Ever felt you’re invisible? Or sometime you wish people would leave you alone.
I’ve got the answer. It’s not Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak… it’s actually a Hi-Viz jacket.
As a motorcycle rider, I know I might not be seen as easily as a car so wear an orange Hi-Viz waistcoat over my protective jacket. My crash helmet is white, as is my bike, and the headlight is always on.
I’ve heard a theory we are now so used to seeing bright yellow and orange safety wear that or brains don’t always react. However bright, they blend into the background.
The thinking is that pink is most noticeable. It’s not my shade but my wife’s work colleagues don’t take her Hi-Viz waistcoat and hard hat for site visits. She is a keen cyclist so also partial to lurid Lycra!
I recently met her at the halfway checkpoint on her 75-mile ride.
I was on my motorbike and spotted a pick-up truck on a side road approaching an upcoming junction. I’m an IAM Roadsmart advanced rider so, just in case, slowed from 55mph to 40mph.
Thinking ahead a wise move
It was a wise move. The pick-up sailed out without the driver looking left or right. Fortunately, thinking ahead meant I could avoid a collision.
The driver looked surprised, actually terrified, to see me. I couldn’t have been more visible but motorcyclists get used to such encounters.
I arrived at the checkpoint without further incident and proved very popular with the cyclists.
One asked me where the toilets were. I put him right, and, no doubt, out of his misery after several hours in saddle!
When another couple of riders came up to me with the same query I just assumed I looked friendly and they assumed, at my age, had probably already found the toilets. Men of a certain age know that feeling.
Glad to be of assistance
I was just glad to be of assistance.
A steady stream of cyclists fired questions at me…
Where do we get lunch?
Can we fill our water bottles?
Do you have first aid kit?
How far to the finish?
Have you got a update on the weather?
I was the centre of attention for a lot of cyclists. I couldn’t understand why.
They thought I was a marshal
My wife and her cycling partner soon twigged my popularity with pedallers. They thought I was a marshal in my Hi-Viz waistcoat.
I found it rather amusing. The Hi-Viz wasn’t spotted by that driver but made me the centre of attention for cyclists. It was possibly because theyare also used to being invisible to some motorists.
I urge all road users to double check for other vehicles, particularly motorbikes and cycles which can be difficult to spot. That’s why sensible riders see a bright future in wearing orange, yellow or, possibly, pink!