Category: Videos

Ah yes, yet another near SMIDSY. You can probably spot this one about to happen a mile off, however today I’m going to give you a break down, step by step, my thought process and what I did to mitigate a potentially unhappy bike-car interface. These are some techniques I’ve picked up over the last couple of years and find invaluable, but do let me know if you have further tips for this kind of situation.

I’ve also been experimenting with dubbing on a narration in an attempt to make my videos a little more engaging. Feedback in this respect would be much appreciated.

On the bike, we have to continually keep our wits about ourselves, be ready for whatever surprise pops up. This was a bit of a close call, a bit higher and it could have screwed up all visibility.

Did you manage to guess what happened? A classic SMIDSY, that just leaves you wondering how on earth they didn’t see you, your headlights, hi-vis, or anything past their nose. Thankfully, they braked at the last second and I resisted the urge to panic brake and managed to swerve. Breaking those panic reactions is not easy, it takes time and is something that new riders often struggle with. It’s all too easy to grab a fistful of front brake, lock up and hit the deck. Of course, it helps a lot if you have ABS.

Another example of some fine driving by a young man in a small hatchback with his companions. Happily enjoying a quiet drive and making best possibly use of all lanes of the carriage way.

Maybe. See if you can spot where the reality deviates a little.

We’ve all had a few SMIDSY’s (Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You), but you don’t expect two in less than a minute. Only in Dagenham. Thankfully, with the dry roads and sensible speed I didn’t come a cropper in these two instances. Assume no one has seen you, regardless of lights, hi-vis etc

Another instalment in my series of biker videos aimed at training you in the art of anticipating the unexpected. Here I am filtering (again), but decide to hold back from the little black Beemer, but why?

Watch the video and and see how things could have turned rather different if I had continued filtering.

Riding round the back streets of South London, negotiating the one way system on my journey to work, the streets are narrow and busy with surprises around every corner. As a good biker you need to be able to spot hazards far ahead, predict those that are about to happen and adjust your speed as needed to react whatever you face. See if you can guess what is about to happen in this short clip.