Bardstown Road Vehicular Cycling - Part 1: Stop'n'Go

This covers vehicular cycling on Bardstown Rd, Louisville KY, on a sunny and warm Sunday afternoon. Congestion is high. The traffic speed is low. We start out southbound on Bardstown Road just north of Eastern Parkway, and by the end we pass the aptly-named Speed Ave, whereafter the congestion breaks and we speed up.

** Our Technique **
The lanes are too narrow to be safely shared between a car and a bicycle. Notice that we did not ever come within 5' of the door of any car, therefore it could not spring open and hit us. Notice also that other vehicles always passed us safely, but mostly we were waiting for the hordes of cars to get it in gear. If we'd used lane-splitting we would have been noticeably faster, at the expense of losing our legal protections and having to pay a lot more attention.

Finally, we were sometimes using our mirrors to scan for traffic, instead of fully turning our heads. We would never do this if we weren't shooting video, but we thought we'd try it out and see if we felt safe.


** CREDITS **


Cyclists: Katie M (front), Dave M (rear)
Production: Dave M - cinelerra - ubuntu linux
Camera Technique: copied from dual-chase www.dualchase.com
Music: by "the Precursors" member Tore Aune Fjellstad - slyhome.ogg Slylandro Home - Floating Gas Bags - www.medievalfuture.com/precursors/

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• bike
• bicycle
• traffic
• Louisville
• KY
• congestion

[CommuteOrlando]

Nice!

Love the door zone rider who shows up to your right at 0:23. You have to wonder what these guys are thinking when they see 2 cyclists riding properly and safely in the lane while they skim parked cars.

Brian DeSousa and I captured the exact same behavior on one of our shoots in Orlando. We almost right-hooked the guy because he rode past us unannounced as we were signaling a right turn.

[svref]

I think these riders don't process the street in the same way that we do. They see a hole and they go for it. They don't have the neural pathways built for processing those sorts of questions. So what they're thinking about this is "nothing".

[MrWrongsalive]

What would be a good part of Louisville to hold a critical mass ride?

[AkaCeeNote]

Love bardstown road <3

[Nakedlouisville]

THANK YOU...for stopping at the lights/signs and riding safe.  Your a RARE person in Louisville!!