King of the Road, Part 2
Lots of cyclists are in the Loupe! Many of you wrote back with some great (scary) cycling (war) stories. Some of you even came back to me with some safety gear suggestions. So here are a couple more suggestions only for those who showed interest, that will improve your safety and guarantee you (or your loved one) are still in the Loupe at the end of your ride!
A key to bike safety and coexistence with cars and pedestrians is visibility. Nonetheless, visibility is harder in an urban environment where there are lots of things competing for the driver's attention. This is made even harder when people are riding at dawn and dusk! Therefore any additional lighting will provide incremental safety benefits. Zackees gloves are simply turn signal gloves that illuminate when you hold out your hand; please note that rather than signaling both turns with your left arm, this technology requires you to use both arms! Revolutionary! The Founder was a Google engineer who became obsessed with electronic apparel after Burning Man ... while I am sure he wasn't alone, he is one who thought to commercialize his interest. Either way, he has created a very cool product that will enhance cycling safety. As an aside, you might want to use these to hail cabs!
Ice Dot is a comprehensive digital safety platform that is tailor made for cycling. They have developed a device that attaches to your helmet, identifies crashes when they occur, and pushes safety information to your emergency contacts, including location and other health information. This is perfect for those who like to ride off roads by themselves. If this doesn't sound like you, don't worry, it is not really me either. One of my insane off road Loupers mentioned it, and it looks very cool!
Now if you are not too scared to cycle, consider yourself in the Loupe and Zackees and Ice Dot Found!