Pic - www.felixwong.com
Age must be catching up on me as I have been nursing a rather stiff neck. I find it difficult to look behind my right shoulder, something that we normally do not do, unless we are cycling in traffic. It is so important to check visually before we swerve left or right on the road to change lanes or cross the road etc especially when there are fast moving cars around.
With my aching neck, every time I turn to check while cycling can be a rather painful affair. I do not know why it took me so long to attach a simple handlebar mirror on my Momentum bicycle but pain can be a very powerful motivator. Just taking the newly mounted mirror for a test ride, this particular one which I got for $5 or so at Changi Village Singapore, proved to be worth every cent and more.
It is so reassuring to hear, see and then expect traffic creeping or zooming past you and we can then make the necessary safety adjustments on the road. Being able to keep an eye on your mates who are cycling behind you is also a good thing. If they are out of sight, we can slow down or stop if needed instead of squirreling down the road and then wondering what happened?
Just a quick check on e-Bay will show a myriad of bicycle mirrors, some as cheap as $1.29 so really, there is no excuse of not getting one.
Some may say that having a mirror on a bicycle is optional, perhaps so uncool even and really being too much on the ball. But I would say having one in traffic is as essential as having good lights at night and perhaps even more so than a helmet.
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