Eastern Bloc Cycling Club

Last chance to ride before we get buried alive in the Thanksgiving Blizzard. Temps will be downright balmy compared to last week. Stick around afterward for annual Thanksgiving dinner (available in both solid or liquid form).

6:30 pm start

Cyclocross or mountain bikes, with lights

Commuter lot at Iron Horse & Wilcox

I'm planning to ride and let the traffic thin out on my way home to Cambridge, MA. Gotta take advantage of this balmy weather!

> > and a change of underwear if another idiot runs a red light

Another "teaching moment" to reinforce how vulnerable we sometimes are. There are 3 or 4 road crossings on the Tuesday rides where I turn into the "ride Nazi" and make everyone wait for the green light or walk signal, and I know that can be a pain in the arse. This started after one of our first night rides many years ago when we approached Rt. 315 (Tariffville Road) in the north end of town and half the group decided to dismount, jump the guardrail, and run between cars waiting for the light. Funny as hell when it happened, and great cyclocross training, but not really safe. Then, not too long after that, two riders I know were hit by cars at that intersection in separate daytime incidents.

Most of us feel pretty safe at night since cars approaching from the front or rear generally give us a lot of space due to the abundance of lights. But we are not nearly as visible from the sides when we are crossing streets. At least two of us had headlamps aimed at this guy as he was coming at us, and he appeared to be looking down, possibly at a cell phone.

A good reminder that you always need to be looking out for yourself on a group ride. Don't just follow people. Be aware of what's going on. Fortunately in this instance, the folks behind me and Andy were able to brake and create a gap.