12/4/07 - "Rights" and Lefts; part 2

If you've been watching the national news the last two days, you know that we in the Pacific Northwest just got "wolluped" by Mother Nature. A huge store packing 125+ mph winds and over 12" of rain hit the Oregon Coast and by the time it hit Portland was still packing 60 mph gusts and most of that rain. Many road closures, flooded rivers and streams, downed power-lines and general craziness ensued. Still, I'll take the occasional high winds that we get in our winter storms in exchange for the tornado warnings of the summer storms in the Mid-South. Ah, home-sweet-home. In fact, it's currently not raining and I can even see a bright spot behind the cloud cover that I can only assume is the sun. I don't know, because I haven't seen it in so long that I may have forgotten what it looks like. The sky is normally grey, right? Hold on, let me take another sip of coffee...

Mmmm, that's better. While doing my regular morning reading of cycling-related websites I came across a great article on one of my new favorites; bikeradar.com (thanks for the heads-up, Charlie). In keeping with my last post (sorry it's been so long), I thought this was a great follow up. Sort of a "now that I know my rights on the road - how do I best use them safely and responsibly?" This is written more from a commuter perspective; but most of these tips are ones I use even when riding recreationally. Pretty universal stuff.

Now, the website is UK-based, so it's written from the perspective of people who ride and drive on the other side of the street; but if you just trade the lefts for rights and vice-versa, the article is a great one. Also, they refer to "pavements" about 3/4 of the way through the article. That's fancy "brit-talk" for sidewalks. I know I don't have to interpret that for my friends Keith F. and Dawn W., but I'd like to assume that they're not the only ones reading this... :)

So, without further adieu, here's the link; enjoy.

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/article/technique-road-positioning-197
Thanks for reading. Ride safely.