Touring Flag

On my last trip there were a few sections of highway that I really wished I were more visible to approaching traffic. My options were a bright cycling vest, but the summer heat would make this uncomfortable. Adventure Cycling offers a reflective triangle to be attached to the back, but I'm sure that by the time a car notices, they would be right on your butt. A bike flag seem to be my best option.
I looked into the bike flags but the bracket supplied is for use without a rear rack. Searching the web provided little as to how to make this work. The fiberglass pole would have to be attached to the side of the rack but be made removable for transporting. This is what I came up with.

Materials
Bell Bicycle Flag
1/4” Vinyl Tubing
5/16 Rubber Screw Protector (to use as end cap)
4 Zip Ties


First cut the vinyl tubing to the desired length. For support I ran it the length of the support arm on the rack.

Place the rubber screw protector on the end of the tubing. This will prevent the flags pole from sliding down.


Attach the tubing to the rack with zip ties being careful not to tighten too much. This is just to hold the tube in place.


Remove the bracket that came with the flag and cut the the fiberglass pole to the desired length. As the flag attached to the rack is now at an angle, I chose to lop off about 12” so it did not hang too far back.
(The pole is fiberglass so use a fine blade for a clean edge.)

Now, insert the pole into the tube and your on your way.