Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Archives for January 2012

When Nice Drivers Cause Problems

01.10.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 10 Comments

Just the other day, I mentioned that sometimes when drivers are nice to cyclists (it does happen!), it can cause safety problems. Sure enough, on our club ride Sunday, we ran into that very situation — twice.

One of my favorite routes is Fitzhugh Road. It’s in the Hill Country west of Austin, but not too far west. In fact, it’s only about a 10-mile ride to get there, and then the rider can go for as long as 30 miles, on some challenging rolling hills. We didn’t go that far Sunday — in fact, we went only about five miles on Fitzhugh before we turned back.

But here’s the tricky part. When Fitzhugh ends at U.S. 290, we have to make a left turn onto the highway. At this point, 290 is four lanes wide with a center lane. Cyclists take the center lane, because in just about 200 yards, we’re going to make another left turn — and being in the center lane is safer, believe it or not, than trying to ride an iffy shoulder, then cut across traffic lanes to get into position to make a left.

Most of the time, it’s an easy maneuver. Because of the way stoplights are timed along 290, we often can make our left turn from the center lane without dealing with oncoming traffic. But that wasn’t the case this time. We were in a tightly-packed group of 10. The oncoming traffic was as heavy as I’ve ever seen it. We reached the left turn, and had to stop.

But one of the oncoming cars decided to do us a favor. He stopped, and waited for us to turn in front of him. We all stayed put, and signaled him to keep going. After all, he had the right of way. But one of our group decided to take him up on his generous offer, and started to make the turn. The car, responding to the group’s gestures, started up again. Then, more cars headed in his direction caught up. Our cyclist friend could have been t-boned, and the result would not have been pretty.

Later, just yards from the end of our ride, we were in the left turn lane of a four-lane divided road. We were about to turn into the shopping area where our Starbucks meeting place is situated. The traffic spaced out enough that some riders opted to proceed across the oncoming lanes. Others of us weren’t quick enough in our reactions, and stayed in the left turn lane, waiting for all the traffic to pass. But one car decided to be a nice guy. He stopped — in the middle of a 50 mph suburban arterial — to let us make our turn. Other traffic was closing the gap. We had to decide quickly what to do. We all made it across, waving at the guy as we did.

We get enough static from bike-hating drivers that it’s a pleasant change of pace to see someone who’s looking out for bikers. But when their generosity has the potential of causing worse traffic hazards, I’d just as soon have them be less nice.

Like this:

Like Loading…

Categories // Safety Tags // Safety

Minor Adjustments

01.08.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 1 Comment

Over the past week, I’ve had occasion to make adjustments to the saddles on both my and Pat’s bike. Her bike, of course, needed a replacement saddle after hers fell apart on New Year’s Day. In my case, I got new crank arms, and thought their longer length would require some changes in my saddle position.

Once again I was intrigued by the difference a few millimeters makes. First, my saddle. My crank arms are now 175mm, as opposed to the 172.5mm ones they replaced. So a 2.5mm drop in the seat height was called for, no? I decided not to go quite that far, but did lower the seat by roughly two millimeters.

The first ride after the change left me feeling no real difference. But later that evening, I felt a soreness just above my right knee. Nothing serious, but it was there. I decided I’d have to keep experimenting to get just the right setting.

Pat’s bike had its own issues. I put on the saddle that came as original equipment, and measured the distance from the saddle nose to the center of the headset to make sure they were the same. Then, I made sure the saddle was level. It was ready for her to ride it.

Right off the bat, there were problems. I had not tightened the saddle enough, and Pat worked it loose in just a few pedal strokes. We returned to the house, and I did some more wrenching. We did the nine-mile neighborhood ride she likes to do during the week.

“It feels like my butt is hanging off the back,” she complained.

I checked the level of the saddle. It was off again, the nose pointing slightly up. More tweaking.

On the same ride Saturday, things seemed better for her. She didn’t have the “hanging” sensation, but said she still felt like the nose was pointing up a little. I got out the wrench and the level, and with any luck, it should meet her expectations now.

In my case, I had neglected to move the saddle back to compensate for its lower height. But after two or three rides, I decided it never needed to be lowered in the first place. I raised it to its previous height, and this time, I moved it back two millimeters.

My next ride had some interesting results. I felt most comfortable when I scooted my butt way back on the saddle. It looked like I would have to move it back a lot farther.

But I was leery of doing that. Moving the saddle too far back would affect my reach to the bars, and my arms had a nice bend to them. I remembered how I rode for the first year after buying the bike, with my elbows locked and my arms straight. I didn’t want to experience that again.

On my Saturday ride, I was in a different pair of bibs than I wore the day before. The Friday bibs were by Castelli, with their distinctive thin but dense chamois pad. The Saturday bibs were Sugois, which have a thicker, softer, and larger pad. On the Saturday ride, I was perfectly comfortable riding in a normal position on the saddle. On Sunday, I wore a pair of tights by Performance. No problems.

So, I think I have the adjustment correct now. I’d noted the difference shorts make in the past, and kicked myself for not paying attention to that this time around. I’ve heard Lance Armstrong referred to as “Mr. Millimeter,” because of his ultra-awareness to changes in his bike’s setup. Any more changes in my setup will be in tiny increments, too.

Like this:

Like Loading…

Categories // Equipment Tags // chamois, cranksets, saddle

Taking Advantage of the Weather

01.05.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 1 Comment

Pat had to make a business trip out of town, so I was planning to do a longer ride than I have done lately. A glance outside showed that conditions would be excellent for riding. It was sunny, and the wind was light. By the time I finished attending to some duties around the house, by late morning, we were enjoying unseasonable weather once again.

Much of the country is enjoying this mild winter. The high in Austin today turned out to be 70 degrees (21C), with sun throughout the day. Some places much farther north got up to 70 as well. So my biking experience was probably not different from that of many folks.

I decided to ride to Buda, a town south of Austin, that would give me a nice 32-mile round trip. I do this ride several times a year with the club, but not so much by myself. I was interested to see how traffic in midday on a weekday would differ from traffic early on a Sunday morning.

It wasn’t bad. One spot about four miles into the ride was under construction, and the road was narrowed to one lane. I had to wait for the guy with the stop/slow sign to spin “slow” my way in order to continue. And the high school parking lot we cut through on Sunday mornings had the gates shut, because school was back in session today — so I stayed on the main roads for a little while longer.

The last six or so miles into Buda is along a two-lane road, paved with chip seal. It’s pretty bumpy, and because it crosses a creek, it climbs out of the creek valley for quite a way before leveling off. Once you reach the Walgreen’s in Buda, there’s still one more mile to go to get to the town’s historic downtown. Such as it is.

Buda's Main Street.

I pootled along some of old Buda’s residential streets, because we ignore them on club rides. Really, there’s not much to this town, although it’s seen explosive growth over the last seven years or so as new retail places open along the interstate highway, and new housing developments spring up on the outskirts.

The return trip was just as uneventful. I didn’t get honked at once, and two or three times, drivers waved me through intersections ahead of them — even though they had the right of way. (I have mixed reactions to that. It’s great to be waved on, but sometimes when drivers want you to go out of turn it can cause problems. You might be unclipped from your pedal, for example, and have to react quickly.)

When I pulled into my driveway, the temperature had risen from 61 at the start to 67 (16-19C). I had worked up more of a sweat than I’ve done in the last week, even though I was dressed the same. And I noted that I had exceeded 100 miles ridden for the first five days of any month. The closest I’ve come to doing this was in 2010, when I rode all but one of the first six days of January. I went on to over 4,000 miles that year.

It’s too early to predict if my mileage will be that high this year. I know that in two weeks, work obligations will cut into the amount of time I have available for riding. But the weather is supposed to hold until Monday, and I’m going to get bike time in every day until then. Unseasonable weather patterns to have their advantages.

Like this:

Like Loading…

Categories // Rides Tags // Buda, Rides

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Next Page »

Get Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 257 other subscribers

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Recent Posts

  • Getting Back on the Bike: Road Cycling Tips for Older Cyclists
  • Are BCAAs and EAAs Good for Cycling?
  • How to Fix Numb Toes When Cycling
  • How to Find and Vet a Bike Club
  • Celebrate Pearl Izumi with Big Savings in the Memorial Day Sale

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • May 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • March 2022
  • October 2020
  • November 2018
  • May 2018
  • September 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • January 2016
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008

Copyright © 2026 · Modern Studio Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Go to mobile version
%d