Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

ID

05.28.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 9 Comments

I’ve always been a bit irrational about carrying identification when I ride. That’s because early on I worried about losing my wallet with my drivers license. Even when the wallet was securely zipped in my seat bag. Even though sometimes I carry my wallet in a pants pocket that doesn’t button shut.

But that’s no matter. I just couldn’t get past the lost DL thing. So I created an ID of a sort, typing out name, address, and emergency contact info on a small piece of paper, taking it to Wal-Mart and running it through one of those cheapy laminating machines near the entrance.

It got bent up in a few rides. I didn’t want to keep going back to Wal-Mart, so I tried something different. This time, I created the ID as above, and also xeroxed my health insurance card. I cut them both to the size of a business card, then put each on either side of one of my business cards, and used clear packing tape to improvise a lamination.

I’m pretty happy with the results. The resulting card is stiff, and the packing tape makes it virtually waterproof. The first thing I do when leaving for a ride is stick it in one of the back pockets of my jersey. No need to worry about jamming my wallet into the seat bag.

My wife thinks I’m being silly. She puts both her drivers license and her health insurance card in her seat bag before every ride. Of course, she’s never had a problem.

Road ID has built a business for itself by making nice ID tags that can be fastened to a wrist, or an ankle, or most any other place. The company argues that emergency workers don’t typically go through an injured person’s pockets, and wouldn’t find an ID card there — but will see an ID tag worn outside.

I haven’t talked to an emergency worker, so I don’t know. For now, I’m comfortable with my way. But if I can be convinced, I will happily change.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // Accessories, Safety

Mid-morning drivers

05.20.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 5 Comments

During the week, I usually ride in late afternoon, after I get home from work. Traffic then is still heavy; rush hour is still under way. But commuting drivers seem to be aware of what’s going on around them. They see me, and they anticipate what I will do. Knock wood, but I have never been flipped off, yelled at, or even honked at.

Now, I have a few weeks off, and I’m able to ride in the morning, but after rush hour. What a difference! The traffic is lighter, yes, but the drivers — measurably worse.

My route today took me down a four-lane suburban street, past some strip malls. I was traveling at about 25 mph on a slight downslope, approaching the entrance to one of the strip malls. A Camaro waited to make a left turn in the oncoming lane. I assumed the worst, and I was right — immediately after a car pulled out of the strip mall, he made his left into it, right in front of me. Because I figured that’s what he would do, I was already feathering the brakes, so I was able to slow a bit without a problem.

An SUV waiting to exit the strip mall on my right saw me coming, and saw that she had to wait for the Camaro to make his turn in front of her. The look of uncertainty in her eyes was evident. Should she pull out now? Should she wait until the Camaro made its turn and then pull out, or should she wait until this biker, in the bike lane, passed before she turned? If she waited for the biker, why, that would mean she’d have to sit there an additional three-and-a-half seconds without making any forward progress. What to do?

I always make sure motorists see me in a situation like that. Today I wore a bright yellow jersey — hard to miss it — and I stood up on the pedals and eased to the left edge of the bike lane to make myself more obvious. Because the Camaro’s turn almost cut me off (I was obvious to him, too, but he wasn’t gonna let no biker slow him down) she was forced to let me pass in front of her before starting out.

She must have stepped on the gas as soon as I went by her, because a car laid into its horn right away. She was so engrossed in watching this upstart biker cross in front of her soccer mom gas guzzler that she didn’t bother to notice that another car was traveling right behind me in my direction, and she nearly pulled out into the road in front of him.

That incident would not have happened at 5:30 in the evening, at least in my experience it hasn’t. But at 10:30 in the morning, with less traffic, conditions are actually more dangerous.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // Safety

On the road (partly) with Road 1

04.27.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 9 Comments

With the excitement in our house over Pat’s ride yesterday, some readers may have also spotted the fact that I wasn’t there until it ended, when I drove out to the ride site to pick her up. The fact was, I had another engagement. I was taking the on-bike part of Road 1.

Road 1 is the basic cycling skills development course offered by the League of American Bicyclists. Last month, I took the four-hour classroom part of the course. But the on-bike session was cancelled, because the instructors had conflicts. Yesterday, however, we got out there.

We met near a small cafe on Austin’s East Side. In all, the group numbered two League Certified Instructors, and a third came with his wife, who was taking the course. One young woman of about college age, one middle-aged woman who was a beginning commuter, a middle-aged man who rode a titanium Colnago, and me.

After some preliminary discussion about what would happen, we hopped on the bikes and rode to a nearby elementary school parking lot. The drills we did ran from simple to challenging. We rode between rows of half tennis balls, keeping the bike on a stable course. We “scanned” back, looking for an instructor holding one, both or no arms in the air, and called out what we saw — without letting our bikes swerve to the left. We slalomed (“swooped” they called it) our bikes through a tight course to get the feel for steering by leaning one way or the other. “Ride the way a kid would ride,” one instructor said. It works. We made quick stops with just the rear brake, both brakes, and with our butts hanging off the back of the saddle. We practiced “instant right turns” — the kind of maneuver a biker would have to make if a car suddenly did a right turn in front of him. It went well, although the commuter was less confident about her bike handling ability than the rest of us.

Then it was out on the road. The lead instructor had come up with a route through neighborhoods and downtown Austin. Each of us took turns as the lead rider, with one of the instructors right behind. They were actually “grading” us throughout the ride. We were evaluated on such things as correct lane position, signaling, stopping at stop signs (I got dinged because I didn’t leave my saddle at one stop), etc. The ride was a good mix of quiet residential streets, frontage roads along freeways, crowded downtown thorofares, and poorly maintained streets through industrial areas. One lead rider was stopped at a light, in the left lane, ready to make a left turn onto the freeway access. A car on her right jumped ahead when the light changed and did a left turn, cutting her off. She had to do the same kind of quick stop we had just practiced in the parking lot. The commuter lady was afraid to get into the left lane for left turns, and rode through downtown doing “box left” turns — where the rider stays in the right lane, crosses the intersection, then stops, lifts the bike to face left, and proceeds when the stoplight turns green. At one point, we had to negotiate railroad tracks that crossed the street on a tight diagonal, by turning our bikes to cross the tracks at right angles. (These are the same railroad tracks, by the way, where Congressman Lloyd Doggett of Austin broke his leg last week when he tried to cross them on his bike.)

Then it was back to the cafe starting point, where we had to change our “flat” rear tires. Messy work, and although I had brought an old towel to wipe my hands with, it was in the car a block away, so I was unable to use it. The session capped off with the instructors giving us some verbal feedback — they’ll mail detailed critiques later — and we went our separate ways.

So, what’s my assessment of Road 1? I think every new biker should take it — or something like it. It’s all about building skills, and that’s always valuable. On the downside, it was pretty long (8 a.m.-1 p.m.), although since I was watching the clock in order to leave to pick up Pat from her ride in time, I may have been more sensitive to the length. Our ride through town covered maybe five miles, at speeds of no more than 10 mph — and that was hit only a few times. I learned how to “bunny hop” the bike, but more importantly, I did have a great opportunity to practice important riding skills, and I do believe the experience boosted my confidence in certain biking situations.

No pictures from the session, unfortunately. I brought my camera, but the battery had died. This video from YouTube gives a pretty good idea of the kind of parking lot drills we did Saturday.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Categories // Safety, training

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 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