Juniper

Ok,

So I class myself as a not too bad commuter, this means that I have not had a crash yet and when I do it will be impressive.

A thread came up a while ago where I posted some of the tips I have about lane splitting and commuting in general, and surprisingly enough I got a green rep from someone I didn't expect. So to push my luck even further I thought I would write up my tips, tricks and advice on commuting here. Particularly because I keep breaking my own damned rule by getting distracted while commuting thinking about what I could say here.

Some of these are things people have said to me and others are things that I've come to realise myself.

1) Don't be a cunt and don't be righteous. There's no point in being righteous from the grave (nzmikey) You are protected by a few layers of fabric.... they are encased in steel. You will loose. Now we all get uppity at times with cagers doing stupid stuff but I would say only let it show if you are dammed sure you can get away. If you rev bomb them or give abuse and they give it back by nudging you or cutting you off...again... it does not end well. Don't brake check cars, they will loose thus you will loose.

2) Read the traffic. Traffic is hive minded, but don't let that lull you.
2.1) If the lane next to you starts braking then yours probably will too. So start braking.
2.2) If the car 5 cars ahead starts braking the ones behind it will too, so start braking.
2.3) If a car indicates to go into the lane next to you be aware because the person they pulled in front of my decide to go around them and pull out into you.
2.4) If a car doesn't indicate and just changes lane be very wary, they could do that again into your lane. Eventually you get a gut instinct and can just tell if a car is going to merge. Trust it.

3) Don't be looking at the car in front. Always look 4-5 cars ahead and to the sides. A lot of people have said to me "never look at the ground" which is very true. But the best way someone said it to me was "If its 5m in front of you your fucked already, you should have seen it coming. Just keep looking ahead." (again nzmikey)

4) Generally ride in the far right hand lane, it means that people are only going to merge into you from 1 side.

5) Split down the right side (so between lane 2 and 3) I don't know if this is an unspoken rule or not but it just always seems to be the case. Lets not confuse the cagers and change that up. They expect us on that side so lets be there.

6) Split at your own speed. Its all fine and dandy pushing yourself on the open road to better your skill but if your pushing yourself while splitting your not paying attention... see next point. Just pull into the next gap and let the other bikes go past if you are holding them up. No biggie. I found out that I split faster than Mark W, now that was a scary thing to hear!! However I split within my comfort zone and often let other past me. (see first sentence)

7) Always pay attention. Listen to music, don't listen to music. Wear ear plugs, don't wear ear plugs. Do what ever you do to pay attention. If you find yourself wandering away in your mind then pull into the lane and stick with traffic.

8) Stay aware/split slower around corners. Motorways have those big corners and when your in rush hour traffic (and on a tiny sports bike and can see over cars) you can't see around the bend to see if that car is changing lanes or sitting close to the line in their lane.

9) Judge the width of the gap. If its to small then sit back a bit and wait. Don't be in a rush. Try a little rev of the engine to let them know you are there. I call it knocking (knock knock let me in please) I find most times it works. If not just wait. Traffic moves, the gap will open eventually.

10) Stay away from merging on and off ramps. "Ah shit, I was meant to take that exit" swerve across and don't look. It happens all the time and they will not see you. Same with merging on lanes, they want to get into the lane before the merging part ends and again they will not see you, or they will expect you to let them in. I strongly suggest you let them in.

11) They cannot see you. Ride like you are invisible to everyone except the bike cop because you are. Its not paranoia if they are out to get you (the cars that is not the cops.... though I can never quite shake that feeling either)

12) If by an act of God they do see you and move to let you pass or go to change lanes and see you coming so they go back to let you pass, thank them. All it takes is a wave, a lift of the hand (only if you are comfortable and confident to do so) Everyone likes to be thanked. So maybe next time they will let another rider pass or keep an even more aware eye out for us. Its like the contagious smile.

13) I try not to split past trucks, they wont even notice if you go under their tire. The fucking tire is bigger than you!!

14) Trust your gut. There have been gaps ahead of me that look perfectly fine to take but I've had 'that' feeling and haven't taken it, a few seconds later that driver glides in their lane or changes without looking.

15) Distances. Leave a good gap between you and the car in front, but not that bigger gap to let a car think they can squeeze in. Either its big enough for the car comfortably or its not at all. Also be careful splitting past gaps in the traffic. The more free flowing the traffic is the more people will change lanes.

16) Be very cautious if your lane is going faster than the lane next to you. People always want to be in the faster lane.


I think that's all of it. I'm heading off to work now so will probably think of more things. Though I hope not. I wrote this to get it out of my head (see point 7)

Happy Travels.

Juniper