Our Top 5 Road Cycling Safety Tips

This is not going to be your standard ‘wear high viz’ safety briefing, we promise!  These are our short ‘n’ punchy, tried ‘n’ tested insider tips that we’ve learnt though A) cycling a lot and B) really caring whether we live or die by thinking about our safety every single time we go out on the road..

1.  Eye contact

Make direct and friendly (somewhere south of aggression, but north of flirtation!) eye contact with drivers and pedestrians at junctions. At a junction, look for eye contact and if you don’t get it – assume they don’t see you and prepare to break/react.

2.  Stick together in a group

When the road gets busier it is easy to get jumpy and hang back from the wheel in front of you as your nerves build – try to hang on and keep your group as one peloton. Other road users are then forced to treat you as a large vehicle and will give you space.  If you drop off it is more likely that a car will try to squeeze into the gap.

3.  The surgeon’s knife

Avoid changing your line – hold your cycling line as clean and as straight as you can (like a surgeon’s knife).  This makes you predictable to other road users who will usually then give you more respect and space. Plus, you’ll look like a pro….*skillage!

4.  Communicate

Shout/gesticulate/wave/smile – give constant, clear, effective communication to your group and other road users.  Do not be shy – be clear.

5.  Chill out

If things do go wrong, don’t over react. Channel your inner Mr T. – pity the fools who have not yet discovered the awesome life of the cyclist.  You have, how zen is that?

 

Ride hard, ride safe beatbikers!

 

bb xx