The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

michaels

WE are on the wrong side of the hill that is St Albans to point at Bedmond so on our street the aerials point at Crystal Palace(!)

I was going to suggest a 2 quid high vis bib. There is also some clever spray paint that you can put on your bike and I think your clothes or at the very least your backpack which is invisible by day but almost fluorescent at night.
https://www.wired.com/2015/03/lifepaint-reflective-paint/

Pyxis

Lydia, nowt wrong with posting first world problems!

This is the place to do it, with so many people that someone might be able to give you the benefit of their experience.


Anyway, humans being what they are, everything is relative, and there will always be something to worry us!


I seem to have a heirarchy of 'hateful things to do'.

I'll put off doing a level 3, say, hateful thing for ages, but then a level 2 comes along, and in order to avoid doing the level 2 thing, I'll do the level3 one!

The level 2 won't get done until a level 1 comes along! :eek:

PasturesNew

Get a stick too, with a reflector on it, that sticks out into the road by about 18" ... makes people more likely to give you a wide berth. ... although with the neanderthal mentality that seems ever-growing these days that might be seen as a target, rather than advisory item.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Fold-Out-Safety-Reflector/dp/B004H1QYG2

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

Get a stick too, with a reflector on it, that sticks out into the road by about 18" ... makes people more likely to give you a wide berth. ... although with the neanderthal mentality that seems ever-growing these days that might be seen as a target, rather than advisory item.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Fold-Out-Safety-Reflector/dp/B004H1QYG2

Yes, you cannot be too bright. Light yourself up like Blackpool seafront.
And not just front and back, but from the sides, too. Those light-up things round the wheels are great.

Every time I see a Christmas Tree cyclist, I want to hug them!

michaels

I find the real bright leds. especially worn on the helmet are actually enough to badly dazzle oncoming drivers - may mean they don't hit the cyclist but do hit the pedestrian on the other side as the driver screws up their eyes against the glare.

LydiaJ

michaels wrote: »

I was going to suggest a 2 quid high vis bib. There is also some clever spray paint that you can put on your bike and I think your clothes or at the very least your backpack which is invisible by day but almost fluorescent at night.
https://www.wired.com/2015/03/lifepaint-reflective-paint/

Thanks for the suggestions, michaels.

Firstly, I know this it pathetic of me, but I would feel less silly in a high vis jacket than a normal jacket with a high vis bib.

Secondly, the high vis paint is a great idea, but I wouldn't want to spray it on Gore-tex without some kind of guarantee that it wouldn't damage the membrane. I'll definitely get some of the version for spraying onto hard surfaces, though, and do bits of the bike, and my helmet. [ETA It seems the version for hard surfaces looks like grey primer rather than being invisible as the one for textiles is. I don't really want to spray my helmet grey. Will have to think further about this.]

Putting the fabric version of the paint on a backpack wouldn't do much to make me more visible at night. The backpack only goes on my back for the indoor walk between the bike shed and my desk. When I'm on the bike, the backpack goes sideways, shoulder straps uppermost, in one of these on the back of the bike:


Before I had one of those, I had panniers, and before that I used to use bungees like this...



...to attach the backpack to one of these (notice the bit in the middle that levers up and has springs to make it hold things down):


Before I had one of those, I was a child with no need to carry luggage while cycling. Over that time (~35 years) I have often seen cyclists with backpacks on their backs, and every time, I wonder why? The bike is able and willing to carry the luggage itself. It reminds me of the joke about the hitchhiker who kept his full size rucksack on his lap, and then, when asked by the lorry driver if he wouldn't rather put the rucksack in the back of the lorry, replied, "Oh, no. You're being very kind to give me a lift. The least I can do is carry the rucksack."

Pyxis wrote: »

Lydia, nowt wrong with posting first world problems!

This is the place to do it, with so many people that someone might be able to give you the benefit of their experience.

Anyway, humans being what they are, everything is relative, and there will always be something to worry us!

Thank you. I do know I'll get helpful suggestions here. I think it's just that I feel better about posting FWPs if I acknowledge that I realise they are such!

Pyxis wrote: »

I seem to have a heirarchy of 'hateful things to do'.

I'll put off doing a level 3, say, hateful thing for ages, but then a level 2 comes along, and in order to avoid doing the level 2 thing, I'll do the level3 one!

The level 2 won't get done until a level 1 comes along! :eek:

Oh yes! This is why I get so much more housework done when I am approaching the deadline for writing reports for school.

PasturesNew wrote: »

Get a stick too, with a reflector on it, that sticks out into the road by about 18" ... makes people more likely to give you a wide berth. ... although with the neanderthal mentality that seems ever-growing these days that might be seen as a target, rather than advisory item.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Fold-Out-Safety-Reflector/dp/B004H1QYG2

Thanks PN. I'll give that some thought.

LydiaJ

Just tried to edit my previous post and include a pic of one of my old panniers. I did what I have always done - uploaded it to photobucket and inserted the link into MSE's image thingy. Then I previewed my post. The pic of my pannier didn't appear - instead there was a message from photobucket telling me I can't do 3rd party hosting unless I upgrade my account and pay $400 pa. Well, I certainly don't want to do that. I only use it occasionally - usually for putting pics on the NPT or Elsewhere.

Can any NP recommend a replacement free way of being able to insert occasional photos on here, please?

PasturesNew

LydiaJ wrote: »

Can any NP recommend a replacement free way of being able to insert occasional photos on here, please?

https://postimages.org/

No registration required. Quick, simple, no faff.
It's what I use.

Choose images to auto disappear, or keep the code to do it yourself.

Have an account if you wish - or never.

LydiaJ

PasturesNew wrote: »

https://postimages.org/

No registration required. Quick, simple, no faff.
It's what I use.

Choose images to auto delete, or keep the delete code to do it yourself.

Have an account if you wish - or never.

Perfect! Thanks PN. I particularly like the way it gives you options to choose different sizes, so I can post pics on the NPT without making everything go horribly wrong for those of us who like to view the forum with the "stretchy" option.

Here's the pannier:

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

https://postimages.org/

No registration required. Quick, simple, no faff.
It's what I use.

Choose images to auto delete, or keep the delete code to do it yourself.

Have an account if you wish - or never.

Yes, I use postimage.

I used to use photobucket but it kept throwing Wobblies, and postimage doesn't demand anything of you. Plus, sometimes my security settings on photobucket just reset themselves to public, which did nothing for my blood pressure! :eek:

I was told not to resize when posting from postimage to here, (and to use the Direct link option), and so I didn't, and I don't think I've ever posted something from postimage that was stretchy.

If you try it and it doesn't work, go back to 'do not resize'.