Confident Road Cycling

There are lots of good websites out there for how to ride in traffic. I've tried to boil this down to a few essentials and have posted them in the Skills section of my Resources page.

Riding confidently in traffic has both a book-knowledge side and a putting-it-into-practice side. To address both the lecture and the lab, I've reviewed a "how-to" site and recommended a class where you can practice these skills.

The "how" site is from BC Canada. Bike Sense has great graphics and sound suggestions. In between the detailed explanations are bullet points such as "Never make a left turn from the right side of the road, even if you are in a bike lane." This page is easy to follow and has lots of great suggestions for riding more confidently.

The class is something I've probably posted on and on about: ABC's Effective Cycling Classes. These classes normally cost $60 but are offered by ABC at $35. Deeper discounts are available for certain groups. Check out the website to see if you can take advantage of a further discount.

I've also added BRAG's Safety Pledge (scroll to the bottom of this page) which is a great 16-point summary of good things to do when on the road, and particularly on the road with cars and other bikes. The etiquette it suggests is simply another way of telling cyclists how to be safe.

In future posts, I'd like to share some of my personal experiences with "Keeping a Straight Line", "Stealth Flamboyancy" (making myself obvious while pretending I'm invisible), and maybe stir something up with "Wearing a Helmet".

Riders on the Storm or Singing in the Rain

When people find out I ride my bike to work, one of the first questions is "What do I do when it rains?" Unless they're actually considering dealing with rain on a bike, my answer "I get wet" is about as far as the discussion will go. For those interested in dealing with rain on a bike, read on.

Options
It is by choice that I work close to my house. The commute is just 2.5 miles (sometimes 8 or 12 on crisp, sunny mornings). If rain is coming down hard, I can put up the umbrella and walk that far.

Walking is more dry than riding a bike because umbrellas don't work well on a bike (see Road Soup below).

Some riders wear ponchos. Most of these are good when it is cold, but when it's warm, the humidity and sweat will get you just as wet as the rain would. Gore-tex or other breathable material does much better, but the reason I don't use one is most of the water doesn't come from the sky and isn't deflected by a poncho. (See Road Soup below).

Also, there's a MARTA bus that runs between my office and my neighborhood corner. This is good for a change of pace or if I'm injured and can't ride or walk.

Decision Factors
Whether to ride or not often depends on which direction I'm going. If I'm at the office and don't care how I look when I get home, I ride. If I'm at home and am meeting someone that day, I'm less tolerant of getting wet.

Safety is a factor as well. When the rims get wet, braking becomes a problem. To fix that, I tap them from time to time to make sure they grab and to clear off the excess water. Metal, such as manhole covers, and painted lines become slick, but it's only in corners I've found this to be a problem.

I wear glasses, so there are times I wish I had a little pair of windshield wipers I could attach to my glasses. I'll take them off and ride slower if they become too droplet-covered to see through.

If I need to remove swaths of skin, I might try cornering at high speed on wet roads. My commute usually doesn't require many high-performance maneuvers; just the occasional dog on a fully-extended retractable leash or the heat-seeking 4-year-old on training-wheels.

If there's thunder and lightning, I wait it out. Generally my schedule is flexible enough I can leave the 15-20 minutes either earlier or later that it takes to clear a thunder storm.

And hurricanes are what people in the Southeast US use for snow days.

Besides looking like I just came out of a hurricane, I'm often concerned about the dryness of things I carry to the office: notebooks, electronic devices, toasted peanut-butter sandwiches. I always carry plastic grocery bags and use them both inside and outside my backpack. Inside is protection against moisture. Outside is protection against road soup.

Road Soup
The rain from the sky is nothing compared to the rain from the road. The rain from the sky is just water and it dries without a trace. Water from the road is the opposite.

Besides picking up the bike dissolving grit that finds every sensitive mechanical part, wet tires create a black ink made from finely ground tire rubber, brake pad dust, and the occasional squished worms (just to round out the texture). Fenders help a lot, although I don't use them on my bike. My bike rack is solid over the back wheel which diverts (collects?) much of the road soup.

One thing bikes have in common with cars: road soup typically gets on my bike right after I've just cleaned it.

Reflection
Perhaps our expectations of an advanced society would be devoid of people getting wet from the rain. Certainly a big chapter in the story of the civilization of man would be about sheltering ourselves from the elements, but maybe a new chapter could be written embracing the elements, Singin' in the Rain (what a glorious feeling).