I hereby propose that all cyclists carry a yellow bandana, kerchief, scarf,
or something, and display it while engaged in an emergency situation.
Tonihgt on the Greenway we had a brief "missing child" situation --
athletic 6-year old girl on a little tiny bike (no training wheels!)
apparently got two loops on an s-curve ahead of her dad and older brother,
who were screaming hysterically. The southbound riders (yours truly
amongst them) went off to see if we could find the kid, which we did, then
we coralled her safely and assumed the classic bike rider emergency action
pose -- straddling the bikes more or less at the edges of each side of the
road, trying to look to each other like we knew what we were doing. I've
seen it in all situations -- wounded animals, lost keys, basket snatcher,
etc, always the same pose. But the northbound riders were seeing what
looked like an impromptu kafe klatch, and speeded through, shouting get out
of the way.
So I have come up with the idea of displaying a yellow flag when caution or
assistance would be useful, rather than high speed, from approaching
riders. Now all I need is for everyone to know that's what the yellow flag
means.
--ag