If you are searching for Yeti Bikes, how to approach road bike sizing, or looking for trek road bikes, it will be important to develop road bike riding skills, be safe on the road, and enjoy your time on your bike. Second hand road bikes are a great idea, and how you can improve them are our passion, and building a mountain bike can be a fun project. Enjoy your biking time on the road.
Biking Frontiers
Bikes, Biking and Cycling Stories for the Road

Our Mission

Biking Frontiers wants you ensure you find great support on your ride!  Whether you are a road biker, a cyclist that looks to catch the wind, or a dirt biker who loves to find hills and packed mud, you are at the right place.  The most efficient ride is when you have your gear in order, cause, you can not ride without it.  And, the most fun you can have on a bike comes from thinking about how you ride, and what you ride for.

There are three areas of biking that ensure you have a great experience!

1.  Transportation

When you want to be a green rider, or you just want to feel alive before you get to work, a bike to work lifestyle should not be affected by the weather, or any of the excuses non-riders live on.  The road needs to become less gasoline friendly, and more muscle friendly, and we all will be healthier and happier.

Learn here how to evolve into a transportation biker, and make it part of your life.

2. Exercise

Super exercise comes from being outside, and enjoying the weather, no matter what kind of weather it is.  You can not become a great biker without general exercise improvement, and continual reflection of how it is improving your body.  Each time you bike, it is important to push yourself a little more, and then turn back to home!

3. Fun

Priority of being on a bike is the fun factor, as you will not continue your biking lifestyle without a fun ride.  It is great to get out in new areas, investigate new trails, try new path elements that you have never tried before, and experience life on a bike.  Having fun will come easy, as long as you ingrain your biking to your lifestyle.

Posted by Cheryl Hanson - 01/11/2011 at 9:58 am

Travel to Maine Before The Roads Open for Summer

If you have ever wanted to travel to Maine to visit the national parks that they offer, you are in luck.  Due to the United States Government Sequestration of 2013, the national park Budgets are seeing a cut of $400,000 this year.  This has forced them to cut many services, and to open the parks later than is usual in the spring.  For this reason, cyclists and bikers are going to enjoy free riding sessions without motor vehicles to points up to Cadillac Point until May 15th.

Travel to Maine to Ride your Bike

 

With the government cuts, you will see less services offered during this period of time, but you as a cyclist will be able to ride in a comfort that is rare and unusual in America.  Making lemons into lemonade, an adventurous biker or mountain biker, will find a nice clean road awaits, without the foot traffic of pedestrians and cars.  The envy of the country, Acadia National Park is one of the most pristine and lovely parks in the world.  With the high slopes and the ease of access, you can welcome the break of dawn at the earliest time from anywhere in the world.  You can climb to Cadillac Mountain, and see Nova Scotia from 25 miles away.  The height of the mountain will allow you to enjoy a natural and beautiful experience, and the park will be open, but not to motor vehicles for this brief period of time.

Travel to Maine And Stay At Bar Harbor

Visitors and Tourism thrive at Bar Harbor, and they are broadcasting cyclists and bikers only until May 15, 2013.  With this rare opportunity, you will be able to meet and enjoy some of your fellow self propelled enthusiasts enmass,  with no fighting amongst vehicles and other traffic.  From this point on highway 233, you will not be allowed to travel further up to Cadillac Mountain, so there will be much space and tranquility to enjoy the many views of the area.

The ride to the point parking lot is around 30 miles from the KOA campground in Bar Harbor, but you could easily break this into a couple of days ride, as the park does have good campgrounds available.  Be sure to check with the Bar Harbor community chamber of commerce, for good insight for your quiet ride to the mountain.

Travel to Maine and Save a Town

Not only does the sequestration of the United States Government kick the community of Bar Harbor a little hiccup, but it does bring on some hardship.  Relying on the spring and summer months for tourism, the city is built to make your trip as pleasurable as they can.  With the loss of car traffic, there will be many grateful bars and restaurants waiting to serve you.  Not only do servers and owners of tourism specialty stores rely on your visit, but there are many gas stations, banks, grocery stores, and motels that will welcome your friendly face.

Travel to Maine during the April 14-May 14 period where bikes are doing the park and the town a huge favor, and you will be welcomed instead of warned.

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Posted by Cheryl Hanson - 04/14/2013 at 12:47 pm

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Biking Into Spring: The Best Way to Welcome Fitness

A great way to spring into the summer season, or to revamp your fitness routine, is to find time for biking.  The cycle is the best exercise machine for the human body, and allows a range of motion that is stress free, and often less damaging to major muscle groups.  When building your next fitness regime, be sure build into this plan, biking.

Biking into Spring with Stationary Bikes

http://www.dreamstime.com/-image27982584Whenever you are building a fitness routine, start simple, and the best way to start on a bike is to try a stationary biking platform.  Biking can be a great way to stretch, move and evolve your fitness routine into a cardiac-vascular workout.   The routine should start with a simple time of 5 minutes per workout, each day.  This easy way to build muscle and endurance, will not discount your efforts by injury or lack of motivation.  If you are building your fitness routine into a more robust program, and you have not exercised for years, why build your routine too quickly, and then find your motivation depleted, and yourself injured?  Biking is best when you build your momentum slowly and with caution.

Stationary Bikes will improve your agility and ability to handle the stress of the road, without having to build your strength in a dangerous roadway. Biking can be very engaging, but the road is a dangerous place for most biking ventures.  Cars, trucks and municipal transit offerings are very often busy and will offer some challenges for those bikers who bike with a level of physical challenge. It will be important for you as a cyclist to build your strength, and do it preferably on the bike you will road ride.  You can do this with a indoor exercise trainer stand, and build your bike into this stand with a simple attachment.  This is a great way to convert any bike to stationary, and start biking with safety.

Seats, gloves and biking in the weather

Your biking efforts will only be hindered by a too quick jump onto your new bike, without an adjustment to the seat on your bike, and the gloves you will use.  The handlebars are a point of stress, and unlike the pedals that have increased movement to stop stress from building, your seat is the second stress point in biking.

Building strength on your stationary bike, you can see how your hands and butt will be affected by your exercise efforts.  This is key information, as some cyclists and riders find the biking efforts better suited with additional padding, or less padding.  The choice is really how your body works, and how it is best accommodated during your biking ride.  If you have any issues with your ride, more than often it is related to your seat or your grasp on the handle bars.

The third stress point is surprisingly not the bike itself, but the environment in which your ride will occur.  Often the weather will be a benefit, or a true impact on how successful your ride can become. That is another reason the stationary trainer position can be successful to continue your endurance skills.  With rain and wind, there will be days with no outdoor possibility, but, you may want that 10 minutes of freedom to keep your pace.

Biking into Heat and Summer

Continue your goals of running fast, but with caution, and do this on your stationary biking setup.  With a stationary setup, you may like it so much, that you end up finding a similar or the same bike as your outdoor runner.  This is a great way to continue into the summer your biking exercise regime, and find that stress free and safe exercise program.  No one needs a treadmill with a stationary indoor bike restrainer or exerciser.

Biking can be fun when you are fit, safe and in a position to continue that path into the future.

 

 

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Posted by Cheryl Hanson - 02/09/2013 at 11:47 am

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Riding Your Bike and Looking Back Techniques

Riding your bike can be the most enjoyable activity, and keeping it enjoyable means you have to learn looking back techniques to incorporate into your ride.  The most adventurous rider will learn looking back techniques early, as it really will ensure safety and a secure ride.  Without good quick looking back techniques, your bike ride will be somewhat limited, as it will only be a matter of time before biking to work or school, or to your fun weekend rest spot, becomes a dangerous adventure.

Learn Looking Back Techniques on Your Own Terms

CoulonPark

Image by ebis50 via Flickr

Why it is important to learn looking back techniques is because you are a moving and fast cyclist, and you are not alone on the road.  Anytime you are with traffic, and chances are you are riding with traffic most of the time, you need to have your eyes on all areas of traffic, pedestrians and your road in front and to the back.  Think about it this way, if you can locate a fast moving driver coming toward you, you can react better with looking back techniques in ways that most bikers use on a daily basis.  The best cyclist is always ahead of most traffic, envisioning an open door ahead, a wayward pedestrian stepping out into the road with a mobile phone, or a lost running dog.  However, when you need to maneuver around these obstacles ahead, you need to envision your back a well, as changing a lane, will require full visibility.

Looking Back Techniques Begin in Safety

Begin with a soft but trimmed grassy area, and try to ride in a straight line, with your weight on the pedals, moving slowly, and envision where you want to be ahead.  Use a traffic situation in your mind, that you run into often, and think about an obstacle that you may run into ahead, and how you would avoid it.  You can injure yourself and others, without a quick turn of the head, so think about how you can clear your move into the left or the right.   Then, envision in this pretend safe area, a moving obstacle coming at you, say another biker, and you are in traffic.  Then, quickly turn only your head, to see if the next lane is clear.  Do this with all weight on the pedals, and again with all weight on the seat, in fast motion.  Continue to play this out, until you feel that you can get a good view with looking back techniques either on your right or your left.  If you can’t do it without wobbling your front tire, keep practicing.  Then, move your practice to a parking lot, and envision you look back, and find it is not open, and then envision a quick slow down, and how you would bounce out of this potential crash.  The practice by yourself will make you look like a crazy person to your neighbors, but what do you mind?  The most adventureous hobby of biking needs some open minded thinking, and practicing your safety looking back techniques is only one more open minded way to stay on your bike.

Looking back techniques are Important for Trailers and Campers

Many bikers and cyclists are looking for ways to visit their favorite fun spots, and use the tents and maybe even a camper trailer.  The most adventurous bikers and cyclists use their looking back techniques, and everyone has a good way to use a quick head turn, to a safe advantage.  The best way to pull a single camper, is to have a friend ride behind you, and ensure you are pulling your trailer safely.  It is really nice to have a quick look at your trailer, and ensure that your tent and cooler are all set and snug.  As well, many bikers now are pulling a little one in a sitting trailer, with another biker to watch the caravan move along.  Many people have their pets in these same sitting trailers, and find these less than safe, as pets and kids can be quick to decide they want out!  Ensure you have looking back techniques safely in hand before you move into a trailer on your bike.  Here is a great article on campers for you to consider!

You Can Pull the World’s Smallest Pop-Up Camper With Your Bike

If you’re heading out on a long distance biking adventure, you’ll need to bring a place to sleep. But why squeeze into an awkward one-person tent when you can haul your own miniature pop-up camper?

Kamp-Rite’s Midget Bushtrekka not only transforms into a luxurious tent and cot that keeps you off the ground when sleeping, but it also has over 41 gallons of storage space so you don’t need to load your bike up with saddle bags. Its four wheels all operate independently so it can handle most bumpy terrain, but you’re probably going to want to avoid extreme mountain trails with this in tow.

Before you pack it with food and clothes the Midget Bushtrekka weighs in at around 56 pounds. So if you’re smart, you’ll ride with someone else and convince them to do the towing duties. But with a price tag of $900, it might be even smarter to just save that cash for crashing in cheap motels along the way. [Kamp-Rite via The Red Ferret Journal]…More at You Can Pull the World’s Smallest Pop-Up Camper With Your Bike [Camping]

 

 

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Posted by Cheryl Hanson - 04/04/2012 at 7:00 pm

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Bike Tire Flats : Flat Repair Equipment and Preparation

Bike tires are a balloon covered by a rubber surface that interacts with the road, like any tire out there, and you need to have flat repair preparation ready when it does happen to you.  Glass, nails, and other sharp objects from trees and bushes can puncture your tire, and then flatten your tube that resides inside.  How do you fix a flat?  Have a pump and a repair tube kit, and with a little knowledge your disaster in the middle of no where, will be less than eventful.

Cyclists Should Have Tire Flat Repair Knowledge

Biking Requires Flat Repair Knowledge

With all of the bumps and cracks on the road, your tires get a real beating.   If you ride often, you should be inspecting your tires often, and have the following items ready on your person, just in case you experience a flat.

  • Bicycle Tire Pump
  • Traditional Style Patch Kit with Glue
  • Two Tire Levers

You may want to have an extra valve stem for your kind of tire, and an extra tube for really bad blow outs, but this is just if you don’t mind the extra room.  Many cyclists who go on long rides, bring these two items, so they can quickly change the tube, and have the time spent repairing on the road to a minimum.  This just depends on how far you are from any civilized service support, or a hardware store.  If you are biking out in the farmland areas of America, and you don’t have an extra tube, that might be just an act of karma waiting to bite you.

How to Change a Flat Tire : Flat Repair 101

If you have never changed a flat, or even seen the inside of your tire, you should spend some time at home getting used to this.  You need a wrench to remove your tire from the bike, an event in of itself sometimes, as you can’t do it with the wheel attached to the frame.  This is step one, and all bikes are different.  Have some patience, and learn how to remove the wheel from the frame, both front and back.

Inspect your tire, for the puncture, and flat repair will begin with a visual analysis, and if you can’t locate the place to perform your flat repair, use a kids swimming pool, to locate where the bubbles are coming from.  Any car repair shop has a tire sink that you can often times use from a kind helping hand. If your tire is still holding some air, remove it by pressing on the valve stem, as this will make it easier to remove the rubber from the rim.

Now use your tire levers to remove the rim from the rubber, and practice in this area makes perfect.  It can be a bit tricky, but don’t give up!  Using two, you can usually find a sweet spot that will set the rubber free. Gentle action on your flat repair, as you don’t want to increase your hole count on the balloon inside the tire.

Take the rubber off the rim, but keep the valve stem where it is, as who needs extra work in flat repair?  Find and locate your hole, and make sure you inspect and reinspect your tube and inside of the rubber.  Try to resist tossing your glass or nail into the road, as it could get you or another cyclist again.  Keep searching for holes, and sticky items stuck in your tire and your tube.  Remove everything, being careful about disposal of those items that created a need for flat repair.

This is where if you are in the middle of flat repair, you may decide that the extra tube you carry could be used.  If this is the case, remove the tube, and replace, moving the stem through the rubber.  This transition can be a little tricky, so it is always a good idea to take your time.  Don’t lose the strip, that runs along the rim, that protects the tube from the rim.  The rim strip is usually thin rubber or plastic, and if you get new rims, you can always use a new strip.  Ask for it when you get the rim.

Find all the Hole and Shards in Flat Repair

If you find the offensive hole or holes, make sure you remove all the puncture items, and then sandpaper around each of the holes, taking off that shiny slippery surface about an inch around your break in your tube.  The glue won’t stick to the shiny tube surface, so get it outta there.  Flat tire repair needs this crucial step for removing the shiny surface, and then placing glue on this sandpapered area.  Apply the glue, letting it dry around the hole.  It should be no longer sticky or it isn’t dry.  Let it dry!

Once it is dry, and it must be free of stickiness, find your patch, and peel it like a bandaid from the foil it is stuck to.  Stick it over the hole, and the glue pressing hard.  Your flat repair is almost done, but make sure you got all the holes, and that there are no bubbles around your hole.  Now, you can place the tube back into the rubber, making sure the rim strip is safely surrounding the rim.   Don’t force your tube in, but gently press it into place.  Tire rubber can be tricky to get back onto the rim, but guide it gently and don’t use the tire levers to get all back into place.   Add some air, to the tube if you must.

Once the rubber is back on the rim, pump in some air, and doing this slowly will prevent valve stem damage.  Does the tube feel like it is holding air?  If so, your flat repair is complete.  Otherwise, you may need to remove the rubber, and find that blasted hole you missed.

 

If you skip any steps, you just delay your fun.  Don’t be a ninny and skip looking for shards or prickly stuff that gave  you the hole in the first place, and make sure the glue is dry before you place the patch on the hole. Flat repair is not that time consuming, and it will make you more confident as a cyclist if you can repair your own flat.

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Posted by Cheryl Hanson - 03/31/2012 at 10:13 am

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Mountain Biking Safety Tips for Great Biking Trips Ahead

Mountain biking safety begins with knowledge, and biking knowledge is power, but downhill mountain biking knowledge is super power!  Being prepared will help you and your bike mates have the best trip you can have, with little expense, but a whole lot of great memories on the trails.

Mountain Biking Safety Tips are Everyday Safety Survival Skills on a Bike

Mountain Biking Safety Begins with Great Preparation

The number one mountain biking safety tip begins with your brain; not the fact that you wear a safety helmet, and you should by the way, but that you use the right knowledge to get you along on on the trail and not down the trail.  Riding within trails that are often steep navigation requires keen appreciation that the trail can be very dangerous.  So here are some simple safety tips that will keep your mountain biking safety top notch!

Mountain Biking Safety Runs with Protection Gear

Using a helmet, good bike shoes, having great brakes, cushioned but effective gloves, and a ample supply of water will ensure your mountain ride is free of unpredictable forces that could ruin your run.  Don’t head out without a tuned bike, and keep your tires new and fresh.  If you run every week, and even if you don’t an annual tune up will ensure a great experience.  New tires are not always the answer, but a close review on the cracks, and the tube pressure, will ensure you don’t go into a flat on a sharp rock.

Mountain Biking Safety Runs with Ettiquette

Your attitude on the trail is your best tool to finding a great time on the trail, and running along others safely.  If you are a cowboy, you are going to find another on the trail, and this could result in a less than peaceful run.  If you are just about at your wits end, and take all your frustrations out on the trail, your mountain biking safety goal is out the window.  Being kind, polite, running with your senses open will create a great experience on the trail.

If you decide to go on a trip with your bike friends, and end up in the trails, a great piece of mountain bike advice is to of course bring your mountain bike protective gear, but as well bring your trail map.  A dream mountain bike trip, like the trails in moab, should have a great guide trail book that offers good runs for the first day, the second and the third.  It is always a good idea to start with the simple trail first, and often that is the trail that is the longest and intersects the others.  The Moab trails in Utah, are trails that offer great exploration and excitement, lots of variable conditions, but as well, are super dangerous if you do not know where you are.  Keep your preparation skills tight, and be sure to bring your tourist safety skills along, by being prepared.

The key to the best mountain bike safety tip is to have preparation, both in your equipment, understanding your trail location, and as well, with your emotions.  If you go on a trail, it is a good idea to be very aware of your buddies, and how emotions are heightened or mellow for them.  Pair your friends with each other based on the drama factor of high emotional stability vs a calm manner.  If you are experiencing a difficult situation in life, be sure to run it off a bit before you attempt any of the harder or more arduous mountain bike trails.  Mountain biking safety tips should always involve some simple introspection, careful preparation, and gear that matches your ambition.

 

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Posted by Cheryl Hanson - 03/22/2012 at 11:59 am

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Road Bike Lane Ownership : The Road We Don’t Own

When thinking about sharing the road, and how cars and a road bike cyclist interact, the fact is bikers and cyclists do not really own the road like a larger vehicle.  The difference really is in philosophy, realistic reasons, and safety for any road bike rider.  The native Indian People of North America are amazing people, and realize something that immigrant European populations often forget; we do not own the resources we borrow and use each day.  If we were to appreciate the gifts of nature more effectively, and one is our clear transport path to our end destination, we would be calmer, and better off in our lives in general.

Road Bike Lanes are Owned By No One

Even the bike lanes, and the road bike lanes are not owned completely by bikers and cyclists.  The most you can learn from this way of thinking, is that a car, truck or any kind of motorized vehicle, can and will impede on bike lanes anywhere they exist.  If you are lacking attention in your bike lane, someday this relaxed mode of attention will bring you safety risk, and offer you little in terms of simple safe travel.  Take no bike lane for granted, and offer only respect to any and all vehicles that travel around you.

In terms of road bike traffic, you as well, do not have the same legal rights as vehicles.  The very fact that a car, truck or other mass transit vehicle is larger, heavier and moves faster, creates more of a risk on this type of driver.  They often carry more insurance than a road bike cyclist.  They are often commercial, or use the road with permits and other tags and state registration.  Cyclists and road bike riders often do not register their bikes.

Keeping this reality in mind, you do have the ability to ride on the road with these vehicles.  The faster and heavier vehicles are definitely able to share the road with you, but they will be going at a different rate, are not as open and exposed as you, and offer better safety features than your road bike.  You as a road bike rider, must always be more aware, more cognoscente, have better skills, and bring a kinder mindset to the road.

Road Bike Riders Are Classified as Vehicles

Vehicles are classified as any mode of transportation that uses the roads that the state or federal governments manage and police in your local area.  The little old lady who pushes a wheeled grocery cart, is a vehicle when she enters the road way.  Technically, this slow vehicle must be allowed to enter the road way when needed, but as well, the pedestrian behind the cart, must be very aware of her place in the road.  In this example, a fast moving road bike cyclist, with experience and care, can ride with the faster cars and trucks, but never, ever, should the cyclist forget the differences between the heavier vehicles.

Road Bike Cyclists are Not Allowed to Occupy an Entire Road Lane

For safety reasons, in many local areas, road bike riders are often not permitted to control an entire road lane.  The reason that this law exists, is simple and is built to keep road bike rides safe, by allowing them to enter the road way, but not control an entire section of road.  The road bike cyclist is always required to move as far to the right of motorized traffic as possible.  The best a road bike rider can hope to find is a respect and a form of dignity from car drivers and truck drivers, by being seen, and being kept safe on the road bike.

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Posted by Cheryl Hanson - 03/15/2012 at 9:38 am

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Feminine Influence on Biking: Be Fashionable and Still Bike Your Way Through Life

The feminine influence in cycling has always been a bit on the edge of revolution, and finding time to bike your way, and still be a fashionable young lady, can be a bit of a challenge.  But as every fashionable lady knows, it must be a challenge that is overcome!  The elements present the largest challenge, but if you can evolve your thinking from cycling racing, and fast effective wind resistant clothing, you can bike your way, and get around with a strong sense of style.

Bike Your Way with Dry Weather Strategies

Missing a Skull Cap is Not Fashionable

Finding a bike path to work, you imagine saving some money to buy the next great bag you were searching for, and you decide the extra time in the morning, will be well worth your effort.  Bike your way when the weather is dry, and find a bike that doesn’t require much gear shifting, as the oil and chain changes can be a real no no for your expensive cashmere wool leggings, and your soft shoes.  If you are going only a short distance, a simple casual day ensemble can be easy to manage on your bike, and find the ride worth the extra outlay of calories.  Bike your way, and exercise gently to your next coffee shop visit!

A great way to envision your ride, is to always consider the wind that you will face, and your day at hand.  If you need to go further than 5 miles, you may want to ride the transit to your location, and ride your bike to or from the transit depot.  The offerings of bikes that fold are growing each year, because people are realizing that storing your bike at home or the office, is often a better solution.  As well, if you are improving your energy use by using less gas and fuel, you may want a bike that can fit in your new electric car in the days ahead.  Any fashionable girl will find a solution to get around a bit on a bike, because allowing time to bike your way will only make you happier in the end!

Bike your Way in the Rain

Despite the more dramatic changes in a bike ridership, female riders are more prepared than their male counterparts, and can offer the guys some foul weather advice.  The best solution for rain, and soaking rain, is to have the best coverup, or poncho that allows for a dry ride on the top, and for the majority of your working legs.  The Brooks Oxford Roll-Up Cape works very nicely, and is a quality cape that will keep your entire head, and upper body dry.  Add another simple addition of some rain pants, and change your shoes, and you are dry at the office!  The weather is so unpredictable, having a rain plan will ensure you can bike your way, and ride anytime the weather seems like rain.

Bike your way and always wear your helmet

Despite all past fashionable efforts, the helmet is getting some good press these days for adding great designs to the outside of the helmet, and making the buckles magnetic and quick for any fashionista to approve of.  Bike your way, but always cover you head!

 

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Posted by Cheryl Hanson - 02/09/2012 at 9:59 am

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To Ride the Bike Lane or To Become A Vehicular Cyclist

The majority of biking cities are popping with bike lanes and adding a bike lane every week as they improve their initiatives to get more Americans on bikes, but is this really the right way to bike, or is a a vehicular cyclist initiative the correct motivation for city planners?  The choice for many successful cities is a mix of both vehicular cyclist training and adding a bike lane here and there.  The reason is, you can’t come up with the secret sauce that will match every biker or cyclist.  Some bike for easy transport, and some bike for exercise, and others are using the stress management of the sport to their best obsession advantages.  Bike lanes or not, you always end up without a lane, so everyone needs to learn vehicular cyclist skills, as the bike lanes always end somewhere.

Vehicular Cyclist Skills are Necessary For Every

Biker

Vehicular Cyclist Awareness

Where you ride, matters, but all bike lanes will eventually end you up in a traffic snafu here and there.  Imagine a perfect world, where a bike lane is present at your front door, and then continues to your end destination.  The mere idea is ridiculous!  So, when you are biking, be sure to always consider the road, and the majority of users are in motor vehicles.  For this reason, use the bike lanes when you can, but, always prepare for your ride with a vehicular cyclist skill upgrade.

For one, you are permitted and legal in the road, biking with cars and trucks.  They do not entirely own the road.  I repeat, they do not own the road completely.  The majority of vehicular motor drivers are mean and angry folks, who have stress built up for their commute.  Add to the mix the new mobile communication networks, and you have distracted driving that may create a instant disaster.  The fact is, each year, many cyclists are killed by motorists, and it is not a statistic that is going to drop anytime soon.  In fact, as we become more and more a realistic society, and more cyclists are added to the mix, you are going to see this number jump.  The next few years are going to be a boost to cycling, as Americans take the image of Lance Armstrong, and change it to everyday road riding.  And, as we add these new inexperienced riders to our roads, we need to improve cycling by enforcing vehicular cyclist training in every bike purchase.

Buy your road bike and Get Vehicular Cyclist Training

What I propose is that every road bike purchased, be followed with a safety lecture from every bike shop.  The best shops are a huge resource for any cyclist, and bring good training with stern eye stares at new riders.  Your life is really in your hands, so a little preparation will be good for us all.

To start, a great book that will really scare the pants off you, but bring you forward to more preparedness so you are ready when you get your first adrenaline pumping experience of the car vs. bike is Effective Cycling by John Forester.  The book is a good one to prep you as a new cyclist that yes, you can ride with cars, but yes, you are the smaller force in the midst of the speed and mass.  John Forester is quoted as saying, “Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles.”

The reason this is true, is that you are not lolly lazily riding along when you are mixed in with traffic.  Often being in the bike lane creates a mixed message to all that you are protected and safe.  This could not be further from the truth, as you need to always be aware of the surrounding motor traffic, and other cyclists, as they may not be as prepared as you.

Constant Improvement Involves Vehicular Cyclist Training

When riding to work, school or for fun, here are some must have tips for you to always remember:

  • Use your skull cap as it is the only protection of your brain!
  • Mirrors, lights, safety tape and all kinds of reflective accessories increase visibility
  • A mirror on your helmet is a good idea
  • As is biker insurance, and a video camera for your protection
  • Watch bike lanes when they end, as it can be the most dangerous area of any bike lane
  • Cars turn into bike lanes to turn left or right, expect them to be there
  • When you ride within traffic, expect angry motorist to want you to move; remember Gandhi at these moments-violence is never the answer.

So, are you ready to ride as a vehicular cyclist?

 

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Posted by Cheryl Hanson - 01/08/2012 at 3:12 pm

Categories: Riding Basics   Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Road Biking for Life

Are you always searching for a great new way to change your life, be happier, and save some money at the same time?  Try biking to work, and you may have found all three!  Researchers are always coming up with great information that our brains do so much better when we exercise.  It is being slowly proven that late stage Alzheimer’s can be slowed by regular exercise.  So, you have to get to work, so why not use that time to exercise?

Even if you live far away from your work, and it is not feasible to bike the entire way, can you think about these options?

Ride a bus for part of the way, bike the rest

I know this seems a bit counter intuitive, but think about this a little bit.  If you are driving to work say, 20 miles each way, can you catch a bus, close to home?  What about biking to a bus stop, that takes you all the way there, at that point?

Or, can you drive your car for a couple of miles, park at a park and ride, and then bike to work?  I want you to think about this seriously.  Why not?

Riding to work is going to give you that brief exercise you will need to perform better at work.  Often, it will be cooler in the morning, so you will not arrive too hot and sweaty.  But, do not let that stop you!  Can you join a club close to work, that will allow you to shower and store your bike?  What about work, do they offer some benefit of storing your bike there, and maybe some showers?

What about the time spent, you think.  Will I be able to manage adding another hour onto my drive in and my drive home?  Are you at the gym, for an hour or more each day?  Why?  Stop staying inside, and mix up your exercise routine.  Being outside is not always easy, but it is a way to stay connected to the parts of our community and nature that you do not get in a gym.

What about the fact that you are actually being productive in moving your body in a real way, and making an impact to save money, and use your car less?  Everyone is searching for new and innovative ways to get around, and we can start with thinking about mass transit in a new way, and include a bike to help!

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Posted by Cheryl Hanson - 02/26/2011 at 3:36 pm

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Riding for Fun!

Biking is not just about exercise, but the fun of the feel of the road.  I do not know of a better way to rule your stress, find happiness and health, and do it with the exhilaration of speed.  It is a blast!  That being said, so few people are on the road, today.  There seems to be a lack of motivation, and I want to encourage you to try it again.

Biking is Not Just for Kids

Many adults used to bike, and biked a lot.  It was the mode of transportation for them, as teenagers, and once they got into the car, it was over.  I am sad when I see this occur, because, it is needful in our society, that this form of transport sticks.  The motivation to get from point A to point B will be a great way to start on your biking lifestyle, but more so, it is really a fun way to get around.

 

For starters, you are outside, and you are not relying on any motors, gas or other nosy appendages.  The run of the tires on the road, and the wind on your arms, really is something.  The sun is on your back, and you are wearing your muscles into a pattern of tension and release on a repeating mode that really creates a great amount of fitness.  The exercise is there, especially if you run into some formidable hills, but, that is just part of the fun.

And, you are getting around, at your pace.  Many people think they have to be just as fast as a car, but that is not always the priority.  True, on a busy commute, you may be able to beat the cars around you in traffic, but, more so, the pace is yours.  If you are thinking this sounds crazy, and that you will never get to work on time, I want you to think about it.  If you could take a bus part of your way to work, how much joy would that bring to your life?  It is immeasurable, and if you have the opportunity to try it, I invite you to start thinking differently, and give your life a new boost ahead!

Connect with your environment, your community, and find bike riding fun again.

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Posted by Cheryl Hanson - 02/26/2011 at 3:10 pm

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