variable lighting conditions and lots of visual clutter (oncoming cars, streetlights, reflective/illuminated signs, adjacent light sources like stores, etc).

As for the original article, I certainly winced when I read it. No lights, and after 8 is after dark.

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51cm might be ok at 5′-8″. It does depend on top tube; At 5′-6″, I’ve ridden anything from 49cm to 53cm depending on the top tube length and exact frame geometry.

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