The adventures of Michel's C3 Picasso and Yamaha MT-09

[Michel]

One thing that really bugs me is when cyclists have very bright lights flashing at the oncoming vehicles, distracting the drivers

Then they are working... You're noticing the cyclist, that's the point.

Many years ago there were far less cars on the road. If a cyclist had the old fashioned bike light (the old round Ever-Ready ones) they'd simply blend in with the traffic and you'd not see them at all.

[Hell Razor5543]

When a driver is DAZZLED and cannot, for a few moments, see anything that which dazzled the driver has become dangerous. I do not have a problem with bright lights, but what winner of the Richard Cranium award thought it was a good idea to put searchlights onto a bicycle? You can only have 65W lightbulbs fitted to a car, as anything stronger is both illegal and dangerous.

[CitroJim]

One thing that really bugs me is when cyclists have very bright lights flashing at the oncoming vehicles, distracting the drivers.

Front lights in DRL mode need to be visible but not distracting... Mine have a varying intensity DRL mode - they fade from brighter to dimmer and back again on a random few seconds cycle. I also carefully point it down so there is no risk of dazzling any oncoming road users...

Common sense comes into play here too... I find in practice that even on the darkest night I have no need to use the top brightness settings on my headlight at all...

I think we've all been dazzled by bike lights and it is a serious issue. I know I have - to the extent that I've had to stop... One person i regularly cycle with has lights that are so bright they look like modern xenon car headlights! He carries an external (large) battery pack for them!!!

Front flashing lights are generally fine if carefully aimed/timed but must not be used near horses - the flashing can seriously disturb them...

In fact, do you know that no modern LED bike lights actually meet the British Standard and are technically illegal to use...

EDIT: I think I've also adequately answered your second point James...

Remember that I speak here as a fully trained and qualified Ride Leader...

[CitroJim]

Cyclists have a problem in that they are largely a vertical object and the human eye/brain does no respond as well to the presence of vertical objects as horizontal ones... Therefore a light of varying intensity does help to alert a fellow human to your presence on the road...

Mike, you are right about the old Ever-Ready type lights... Invisible at best They remain the only truly legal ones though...

Finally, lots of retro-reflective stuff on our clothing at night works well...

[Hell Razor5543]

One of the best rear cycle lights I saw went from low to high intensity and back down in the space of a few seconds. Low was still bright enough to be seen at a good distance, while bright was bright, but not dazzling. The brightness cycling meant it was clearly noticeable but not (once you saw it) a distraction.

I believe that front cycle lights should first illuminate the way ahead, and then make the cyclist noticeable (OK, with decent street lighting it would be acceptable to swap those priorities around). Having it also flash once every couple of seconds is noticeable without being too distracting. The brightness is the main issue, with the delay between bright pulses also being a problem. A front light like the rear light previously mentioned is ideal, whereas a searchlight from a disco is dangerous.

I also accept that some cyclists go off road, and need much stronger lights. Fine, I have no problem with that. However, when they get back onto the public roads they need to either swap to a lower brightness setting or change lights.

In an ideal world (which, unfortunately, this isn't) road users would have proper consideration for all other road users (pedestrians upwards).

[CitroJim]

One of the best rear cycle lights I saw went from low to high intensity and back down in the space of a few seconds. Low was still bright enough to be seen at a good distance, while bright was bright, but not dazzling. The brightness cycling meant it was clearly noticeable but not (once you saw it) a distraction.

What did I just say I use James

[CitroJim]

In an ideal world (which, unfortunately, this isn't) road users would have proper consideration for all other road users (pedestrians upwards).

We don't, never will and therefore must make due adjustment for that fact...

James, out of interest, what's your view on cyclist's rear lights? Are you content for them to flash on/off at regular internals, flash a pattern/sequence, flash in varying intensities or stay on solidly?

Have you ever been dazzled by a cyclist's rear light or found them uncomfortable to follow?

I set mine to flash a sequence... I believe very visible without being distracting and I judge that on having ridden close behind many bike rear lights running in all sorts of modes...

[Hell Razor5543]

Bright enough to be noticeable without dazzling, while having a noticeable sequence works well. Dazzling is NOT a good idea, which is why, when I stop for more than a few seconds I will put the handbrake on. When I was learning to drive my tutor ingrained in me the five second rule (if you think you will be stopped for more than five seconds apply the hand brake and take your foot off the brake pedal).

[Michel]

Helmets, DRLs and, now the dirty weather is approaching, mudguards are compulsory wear for our organised club bike rides...

Sportives too insist on helmets - 'No helmet, no ride...'

Both, are insurance requirements I believe...

Helmets are a moot point and I'm not entering the debate except to say that yes Mike, If I drop my bike at 35mph coming downhill then I'll indeed get a bit of gravel rash, likely break my clavicle and maybe other skeletal injuries... They will - by and large - recover... If I bash my head during said accident with no lid then I risk brain injury and likely of the nature I'll not recover from fully. If I'm wearing a lid then there is a good chance those injuries may not be so severe and recovery will be possible

Have a look on googe images for "30mph gravel rash". Pleasant it is not. I'm not sure, and don't want to know how bad it would be if you went over the handlebars and I wear my protective gear even if I'm just nipping down to the village on the motorbike. It amazes me the way some cyclists (not you) think that wearing a helmet seems to put an invisible force-field of protection around them, and they act and ride like tits. The sad fact is, that in most accidents, their head will be perfectly alright, yet the other bits of them which they don't protect will suffer badly.

If the government ever does make helmets compulsory, it will be a cop-out. Far better to teach kids to cycle safely and properly in the first place, instead of just sticking a helmet on them and expecting them to be safe. I've ridden many, many thousands of miles and fallen off many, many times. The only head injury I ever had was when I broke my nose, cycling into a telegraph pole... bloody helmet wouldn't have stopped that either!

[Michel]

One of the best rear cycle lights I saw went from low to high intensity and back down in the space of a few seconds. Low was still bright enough to be seen at a good distance, while bright was bright, but not dazzling. The brightness cycling meant it was clearly noticeable but not (once you saw it) a distraction.

I believe that front cycle lights should first illuminate the way ahead,

Frankly, none of the ones I've ever tried, right up to a Garmin Varia costing £200 are not fit for illuminating the way ahead at anything above about 10-12mph. Hell, my motorbike has car-spec headlights, and even that's not great. The spread of light and range simply isn't good enough.

[CitroJim]

It amazes me the way some cyclists (not you) think that wearing a helmet seems to put an invisible force-field of protection around them, and they act and ride like tits. The sad fact is, that in most accidents, their head will be perfectly alright, yet the other bits of them which they don't protect will suffer badly.

Indeed, it makes me squirm Mike

A helmet does not confer upon me any sort of force-field of protection... No way!!! I always ride fully appreciating how vulnerable I am and never take risks of any sort... I've seen too many consequences... This is so vital when I'm leading a ride and have the safety of up to 8 riders riding in close proximity... I am responsible to demonstrate good, safe skilled riding and to both give them an enjoyable ride and to bring them home safe and sound... I really focuses the mind and brings bad practices into very sharp focus...

I've seen some pretty nasty gravel rash occur on Sportives where a little bit of descending bravado has gone terribly wrong... Hills, both up and down demand great respect...

Bright enough to be noticeable without dazzling, while having a noticeable sequence works well. Dazzling is NOT a good idea, which is why, when I stop for more than a few seconds I will put the handbrake on.

Thanks James for your rear light views I fully agree about handbrakes too... Nothing worse than being behind a car waiting at say, traffic lights with full brake lights dazzling... Your instructor taught you well

Frankly, none of the ones I've ever tried, right up to a Garmin Varia costing £200 are not fit for illuminating the way ahead at anything above about 10-12mph.

Surprised you say that Mike... Some modern bike headlights are quite magnificent... Have a look at mine next time you come and see me... I'm a big fan of my Lezyne 1100XL

[Hell Razor5543]

I was heading out to do some shopping this evening, and I encountered three cyclists. The first two were fine (one had a very bright light, but it was aimed at a point 20' - 30' in front of the bicycle, and the 'overspill' was bright enough to be noticed, but not enough to dazzle, while the second had the light aimed in consideration of other road users, and was pulsing in a noticeable way), but the third (rear) light was dangerously distracting.

I was crossing a cross-roads (where I had to give way) when I saw, to my left, a dazzling bright flashing red light, which I believed to by a cycle going away from me (nothing was coming towards me from the left), as there was only one light. I then looked to the right, and it was clear, so I then looked forwards. I was about to cross the junction when I saw a very bright flashing BLUE light to my left (fortunately there was nothing following me across the junction). When I looked towards the blue light (convinced it was an emergency services vehicle I had somehow failed to notice) I was angry (incensed would be a better description) to see that it was that bloody cyclist, and their rear light switched from red to blue flashing every couple of seconds.

[CitroJim]

I'm totally unaware of any rear cycle light that flashes blue James... That's a new one on me...

Anyway, to show a blue light is illegal unless you're a recognised emergency service...

If I didn't know you well and had not recently had a very productive and valuable discussion with you on the very subject of cycle lights - the results of which I very much took on board - I'd say you were not the world's biggest fan of cyclists

Luckily I know very different

[Hell Razor5543]

These are the f***king things (well, similar)!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-Recharge ... 3581122263

[Michel]

Those lights are vile.

I dropped the motorcycle today, about a mile and a half from home on my way to work. No injuries to me and just the end of the brake lever snapped off on the bike.

The cause - trousers tucked to tightly into my boots, cold gearbox and cold engine. Came almost to a halt at a small crossroads, looked to check it was clear, at about 3mph, it was, so I went. Cold gearbox hadn’t clicked into gear, it was still in 3rd. It stalled, stopped moving and toppled to the right. Armoured trousers tucked too tightly in prevented getting my foot down, made worse by the camber of the road sloping away from me, thus requiring me to have longer legs than I do to stop the fall. I didn’t actually fall myself, I managed to get off the bike as it was falling and stood and watched it fall. Then I rode it 25 miles to work...

This evening I sat on it outside the house in the dark scaring kids ... the headless horseman has nothing on the headless motorcyclist....