The Queen of Conspicuity

There's a k.d.lang song called "If I were you" that begins "If I could only be the Queen of Popularity..." One night my husband saw me wheeling my bike in the front door, my bike and I covered in lights, reflective tape and other assorted bright things as usual, and he started singing "If I could only be the Queen of Conspicuity..." Somehow the name stuck. He's been calling me the Queen of Conspicuity ever since.

I often see other cyclists riding in the dark with no lights. They're usually wearing dark clothing. The only reason I see them is because I have a hypersensitivity to bicycles. I notice bikes. I suspect that the only motorists who notice them are other bicyclists who just happen to be driving cars at the time. I want to ask these people "Dude! Do you have a death wish or what?!"

I'm sure most of them don't. I'm sure most of them just never think about it. Most people are simply not safety conscious.

I caught up to a dark-clad cyclist with no lights and no reflectors a few weeks ago. I noticed him a little bit ahead of me in the bike lane and caught up to him at a red light. With friendly concern in my voice, I said, "You don't have any lights!"

He sheepishly said, "Oh...yeah..."

I reiterated, "You gotta get some lights!" I tried to sound shocked that anyone would be riding without lights, like this was the first time I had ever seen this.

He said, "Um, well, I didn't think I was gonna be out this late..."

"Man, you're invisible! You gotta get some lights!" I tried to sound like I was really fearful on his behalf.

"Well, I've been meaning to. Thanks for reminding me."

"You're invisible! You're gonna get killed!"

"I hope not..."

The light turned green about then and that was the last I saw of him (the bike lane ended there. I continued on the street and he went onto the sidewalk). I hope he made it home ok. He probably thought I was a total nutcase, but that's ok. I wonder if he ever bought lights.

I had hoped to gain some insight into why he was riding without lights. I'm still not sure I understand. He said he didn't think he was going to be riding home that late. If he was using a bicycle for transportation, though, why didn't it occur to him that he might be riding in the dark at some point, especially in late fall when the days were getting shorter? If he was really caught unaware, why did he think it was safe to ride home without lights? Why didn't he make other arrangements to get home? To me, riding home without lights is simply an unacceptable option. If someone suggested I do it, my reaction would be, "What? Are you nuts? Do you want me to get killed?!"

Another thing I see is cyclists who actually are riding with a blinkie, but the blinkie is so dim, it's nearly invisible. The mere act of using a blinkie will not ward off motorists. It's not magic. The point of using a blinkie is that it should be seen! To be seen, it needs to be bright. It might be dim because the batteries are nearly dead, or it could be dim because the blinkie itself is old (I had assumed it was always the batteries, but another cyclist told me a blinkie he bought recently was 3-5 times brighter than a similar one he bought 10 years ago. The LED's being manufactured today are simply brighter), or it could be both. Make sure your batteries are fresh, and if you're using an older blinkie, consider replacing it for safety's sake (recycling tip: as long as the old blinkie works in steady mode, donate it to an astronomer. Astronomers can use red lights to illuminate things they need to see without destroying their dark adaptation).

How to be Conspicuous

My favorite linguistics professor always used to say "Redundancy lessens the strain on the human perceptual capacities." The human brain just isn't capable of functioning at peak capacity every single waking second. People are only capable of noticing so many things. Consider that motorists have a zillion other things to pay attention to when they're driving (some they should, some they shouldn't). In most cases, it's not that they don't want to see you. You'll be doing them a big favor if you make it easy for them to see you. And obviously you'll be doing yourself a big favor. So think redundancy.

Another reason for redundancy is equipment does sometime malfunction. If you're relying on one headlight and it dies, you're in trouble. Same with blinkies. So I have two of each, primarily to get more attention, but also so in case one dies, I still have one.

I also have a lot of reflective tape. I love reflective tape. As you can see from the photos, when the light hits the reflective tape, it just glows. The only light aimed at me in these photos is the flash from the camera. One good thing about the baskets on my bike is it gave me a place to put a long strip of tape. There's also tape on the fork, the handlebars, the stem, the seat tube and the rear fender. There's narrower tape on my helmet. I sewed reflective tape on my jacket. Note that I sewed some around my forearms so when I signal turns, people can see my signals. After the photos were taken, I also sewed reflective tape on my backpack.

The headlight on my handlebar is a Specialized Astro 5.0. It's definitely a "to be seen by" light, not a "to see by" light, but it's rechargeable, it has a high and low beam, a low battery indicator and it's weather resistant (something I insist on -- all my lights are weather resistant. The first headlight I ever bought died the first time I ever used it in the rain, and I was absolutely disgusted! Does anyone manufacture car headlights that aren't supposed to be used in the rain?!). I can leave it plugged into the charger when I'm not using it. I've been happy with it, though I've discovered it really uses up the juice when I'm riding in the cold. Specialized claims it will last over 2 hours on the low beam, and at "normal" temperatures, it does, but when I'm riding at 5°F the low battery indicator comes on after about 20 minutes. This hasn't actually caused a problem for me, as I have a second charger at work (I bought two of the headlights at the same time so my husband could use one, but having one charger at home and one at work has worked out great), and my commute generally only takes 30-35 minutes. I don't actually know how much time is left after the low battery indicator comes on though, and if I had a longer commute, this could be a problem.

My helmet-mounted headlight is a NiteRider Digital Evolution. It can also be mounted on the handlebar, but I like having it on my helmet for several reasons. I can aim the light wherever I need to see. If there is a dark area on the pavement ahead, I can aim the light at it to see if it's a pothole or rock or something else I need to avoid or merely a shadow. If I'm coming out to my bike with two bags of groceries, I can just reach up and turn my light on, and it's easier to see what I'm doing, and I feel safer. I figure a mugger is probably less likely to attack me if I could shine a very bright light in his eyes merely by looking at him, both temporarily blinding him and illuminating his face, making it possible for me to identify him later in a police lineup. From a conspicuity point of view, it's also good because I can aim it at motorists when I want to make sure they see me. When I'm approaching an intersection where someone opposite me is about to make a left turn, I want to make sure they see me and don't turn until after I'm through the intersection. I turn my head in their direction and then away so the movement of the light gets their attention. Likewise, if I'm approaching someone backing out of a driveway, I figure they probably don't see me. I want to make sure they realize I'm coming and don't back into me, so I glance up at them and then away. They stop. If the light was mounted on the handlebar, I wouldn't be able to do this.

The light has a low, medium and high beam. I've never used the low beam. I use the medium or high beam depending on how dark it is and on whether it's getting lighter (morning) or darker (evening). This is a "to see by" light. It's rechargeable, and I can leave the battery charging whenever I'm not using it. I adapted the Velcro strap that was meant to attach the battery to the handlebar (when one would mount the light to the handlebar) to attach the battery to my belt. I use the 36" extension cable between the light and the battery, unplugging it from the battery when not in use.

I really like this light, but I have to say I've had a few problems with it. The most recent one brought the others to mind. In fairness, one problem was actually my fault, though it was accidental. In preparing to go out in the rain, as I was plugging the connectors together I accidentally let the nylon fabric of my rain poncho touch the connectors. Zow! Let this be a lesson. Don't do that. It fried the battery. More specifically, it reversed the polarity. I had to buy a new battery. In other instances though, the battery or the wires just had "issues." Most recently the light acted weird for a couple of weeks and then it just wouldn't work (even though the LED's showed the light was getting power), but the next morning after I had fully charged the battery, it worked fine. It wasn't reliable after that, of course. That reminded me that a couple of years ago, it also was acting odd. That time some wires in the cable connected to the battery had severed themselves. And it seems like there was one other time something went wrong, but I don't remember now what it was.

I had read bad things about NiteRider's customer service. Things like people sending things back to be repaired and it taking several months. I can't wait several months. I ride at night a lot. So any time I've needed a repair, I've taken it to my local Batteries Plus store. They're friendly, they're reasonably priced, they can fix it in a couple of days, and they're a couple of blocks from my house. Cool.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend a helmet mounted headlight. I just don't know that I would recommend this one. I guess I'd recommend it as long as you've got a nearby Batteries Plus store, or you're capable of doing electrical repair work yourself or know someone else who is. If you have to rely on NiteRider to repair it if something goes wrong, you should probably buy some other brand.

Each blinkie is a VistaLite Total Eclipse Taillight with seven LED's. I set them to steady mode for the photo so the light would be sure to be on when the shutter snapped, but normally I have them set to flashing mode since this gets more attention. There is also a chase mode. Each one uses two AAA batteries. With seven LED's, they're very bright! I use rechargeable batteries (NiMH) and have two sets, so I always have one set charging. As soon as the blinkies are less than very bright, I swap batteries. I also bring them inside with me when it's cold out so the batteries won't run down in the cold. At home I park my bike in my living room, so that's a non-issue, but when I go somewhere in the winter, I just make it a point to remove my blinkies and stick them in my jacket pockets when I reach my destination.

I also set my anklebands to steady mode for the photo for the same reason. When I wear these at dusk or in the dark, I set them to flashing. If I wear them when it's overcast, I don't turn them on. They're actually quite bright even not turned on. They're fluorescent and reflective. The light they emit is red, though it shines through the fluorescent green plastic layer. It's very bizarre. They're definitely attention getting! (Note Performance calls them armbands. Obviously they work as anklebands too.)

Wear light, bright colors

Cyclists are often told to wear bright colors. Bright reds and bright blues may be eye-popping in bright daylight, but in the dark, they disappear. To be conspicuous in both daylight (especially on overcast days) and in the dark, wear yellow or yellow-green, the brighter, the better. While my jacket (a Marmot Precip in "celery") looks much brighter in daylight than in the dark, it's still a light enough green that it reflects a lot of light, so it's very visible in the dark. I wear it year round, using it as a rain jacket in warmer months, a windbreaker in cool weather and as an outer layer when it's colder.

In warmer months when it's not raining, when I ride at dusk or in the dark I wear a belt made by the same manufacturer as my anklebands that functions the same way. Unfortunately, the place I got it from no longer sells them. If I find another source for them, I'll update this page.

In warmer months I do sometimes wear dark-colored shirts during the day, but I make it a point to wear a light-colored shirt on a day when I know I'll be having a meeting after work and riding home in the dark.

People I know frequently tell me, "Hey, I saw you riding your bike the other day. You were really visible! I saw you from a long ways off." They often then proceed to tell me about some other cyclist they nearly ran over because they didn't see him till they were nearly on top of him. They go on about how this guy was riding in the dark with no lights, wearing dark clothes, and they just can't understand it. Well, what can I say? I can't understand it either. It would be like if half the motorists painted their vehicles matte black, ceased using their headlights and disabled their taillights. A very bad idea.

I enjoy being the Queen of Conspicuity, but I'm not possessive about the title. I'd like to see every cyclist ride with lights if it's dark, dusk, overcast or raining. Any time it's dark enough that motorists turn on their headlights to be seen, every cyclist should be using lights too. You want to be seen, don't you? I'd like to see every cyclist have lots of reflective tape and other conspicuity gear. Make sure both motorists and other cyclists can see you from a long ways off.

Reflective Tape Tricks

There are a couple of tricks to sewing reflective tape onto very thin slippery fabric such as my Marmot Precip jacket. So let me tell you what I did.

Normally if you were sewing some kind of trim onto a piece of fabric, you would pin it into place before sewing. I didn't want a bunch of holes in the fabric though. So I used Scotch tape. Several short pieces. Don't skimp. Do not sew over the Scotch tape. Remove each piece right before you come to it.

I cut the reflective tape for the back a little longer than I wanted it and extended it past the sleeve seams. Then after I taped it down with Scotch tape in several places, I trimmed the ends of the reflective tape to the same angle as the sleeve seams.

The back of the fabric is very slippery, and the fabric itself is very thin. It needed some kind of stabilizer backing where I would be sewing or I would end up cursing loudly, I sensed. Rather than go to a fabric store and buy some tear-away stabilizer backing fabric, I used unscented Bounce fabric softener sheets (since I had some on hand). I sewed them end to end to make a piece long enough. Then I taped it to the area I would be working on and sewed that area before proceeding to the next area.

After sewing through the three layers (reflective tape, jacket, stabilizer backing (aka fabric softener sheets)) so all four sides of the reflective tape are sewed down, I pulled the threads through to the back and knotted them off. Then I carefully tore away the stabilizer. I tore it away from the outside edge first, and then took a seam ripper and carefully slashed down the middle of the rectangle of stitching, being absolutely certain to only cut through the stabilizer. Then I pulled away the stabilizer carefully. This left a little bit of gumminess in the holes made by the needle, but I figure that was probably a good thing. It filled up the holes made by the needle.

You might be thinking, "Wouldn't it be easier just to skip the sewing and use iron-on reflective tape?" Well, that sounds like a logical question. However, I tried iron-on reflective tape on another jacket a couple of years ago, following the directions that came with it to a T, and within weeks the tape was falling off. So my opinion of iron-on reflective tape is pretty low.

Resources

You may be able to find sew-on reflective tape at a fabric store. Adhesive reflective tape to put on your bike may be available at a hardware store. If not, you can order both from Identi-Tape.