So this past weekend I have been working a bit more on my sketching work, but mainly on the research of being seen on a bike. I decided to look around at some of the cycle clothing available in sports shops as well as a few bike lights. The clothing itself was an interesting area as it seems like all items of cycle clothing are designed in a similar fashion – all adhering to the sporty jacket with fluorescent colouring. It seems like it is impossible at the moment to actually buy a cycle jacket which does not look overly gaudy and aesthetically fowl unless worn whilst cycling. Although I will admit that perhaps that is the only need for such an item of clothing, it has given me food for thought on the matter…
As for bike lights, I have only really built upon past knowledge from previous experiences. It seems that there are a variety of lights, both sets and individuals which are available for prices varying from fair to ridiculous. The main problem seems to be the hit and miss pot luck approach of the market, where one very cheap set of lights indistinguishable from the next, might be incredibly good value, incredibly bright and well made for the price, whereas a far more expensive set might have a trusted brand name on it and have decent build quality, but have very poor performance. It seems lights for bikes are split down the middle, which is something some novice cyclists may not realise. Cycle lights are either purely ambient as a marker for the bike in the dark or fully directional to actually illuminate where the cyclist is going. It can be difficult for buyers to discern these two types as very few actually distinctly say which they might be, which can and will lead to a cyclist riding in the dark with an ambient light on their bike.
After my research experience, I decided to purchase a brightly coloured jacket and test out the problems first hand.
Whilst being quite unnerving, I did feel that every driver was fully aware of my existing on the road. Have a luminescent jacket meant that hand signals for turning were very clear due to car headlights illuminating my arm. I did still feel that my presence on the road was let down, in the sense of my actual confidence in trusting the traffic to acknowledge my intentions. Whilst cycling on a cycle path near Cardiff castle, I encountered first hand the dangers that can so quickly occur, when a car very quickly pulled into the car park which shared it’s space with the cycle path, an action to which my response was to pull the brakes. My bike slid on the wet tarmac, though I was able to avoid any kind of collision, but this made it very clear to me how exactly a slightly absent minded driver, or even just a driver in a rush can cause a very dangerous situation so quickly, despite how very clearly visible I was…