By John Allen

This month’s Safety Corner is a follow-up on last month’s, in which I showed how I ride eastbound through the Winter Street Oval and across the bridge over Route 128 in Waltham. CRW has used that challenging route, and I wanted to show how to do it safely.

And as it turned out, Waltham’s local community riding group, Bike Together Waltham, was going to use the same route. I was a bit surprised, as this is a motley crew of riders, but I saw an opportunity.  A group ride can show how it is not only possible, but reasonably safe, to take on challenges.

So I reached out to Saul Blumenthal, a leader in Bike Together Waltham, and invited him to ride with me so he could later coach the group. He took up my invitation.

Here is video which Saul and I recorded of our ride.  

Three days after the demo ride, the group rode Winter Street as part of an evening ride at dusk.  Saul gave appropriate instructions at the start and during the ride. The group understood my unusual lane choice, was well-equipped with lights, rode double file when controlling the travel lane, and mostly held together. All in all, I think that the ride went well.

It can’t be expected that an informal community group ride will display the order and discipline of a French randonneuring ride or CyclingSavvy urban riding practice. But it is in the nature of the learning experience that not everything is perfect. I am suitably impressed with how this random group of riders handled the challenge of Winter Street.

Saul shot video of the group ride. As you watch it, I’d like you to note what you think went well and what might have gone better. I have some debriefing comments following the video, which you may compare with your observations.

OK, A few things might have worked better. I shared the following notes on the group’s chat after the ride and got a positive reception:

• One boy (yellow shirt, gray helmet) who appeared to be about 10 years old had good bike handling skills and endurance, but no lights. "Frog lights" which are powered by button batteries and attach with rubber straps cost only a couple of dollars each. 
  
  
  I rode for decades in Boston-area traffic with small battery and generator lights with incandescent bulbs, no brighter than these. My lights, aimed level, worked fine to alert other road users when riding under streetlights and urban light pollution. The frog lights are at least as bright. My friend Pam Murray rents these lights before evening rides which she organizes, and refunds the rental if the lights are returned at the end of the ride. I suggested that Bike Together Waltham adopt the same strategy for riders who arrive without lights and donated a few of them to the group.
  

• On the other hand, too bright: one rider had very bright headlight in flash mode and aimed upward, a glare hazard. You can see it in Saul’s rear view in the video and then see the headlight’s beam reflecting off the back of a rider ahead.
  
  
• A couple riders stayed close to the right-side lane line when we were in the leftmost lane. Being a bit farther into the lane would have placed them farther from high-speed motor traffic. The lane was plenty wide to allow riding double-file without crowding the right edge. I am wondering whether the ingrained habit of edge riding had gotten to these riders to the extent that they didn’t realize that the edge in this case was on the left!
  
  
• The group merged from the front rather than using the "got your back" technique for lane changes, where the sweep starts to change lanes first. Making this work requires more preparation so everyone knows to do this. It wasn’t a problem in this case, but a more compact and orderly lane change looks better.
  
  
• It could have worked better to split the group into two in advance of the climb in this segment, given the number of riders and that a group of three (including me) was slower than others and formed a second group.

No bike ride is completely without risk, or goes perfectly as planned. Taking on challenges is the way to expand horizons.  I have seen a significant uptick in the challenges which Bike Together Waltham will take on, and in meeting them.  My ride with Bike Together Waltham was a learning experience, for the group, and for me.