Hand Signals

From http://www.diycycling.com/2009/07/13/riding-the-road-simple-rules-and-common-sense/

WEATHER THERE: mainly sunny, 9C, 5 km/hr tailwinds

WEATHER BACK: sunny, 20C, 17 km/hr crosswinds

I pulled up to a busy four-way-stop intersection, and as I waited my turn in the line of cars to turn left, an older gentleman in a truck passed by me going the opposite direction.

"Use your hand signals," he warned me out of his open window as he passed. At first I didn't catch what he said, but as he drove away his message sunk in.

Now, as a bike-commuter I've done enough research to know what the hand signals are for turning and stopping. The problem is, a lot of the time they're very difficult to use. Case in point: as the older gentleman drove away, I came up to the intersection with the intention of turning left. It was one of those awful, awkward stops where I had just come to a full stop and jumped my feet off the pedals and hit the ground, just as it was my turn to go. So I had to quickly hop back on and try to make my way through the intersection as quickly as I could. These sorts of inelegant stops are especially difficult to signal on, especially on my road bike where I'm pitched forward and have to support more weight through my hands. Taking one hand off the handles to signal - thereby shifting the balance of my weight and my body aerodynamics, and having to transfer significantly more pressure to one side of the handlebar than the other - puts my already faltering balance at stake. Other situations where I don't often hand signal include while riding on particularly bumpy/poorly maintained roads, and if there is any smooth ice present on the road surface.

The gentleman's advice should have been well heeded, however. As I awkwardly stumbled up to the stop line, determined that it was my turn, and started into the intersection, the car directly opposite me at the four-way-stop started going as well - perhaps assuming that I was going straight instead of turning and therefore believing he could go through the intersection at the same time without incident. Now, a cautious driver really ought not to proceed through an intersection until the vehicle whose turn it was before them is already most of the way - if not all the way - through. And drivers should be especially cautious when dealing with the rights-of-way of pedestrians and cyclists because fatalities are much more likely in a crash between a car and either of the latter two than with two cars. So I won't take ALL the blame for the confusion at the intersection, since the driver of the car should have waited to see where I was going before proceeding into the intersection. However, I really should have signalled, too.

Thankfully, nothing happened - I slowed down just in case the car was going to continue through the intersection, the car stopped to let me pass, I went through without incident, and the car passed along behind me. Still, it was one of those moments that really demonstrated to me the importance of hand signalling - especially given the timing of that sage advice given by the passing gentleman in the truck.

Argumentative

WEATHER THERE: sunny, 6C, 5 km/hr tailwinds
WEATHER BACK: sunny, 23C, 17 km/hr tail/crosswinds

Walk? No, bike! No, wait, I should drive! But should I shower before I go to work, or after I get home? I wonder if I should bring lunch, or buy something there. How will I pick up my daughter from daycare after?

This whole morning I wasted my precious brain energy (or brainergy, as it were) going over these rather meaningless questions. Right up until the last moment, I argued with myself about the best option to take.

"Okay, I'm definitely going to shower, but then if I shower I won't have time to walk. And my hair will look so nice and clean, do I really want to mess it up with bike helmet sweat? I should definitely drive - just take 'er easy."

(Twenty minutes later)
"The shower didn't take THAT long, maybe I can still walk!"

(Five minutes later)
"What was I thinking, I'll definitely drive."

(Two minutes later)
"NO! It's so beautiful out! Why waste such a beautiful day driving - and spending $15 on parking - when I can just bike? Come ooooon!"

Another two minutes later, I was out the door, climbing onto my mountain bike to go into work for the afternoon. And am I ever glad I biked today - it was so beautiful out! And after having been riding the road bike for the past few days, I had forgotten how smooth the ride on the mountain bike was. Smooth, and surprisingly fast. I've been feeling really out of shape lately, and yet I was able to cruise along at 22-25 km/hr on flat straight roads and got up to 37 km/hr on a slight descent. I even maintained a speed between 18-20 km/hr going up the hill at the south end of the High Level Bridge. That HAS to be a record for me, Little Miss Hills-Make-Me-Puke.

Huh. I've been feeling so slovenly lately. I guess getting back into biking is improving my fitness anyway, even if it doesn't feel like it. And even if I continue eating unwell (but COME ON, the Halloween candy is out in stores already! Don't judge me!). If only I weren't so tired all the time (thank you, nightmares and midnight tantrums, for introducing yourselves to my daughter's life these past couple weeks!). If I could actually get a full night's rest, everything would seem even better than it already is . . .

Slog

WEATHER THERE: sunny, 5C, 15 km/hr tail/crosswinds
WEATHER BACK: sunny, 15C, 26 km/hr headwinds gusting to 40 km/hr

I'm tired. My motivation is low. It's windy and chilly outside today, and all I want to do is curl up with a hot chocolate and a book while wearing pajamas, and in this way spend the entire day to myself. My mind keeps bouncing between my different priorities - working on my dissertation (reading, writing, analyzing, thinking, creating, organizing, editing), trying to deal with the behavioural problems that are starting to show up in my daughter, and somehow finding whatever remains of my productivity to meet deadlines at work. It's a slog.

And riding home into strong wind, swearing under my breath the whole time, is not a great way to end the day after all that. Oh well - it IS only thirty minutes of my day, I can handle it. And besides, after coming home to a hot dinner, a nice tea, and a hug from my daughter, everything seems a whole lot brighter. And, I have to say, it DOES help knowing that I don't have to go in to work tomorrow! Oh part-time job, I love you!

The New Trailer - And My First Fair-Weather Fall

WEATHER THERE: light rain, 10C, calm wind

WEATHER BACK:cloudy, 14C, 9 km/hr crosswind

On one of my days off last week, I turned weeks of indecision into action: after researching the relative pros and cons of various ways to transport my child with my bike (rear-mount child seat, front-mount child seat, trail-a-bike, and single-child trailer), I bought a single-child trailer from Mountain Equipment Co-op. Though I've used it very little so far - just a short test ride last Thursday (short because of the unfortunate Brazilian that prevented me from biking much at all last week!), another short ride to the park on Sunday, and to-and-from daycare today - it's been great! It's easy to attach and detach from my bike, it's much slimmer than my double trailer and that makes it lighter and less likely to get caught on a curb or on the door frame going in and out of storage, it's more comfortable for my daughter because she's more cocooned in it, and it's sturdy as anything.

Case in point: when taking it for a test ride on Thursday, it had been raining that day and I approached a part of the road where I had to get up onto the sidewalk. There was a big, deep puddle covering the edge of the road where it met with the curb. When I tried to ride up over the curb onto the sidewalk, my wheel caught on a deep pothole that was covered by the puddle, and I was thrown from the bike. I tumbled off, landing on the sidewalk (thankfully not in the puddle!), my bike fell over, and as soon as I landed I looked back in horror to see if my daughter was okay. Sitting calmly in the trailer, she looked at me with some semblance of surprise and said, "You okay, mommy? Mommy, you okay?" The trailer hadn't budged an inch.

I was okay - just a small scrape on my leg, nothing serious, and surprisingly not even a scratch on my hands or a bruise anywhere else. So I mounted back up and we continued on our merry way, none the worse for wear. If she were on a trail-a-bike or in a child seat, she would likely have sustained some kind of injury - or at the very least, been scared by the fall and perhaps developed an aversion to biking with me. Thankfully I went with the trailer instead! No injury, no scariness - just a fun ride.

I suspect that the Velcro used to secure the screen and rain cover will wear out sooner than I want it to, making it impossible to close after some use, and that might prove to be an annoying issue. I might have to sew snaps into the material when that time comes. However, that point hasn't come yet and hopefully won't come for a while. This trailer will hopefully get us through some winter commuting without issue - and, given its performance so far, I'm looking forward to it!