Will Everyone Please Pay Attention to Me?!?

Getting drivers' attention--the topic of the week.  I thought that since the weather has been cloudy and rainy all week, this would be a good time to talk about something super important:  being SEEN (a.k.a. staying alive).  We are going to be traveling a distance of over 1800 miles and much of that will be on fairly busy roads and highways.  While some of the roads have wide shoulders or dedicated bike lanes, there are other sections where the road is narrow and even others that have no shoulder to ride on whatsoever (I'm talking to you Garberville to Fort Bragg!).

two flashing lights, a flag and a wide profile to keep my kiddo safe!

As a dad, my first thought is always about the safety of Katelyn.  It is actually the reason why I chose to use a bike trailer instead of riding a bicycle with panniers.  I figured that with the bike trailer, I could put Katelyn in front of me and the trailer will cause motorists to have to take a wider berth around us--and it will give her a little more room to work in case she can't hold a straight line.  Luckily, we are riding downwind for the majority of the ride so being in front of me won't be as tough as riding into a headwind.  Also, the trailer has a nice big tall flag, is bright in color, and it allows me to attached a couple more flashing lights--giving motorists every opportunity possible to see us from a far distance.

Speaking of lights,  I am not skimping on them for sure.  I have a rear light on my bike, two on Katelyn's bike, two on the trailer, and I will be adding a final light onto the flag pole.  The rear lights for bicycles are fantastic because, unlike automobile brake lights, there are multiple configurations of flashing lights that you can turn on.  Our goal with the lights is to be as absolutely annoyingly conspicuous as possible.  Of course it means that the minute we stop for the day, I will need to find plugs and start the charging process because I will not get more than a day out of the lights if I am running them nonstop.

The same jacket when light hits it--The reason I bought it!

Bright colors to stay visible!

The final piece of our visibility piece is our clothing and gear.  There will not be many dark clothes we will be wearing.  Recently we went to IKEA (of all places--not just for cheap furniture!) and found a couple yellow visibility vests.  These will be perfect to wear on warmer days when we don't need jackets.  I also picked up extremely visible bright rain jackets that cars will have no problem seeing, especially in the dark northwest.  And then I picked up a couple waterproof helmet covers that  complete the ensemble and make us absolutely as visible as we can be.

Thank you IKEA for not making me sew this together myself!

Regardless of our preparations, there are no doubt going to be some idiots on the road that are not paying attention or don't like cyclists.  We are praying that we can avoid those drivers as much as possible and have a safe trip.  We can at least know that we are doing everything in our power to make smart decisions and help our fellow car/truck/RV/logging truck travelers look out for us and allow us to share the road.