Riding into a low sun.

[Banjo]

On the only ride I have managed to do this week I was coming back straight into a low afternoon sun.

I was having difficulty seeing ahead and had real worries about car drivers behind me peering through dirty windscreens into it so rode a few miles on the pavement until the road turned to the north a bit more.I am certainly not normally a pavement rider but this one is a shared path so perfectly legal and lots safer on this occasion.

Other than getting off and walking how do others cope with this?

 

[palinurus]

Cycling cap- peak makes a useful sun visor. Sunglasses if it's a fine winter day.

I worry about drivers too, I just hope they're using their sun visors and have sunglasses handy.

 

[Muddyfox]

I just hope they're using their sun visors and have sunglasses handy.

Does'nt make much difference in this weather, when your screen is covered in salt from the road spray and your washers are frozen it makes it very difficult to pick out a cyclist when driving into a low sun

Simon

 

[summerdays]

I often turn on my rear light in those situations and hope it should stand out against the black silhouette of myself/bike.

 

[Muddyfox]

I often turn on my rear light in those situations and hope it should stand out against the black silhouette of myself/bike.

Normally in flashing mode they are quite quick to spot from a car drivers point of view

At the moment i've had to carry bottles of water in the car to clean my windscreen as the washers are just permanently frozen

Simon

 

[Origamist]

If at all possible, try to avoid finding yourself riding into the low sun.

If you have an adjacent shared path, use it. If you don't have this option, here are a few suggestions if you're riding on the road: ride further to the left than normal (i.e gutter hug - it's one of the few times I'd recommend this approach), if you see a vehicle and have time, change position laterally to make yourself more conspicuous - a sort of controlled and extended deviation/wobble (i.e out of the gutter into a more prominent road position, and then back into the gutter - or pull in, if there's space) look back a lot more often to see if cars are adjusting their speed and line. If you have a jacket, undo the zip and let it act like a semaphore flag and put on your rear light as others have said (the brighter the better).

Alternatively, pull over and wait, or my choice, change route. This might sound a bit wimpish, but it's probably the wisest course of action.

 

[summerdays]

If at all possible, try and avoid finding yourself riding into the low sun.

If you have an adjacent shared path, use it. If you don't have this option ride further to the left than normal (i.e gutter hug - it's one of the few times I'd recommend this approach), if you have the time, change position laterally to make yourself more conspicuous - a sort of controlled and extended wobble (i.e out of the gutter into a more prominent road position, and then back into the gutter - or better yet, pull in, if there's space) look back a lot more often to see if cars are adjusting their speed and line. If you have a jacket, undo the zip and let it act like a sail and put on your rear light as others have said.

Alternatively, pull over and wait, or my choice, change route. This might sound a bit wimpish, but it's probably the wisest course of action.

I can't do that last one - as the road it most often occurs on is the road to my son's school - often is only when I'm on my way back that I realise how bad it was for any motorist coming towards us. And the road is completely parked on the other side and literally 1 car wide.

 

[palinurus]

I often use my Dinotte rear light on slow pulse during these sort of conditions, frequent rear observation is a good tip too.

 

[longers]

There's a stretch of the A57 upto Mottram that is a worry for a week or two twice a year. Dual carriageway uphill and I need to be in the right hand lane 3/4 of the way up. I've ridden the pavement a couple of times when I've had bad vibes.

Would dark clothing be better than light clothing?

 

[MacB]

There's a stretch of the A57 upto Mottram that is a worry for a week or two twice a year. Dual carriageway uphill and I need to be in the right hand lane 3/4 of the way up. I've ridden the pavement a couple of times when I've had bad vibes.

Would dark clothing be better than light clothing?

Weird how we get these vibes, I find a hint is when cars sort of swerve after me, like they see me very late and then give an imaginary cyclist in front of me the room I should have been given.

Bright colours do seem to diminish in these conditions but a lot of us will only have yellow Winter jackets. I do tend to put both rear lights on flash, but I do get very nervous when my vision is impaired.

 

[john59]

This happened to me a couple of years back. Waiting to turn right of a main road and a van comes to the give way at the road I’m turning into. The sun was obviously in his eyes and he could not see me waiting to turn into the road. He then proceeds to pull out; I was waiting for the impact. Luckily his mate seen me in time and he stopped inches from my legs. I really thought I was done for and now treat this junction with extreme caution during the winter.



John