How to know when your “ready” for the road?

[Lillian]

On 8/29/2019 at 11:24 PM, Darrell Wesh said:

Watch a lot of videos of NYC bike messengers and great EUC riders like @houseofjob. NYC is as bad as it gets traffic wise in America, so you’ll see some effective situational awareness skills and techniques utilized.

J turns, sticking to the shoulder of a vehicle and never directly behind it, slaloming to attract attention so you’re visible to oncoming cars about to turn left etc. If you drive a car you already have a sense of how people drive. 

Im at the point where i seek out riding in 5pm traffic. It’s more fun. The amount of traffic doesn’t effect how long it takes me to get somewhere.

Can you elaborate about slaloming to attract attention so you're visible?

I WISH I looked forward to 5pm traffic riding like you do. Goals  I love riding in at 5am (gym before work) but when 5pm comes, I always get nervous about the crowds. I end up walking my wheel until I get to the 12th Ave. sidewalk. 

Edited August 31, 2019 by Lillian

[Blicky Te⚡️la]

Took a lot of tips from this thread and just went for it! 

Everything was good (except for the dreadful “please decelerate” and shitty tilt-back).

 

[Gaz Bon]

2 minutes ago, General Principle said:

(except for the dreadful “please decelerate” and shitty tilt-back).

 

LOL 

[Gazza-usa]

1 hour ago, Lillian said:

That's what I'm doing. I ride in the street here and there early on weekend mornings to run nearby errands. One bike lane was in the middle of the street! I was kind of nervous but went with it. Vehicles passed on both sides of me and I saw a huge metal part of the street coming up. Fortunately the EUC handled it like a pro. I ran over it just as a car would have. 

Here's one of my rides to the store - street practice. 

 

Great mellow sound track too.Your music ?  Cute doggie!!

[Lillian]

1 hour ago, Gazza-usa said:

Great mellow sound track too.Your music ?  Cute doggie!!

My lame homemade tune. I have two copyright violations on Vimeo. Although there are royalty free songs, some have restrictions. I find it easier to use my own. Thanks for the compliment 

The pup was totally freaked out. He dropped his toy to check it all out. 

Edited September 1, 2019 by Lillian

[GMan]

I’m 53, so also one of the older riders. Once I got to the point where I felt I could control the wheel, I took onto the streets. I’ve been riding slowly so that I have a cushion if something goes wrong. The variety and having to deal with unexpected situations is making me a better rider and better able to understand the limitations of the wheel and myself. My big problem right now is taking off from a stop to an uphill road. I live in San Francisco so this is common. Great fun though!

[Gaz Bon]

6 minutes ago, GMan said:

I’m 53, so also one of the older riders

You on an EUC it does not care how old you are 

And thinking you may be surprised at how many 50 + yr old riders there are 

With EUCs age is number just like Wh well maybe not 

😉💀

[Cumulus Libre]

10 hours ago, Lillian said:

Can you elaborate about slaloming to attract attention so you're visible?

I do ride a motorcycle and there are quite some good explanatory videos on how to make you more visible

If you ride straight up next to the parked vehicles people from upcoming lanes have more problems estimating where you are and at what speed that you are approaching them.. 

making bigger turns, carving helps your visibility a lot , but also you position on the lane your riding on makes a big difference, I know we are not riding a motorcycle but an EUC but I found the more your visible for upcoming traffic the more they pay attention, riding dynamic is something that attracts the eye since you shifting through their plain of field

check the following video : 

cheers

CL

 

[Lillian]

Thanks, Cumulus. That video helped me comprehend it. 

[Lillian]

8 hours ago, Gaz Bon said:

With EUCs age is number just like Wh well maybe not 

😉💀

I'm putting in a vote on the "maybe not" part re. the Onewheel. 

[Flying W]

When I was commuting I would also run my headlight in flashing mode on the euc. This helped people notice me durring the day as well. 

[Lillian]

5 hours ago, Flying W said:

When I was commuting I would also run my headlight in flashing mode on the euc. This helped people notice me durring the day as well. 

Good idea. 

[LanghamP]

A lot of problems with EUCs (and other PEVs) comes from the speed differential between them and drivers. For example, all pedestrians are killed when the driver is going too fast to make a collision survivable.

So it is with EUCs on the street and road. While the average speed of EUCs is faster than drivers in major cities, their top speed between lights is not, and driver's goodwill is what keeps you safe during their overtakes on you. That is, unlike a motorcycle, your safety is completely dependant on the driver's attitude towards you. He might give you lots of space, or not care, or he might purposefully hit you. In contrast, the motorcyclist is usually only concerned with drivers changing lanes in front of him, or a left turn in front of him, and these situations are easily avoided on the motorcycle.

All self-induced crashes on EUCs seem survivable with varying degrees of injuries. It's the car versus EUC collisions that won't be. I'll expect, somewhat soon, that we'll see our first EUC fatality, as our numbers and miles are large enough, and it'll be an EUC rider being run over by a driver breaking the law while saying he didn't. 100%.

Edited September 2, 2019 by LanghamP

[Gazza-usa]

On 8/31/2019 at 11:09 PM, GMan said:

I’m 53, so also one of the older riders. Once I got to the point where I felt I could control the wheel, I took onto the streets. I’ve been riding slowly so that I have a cushion if something goes wrong. The variety and having to deal with unexpected situations is making me a better rider and better able to understand the limitations of the wheel and myself. My big problem right now is taking off from a stop to an uphill road. I live in San Francisco so this is common. Great fun though!

Join the 53 club.  Me too. 😁  It's a freaking blast !!

[Gazza-usa]

On 9/1/2019 at 6:07 PM, LanghamP said:

A lot of problems with EUCs (and other PEVs) comes from the speed differential between them and drivers. For example, all pedestrians are killed when the driver is going too fast to make a collision survivable.

So it is with EUCs on the street and road. While the average speed of EUCs is faster than drivers in major cities, their top speed between lights is not, and driver's goodwill is what keeps you safe during their overtakes on you. That is, unlike a motorcycle, your safety is completely dependant on the driver's attitude towards you. He might give you lots of space, or not care, or he might purposefully hit you. In contrast, the motorcyclist is usually only concerned with drivers changing lanes in front of him, or a left turn in front of him, and these situations are easily avoided on the motorcycle.

All self-induced crashes on EUCs seem survivable with varying degrees of injuries. It's the car versus EUC collisions that won't be. I'll expect, somewhat soon, that we'll see our first EUC fatality, as our numbers and miles are large enough, and it'll be an EUC rider being run over by a driver breaking the law while saying he didn't. 100%.

I really hope your prediction never comes true.  On a safety note, it's probably a good idea to video every journey you take on your EUC if you're doing road riding.  The video is evidence of anything that might happen.

[LanghamP]

1 hour ago, Gazza-usa said:

I really hope your prediction never comes true.  On a safety note, it's probably a good idea to video every journey you take on your EUC if you're doing road riding.  The video is evidence of anything that might happen.

Today I was riding my bicycle in a stroad that had a bicycle lane. At every intersection, with no exceptions, I saw automobile debris that had been left over from car collisions. On the face of it, drivers shouldn't be hitting each other often at all, because so long as everyone is driving reasonably safely, or even somewhat carelessly, this road has wide enough lanes, with a low enough speed limit, with lazy red lights, so as to make this one of the safer roads.

However, that's not how people drove. Lots were running red lights, weaving while texting, not even vaguely stopping on right on red, passing on double yellow despite double lanes, and especially lots of speeding.

No one was honking or driving with anger; it's just that highly dangerous driving is now normalized. That why I don't think a camera is anything but retribution. And not a very effective one, either, as long as the driver has insurance and isn't drunk, a car collision is "the perfect crime".

[KindlyGo]

On 8/30/2019 at 3:47 AM, alcatraz said:

Master:

1. hard braking

2. low speed riding without wobbling like crazy

3. look over your shoulder from time to time

4. how to go into a hole/over a bump (when cars are around you, you might not have a choice)

5. staying cool in stressful situations

6. placement on the road

7. footrest clearance to curbs etc

8. adjusting speed according to visibility

Thanks, I've not seen wise advices like yours despite searching a lot. 

BTW Do you ride an V8 on traffic roads? In short maybe I'll have to ride mine on roads because of change in traffic rules on my area. 

[alcatraz]

6 hours ago, KindlyGo said:

Thanks, I've not seen wise advices like yours despite searching a lot. 

BTW Do you ride an V8 on traffic roads? In short maybe I'll have to ride mine on roads because of change in traffic rules on my area. 

I live in a big city with 8 million and it's quite dense. I ride a tesla and a v8 depending on the distance I need to ride. Roads are wide so I ride on the shoulder.

If you ride in an older city with narrow single lane roads, then that's a difficult choice. I probably wouldn't ride such roads unless they were 30km/h limited. Trucks and buses concern me.