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The Most Important Thing: David Dorman

04.14.2011 by Ray Niekamp // Leave a Comment

David Dorman

We continue our series of guest posts on The Most Important Thing You’ve Learned About Cycling with an entry from David Dorman. If I have a personal biking mentor, David is it. He’s been indirectly featured on this blog for several years. Whenever I mention “my friend David” in a post — which is often — it’s he I am referring to. David has always been generous with his knowledge. But what he considers the most important thing he’s learned about cycling might surprise you.

So Ray’s giving out homework.  Well, he’s a college teacher so it fits the profile.  I should know the answer to this since have been riding bikes for over 55 years.  But I have only been “cycling” for the last 20 or so years.  You’re cycling  when you buy and wear the dorky stretchy pants because they actually make sense and help.  So I decided to think about what is the most important thing on my Saturday morning ride. Maybe something will come to me.

On my way up the first hill getting my heart rate up a bit I start thinking.  Hummm, we all learn the most important things the first time we actually ride, like keep moving forward or you will fall over, learn how use the brakes or you will run into something and it hurts to fall down.   That was too easy, so that can’t be right.  OK, those are important things you learn about riding bikes, not cycling.  My 4-year-old granddaughter has already nailed most of those.  Maybe she will be a cyclist someday but right now she’s just a little girl riding on the sidewalk.   She’s at her soccer game this morning so maybe cycling is important because it’s a sport and there are no balls involved.  Weak, but it makes me smile.

On the downhill I pass a traffic speed indicator that says I’m going 25 mph so I think, watching the road far out in front is an important thing I’ve learned. That may make the top 10 but not the most.  Then I come to a red light for a right turn and it’s green so I lean into the turn. Leaning rather than steering is important.

Next up is a 3-way stop with a car at every corner.  So the idea is that everyone is going to obey the laws,  yield and be courteous, right?  It’s important that cyclists never, ever believe that.  Which brings up the “always make eye contact with drivers” rule and that is a very important thing to learn, at least Top 5.

I am approaching my left turn onto Latta Lane and I have to cross the traffic to get into the left turn lane so I make a quick turn in the saddle and look behind — it’s clear, so I move over.  It’s important to be able to look behind you without running into something or following your head into traffic.  But before you look, your ears should be telling you that there’s something to look for and you want to know just how far away it is so you can plan your move.  All of these things are in the cycling safety bucket, so maybe safety wins.  Reasonable, but hardly profound.

But there are other important things too.  Basic stuff like wear a helmet and clothes that match the weather conditions. If you plan to ride for more than a half hour bring something to drink.  Eye protection helps and so do gloves.  Avoid loose gravel on the road, etc. There are hundreds of important things to know about cycling.  Most of these can only be learned with experience and riding with people with experience.  If you continue riding you will keep on learning.

If I have to pick just one I have decided the most important thing I’ve learned about cycling is that it’s a great time to think.   I’ll think about that since I’m not doing anything but pedaling, trying to get up Convict Hill and even with a heart rate of 160, I’m still thinking.

If you would like to join David with a guest post on this blog, write one on the topic: What’s the Most Important Thing You’ve Learned About Cycling? Details available here.

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The Most Important Thing: Steve Martin

04.12.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 10 Comments

 

 

 

Steve Martin

 

 

Bike Noob is happy to feature the first in our series of guest posts, “The Most Important Thing.” Our first author is Steve Martin, a relatively new biker from northern Virginia. Steve, a retired military officer and current civil servant, also writes his own blog, There and Back Again.

Last Spring, I returned to the cycling hobby I dabbled in over 15 years ago. Needless to say, there were a great many things I have learned in the past year. If Mr. Niekamp is “The Bike Noob,” then I must be something on the order of “The Bike Incompetent.” Fortunately, I get to pick the name of my own blog and I have taken it in a different direction.

While I am nowhere near an expert on most bicycling subjects, there is one particular area I feel qualified to speak on: flat tires. Many people go months at a time without flatting. Some lucky souls go years at a time. I have managed to get NINE flats in my first 12 months of cycling, seven of those flats in the hell that was June to August, 2010. Each flat was a different lesson.

So I’ve learned a few things about flat tires in the past year, mostly through a series of unfortunate mistakes on my part. I humbly offer these tire-related tips in the hope that others may not need to learn these lessons like I did – the hard way.

1. Don’t skimp on tires. In my view, they’re the most important and potentially the most-easily damaged piece of gear on your bike. A good set of tires will not only help you avoid learning how to change a flat on a hot dusty road, but they will let you ride faster. Spend some extra money on puncture resistant tires and you’ll more than make up the difference in the money saved on spare tubes, repair kits, and the dramatic decrease in frustration.

2. Pump your tires before every ride. I check my car’s tire pressure once every Blue Moon. Do that with your bike and you will suffer. It’s a small thing, but make sure your tires are properly inflated before every ride.

3. Inspect your tires before every ride. Run your hand along their entire length and visually inspect them for bits of glass, nails, staples, etc… that are slowly working their way toward your beloved inner tube. Remove as necessary.

4. Don’t underinflate your tires. Especially if you’re a Clydesdale like Yours Truly. Low pressure invites a “pinch flat,” which is a nasty event because pinch flats almost always immediately lose pressure. There is no “limping home” with a pinch flat, which occurs when the tube is pinched against the rims, usually during a jarring bump, and two holes result.

5. Don’t overinflate your tires.

Remnants of an overinflated innertube explosion

In an effort to avoid a pinch flat and improve rolling resistance, you may be tempted to do this. Don’t. Your tube will explode and the resulting noise will sound very similar to a shotgun blast. When this echoes down the street, concerned neighbors will rush to their fences to see what happened and you will be considerably embarrassed. Trust me on this.

6. Always carry a spare tube and a pump. This almost goes without saying, except I must say that I have violated this rule more than once and flatted while doing so on two occasions. I believe the odds of getting a flat dramatically when you don’t have one or both of these items. Why this occurs is one of Life’s mysteries, but if my experiences are normal then it is an undeniable Truth.

 

 

Twisted tire due to turning inside-out

 

7. Don’t flip your tire inside out. When changing a flat, you may be tempted to flip your tire inside out (and can’t think of a good reason for this right now, but when I was fighting with my tire in 90 degree heat, it seemed like a good idea at the time). Many tires have kevlar beads that hold them in place. If you turn your tire inside out, you will find that the bead twists and cannot easily be returned to its original state. This will cause your tire to be hopelessly askew after you mount it on the wheel. See the attached photo as evidence.

8. Mount your tire so that the valve stem is next to a recognizable part of your tire.

Valve stem over the Bontrager “r”

This way, you can quickly compare a hole in your inner tube to a specific part of the tire and thus identify an foreign objects that are causing punctures.

9. Practice changing tires in the comfort of your own home. Practice makes perfect, or at least it makes you less of a klutz than you would be without it. Put on some nice music, grab a cold beverage of your choice and give it a shot. This is infinitely preferable to learning on the side of a highway in sweltering heat.

10. Consider a CO2 cartridge. Tube-mounted pumps will get the job done, but the last 30 PSI will wear you out. A CO2 cartridge takes seconds. They’re small and easy to store in a saddle bag or jersey pocket. They aren’t necessarily the most intuitive thing you will ever use, so if you decide to go with these, refer to Tip #8.

If you would like to join Steve with a guest post on this blog, write one on the topic: What’s the Most Important thing you’ve learned about cycling? Details available here.

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Categories // guest post, Tips, tires Tags // flat tire, guest post

Those @#$%&! Cross Winds!

04.10.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 7 Comments

The wind has been relentless this spring, mostly blowing from the south. I’ve been trying to plan my routes so that I’m heading more or less into it on the way out, and with it on the way back, to get a little relief.

But Saturday, I joined a small group ride in a different part of town from my usual haunts. The road we would mainly ride was Bee Caves Road — which goes roughly east-west, and features lots of long hills.

It’s a lot of fun to ride in decent weather. But I hadn’t thought about the key feature that would affect us this time — the wind was going to be hitting us crosswise, not head on.

Just a few minutes into the ride, we were heading east on a nice downhill, when pow! the wind smacked me and moved the bike toward the traffic lane. It was unsettling. Bee Caves Road is four lanes wide, with an added center lane. The speed limit is 65. Traffic is usually steady. Yipes! If that wind was going to have the potential to knock me into traffic, it could be a ride with an unhappy outcome.

Cross winds are funny (not funny ha-ha, but funny hmm). If the wind was steady, it wouldn’t be a problem. Leaning a bit to the side toward the wind — like the riders in the picture — seems to help.

It’s the gusts that get you. How do you maintain control of your bike when it’s being buffeted from the side?

A quick check of the interwebs doesn’t turn up much help. Most of the advice about riding in cross winds applies to racers, and tells them to form an echelon. Although I was in a small group — maybe eight people — there was no way we would be able to stay packed tightly enough to form an echelon. I doubt any of us would know how to. I spent most of the ride on my own anyway, with a few riders well ahead of me, and the rest trailing by a large distance.

My reaction was to slow down. I was not comfortable riding on a shoulder — even a generous one like  the ones on this road — if I was going to get pushed one way or the other. But some advice I’ve seen says your stability will improve as you pick up your speed. For example, instead of coasting those downhills as I was doing, the advice is to pedal. By applying some power to the rear wheel, you’ll become more stable.

Gack. I was hitting speeds above 30 mph on the downhill stretches, and getting smacked by a gust at that speed can be pretty unnerving. That’s why I slowed down.

A commenter on one of the biking forums I visit said, “It takes a while to get used to the idea that getting blown around some is OK.” Yeah, I’m not there yet. But I’m sure I’ll have lots more times to try, the way the weather is going lately.

Others say to relax, especially in the elbows and upper body. One commenter suggested that unlike headwinds, when you want to minimize drag by keeping your body in an aero position, a better strategy in a cross wind would be to sit upright. That makes “holes” in your profile to allow wind to pass through.

I won’t be seeking opportunities to ride in cross winds, but I’m sure they’ll come. I’ll remember to relax, enjoy getting buffeted, and stay close to the right side of the shoulder. In the meantime, I’ll be glad I don’t regularly ride in the conditions this Dutch cycling team had to contend with earlier this year. The travails of the guy 48 seconds into the video are a hoot. Click the YouTube button to watch it in a larger size – and perhaps a smoother speed.

“Ja, Michael, you have the lightest bike!”

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