Ride with confidence
Confidence on a bike isn’t bravery — it’s knowing where to be on the road, what other traffic is about to do, and how your bike behaves when things get slippery.
What road riding is actually like
The skills are universal. The conditions are not.
Heat, dogs and the traffic
Road-safety advice tends to assume a European commute. My riding is around Fes and Meknes, for pleasure rather than to get to work, and these are the things that actually shape a ride.
- Heat decides the day before anything else does. In summer I start at first light, because by mid-morning the temperature sets the limit rather than my legs.
- Dogs come out at you. It happens often enough to plan for, and the instinct to sprint away is the wrong one.
- Most drivers here give you room - they move over once they are past you. Some pass close and will not. You ride expecting both.
- Water is worth planning around. I carry two litres and refill at springs whenever I pass one, rather than waiting until a bottle runs low.
- I do not leave my bike locked up outside and walk away. If I stop, it comes with me or stays where I can see it.
The road positioning and traffic skills below apply anywhere. These are the local conditions they have to work in.
Most people who say they’re “not confident on a bike” can ride perfectly well. What they lack isn’t balance or fitness — it’s a clear model of how cycling and traffic fit together, so every junction feels like an improvisation.
A note on local law. The technique here applies broadly, but road rules differ by country — which side you ride on, helmet requirements, lighting law, and whether cyclists may use bus lanes. Always check the regulations where you ride. Examples below assume riding on the left; mirror them if you ride on the right.
Road positioning and traffic
Where you ride on the road changes how drivers behave towards you more than anything else you can control.
The two positions to know
The secondary position sits roughly a metre out from the kerb. It’s the default when traffic is flowing and there’s room to be overtaken safely.
The primary position is the centre of the lane. It feels assertive, and new riders resist it — but it is the correct and safest choice whenever you need to be seen and not overtaken.
Move into primary when approaching or passing a junction, going through a pinch point, riding past parked cars, approaching a roundabout, or travelling at roughly the speed of surrounding traffic.
Why hugging the kerb is worse
Riding tight to the kerb feels safer because it maximises distance from passing cars. In practice it does the opposite:
- It invites drivers to overtake where there isn't room
- It puts you where drivers pulling out of side roads don't look
- It leaves you no space to move left if something happens
- It places you in the drains, debris and potholes
Parked cars
Ride at least a full door’s width out — about 1.2 metres — and hold that line rather than weaving into the gaps. Weaving makes you unpredictable and repeatedly hides you from following traffic.
Junctions and turning
Most collisions involving cyclists happen at junctions. Look and signal early, make eye contact where you can, and never pass a large vehicle on the inside when it might turn across you.
Roundabouts
Take the primary position on approach and hold it through. Sitting near the kerb invites drivers to cut across your path as they exit. Signal your exit clearly.
Riding after dark
Being seen at night is a solved problem, and cheap to solve. The mistake most riders make is treating lights as something that makes them visible, rather than something that makes them identifiable — a driver needs to recognise you as a bicycle and judge your speed.
Fluorescent yellow works brilliantly in daylight but does almost nothing at night; it needs ultraviolet light to fluoresce. After dark, reflective material is what matters, because it returns headlights straight back to the driver. Put it on the parts that move — ankles, heels, pedals — because that up-and-down motion is unmistakably human.
- White at the front, red at the rear — a legal requirement in most countries
- A steady light lets drivers judge distance; a flashing one draws attention
- On unlit roads you need a light bright enough to see by, not only to be seen by
- Angle the front light slightly down so it lights the road, not oncoming eyes
- Check the battery before every night ride
Questions riders ask
Helmet law varies — compulsory in Australia and New Zealand, not in the UK or most of Europe. The evidence is clear that a correctly fitted helmet reduces head injury in a fall, and equally clear that helmets aren’t a substitute for road position and awareness. Wear one, fit it properly, and don’t let it become the whole of your safety thinking.
Generally no, and in many countries it’s illegal for adults. You appear unexpectedly at every driveway and side road at a speed pedestrians don’t move at. Junction collision rates are notably higher for pavement riders.
Don’t engage. Escalation has never improved anyone’s safety and you’re the vulnerable party. Hold your line, don’t retaliate, let them go. If a driver genuinely endangers you, note the registration when safe and report it.
Enter from the marked feeder lane and position yourself where the driver at the front can clearly see you. If the lights are already green as you arrive, don’t filter up the inside of waiting vehicles.
Incrementally. Quiet roads at quiet times, then the same roads busier, then busier roads. Many countries offer subsidised adult cycle training, which is genuinely worthwhile.
Signal whenever it tells someone something useful. Do it early enough to be seen, then return both hands to the bars before you manoeuvre — you need them for braking and control.
Related guides
Three more that pair naturally with this one.
Cycling in Morocco
Roads, drivers, water, heat and shops – what riding here is actually like.
Confidence starts with a bike you trust
Run through the M-check before your next ride — ninety seconds that catches nearly everything.