Minneapolis police are looking to better enforce vehicular and pedestrian laws to help prevent life-changing accidents, but also ask “pedestrians and cyclists to watch out for themselves.”
One of the filthy truths about “sharing the road!” is that most of the responsibility for doing so ends up being assigned to cyclists, rather than it being a more community effort. And it’s hard to say to cyclists that they shouldn’t make these efforts to protect themselves — even with the protection of law, dead is dead, and cyclists are a more vulnerable road user than a car or truck. Complete Streets and other road calming measures are one response to this, as they can prompt more considered driving by heavy vehicle users on roadways.
Today’s accident, while the details are not yet clear, also serve as a reminder to cyclists that roadway facilities like bike lanes are recommendations, but not necessarily edicts. By this, I mean that if there is a safer place on the road for you than between the painted lines, use THAT place and not the bike lane. On streets like 4th Street and University near the University of Minnesota, the roads are 3-5 lanes, one-way, with narrow bike lanes that do not necessarily allow for actions like safe left turns, or dodging broken beer bottles in the gutter. While I’ve not gone out with a tape measure, I am fairly sure the painted bike lanes are narrower (and predate) current AASHTO standards for bike lane width.
Look out for yourself out there, and remember that sharing is really great, but sometimes you do need to control a lane or other part of the roadway for your own safety. You’re a legal user of the road as well, and “sharing” will do you no good if it leads to injury. Use good sense, and be careful out there.
Spring is here, and thus the season of Minnesota bicycle event rides begins. The traditional season-opener, the Minnesota Ironman, is coming up May 1, slightly later than usual this year due to the lateness of Easter. Thus, it’s an ideal time to review how not to be a jerk when riding at an event.
While there are events that really do tilt to the very experienced cyclist, like randonneur events, the bulk of big bike rallies are what many call t-shirt rides — they offer multiple distances, participants get t-shirts, there are rest stops, hooray. Depending on the event, the mileages can attract a very wide range of riders — Ironman gets many kids and novices for the 17- and 30-mile routes, but the metric and the century attract dedicated and experienced cyclists. Some metrics will also pull in the less experienced looking to make the leap, although Ironman hasn’t traditionally been a strong event for that due to the season.
Events tend to have a broad draw, though, so it’s important for newer cyclists to try to get the hang of things and not create problems for others, and for experienced cyclists to behave in a way to not make novice or less accomplished/ambitious cyclists think they are spandex-clad jerks. There are a lot of cyclists for whom the 25-mile supported ride is the apex of their ambition and ability, and that’s fine — these recreational cyclists can help advocate, can share the roads when they drive, and represent a bigger chunk of the population than the cycling fanatic.
Here are some tips for everyone so we can all just get along and get to the rest stops like civilized cyclists:
If you’re a fast rider or doing a long distance, start early. Many events have a 2-4 hour registration and start cycle. Even if you are a fast rider who can do the century in 5 hours, it will benefit everyone if you start on the earlier edge of start times. That way you can get OUT of the registration zone without having to weave and be irritated by the slower/more novice/indecisive riders.
If you need to adjust your bike, your layers, find a water bottle, scratch your ass, whatever, get off the road. Don’t care how experienced you are, the people who stop in traffic and stand around in the lane doing whatever it is they need to do are an irritant to all, and it’s often unsafe as well. Get out of traffic, including the traffic that is other nice bicyclists wanting to bicycle in the nice bicycle event.
Allow room for other cyclists to pass. Even if you can really pound and hold a good pace, make sure there is passing room around you. The need to allow passing room increases as your speed decreases. If you are a family riding 8-10mph, do not ride four abreast, I beg of you. Be like the ants and march two by two (hurrah, hurrah).
Allow room for motorists to pass. Pay attention to the course. A lot of people assume “This is a bike event! This is safe!” Not every road at every event is closed to traffic, and not every event has dense groups of cyclists and a lot of notice for people using the roads. Watch for cars and allow them passing room.
Know your road closures. As stated above, not every road at every event is closed to traffic. I have seen people on roads open to traffic cross center yellow lines in areas with hills and blind curves, and it makes me very, very nervous, especially in rural areas. (Getting run over by a logging truck would ruin your day, and it’d ruin MY day to see it happen.) Even when roads are shut down for events, in many cases the closure is one way, and traffic is allowed in the opposite direction. Maps and signs from organizers should give you guidance. Take it.
Don’t take piles of food at rest stops that you won’t eat. Seriously? Just rude. Many organizations, if they have leftover food, either carry it forward to other events if the food is suitable for such things, or they give the leftovers to battered women’s shelters and the like. Take what you personally will need.
Don’t leave junk on the route. Carry your wrappers to the next proper trash container. Blow a tire? Bring the bad tube to a trash can if you aren’t going to patch it. Litter is a nuisance for residents near the routes and make them think worse of cyclists and the event. Litterbugs are a thorn in event organizers’ sides.
Don’t be a snob. I’ve seen a bit of this from the more experienced cyclists on some of these rides. There’s some element of treating the novices like something nasty stuck to their cleats. Don’t. Really, please don’t. We were all newer at one time. You can either be nice, and maybe help people be better cyclists, or you can be a jerk and make them think everyone in spandex is a twit. The former is a lot better.
When everyone tries to share the road and the event, everyone has a better time. Give it a try.
April 15, 2011
by julie Comments Off on League of American Bicyclists Issues Action Alert on DOT Policies
The League of American Bicyclists has issued an action alert in the wake of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) requesting that the US Department of Transportation weaken their guidance on accommodating bicyclists and pedestrians. The request amounts to a challenge to Complete Streets as a concept, asking the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to withdraw their guidance on the meaning of “due consideration” of bicyclists and pedestrians to make it easier for states to ignore the needs of non-motorized travelers. AASHTO prefers the guidance to “consider where appropriate,” which is far broader and easier to disregard.
The League urges cyclists to contact DOT officials and has provided a form and form letter from which to do so. As ever, I strongly urge anyone considering making such contact to heavily customize the letter and refer too programs within your state that accommodate cyclists and the value in those programs — form letter campaigns are okay, but do not have the power of personal anecdotes in the influence process.
April 14, 2011
by julie Comments Off on SF 201 Hearing Cancelled
The hearing on Senate File 201 at the Minnesota Capitol — scheduled for today — has been cancelled.
Per the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota, who has been tracking the progress of this bill, proposed amendments to the bill were inconsistent with the bill’s intent, so the author has pulled the bill.
Senate File 201 allowed for use of the gross misdemeanor charge and associated penalties for careless driving resulting in death.
The House bill remains alive at this time, and it is expected a similar bill to SF 201 will be reintroduced later. Stay tuned.
April 13, 2011
by julie Comments Off on Bike Fit & Comfort
I see people, particularly novice cyclists and those returning to the sport after absence, obsess about bike seats all the time as a key to comfort. And I’m not going to debate the special joy of a good bike seat — I have been using the same brand and model for more than 10 years now, and resist change because I like this seat.
But the seat is often the least of people’s worries relative to comfort. The number one most important factor for comfort on a bike is size/fit of the bike. A lot of people think standover height is the be-all and end-all of selection, and that is unfortunate and wrong.
Here are a few of the areas where fit tweaking can be the difference between fast and poky, happy and ouchy, 10 more miles or ibuprofen. These tips are almost universally true for road and mountain bikes, with some variance that occurs when discussing cruiser-style bikes or recumbent trikes, which have their own rules:
Seat height: Okay, swell, you have a nice seat that suits your type of riding and your tuchus. Where’s the seat post set? You need to be able to get full extension of your leg on the pedal downstroke without locking your knee. At the fullest point of extension, you want just the tiniest kink in your knee. This is the best way to get maximum stroke power and prevent knee injury.
Reach: Standover is just one element of fit. How far you have to stretch your torso from the seat to the bars is another, and is based on the length of your torso. Too short a frame and you hunch up. Too long and you have to streeeeetch out. Neither is good. There are ways to tinker with this beyond the frame using the handlebar stem length and height. Any good shop should be able to help adjust what you have, or help you install longer/shorter options.
Crank length: Yeah, the pedal cranks. Again, these come in multiple sizes to accommodate multiple size people. Having the right size increases your pedal power and comfort.
Handlebar width: Width of your bars should equal your shoulder width, or thereabouts. Lots of people ride bars that are too wide or too narrow. They often adapt via hand placement, which can limit brake access in emergency situations. Putting in new bars is easy and it makes a difference in how your shoulders feel post-ride.
Gearing: Gearing isn’t usually included in discussions of bike sizing, but I think it should be. Most sets come in multiple gear sizes. Depending on where you live, your riding goals, and your native power, different gearing setups are available to give you options that increase ability and comfort.
Almost all fit adjustments and suggestions can happen via a good local shop. A good shop will work with what you have and help swap in parts.
Many tweaks can be done on an existing bike. While they may not bring a bike up to perfection of fit, they can bring the level up considerably. When a bike feels better, you ride it more. When you ride it more, you start thinking of a new bike that fits your new fitness, ability and goals. And then… you buy something perfect. Or maybe you don’t, if your present bike meets your goals, and the added comfort from adding stem adjustments or additional gears takes you where you want to go.
