Theres dump cyclist, that problerly never drive so have no idea what a car driver can see in dim light. Id also hazard a guess to say to say most of those that do ride in dark cloths etc are either kids/teenagers with no sense of fear etc then theres just the plain thick that deserve to be locked in loony bin.
Those flashy lights are not suitable for a main light, the rider can actually be fined by the Police for not being lit up correctly for that. You should always have a solid main, the idea of the flashy lights is to improve the sense of speed, as small items appear to travel slower the bigger, speed perspective is decreased at night even more. The flashing light will make you look like you moving faster.
Another thing which cheeses me off to no end and perhaps some cyclist can explain. I travel regularly along a stretch of 2 lane dual carraige way which has speed limits of 40mph and national speed limit applied in some sections. It is tree lined and dark one one side WITH a dedicated and well signposted cyclepath that runs parallel main road (2 metres from the road I may add and follows the same route) which is surely the safer place to ride a bike.
Why is it that cyclists in the full lycra regalia risk their lives and of the motorist and cycle on the damn road with huge lorries and buses etc hurtling past them by a few feet and not the cyclepath. You come across some eejit without lights and cannot pass because of fast moving traffic in the outside lane.
The sooner they are made responsible for their actions instead of the innocent motorists the better.
Depends on the bike being riden tbh, if you have a fat tyred mountian bike then cycle paths can be safer, but you can vitually garentee that if theres anyone walking on the pathment they will walk on the cycle lane not the path meaning you move on to the path to get past them, and get moaned at for scaring the life outta them.
Personally, id never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ride my road racer on any cycle lane. Quite simply i havent the brake to stop for some thicko listerning to there ipod talking on the phone not paying attention that will walk in front me, and more importantly my tyres will fall though any joins between slabs. Personally i can ride at 30-40mph on most flatish roads.
Personally i never ride at night the rest of nutters in cars is too high, plus i will never get enough light on the road for the speed i ride at to see far far enough up the road to react.
I do ride in rain, but then my shoes are designed to reflect cars head lights, and my waterproof overshoes if needed are highly reflective to, as is my waterproof coat which is also bright yellow, as are rain shorts. Any-one who claims that cant see my would have to blind or fafing around doing other things like on the phone playing with the radio etc etc etc.
Theres muppets in every walk of life, walkers, cyclist, bikers, car drivers van drivers, lorry drivers etc etc.