SoFla commuter report.

[Retrorockit]

I was driving downtown in the evening when I saw a converted Walmart MTB cruising along. Small hubmotor, small battery. He was riding at night with no lights, and since it was an MTB it probably came without reflectors. No bright clothing either. One of our local hipsters. I followed close behind him. I saw several cars almost pull out into him. I think they stopped for me and not him. I'm afraid the cyclists around here come form the same Darwin Award gene pool as the drivers. Adding a motor doesn't help.
BTW no helmet either. But they aren't required for any motorcycle here either.

[bikebrother]

It's concerning to hear about the safety risks observed during the evening commute in SoFla. Proper lighting, reflectors, and safety gear are crucial for cyclists, especially when riding at night. Hopefully this rider will learn from the close calls or perhaps consider riding more defensively at night going forward.

[73Eldo]

Walmart bikes would certainly have come with reflectors. They may not have been in the right places or pointed in the right directions or properly tightened so they may have fallen off on the way out of the store.........

[Retrorockit]

MTBs are exempt from CPSC reflector requirements. Hybrids and comfort bikes would have them. Offroad use supposedly. But now it's Escooter boards zooming around with no lights, helmets or anything. Unlit bikes and riders with no helmets or reflectors are normal here. The only thing unusual about this guy is he added a motor....

[AZguy]

First two things I do when I get a bicycle:

Switch brake levers to the proper sides (front on the left)
Remove unnecessary reflectors (only need the rear to be legal at night here) and cover rear reflector with mud for plausible deniability

[73Eldo]

I get why 'kids' are invisible. Besides being generally indestructible they have not driven at night and seen how hard it can be to see things that are not cars on the roads at night. But adults that should know? Then there are the people that have various lighting systems that are distracting when its still daylight and at night you want to aim for them to make the pain go away.

[AZguy]

I prefer to be invisible... then it's 100% on me to avoid... 'cus if someone leaves anything up to the cage drivers.. high risk of bad things.... I prefer to own it... and out here drawing any kind of attention to yourself just draws drunks and ragers...

[Retrorockit]

Lights- day strobes and night. reflectors on tires or rims and fork legs. Coast Guard approved Air horn just in case that's not enough. Side strobes when crossing large intersections at night, or traffic circles. I've noticed a huge difference with the side strobes. it seems they take a moment to figure out what's coming at them.

[Retrorockit]

Weather can bet tricky around here. The ocean to the East always bears watching. A steady 10-15mph headwind is normal. Sometimes it brings squall lines with it. It can be fun to try riding home (12 miles West) between them. East West runs you can stay ahead, but North South reaches they can catch you sometimes. Or you can get lucky and outflank them that way.
Storms that shape up over the Everglades in the late afternoon or evening are another matter. The Sun over the Gulf of Mexico and the land strip on the East coast cooling off can push them East against the ocean breezes. Sometimes pretty fast. Trying to wait them out has never worked for me. 35mph driving rain at the top of the I95 overpass has been the usual result of that strategy. To outrun one of these an early start and a head on charge seems best.
About 4pm I saw a huge storm had formed over the Everglades. Sky high black clouds and a wall of rain beneath it. Home was about 1/2 way in between, so I got going. I had only ridden 12 miles out, so the 24AH battery had plenty of fuel left. Pretty soon the wind switched from ocean breezes to 25mph the other way. 1500W BBSHD and pedaling gets me 25mph wide open. I'm about 1/2 way home and the temperature suddenly drops 20 degrees. Mid 90's to mid 70's. This means it's getting close, and hail and tornadoes are on the menu. I can see the wall of rain about a mile ahead, and I have a mile South, and a Mile West to go. It's not looking good. I run 1/2 mile South, and It hasn't caught me yet. In heading straight at it again, but i've out flanked it a little. I put in the mile run West into the wind again. Then the last 1/2 mile South which out flanks it a little more, and I've made it this time. But only because this one happened to be moving pretty slow.
I can say from experience that it sucks to get caught by one of these on a 60# bike with a flat battery.

[AZguy]

Maybe harness the wind instead of fighting it?

[Retrorockit]

That's not the kind of weather I'm talking about.
Around here you don't harness the wind. You try to keep it from harnessing you.

[Retrorockit]

It was like this only it went all the way to the horizon, so that band of daylight wasn't there. You might ride around a little one like this. When it's wall to wall there's no way out.

[AZguy]

Yeah we get true rock 'n roll thunderstorms out here in the monsoon season

Been caught out in both the micorburst and the outflow dust stroms, not sure which is worse

Here's one from a few years ago in the neighborhood:



And this wasn't quite as "spectacular" but definitely time to go in... just pushed things in the hanger when it hit the port:

[Retrorockit]

When the rain is wall to wall it's hard not to get caught by these things. It's funny that the thing that worked was to start from 20 miles away and run straight at it full speed