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Archives for October 2013

Waving — or Not

10.15.2013 by Ray Niekamp // 8 Comments

I’ve been feeling guilty lately. Not because I’ve done anything wrong, or bad…well, maybe some folks would blame me for what I’ve not been doing.

I haven’t been waving regularly to other cyclists I encounter on the road. I know, it’s cycling etiquette — when you meet someone in the oncoming lane, you wave.

It seems that instead of doing that, I play “cycle wave chicken.” That is, how long do you hold off on waving before you have to? Hey, I’m not the only one. I bet half the bikers I meet are playing the same game.

waveWhy, just this evening, coming home from an after-work ride, I see a cyclist heading my way. I check him out — do I recognize the jersey, or the bike, or the rider? Should I get ready to wave if I know the person? Should I wait until he acknowledges me first? Oh, crap. He just waved. Both my hands are clamped to the hoods. I return his greeting with a nod of the head.

The nod. Let’s face it, the nod isn’t an adequate substitute for the wave. Sure, you’re acknowledging the other rider, but it’s kind of condescending, isn’t it? So to take the haughtiness out of my nods, I put on a big smile as I bob my head up and down. Now, I’m not being condescending. I’m just being the village idiot.

I’m not sure where this hesitancy to wave came from. Why, I can remember a post on this very blog where I took a pro-wave attitude. It’s just that, over the years, I stopped following my own good advice.

Let’s face it, lots of times, you wave, and — nothing. No one likes rejection. Get rejected often enough, and you’re going to stop doing what gets you rejected, right?

But those no-wavers — they follow a type. Most often, they’re racer wannabes. They’ve got way faster bikes than mine. Their kit is all of one type, usually a pro team, but lots of times from a local bike shop or local racing club. Clearly, I’m just not worthy of receiving their blessing.

And those aren’t the only no-wave types. Right after I bumbled the return wave today, I resolved to do better. Ah, here comes someone. No, don’t recognize anything about him. He’s not really in cycling kit. He’s got a low-end solid color jersey, and his shorts aren’t even real cycling shorts — they’re nylon, like basketball shorts. He’s got a nice helmet, though. I wave, and — nothing. Now this guy isn’t too good to wave back at me. He must be just some guy out for a little exercise on his bike. He hasn’t learned the ways of the cyclist yet.

How about this small bunch of riders coming up a gentle hill toward me? There’s a complication here. I’m on a divided street — one lane plus a bike lane in each direction, but a raised median down the middle. Now, does that median serve as a social separation as well as a physical separation? Hm. I could ponder that one for quite awhile, and while I’m pondering, they’ve already gone by in the opposite direction. I guess the way you deal with a median is, if you recognize the other bikers, you wave. If not, you don’t.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it? All right, I’ve convinced myself. Next time I’m on my bike, I will be waving. I’ll be the first to wave — again. I won’t feel rejected if the wave isn’t returned. I’ll forget it immediately, and I’ll just keep waving. Unless I’m flying down a hill at 35 mph – plus. Or unless I’m pedaling up a stiff hill, and I need both hands on the bars for added power. But otherwise — yeah, I’ll be waving.

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Categories // Community Tags // wave

The 15-mile ride

10.13.2013 by Ray Niekamp // 1 Comment

The other day, I was all geared up for a ride. It was a beautiful day in Central Texas, and the road was calling. But my wife had other ideas.

“We need to leave for the tile store at 10 a.m.,” she said. “So I think you should forget about a ride for today.”

“It’s only 8,” I responded. “Tell you what. I’ll go for a ride, but I won’t be gone for more than one hour.”

“See that you’re not,” she replied.

I knew I’d be back on time. I had the route fixed in my head. It’s a nice route through our neighborhood, which means it runs primarily on suburban arterials, which aren’t very busy once morning rush hour is over. I pumped up my tires and headed out.

The first mile runs me down to the Starbucks, where our club rides begin. After sitting through a traffic light and crossing the busy road, I’m on a gentle upslope for about a half mile. Then, it’s a right turn at the top of the hill.

Another mile and a half brings me to another right turn. This road is one that leads out of our subdivision. It’s relatively new, because the houses along this stretch have been built only in the last five years or so. It’s also nice and wide, with a generous bike lane. I have the option to branch off the road onto some residential loops, but passed them up this day.

A little over four miles into the ride, I reach the notorious 1826. It’s a road for bikers to avoid, because it’s twisty, hilly, and narrow, with no bike lane, and traffic that screams along at 65 mph. We often fantasize about what a great biking road it would be, if only we could count on no traffic.

Anyhow, I make a U-turn there, and double back a way. Then, I’m in a different part of the subdivision. With a prevailing wind from the southeast in these parts, I’m pushed along in the high 20’s for awhile. Then, a right turn, and I’m more or less against the wind again.

But now I have a nice downhill. It’s not a big one, but the road here is especially wide, with very little traffic. At the bottom of the hill, I’m often approaching 35 mph as I ease over to the center of the road and hope there will be no cross traffic (and if there is, that it will stop at the stop sign, and let me go by). Once, a couple of years ago, a car decided to pull out in front of me as I approached the intersection. I did my best emergency stop, kept the bike under control, and when the driver saw me bearing down on him, he slammed on his brakes. I got by unscathed.

Now, another jaunt through some routine residential streets. At an elementary school, I take a right turn. Within a half mile, I find myself at Austin’s Veloway. One lap around the three-mile track, and I can head home — another three miles.

I arrived in our driveway in plenty of time, and could shower and change well within the 10 a.m. deadline. The nice part about this ride is that it comes out to almost exactly 15 miles, so if my goal is to complete it in one hour, I have to push a bit in some spots. So in addition to being a nice one-hour ride, it’s also a good workout. I can work intervals or fartlek into the ride with no trouble at all.

Some days, I just don’t want to spend more than an hour in the saddle. When that happens, I know I’ve got just the ride.

Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.

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Categories // Rides, Uncategorized Tags // Rides

The Disappearing Bike Blogs

10.09.2013 by Ray Niekamp // 10 Comments

I’m guessing that most readers of Bike Noob make a stop here along with several other bike blogs. I know I have about a dozen I check out on a regular basis. But one thing I’ve noticed lately is that some of the blogs I’ve been visiting have disappeared.

In some cases, the blogger notes that he or she is ending the blog. The reasons are similar: the blogger has run out of new things to write about, the enjoyment of blogging has faded, or maybe the interest is no longer there.

In other cases, the blog is simply abandoned. After a lapse of months, it’s apparent there will be no more posts on the blog. Reluctantly, I delete it from my blogroll or my RSS feed. I’ll try to find another to take its place. One thing about bike blogs — there are plenty around.

The challenge for bloggers is to come up with topics to write about. I once read that everything about biking has already been written. It’s quite easy to find out basic information about biking. Books, back magazines, online searches. The more successful blogs are able to mine a narrow topic area. They might stick with descriptions of rides, for example, or a particular style of bike. The best ones have developed their own personality over time — a personality that clicks with readers and keeps them coming back. The ones that don’t have a focus are the ones that fold eventually.

I can understand the problem. Writer’s block is something I’ve always had to deal with. I keep a file of post ideas, but often run through them quickly, and have to start over again.

Bike Noob isn’t going away any time soon, even though I seem to be in one of my periodic low productivity cycles. But readers here gravitate to posts about basic equipment, rides, or improving riding ability. In the meantime, I’ll do my best to come up with topics to write about, and always be learning something new.

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