Morning rides to work of late have been made in fog. As much as I love the visual and emotional appeal of the mist, I never lose sight of the risk associated with poor visibility. Riding in fog, like riding in snow requires thought and practice to understand and manage that risk. My advice to anyone considering a trek in pea soup? Don’t.
Much depends on where you ride — how much traffic, the nature of the traffic, the road surface and likelihood of unexpected holes or debris, that sort of stuff. Riding in central Pennsylvania on a scale of 1 to 10 with the Nevada desert being 1 and the DC Beltway at rush hour being 10, I give our in town roads a 4 and the rural ones a 2. If there were no deer they would be a 1.
I wouldn’t ride in heavy fog anywhere beyond a 5. Each rider has to gauge their own skill and risk acceptance. It’s the key to managing risk while riding in fog.
Thinking about special skills or abilities related to riding in fog the following come to mind:
- Choose time and route carefully — look for ways to minimize interaction with traffic.
- Adjust speed to account for acceptable stopping distances while not becoming an obstacle to be run down from behind — not always an easy calculation but one worth working on.
- Don’t tailgate — what is it about motorcycle and scooter riders that makes them want to follow a tail light on a car?
- Learn how to pull over — there are times and situations you should not be on the road and you need to pull over and let the noise and chaos pass. If your ego or stubbornness won’t allow this then leave the scooter or motorcycle at home.
- Know how to keep your visor clear while riding — this is harder than it sounds, especially in heavy fog.
- Keep in mind the road surface might be slippery — especially fog when the temperature drops towards freezing. Maybe just stay at home and if not, slow down. Really slow down.
- Just take the bus — don’t ride. This is the best choice.
Riding provides more than fun, it offers an opportunity to engage a personal puzzle that involves personality, common sense and problem solving abilities. In a world bent on reducing risk to zero riding in general is an act of rebellion to that part of our culture. Pushing into fog, rain, snow and dark of night, that creates a completely different character of rebellion. Make sure you know what you’re getting into.
Ride safe.
I would have to add one thing. If you ride constantly in fog and rely on your bike or scooter consider buying a windshield. I found a while ago that being able to duck behind one in the right way leaves your face shield clear. The one good thing about my Chinese replica of a Helix is that I sit in a bubble of air leaving my face shield clear and only having to cope with the limited visibility of the fog itself, not a clouded visor. Previous motorcycles had a wind shield and it proved quite valuable. They were equally good for rain deflection.
I hadn’t thought of that but it makes sense. I have a small windscreen on my Vespa to keep the wind blast off my chest, especially in cold weather, but it’s not effective in keeping my face shield clear. Fog isn’t so bad for me, the bigger face shield problem is when the temperature drops below freezing and my breath turns to ice on the shield. I’ve tried breath boxes but they haven’t worked.
Good advice Steve, even my fire engine red Ural with white stripes is hard to see in dense fog, much less that pretty silver Vespa!
The biggest worry for me in fog or snow, is the other vehicles on the road…..am now thinking of a hi-viz frogg-togg coat of some sort for the upcoming Winter riding.
Being visible is an ongoing challenge and not just in fog. Even on a clear day and I come to a stop I will make some big body movements to try and make sure the traffic approaching from the rear sees me.
Steve, the absolute worst fog I ever rode in was while on the Blue Ridge Parkway ie:Skyline Drive. We hit the fog near the restaurant and basically walked our bikes into the parking lot. After breakfast, we had trouble finding where we parked our bikes, so back to the restaurant for another cup of joe and wait for the fog to lift.
I retired from PSU and am now down in the Myrtle Beach area where different, but just a hazardous motorcycling conditions greet us daily.
I look forward to receiving your column as it brings back great memories of cruising thru Happy Valley.
Stew
Stew, I bet riding in Myrtle Beach is a bit different than State College, at least once you get out of town. Warmer, more sand, greater chance of alligators…. I’ll try and keep sharing some Happy Valley scenes.
I’ve never ridden the scooter on the Blue Ridge Parkway but I have in a car and can imagine how dense fog could get up there. Sometimes retiring from the road until the weather passes is the absolute best choice.
Ride safe!
Fog is definitely not my favourite thing to ride in. We get a lot of it here in October usually and last year when I was going to work I was almost rearended by a driver who was not paying attention and was fiddling with a cellphone and the fog only intensified the experience, because all of a sudden she saw me. Good thing I was watching my mirrors and leave good space margins in front of me, because I was able to ‘escape’. I even wear a hi viz yellow traffic vest when commuting in the winter and it still wasn’t conspicuous enough.
More and more I watch what’s happening behind me. It’s sand that so much attention is required in that direction.