Among the different actors in the pavement, bikers are the most foresighted. Due to the fact of the extreme exposition of an usual bicycle to the environment, the impacts of raining, snowing and winding should be anticipated.

There are places like the Northern European and other countries in which riders are so used to somehow bad weather conditions that they ride without apparently any inconvenient. Interestingly enough, some bikers in sunnier countries wonder how they can do it. The answer is simple: they prepare themselves. If weather forecast predicts rain, they ride with a raincoat (or even an umbrella). Coat, globes and wool hat constitute the basic equipment in winter. It does not even bother themselves when snowing and here it is better to use drought wheels. Its amazing!

A different section is required for wind. Although there is a specific garment to deal with this element know as windbreak jacket, the impact on the biker can be both beneficial or harmful just depending on the wind direction. In the first case, wind blows to your back and hence it helps you riding. On the other hand, if it hits squarely your face, you must make extra effort to move from point A to point B. Under special circumstances like in a hurricane should you not ride your bicycle for safety reasons.

The other day someone at my work had a small incident and we all began sharing safety tips when biking. Here are mine:

• First of all, your security is the most important thing.
• I use physically separated bikeways whenever possible.
• Totally ignore sharrows that invite you to bike in areas where you can easily be doored.
• When I bike on the road I always bike in the middle of the lane to force drivers who want to overtake to do it following the law and giving proper clearance.
• I wear visible helmet, shirts, jackets, gloves, etc, and 2 front and 2 rear lights at night.
  Glasses help avoiding eye-insect collisions.
• Totally disregard the 1% of drivers who honk the horn at you and appreciate the 99% who actually follow the law and behave in a humane way.
• Don’t wear any headphones ever, do stop at red lights, make sure to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, and specially whenever you’re riding on the sidewalk. Basically, behave like a bicycle when you’re on a bikeway, like a car when you’re on the road, and like a pedestrian when you’re on the sidewalk.
• Despite everything above, about once a year or two I have a close call with someone changing lanes while checking their phone or something similar, so I record my rides with a gopro pointing forward and another pointing backwards just in case I ever need them, plus people behave nicer when they realize they are being recorded.
• Bonus point I got from my coworkers: if you usually bike on the road don’t use a bell and use a loud horn instead.

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