Please, please, for the sake of pretty much everyone else on campus/in town, read this wonderful entry on DavisWiki to save yourself all the embarrassment and inevitable rage that comes with a gnarly wipeout in the middle of a roundabout during rush hour. It’s scary navigating unfamiliar roads alongside the hordes of bicycles rushing to class, but it’s just as terrifying for us when we’ve got a bunch of unpredictable new cyclists to worry about.

Some places to avoid/be extremely careful with:

• the bike circle near Chem 194; it’s incredibly busy and the more sadistic elements of our school will set up lawn chairs and laugh at you if you’re being foolish.
• the T-intersection in front of SciLec (Hutchison/Bioletti); the bike cops like to hang out there the first week or so and hand out citations to people who don’t stop.
• the Sycamore-Russell intersection near Cuarto/Trader Joe’s; inevitably someone tries to cross to Cuarto from the extreme right and causes a huge mess. Don’t be that person! If you’re turning left, do it from the LEFT LANE (biking is just like driving?? you don’t say!)

Off the top of my head, hmm… use hand signals, yield to people who are already in the bike circles, leave some space on the left for others to pass you and BIKE LIKE YOU MEAN IT (read: don’t meander around and don’t weave in your lane; the 10 people behind you that you’re blocking have somewhere to go and we do NOT appreciate it). Going to class a couple minutes early is also preferable if you’ve got that option; the bike paths are virtually empty between classes.

It’s a lot to remember at first, but by the end of the year it’ll be second nature. I mean, grievous bodily injury just screams “freshman”, right?

the answer is yes