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Ride Like Warren Buffett – How The World’s Best Investor Can Prevent Your Next Accident

Warren Buffett, a legend in his own time. Ever since I first heard of him I have been amazed at how he works. By simply picking stocks and buying companies in a sensible manner he has managed to get over 13% growth per year on average for the last 40 years.

The average investment advice basically assumes that the market is absolutely efficient, so you can’t really do anything to beat it. The best approach is just to buy a spread and ride the same waves the market rides. Basically everyone ends up with the same odds.

But Buffett proves this assumption is wrong.

By preparing, staying informed, making sensible choices, avoiding duds and understanding the companies he invests in, Warren Buffet has been able to beat the market. It is true that he doesn’t let on to the complete details of his investment strategies, but he proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can beat the odds.

You can beat the odds of having an accident too.

When you’re out on the road cycling, your odds of being in an accident are related to your riding skills, your awareness while riding, your riding position, choice of approach and ability to avoid dangerous situations.

A lot of this has been adapted from Bicycling Safe as I thought it did a great job at explaining things clearly.

Avoid accidents

The ultimate goal for cycling safety is to not have accidents in the first place.

No accident = no injury or death… simple.

Helmets are promoted as the way to cheat death while riding.

Lies, all lies.

Your bowl of polystyrene is very unlikely to put up much of a fight against an 18-wheeler.

Most likely result: big truck 1, little cyclist 0

Ride like you’re invisible

Huh?

The trick here is to be as visible as possible, but to ride in such a way that even if you were invisible, you still wouldn’t get hit by any cars. Basically avoid every single possible situation where a car or other traffic vehicle would have to react or alter their course for you not to get hit. Easier said than done, but worth the effort.

Relying on the other drivers not to hit you is a guaranteed shortcut to the emergency room or worse. Your safety is entirely your own responsibility. Whatever crappy roads or driving get thrown your way, you have to deal with it to ensure you arrive home safe for your loved ones.

Pick safe routes

Better than trusting your skills to save you is to not have to use your skills.

Choose the safest route possible. Choose quieter roads, choose roads with a wide shoulder, choose bike paths, take the longer, less traveled path.

Ride further into the lane

Ride far enough into the lane that you will not slam into a car door if it is opened in front of you. When there are no parked cars you can ride closer to the side.

This position also makes you more visible to cars at intersections in front of you. Don’t hold this position all the time as it can be quite annoying for drivers behind you, but be aware of your safety before their annoyance.

Avoid crosswalks and riding on the wrong side

You are most visible when you are going with the flow of traffic.

Cars are looking for other traffic and that is their primary concern. Pedestrians or bicycles crossing from the right when the car is turning right are not seen. The car is looking for traffic from the left. Best to wait and cross when there are no cars or ride on the correct side of the road.

Don’t stop or ride in the blind spot

The blind spot is the position directly next to the car stretching about as far back as the rear bumper.

Do not stop in this position as the driver cannot see you in the rear view mirror and might turn into you. This also applies while moving, stay out of this position. Drop slightly back to where the car behind can see you but you won’t get clipped by the turning vehicle.

Lights, lights, lights

In Taiwan this is particularly bad. Very many people don’t use lights at night, and the places where there are less street lights, there seem to be even less bicycle lights.

Cars cannot see you. Really.

Cars have the oncoming lights in their eyes, which detracts from their ability to see you. Those same lights cast you into shadow. Use big reflectors if necessary, the bigger, more garish and uglier, the better.

Nighttime kit includes:

front lights
rear lights
front reflectors
rear reflectors
side refelectors
reflective jacket (construction site style)
anything else reflective or bright

And when it comes to the ugly reflective jackets, the phrase “I wouldn’t be seen dead in that,” rings true. If you’re wearing the reflective stuff your chances of an accident are less.

Be Safe

Remember that in the end you want to get home safe and sound. Being overly worried about safety is not helpful, but being aware enough to take the relevant steps to improve your safety is key.

The two guides below are highly recommended and put into text many things which have become second nature after years in the saddle.

The Broken Seatpost

I take a long time to learn my lesson.

There are plenty of documented times when bike maintenance should have been done, but didn’t get done, resulting in a not-so-good ride. There are other times when I’ve done some slightly crazier offroad riding and broken parts, which is to be expected, and that is all in good fun.

But this time the blame falls squarely on crappy bike parts.

The Start

I was heading off on a ride early in the morning, I started at 4:15, which was a little later than planned, but that’s par for the course.

The destination was the 600m peak of the hill between Shrding and Pinglin on the 106A. To get there I had to head off towards Nangang, pass by Academia Sinica Road then head on.

Now, the most obvious way to Shrding is by going over the 109, but I wanted to try something new. With Google street view on hand I planned a decent looking route over a smaller road that would achieve the same elevation, but add some variety to my ride.

A Little Lost

The main turnoff to the road up the hill was where the Google car had decided to go the other way, so I was on my own to figure out which roads went where.

I made it through the first intersection unscathed, keeping to the left and avoiding a detour to a deadend in the middle of nowhere. But my luck would change.

Later I was faced with a similar choice.

The road to the right didn’t seem to have any more lights while the road that dropped sharply to the left was well lit. So I took the path down.

Grab a Fistful

Something I love about roads in Taiwan is that there is no maximum grade. If that’s where the road has to go, then that’s where it has to go.

Back in South Africa there were some steep hills, but they were all limited in how much they would challenge my breaks when needed.

So on the way down this “little” road down I ended up braking so hard that I had to carefully alternate front and rear brakes to give them time to recover from the glazing over that occurs during heavy, continuous braking.

And…

It was the wrong turn…

just a dead end…

should’ve taken the other turn, so I had to slog back up after trying to check my location on the map (BTW a map on your phone is only really useful if you have a GPS to pinpoint your location, duh, I don’t have a GPS).

So up I went, kept following the road, the lights returned and then I started heading down.

The Bang

Riding in the dark requires and abnormal amount of trust in the state of the road you are riding on.

Very few bike lights will light up enough road to allow for evasive maneuvers when travelling at 30kmph+

So I was following the road as usual, keeping to the parts of the road I could see, or at the very least not riding off the edge of the road.

When I spotted a construction team I had to change tact and move left into a darker area….

Whack…

Slide…

Quick recover…

Although my front wheel made a big move to the right I did manage to stabilize and continue.

But something wasn’t right. The saddle felt strange. I put it down to the seat being shifted slightly during the little incident that just occurred. I continued, and finished a wonderful ride to the top of the big hill.

Holiday Time!

So I headed back to the office and went off to the Taipei main station for a slightly early holiday (on a Thursday, a got the day wrong in the video).

Disassembling my bike outside the bus terminal and shock and horror I see my seatpost is bent, no quick realignment of the saddle needed, but a full replacement of the seatpost. And this is the third one I’ve had that’s bent, just none of the others have bent so far.

The insanity is that until more recently Giant have insisted on installing 27.2mm seatposts with a big old shim, whereas the inner diameter of the seat tube is actually made for a 30.9mm seatpot without a shim. Dumb, dumb, dumb, raise the skinny one to a height suitable for me, put my fat ass on the saddle and the poor seatpost doesn’t have a chance.

Well, all should be good and well in seatpost land from now on.

Here’s hoping.

My Coldest Ride Ever

On Tuesday morning I went on the coldest ride I have ever done, at the point where I finally gave up and headed home I was actually feeling a bit scared. So how did I get into this mess?

Not So Good Preparation

Continuing with my efforts to make myself weather-proof I went to the motorbike store to buy a set of waterproof jacket plus pants. Not really suitable for warm weather as they hold the heat in too much I figured they would do well while the weather is cold and wet. If I need something different when it gets warmer, I’ll deal with that when it comes.

Now, with my waterproof gear in hand I feel like the king of the world, ready to tackle any kind of weather head on. Nothing can stop me.

So in the early morning I put on my short-sleeved cycling shirt, arm warmers, short cycling pants, the waterproof stuff and my shoes and socks.

Fenders Help, to a degree

I figured that my new fenders would keep so much water off my shoes that they would not get wet.

Of course if there is no more spray from the road, everything will remain dry.

Well, not quite.

The fenders help to keep the grit and grime from the road off yourself and the bike. And they do this amazingly well. Even at the end of the ride when I washed the bike off there was almost no grit on anything. The best part was that although the chain was wet, it was not dirty, which is a definite plus for longevity.

Anyhow, my shoes were not waterproof and with just the rain on them, they were soaked within an hour. But I’m used to that so no big deal.

Danshui then Bailaka Rd.

So off to Danshui. The ride was pleasant enough, just the usual slog through the city.

Follow the No. 2 then after a bit of an uphill, right onto the 101. Even at this time of the night there were a few cars around on this road that seems like it should be quiet. It’s probably worth noting that this is likely because many people live around the Danshui area, where property is cheaper and there is access to the end of the subway system.

Some gentle climbing and finally the right turn onto the 101A.

Shiver

I had estimated that this section of road would be pretty well maintained and in good shape for taking a ride all the way to the top.

And it turned out that I was almost right. With no cars and a well maintained road surface the climb was proceeding at a decent pace, although I couldn’t tell how fast I was going, just a decent pace for a long and easy-paced ride.

Slowly but surely the lights starting becoming further and further apart. The faint glow of the next one around the corner being the only sign of anything ahead. Until there were no more. Absolutely none. Except for the odd one lighting the entrance to a house where the occupants had long ago gone to sleep with a fluffy, cozy pillow and duvet to keep them snug.

Always Check the Batteries

So as I’m slogging up the climb and the lights have gone out I’m following the faint glow of my light, which I only then realize I forgot to change the batteries.

But remember, I was prepared, and feeling like superman, so I pressed on.

Until my light was almost gone. Nothing, nada, the moon through the clouds giving more light than the tiny glow of the three LEDs.

The Freeze

But the dim light by itself might not have dissuaded me from continuing, except that the temperature had dropped. A lot.

My toes were going numb, although they could still move, they were very cold.

My fingers were freezing.

Even my body inside the waterproof jacket was getting cold.

After passing under the archway on the way up I was hit by a strong wind that just shattered all my hope of getting over the top and gave me a deep sense of worry for my own safety.

So I turned around.

On the way down it was so cold and my light was so dim I couldn’t maintain more than 10km/h at the absolute max, probably less than 5km/h actually.

The Temple

I had to seek refuge. Too cold and too slow to continue I decided I needed somewhere to wait for sunrise and make a quick decent down the mountain.

So when I next caught a glimpse of a light on the way down I took my chance, with everything on my body losing heat I decided that this would be my refuge.

I climbed the three short sets of white steps to the entrance, parked my bike under the cover then proceeded to keep myself warm.

I removed my shoes and socks because they were colder in there than when they weren’t. Later on I found some gumboots around the back that I borrowed to try keep my feet warm.

I pulled my arms into the jacket and slipped my hands under my armpits. I pulled the jacket as far up my head as it would go, sat down on the ground with my back against the wall. And waited.

For three hours.

I napped four times during those three hours. Trying to keep as warm as possible, but shivering most of the time.

Just me and the continuous groan of the recording of monks chanting the “amitofo” song. And the view of the area of lit road by the bottom of the stairs. And the buddha looking staring at me from the back.

The Sun

Finally, the light through the mist signaled my departure and I put on my cold socks and shoes and headed down the mountain as quick as I could.

I took two breaks to breath warm air onto my fingers which were getting frozen enough to hurt. But once back to the 101 it was just quite cold and wet.

Lesson Learned… Hopefully

At the end of it all I thought I was well prepared, but I wasn’t.

I didn’t have enough warm clothes. I didn’t have enough waterproof stuff, namely good gloves and waterproof shoe covers.

And I don’t have a good enough light. Which is where my focus is going to fall next.