Links

Must read for bike safety

• BBC’s ANNUAL INSTRUCTIONAL RIDE SERIES (1,116)
  This series is offered to anyone over 16 years of age interested in learning the basic skills of cycling, including doing minor road repairs and improving as a rider. We want to help people new to our sport find a comfortable riding level and develop so they can at least ride on the BBC casual rides by the end of the series and to permit experienced riders who are new to club riding to meet and to learn about group riding. The ride series will cover both road and recreational trail riding.
  
  At the orientation, we will demonstrate cycling skills and techniques and discuss bicycles, equipment and clothing and answer any questions about the program. We will watch a short, informative video on cycling safety and bike handling. If you bring your bicycle to the orientation, we can check it out for you and show you how to do a pre-ride bike check. The indoor orientation will be held RAIN OR SHINE. Weather permitting, anyone who wants to do so can join us for a short ride following the orientation. You must have and wear a helmet in order to ride. Below is the full ride schedule.
  
• Bicycle Commuter Group (1,330)
  Want to talk to others about the challenges of bike commuting? Then this is a good place to start.
• Bicycling Street Smarts (1,497)
  John Allen's classic 46-page booklet, a guide to safe, legal bicycling techniques on public roads and streets, is available here in a free online version (there's also a link to buy the booklet if you prefer).
  
• Helpful information for a beginning cyclist (1,128)
  The Crucial First Ride
  How to Solve Saddle Sores
  How to Solve Painful 'Hot Foot'
  How to Choose Cycling Shorts
  How to Find a 'Safe Saddle'
  How to Choose a Bike Club
  How to Hold Your Own on Fast Club Rides
  How to Survive Road Hazards
  How to Deal with Bad Dogs
  How to Perfect Your Position & Technique
  How to Hydrate for Better Performance
  How to Eat for Endurance
  Three Essential Techniques for Roadies
  Three Advanced Techniques for Roadies
  How to Ride in a Group
  Sports Medicine Tips from an Expert
  How to Find Time for Cycling
  How to Ride in a Paceline
  
  
• How to Avoid Traffic Accidents (1,377)
  A look at all types of bicycle-motor vehicle collisions, and how they could have been avoided, plus personal near collisions, and how I avoided them. - by Ken Kifer
• Lane Control (1,250)
  Driving in the middle of the lane actually protects cyclists against the most common motorist-caused crashes: sideswipes, right hooks, left crosses, and drive-outs. A bicycle driver’s top safety priority is to ensure he or she can be seen by motorists with whom they might potentially be in conflict, and bicycling in the middle of a lane is one of the most effective ways to do that. Most overtaking crashes involve a motorist who attempts to squeeze past (illegally) in a lane that is too narrow to share.
• Maryland's bicycle safety video. (1,349)
  Maryland Department of Transportation's new bicycle safety video, "Competence & Confidence: A Bicycling Guide for Adults", is online and fully accessible. MDOT received a lot of input from the bicycling community while putting it together and we think it's a great resource for people who want to be more effective and safer cyclists. It also has some sobering information on our state's relatively high rate of bicycling-related injuries. [So it is important to know how to ride safe.]
• Route selection (2,575)
  This is our attempt to help you identify routes and trails that are comfortable (or at least better then the surrounding roads) to bike on.
  
  (Email us if you need a route not shown on the map.)
  
• Safe Bicycling in Maryland (1,307)
  A darn decent book about bike safety published by MDOT. Can be used to explain bicycle safety guidelines to police or to the judge if you end up in court.