Civility

Maybe it’s just me.  I see a lot of people on the road.  I see a lot of bad behavior lately.  It’s not restricted to motorists.  I see a fair number of cyclists acting rudely, or badly.  Some of this is due to distraction.  Cell phones and texting.  (And yes, I’m sorry to report, cyclists are increasingly of this too.)  Maybe our recent changeable weather is partially at fault.  Weird weather makes people cranky.  Certainly the political climate, and the constant barrage of “news,” doesn’t help the general morale.

It doesn’t really matter what the cause is.  The simple fact is that folks on the road are behaving rudely.  That’s sad…  And dangerous.

A problem that we cyclists face is the “vulnerability issue.”  Simply put, it doesn’t much matter who is wrong.  In any altercation between a cyclist and any motor vehicle, the cyclist will lose.

Civility, courtesy, good will, and attention.  If we are treated rudely, we do not improve things by returning rude behavior.  We do not live in New York City.  Let’s be kind to our neighbors, and be polite to others, even when they don’t deserve it.  This applies to all our interactions.  We live in our society when we are in the office, the store, the car, and on the bike.  It’s a simple equation.  Rude breeds rude.  Polite and courteous encourages polite and courteous.  The former escalates quickly.  The latter takes a bit more time to nurture and grow, but it’s well worth it.

Fast Bike?

Here’s the bad news.  You can’t buy speed.

For those who want to worship at the altar of Speed, I have bad news.  Buy the fastest lightest bike on the market.  Eat the fastest food.  (I’m not talking about McDonalds here, but rather that gunk in tubes and bottles.)  Get the fastest kit, and the fastest shoes.  Buy yourself some of those little tiny weird fast gloves.  Acquire the fast helmet.  By all means, do all that.  But I’m sorry to tell you this, it’s not going to make you any faster.

A slow rider on a fast bike is still going to be slow.

A fast rider on a slow bike is still going to be a fast rider.  Sadly, the converse is also true.

So why do manufacturers build these fast machines?  And why do the super racers ride them?

Short answer:  Money!

Longer answer:  For the very best of riders, the difference between one bike and another is extremely small, but victories are made up of these small differences.  For the rest of the world, they build those things so that people will buy them.  Speed is an easy sell.

You can’t buy speed.  You can buy efficiency.

A light and lively bike is a joy to ride…  for a little while.  Unfortunately, the really and truly fast, dedicated, racing machines are not very comfortable.  If they are truly serious, no compromise, racing bikes, then everything else is secondary.  They are designed and built to be fast.  That’s not comfortable, and that’s not long-term reliable.  For the overwhelming number of casual and recreational riders, such a machine is going to be uncomfortable fairly quickly, and it’s going to be a maintenance headache.

Let’s face it, the difference between a reasonably quick, decently comfortable, highly reliable road bike, and an all out racing machine boils down to two factors.  1) About seven pounds.  2) $7,000.00.

There is one other difference between a good sound recreational bike and a red hot racing rig.  With only moderate maintenance (read less than a hundred dollars and less than 10 hours) the good recreational rig will run all season long.  On the other hand, the full-bore racing rid, with extremely close expert maintenance (hundreds of dollars and hours) has a mean time to failure of about 100 hours.  That doesn’t mean the bike is finished.  It just means that, even with the absolute best care, it will only go about 100 hours before something breaks.  (Usually something expensive and unrepairable.)

I’m not down on top the line racing bikes.  But let us maintain a sense of proportion here.  Think about the difference between a Mazda Miata and a Ferrari 458 Italia.

Pollen

Pollen Count on Tuesday = 9,369.  That’s 9,360 parts per cubic meter.

1 cubic meter = 1,000 liters.

Average pollen granule = 50 micrograms mass.

5 X 9,369 = 468,450 micrograms, or 0.468450 grams.

Average volume intake per breath = 3 liters.

Working cyclist in mid-aerobic zones respiration rate is 720 per hour.

720 X 3 = 2,160 liters, or 2.160 cubic meters.

Therefore, a working cyclist inhales about 2 grams of pollen per hour.  About a half teaspoon full.

In a four hour ride that would be about 8 grams, or 4 teaspoons of “medicine.”

There.  Don’t you feel better already?

Of course it begs the question:  Our human reproductive activity doesn’t threaten to strangle the trees, flowers, and grass.  How come theirs is so bloody hard on us?

On the other hand, flowers make pollen, and eventually, pollen is responsible for making more flowers.  Flowers bring birds that sing wonderfully.  They bloom brightly and smell sweetly.  The trees shade us, and the grasses help hold and nurture the watersheds.  Besides, all this rampant vegetative reproductive activity gives us something else to talk about while we’re riding.  It’s nice out.

Happy Days!

The change of the calendar to a new year seems to mark a lot of new beginnings.  I’ve recently passed a few of those.

The First Mosquito Bite of the Year:  No news here, it’s been an unusually mild Fall and Winter.  (I’m still sort of waiting for Winter to actually happen.)  This one is an indicator of just how mild it’s been.  I was taking out the trash last Tuesday, and was swarmed by mosquitos.

The First Commute of the Year!  It’s late, I know.  Heaven knows I’ve really wanted to do more of this.  I’ve just had a lot of circumstances and obligations that forced me to drive instead of riding.  With most of those out of the way, Saturday was a good day to begin.  It was chilly at the beginning of the trip in, but it warmed wonderfully.  It was good to start the day on the bike, and in sunshine!

The First Ride Home Started with Daylight:  This relates to the last item.  There is a period in every Winter when my homeward trip starts out in the dark.  I always look forward to the first ride that starts in daylight.  This year it was the above mentioned.

The First Ride Without Tights:  Yes it has been mild.  This past week, it was warm enough to ride (once!) without tights.  Bare legs and comfortable in January.  Now this is why it is good to live here.

The First Fixie Ride:  Logged two hours on the fixed gear.  That was fun, and it completely trashed my legs.  Good training.  Humbling.

The First Tire Swap:  Admittedly, this is early, and I may regret it, but…  I just changed the skins on my go-to road bike from the “Winter” 700 X 25s to the “Spring/Summer” 700 X 23s.  This is way early.  I don’t usually do this until sometime in March.

There are a few more “firsts” yet to come...

• First Ride Home Without Lights
• First Novice Road Ride (next Sunday!)
• First Audax Tune Up
• First Seasonal Night Ride
• First Ride without a jacket
• First Ride with bare arms
• First Ride in 80 Degrees

What are the milestones you’ve accomplished, and what are you looking forward to?

Achy Legs! (& Random notes)

Last week, I finished the Repurposed Bike Project.  Naturally, I rode it.  It’s heavy.  (More on that soon.)  Add to that, I’ve been doing Spin Classes, and my usual testing of the classes.  So my ride volume is down a bit, but my net intensity is up, and the power demand is way up!

I’m adjusting, and my legs are telling me I’m back in training mode.  It’s like this every year.  My spin stinks, and I find, when I challenge myself, that I’ve lost a good deal of both strength and stamina.  The thought always occurs,  “How could this be?  I’ve been riding my backside off all year!”

Does anyone else feel this way about now?

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A few notes on future activites:

Just Four Weeks until the Christmas Lights Road Ride!  (That's Monday 19 December)  Get your lights, reflective clothing, and cool weather gear ready.  Check the South Side Cycling Club Calendar.

The Christmas Lights Path Ride is coming too!  It will be on Wednesday 21 December, just a couple of days after the road edition.

And there is a NEW year coming!  We’ve already been discussing the annual Penance 100+, but there will be more coming.  Watch this blog.  I’ll post the dates and details here first.  What’s coming?  Audax Tune Up Rides.  The Annual Audax Ride.  Maybe a touring weekend, or even a longer tour.  Do stay tuned.

Below is a new video from Bicycles Unlimited.  We’re pretty proud of it.  See what you think.

Oh, and by the by…  Tomorrow’s post will feature an annual Bicyclist’s Hint List.  Be sure to check it out!