5 High Suggestions for Secure Cycle Commuting

With subsequent week being 'Bike Week 2017' , I assumed it appeared well timed to put in writing up some high ideas for secure and pleasing biking to work.

Commuting by bike is a good way to de-stress, save time, and get some train at both finish of the day.

After over a decade of expertise using a motorbike to work, at varied places across the UK, these are 5 issues that I might suggest for any bicycle commute.

1 - Daytime working lights

Even in the course of June, there are shadows, morning mist, low daylight and altering mild situations. All of these issues could make a bike owner onerous to select on the highway.

Spend money on some USB chargeable lights, with an output that's sturdy sufficient to be seen even in brilliant daylight; your presence on the highway will likely be elevated ten fold, and you'll discover that you've got fewer shut calls and close to passes.

These are my High three Daytime Operating Gentle decisions:

Lezyne (Reviewed right here) (Store right here)
Niterider (Reviewed right here) (Store right here)
See.Sense (Reviewed right here) (Store right here)

2 - Hearken to every part

Listening to music while you trip could be participating and motivating, and that may encourage you to trip additional, and extra ceaselessly. Sporting ear-buds if you end up using is extremely harmful although; eradicating that important sense of consciousness that listening to ambient noise supplies.

The answer is a pair of headphones like the brand new Trekz Titanium Bone Conduction Headphones .

Reasonably than sit inside your ear, the Trekz Titanium sit in your cheek bone, and reverberate sound by means of your bone construction to your ear drum. The result's that your ear channels are left open to regular listening to, while you'll be able to nonetheless take heed to your music.

The sound high quality is extremely good, and the brand new lighter Trekz Titanium mannequin is much more comfy than the Aftershokz Bluez 2 that I beforehand reviewed right here on the weblog.

If you wish to take heed to music, the radio, or a podcast in your commute, these are by far the most secure choice.

three - Put on Hello-Vis using equipment

Within the above photograph, I purposefully wore darkish colored equipment, simply to display how a lot some excessive visibility equipment can 'pop' in your outfit, and enhance your highway presence.

Investing in just a few cheap equipment; akin to excessive visibility gloves, buffs, overshoes and caps, will will let you be seen extra prominently in the dead of night colored equipment that always options in a bike owner's wardrobe.

GripGrab have an amazing vary of Hello-Vis equipment for cyclists

four - Do not trip on empty

I see lots of people who trip into work, after which eat breakfast as soon as they've arrived. I do not suggest it.

If you find yourself asleep, you might be successfully ravenous your physique for eight hours. So while you get up, one of the best factor to do to advertise power and restoration, in addition to alertness, is to have one thing to eat.

In case you trip fasted on a frequent foundation, then you might be consistently depleting your glycogen shops beneath their pure ranges; which implies you usually tend to get submit trip starvation pains and 'fridge raider frenzy' while you cease, in addition to being much less conscious while you trip. Eat breakfast earlier than you permit.

The identical applies to night commutes: eat one thing half an hour earlier than you permit, in order that you do not have the tendency to over eat at dinner, or really feel drained on the best way dwelling.

5 - Maintain the racing for the open roads

Racing between site visitors lights, between bus shelters, over metropolis bridges or by means of subways, can look like enjoyable. It's, till your head-down effort ends in you ploughing into somebody or one thing.

Maintain your racing for the open nation roads; when you're out of the city, or on the weekends. If you want to let off a little bit of steam on the finish of the day, then discover a quiet again highway and do some uphill sprints... you are much less prone to run over a doddery pensioner or zombified cell phone consumer.