When to call it a day?

[Andy in Germany]

Being right and 6 feet under, or pull over. Your choice.
I use it as an excuse for a breather and a relaxed drink.

That works once, or if you're out on a jaunt on the weekend. It gets more troublesome if you're using a bike as transport and need to get to work on time. You can't always factor in an extra ten minutes to allow for avoiding close passes.

 

[Punkawallah]

which is no comfort if you are the one that gets it...

On account of how you’ll be dead.

 

[esoxlucius]

I think the old, "it'll never happen to me" syndrome is at play with many cyclists......until it does happen!

My wife is absolutely spot on to be worried sick every time I go out but if I shared her concern then cycling wouldn't be part of my life and that ain't happening anytime soon.

We take the risk on every time we go out and all we can do is pray that the old saying, "it'll never happen to me", rings true.

 

[Mo1959]

I really only cycle May, June and July at silly o’clock in the morning now as I’ve got too nervous in traffic. I had a short spin at 5 this morning.

 

[Pblakeney]

That works once, or if you're out on a jaunt on the weekend. It gets more troublesome if you're using a bike as transport and need to get to work on time. You can't always factor in an extra ten minutes to allow for avoiding close passes.

Yes you can. I know because I always allowed that extra 10 minute as I wanted to arrive at work fresh and relaxed. Actually, I allowed 15 minutes as it also covered potential punctures.
Going home was a training session though, where the roads permitted.

 

[SteveH80]

From how you describe it though unless those roads are one way what happens when two vehicles meet? Is one reversing for miles on end. There must surely be passing places.

There are some passing places but usually there is a bit of verge or field gates with enough space for passing, there is some reversing but not for far.
Fortunately there is very little traffic so you don't have the convoy A meets convoy B that seems to be a speciality of the Lake District

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I think the old, "it'll never happen to me" syndrome is at play with many cyclists......until it does happen!

My wife is absolutely spot on to be worried sick every time I go out but if I shared her concern then cycling wouldn't be part of my life and that ain't happening anytime soon.

We take the risk on every time we go out and all we can do is pray that the old saying, "it'll never happen to me", rings true.

Same could be said for dying in the shower

 

[Binky]

That works once, or if you're out on a jaunt on the weekend. It gets more troublesome if you're using a bike as transport and need to get to work on time. You can't always factor in an extra ten minutes to allow for avoiding close passes.

The more pertinent point is you never know or rarely know when and where a close pass will occur. Anyone who says they can is sadly mistaken. Saying to pull over to avoid a close pass is fine but who knows when they'll happen.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Yes you can. I know because I always allowed that extra 10 minute as I wanted to arrive at work fresh and relaxed. Actually, I allowed 15 minutes as it also covered potential punctures.
Going home was a training session though, where the roads permitted.

You might be able to, for me it depends.

I take the train for the journey to the town I work at, It arrives at half past eight, and I have to be at work at quarter to nine.
It takes ten minutes to ride from the station to work at about 20km/h
Going home, I leave work at 5:15pm and the train leaves at 5:29.
The train runs hourly, so taking the early train means sitting about in the city for an hour, and if I miss it on the return I'm a bit stuck.

If I ride the whole way I allow an hour for a 45-50 minute journey. To be fair I'm only on a road for about 10% of the journey and most of that is traffic calmed or a "bicycle street"

 

[Pblakeney]

If I ride the whole way I allow an hour for a 45-50 minute journey.

That's what I did.
If the weather was so bad as to not be possible then it was car or train & walk depending on end location.

 

[All uphill]

I think the old, "it'll never happen to me" syndrome is at play with many cyclists......until it does happen!

My wife is absolutely spot on to be worried sick every time I have a shower, use power tools, drive the car.

We take the risk on every time we have a shower, use power tools, drive the car.

 

[presta]

The only time I've been over the bonnet of a car I just had minor cuts & bruises.
The only time I got hurt was when a crank broke.
The only times when I broke bones were once in the car, and another whilst walking.
In all the miles I drove, the occasion I got hurt was a quarter of a mile from home in a residential street, not racing down the motorway.
In all the years I spent walking, the occasion I got hurt was walking a grassy meadow in Essex, not in the mountains.
There was some risk compensation going on there: I was admiring the view on the hoof, something I didn't do in the mountains because it would have been too dangerous.
The scariest thing that happened in the mountains was when I dislodged a boulder, and thought it was about to kill someone else.

It doesn't stop me riding but it keeps me recording my rides and reporting bad and dangerous drivers and I wish more cyclists did this as ultimately it benefits us all.

Sadly, I sometimes think it just gives them more practice at finding reasons why it the cyclists' fault.

Taking the moral high ground sometimes comes with a high price tag.

So does backing down in the long run.

Having said that it’s not as if riding along the canal path is completely safe.

When I slipped on a muddy towpath I was lucky I went down an embankment into rhododendron bushes, and not into the drink.

humans are notoriously bad at risk assessment stats though, its the classic youre more likely to die driving to the airport than in a plane crash, which is fine and everyone still drives without a care in the world, but when you know someone who was killed in a completely random aircrash, there isnt a moment you dont step on the next plane you take and think about that or them. the stats become meaningless because you had a connection with it.

Availability Heuristic: People judge probability by how easily something springs to mind, not the actual risk of it happening.

People are also about 1000 times more sensitive to a risk that's imposed upon them than one they choose for themselves, which might make the chart look more like this:

My wife is absolutely spot on to be worried sick every time I go out but if I shared her concern then cycling wouldn't be part of my life and that ain't happening anytime soon.

If you've decided that the enjoyment you get is worth the risk, I don't see the point in re-examining the decision with every turn of the pedals. I had my share of near misses to make your teeth curl, but I regarded them as conversation pieces rather than something to worry about.

Same could be said for dying in the shower

My shower went with a big bang about 18 months ago.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

His wife really worries when he uses the power tools in the shower.

 

[a.twiddler]

His wife really worries when he uses the power tools in the shower.

Helps if you turn the water off first.

 

[Binky]

There are some passing places but usually there is a bit of verge or field gates with enough space for passing, there is some reversing but not for far.
Fortunately there is very little traffic so you don't have the convoy A meets convoy B that seems to be a speciality of the Lake District

Here's a snapshot from this mornings ride. Can just see righthand of handlebar.
This was a courier and fair play there was no Mexican standoff he reversed to a spot where I could squeeze in and we had a laugh about how narrow it was. This is a lane not far from where I live. Fortunately not too many like this.