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a super light speed demon with skinny tires because this will require you to swerve more. Get a mountain bike or cyclocross bike so you can ride through many potholes and avoid swerving and being unpredictable.

13)If you are going to ride through the winter where it snows, practice snow riding in parking lots and so on first.

14)If you find yourself in slippery conditions, be it snow, ice, wet metal or other, pedal smooth and gentle. Feel the grip of the tires as you pedal. On wet ice... you probably will go down but if you can coast through without moving you might make it. On snow experiment with traction. Often it is best to ride in the white powder instead of the mushy gray, given a choice, simply because the traction is superior.

15)Once a driver has done something stupid always wait for them to drive off, even if they stop having seen you at the last second while turning right into you. Do not give them a second chance at smucking you.

16)Watch out for drivers turning. Sometimes they will move over to the right in anticipation of turning. Sometimes they will cut you off to turn. Sometimes they will turn left right into you even when you have the right of way.

17)Red lights and right of way and all the laws mean diddly about what you should do to stay safe. I have seen over a thousand cars drive through red lights, many more ignore my right of way. Assume they will run that stop sign or light if they show no sign of braking. Judge their speed and ignore everything else. Remember rule #1. In cities like NYC they can literally run a red at full speed, run you over, and not even get a ticket from the cops (only 4 out of 44 who killed pedestrians in NYC on the SIDEWALK in a 4 year period got tickets). Ride outside the bike lane if it is not safe to ride in, and ride on the sidewalk if conditions on the road make it too dangerous or too narrow.

18)As tempting as it is to scream at drivers, or respond when they scream at you for no reason, remember that they have a very dangerous and fast weapon in their control. It is not worth it, but of course I have anyway. If you do find yourself responding, make sure you have a way out and a lot of people watching.

19)Always wear a helmet! Your head is hard but it will lose when pitted against a sidewalk, road, or car.

20)Never ride with your dog running along on a leash! This gives you the best odds of injury per mile of any bicycle riding, including insane downhill racing!

21)If you are riding past slowly moving or stopped cars and trucks try to watch out for pedestrians and other bicyclists weaving through them crossing the street. I have a scar from this one. Ride more slowly. Watch out for cars that suddenly decide to turn right into a driveway too. If you have to turn with them, you have to.

22)Finally the obvious stuff. Make sure your bike is in good working order, especially your tires and your brakes. Pedals and handlebars are important too. If your fork gets bent, get a new one. Do not find yourself with a suddenly re-bent fork and a front tires rolling off ahead of your bike as I once did!

I hope this helps you all stay safe on your bikes!

Learn more about this author, Carmi Turchick.
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