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but nowhere near as big a bump as that taxi you just swerved in front of....

5)Watch out for car doors suddenly opening. Ride, if at all possible, outside of the "door zone" where you will run into car doors that open. Even if that means you are outside of a marked "bike lane." For example, the 6th Avenue bike lane in Manhattan is a death trap because it is entirely inside the "door zone." Two of my friends died there, so I do mean death trap. Being "doored" is a close second to being run over from behind in ways that bicyclists die. In shopping districts where the cars are moving relatively slowly but the chance of a car door opening is pretty high, ride where you need to even if cars have to swerve around you and honk at you. If you have to ride in the "door zone" try to see if there are people inside the cars you are approaching who might open doors.

6)Ride in the direction of traffic. Always, even if you are on the sidewalk! This makes you more predictable, drivers look for objects going that direction on that side of the street. They are more likely to not see you coming the wrong direction.

7)At night you need a light and reflectors so that drivers have a chance of seeing you. Be visible.

8)But even if you have made yourself visible always assume that no driver sees you. Even if they seem to be looking right at you. What they are looking for is cars and experiments have shown that people watching a film of people with a ball and having been told to watch the ball completely miss the man in the gorilla suit that walks through. You are not a car and they are looking for cars.

9)Be aware of the sound of cars coming towards you from behind. It pays to notice the sound of a muscle car and to listen how fast cars are coming and how close they sound like they are towards the right side of the street. I literally will pull over if I hear a muscle car coming towards me at what seems to be an illegal speed. Most fatalities are caused by cars with young male drivers and you can do well betting the driver in a muscle car is one.

10)Look ahead for road hazards and figure out what do do long before you get to them.

11)Practice looking back over your shoulder while riding in a straight line. It is important sometimes to be able to see what is happening back there. A mirror is another option but make sure you realize that "objects may appear closer" and so on.

12)Set up your bike for the types of roads you will face. If you are going to see a lot of potholes you will not want

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