Today was a rest day. I only got on my bike for about a block to test out a couple of minor modifications.

In today's blog entry, I wanted to talk about my safety precautions while riding on public roads across the country. Not wanting to slather a bunch of sun screen all over my face (mostly because it then runs into my eyes when I sweat), I purchased a wide-brim hat for sun protection. It also has a piece of fabric that covers my neck. It's dayglo yellow. As we've discovered, the neck fabric flaps in the breeze while I'm riding and Lailla has commented how visible it makes me, especially in shady areas. I also picked some of my more colorful cycling jerseys for this trip, which show up well in sunny areas. Finally, I have a new rechargeable USB taillight (red of course) that has a flashing setting that increases my visibility even more. All of these things make more visible to cars coming up from behind.

My dayglo yellow sun hat and bright red jersey.

I ride with traffic. I right as far to the right as I safely can. If there's debris on the shoulder, I will ride quite close to the white line or even in the lane of traffic. I do not ride with headphones because I like to hear approaching cars. If there's very light traffic--as there has been on some stretches of road so far--I ride in the lane because it's usually much smoother than the shoulder and there's a lot less chance of encountering broken glass or other hazards; I listen for approaching cars and scoot over to the right before they get to me.

So far, I've only had a couple people harass me a little. I've had a couple people honk at me unnecessarily...and I don't think it was meant as rah-rah encouragement. I also had one jerk in a white diesel pickup "roll coal" as I was crossing from Idaho back into Washington yesterday.

Tomorrow, I start up in Newport, Washington, basically on the state line between Washington and Idaho. It looks like I can get entirely through Idaho tomorrow and we have a cabin reservation in Heron, Montana, for tomorrow night.


Comments

  1. BillAugust 14, 2025 at 2:30 PM

    From now on, it will just be Bill. I'm not sure if you got my earlier message, but I am a bit jealous. Knowing what it is like to basically think only of the vistas, the road, where you'll stop next and how many more mile to go is so much more enjoyable than thinking of all the daily BS, chores and other parts of life.
    You are definitely cranking out some miles. Kudos to the bike mechanic. I found the same thing; a lot of local support.
    Since you're both the first and last one down the hill, you get to buy the beer!

    ReplyDelete

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