City works
It’s easy to spot whether your town planners have much cycling experience or not. Here in the UK, the Surrey Suburban Cyclist introduces an infuriating piece of planning along the Flintshire coastal route.
In the US, Casey Neistat was given a ticket in New York for riding outside the cycle lane. In fact, it’s perfectly legal to cycle on the roads in New York and Casey made this video to illustrate why it might be a good idea.
Pedestrians
The great thing about sharing the road with cars is you can hear them. Pedestrians often forget that cyclists are fast moving vehicles that you need to be aware of, especially as you can’t hear them coming.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOFwOBH-N_g
Consequently, pedestrians will often wander unwittingly into cycle paths and, while we don’t endorse the method above, it’s difficult to fault its effectiveness.
Animals
The last thing you want on a relaxing weekend ride is to find yourself surrounded by a pack of guard dogs. While most dogs are happy to compete against the peloton or join you on your workout, these mutts were aggressive enough for the cyclist to give the owners a real earful.
Other animals you need to look out for are antelopes, ostriches, and don’t get me started on kangaroos. The internet is full of marsupials with scores to settle against us cyclists. Maybe they don’t like air horns…
Looks like a twig
This next video is the perfect example of looking out for debris – and why you should never assume you can just roll over a piece of junk. Keep alert, as even the smallest debris in a cycle path can ruin your day.
Parked vehicles
Yes, vehicles parked in cycle lanes can be annoying – just remember that before locking your bike to someone’s fence. But this cyclist takes matters into his own hand. Clearly, he doesn’t skip core day, so he must be good in a sprint!
Fallen trees
Most often, you’ll come across fallen trees on trails and the well-equipped, conscientious mountain biker will always have his trusty chainsaw blade with him to clear the way – not just for himself, but for his co-riders.
If the tree’s too big, you can just do what they did in Tollymore Forest in Northern Ireland and make it a feature of the trail by piling soil ramps before and after the trunk.
