Most of the cited cities appear to be League of American Bicyclists-recognized Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFCs), save, of course, the Canadian cities. The top-10 slideshow (at Forbes Traveler) does something I’ve wanted to see for ages: They rank Minneapolis ahead of Chicago.
Bicycling magazine constantly buys into Daley’s hype for Chicago, and gives Minneapolis ‘honorable mentions.’ Having ridden both cities, which are very different in terms of layout and infrastructure, I will take on Minneapolis roads and drivers any day of the week, no matter what Hizzoner of Chicago sez.
As a follow-up to need-to-knows, I’ve seen some pretty epic bad behavior on bikes lately. I don’t know if these are novices driven to bikes due to gas prices, people who are confident in their immortality, or just plain dumb people, who exist in cars, on feet, and on bikes.
Here are some suggestions, though:
Shut up and ride. Using your cell phone while riding is not a good plan. If you must take a call, please pull off the road, get off your bike, and take it. Even if you’re slow, the external noise while you’re riding can’t be good for the conversation, and having two hands on the bars/brakes? Bueno. Just trust me on that.
Smoking a cigarette while riding. O, how wrong this is. Beyond the bueno factor mentioned above (both hands on the bars, plz), smoking is bad. You’re combining something somewhat healthy with something really drastically not healthy. I know quitting is hard. Really, I do. But use your time on bike to be a time when you aren’t inviting death by lung cancer. It’s a start, anyway, and let me assure you: lung cancer is a bad, bad way to die. (Of course, if you need both hands on the bars and lack it, you won’t live long enough to find out.)
Use appropriate routes. The streets you might use in a car are not always good plans on bicycles. US10, for instance, magically turns into interstate. Yes, I did in fact see someone on a bike either learning this, or knowing this and being super-duper dumb.
Riding against traffic. Ok, this is not only illegal, but it puts you at high risk. Physics will tell you that if you’re going WITH traffic and get rear-ended, the total force of collision is lower than if two vehicles head-on each other. POW. It will hurt. Also, I believe I mentioned the illegal? Yeah.
Also, as a public service announcement, I would like to urge people to check their seat height. The number of people I have seen with their seats too low, both recently and non-recently… yow. When your seat is too low, you work harder than you need to work to go the same speed. Raise the seat and either save energy, or go faster. If you can’t get full leg extension without knee lock, your seat is too low or your bike is too small. The seat can be fixed for free.
Multiple sources — from bike shops to news sources to anecdotal observation — suggests that bicycling is way up in response to heinous gasoline prices. I suspect this means that people who don’t normally ride much are coming out.
If I could give them a few tips, here are the things I would put into place as need-to-knows:
Learn to change a tire. This is a simple and necessary skill if you’re going to be riding regularly, and it’s pretty dire to blow a tire and not have the equipment or the skill to fix it. Then you’re stuck roadside hoping that a nice person comes by who has all of the above, or looking for a phone-a-friend. When commuting, this can be especially rough.
The equipment needed? A spare tube that fits your tires, a set of tire irons/levers, and a pump that fits your tubes. Many compact frame pumps exist, some better than others. You might also carry along some handi-wipes for post-change clean up; I generally appropriate mine at gas stations and/or Famous Dave’s.
There are many good online resources to find out how to fix a bicycle flat, else many bike shops are happy to show you how. If you have a bike geek friend, buy them a refreshing beverage in exchange for a lesson. And practice!
Get a light set. Whether it’s a flat tire or something unexpected, you never know when twilight is going to overlap your ride. Light sets can be had far more cheaply than medical care because someone couldn’t see you.
For bonus points, go to a boat/car place and find reflective decal tape. (I find boat places have the best stuff.) Cut strips of this and attach it to your pedal arm (the bit that attaches your pedal to the cogs) and to your wheel rims. This gives you awesome side-on reflectivity – lights really help most with front and back visibility, and side-on is also a good thing.
Check your bike for road worthiness before you go out – every time. The ABC Quick Check is a good drill, and fast.
Don’t blow stop signs, lights, etc. Traffic rules apply to you, too.
Learn to ride on the road, and ride properly. Go with the flow of traffic, and always position yourself to the right side of the right-most lane that leads to your destination. The LAB has a fine page on road rules that is worth a read.
Wear a helmet. Sure, some will argue that a helmet won’t protect from all injury. Neither will a seatbelt or an airbag, but they’re good ideas in an automobile. Brain injury can be a really awful thing. Sure, you might be in a wheelchair after an accident, but will your brain work, or will you have a tube in your nose and constant supervision because you scrambled your eggs?
I’m sure there’s more I could say, but these are really the basics. Urging road confidence and lane positioning is scary enough for some, after all. But bikes really do fare best when they behave as vehicles and share the road according to traffic rules, applicable laws, and common sense behaviors. By following common traffic rules, cars can predict your behavior and know where you will be, and then can follow rules of the road that apply to them in regards to you, such as leaving a 3-foot zone between you and them when they pass you.
June 18, 2008
by julie Comments Off on Public Meetings: Minneapolis Bicycle Plan
Minneapolis is hosting an open house tonight (June 18) to seek comments on the bicycle master plan.
I don’t believe a copy is online, but they will be providing details during the open house. Again, that’s taking place Wednesday, June 18, 2008, from 4:30 p.m – 8:00 p.m in room 319 of Minneapolis City Hall, 350 S. Fifth St., Minneapolis.
Further information on bicycling in Minneapolis can be found on the Bicycling in Minneapolis page of the city web site.
June 15, 2008
by julie Comments Off on Responsibilities of Motorists
Under transportation legislation passed in Minnesota during the past session, driver education will now require would-be motorists to learn their responsibilities towards bicycles and other slow-moving vehicles.
