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The Definitive Rules of the Road for Urban Cyclists

We spoke with a riding instructor for advice on how to navigate the city streets with confidence.
Here's what you need to know to stay safe on the road. Madison McVeigh/CityLab

Biking in the city can make you feel like being a kid again: It lets you explore, hang out with your friends, and turn workaday chores like commuting into adventures. But urban cycling can also be terrifying.

But fear not, for every street-winding speed-demon started from the same curb and lived to tell the tale. To explain how to survive the city streets, we called up Doug Smith, an Everyday Bicycling Coordinator with the Washington Area Bicyclist Association who teaches an adult city biking workshop, to give us a few pointers in the art and practice of safety-minded cycling.