Biking Tips and Tricks (Friday Five Edition)

I have finally gotten my bike out of the garage, cleaned off the cobwebs, pumped up the tires, and took it out for a spin.  While I was growing up, our family time on the weekends was going for bike rides.  I remember going all over the town every weekend.  A couple times we even rode our bikes (and walked a lot) up the Vail Pass in Colorado.  I remember that coming back down was the most fun thing ever.  Here are some things I've learned over the years.


1.  Safety first - Get a helmet.  While it is a state law in 22 states and DC that children have to wear a helmet, there are no state or federal laws for adults to wear their helmet.  Though there are a lot of jurisdictions in every state that have a law for everyone, no matter what age, on a bicycle must wear a helmet.   Wearing a helmet while on a bicycle is like wearing a seat belt while in a car.  It's something that is easy to do and could save your life.  Get one that is comfortable and fits well.  And make sure the chin strap is not too lose.  They have tons of styles and colors out there so while it still is a little dorky to wear it, you can at least look pretty doing it.


Get lights for your bike.  No matter what time of day it is or how bright it is outside, you are easier to see if you have flashing lights on your bike.  I like to have them on my front and back.  You can attach them to your bike, your helmet, and even your clothing.  The more you can do to help drivers see you, the safer you will be.

2.  Know your bike.  I think the one thing that everyone must know about their bike is the tires.  Being able to feel if your tires are a little low and know how much air to add is very important.  Everyone should have a bike pump and check their tires before every ride.  Changing a flat may be something a little more difficult.  If you are out and about, it's best to know how to do it as you never know when you will have a flat.  I was very nervous the first time I tried to change mine, but after many watches of YouTube videos I figured it out.  Taking a front tire off is easy, but the back one took me awhile to figure out.  Once the tire is off, it's not too difficult.  You might get a little dirty though.

Make sure you know how your bike shifts.  While I have been biking since I was a child, there are times where I haven't biked in years.  A few years ago I went for a ride after about 7 years of not riding and I went up the first hill and couldn't remember how to shift down.  I had to get off my bike and walk up the hill before I could remember how to do it.  And then it turned out that I was in the lowest gear and just really out of shape.  A lot of the road bikes have shifts that are part of the breaks and they can be confusing if you haven't used them before.

The one thing that I have heard a lot is that people are scared of clip pedals.  When I was younger and riding around with my parents, we had the cage pedals.  When I got my new bike, I made sure I got clips on them.  You have to buy special shoes to clip into the pedals.  The advantage of clips is that you can get some extra power from pedaling.  With the clips, you not only have the power of the pushing down, but of pulling up.  If you decide to get clips the easiest thing to do is to get on your bike next to a wall or car and just practice snapping them in and out.  There was only one time that I fell off my bike because of the clips and that was me not paying attention and forgetting to unclip when I came to a light.  I felt so stupid as my bike slowed down to almost a stop and then fell over.  In front of tons of cars too.


3.  When starting out find a safe place to ride.  When it's been more then a year since I have been on my bike, I like to go to a place that doesn't have any traffic to get in my way.  Over 20 years ago a business park near me was built for Motorola.  They bailed out after the roads were built out.  To this day there are only a handful of business there so on the weekend there is no traffic.  It's a place were bikers and runners go for a safe place to exercise.  We also have the Cap2Cap which is a path that was built from Richmond to Williamsburg.  I have yet to ride it, but hope to do so this summer.  I feel safe in places like this while I reacquaint myself with my bike.

Once you feel comfortable on the road find a group to ride with.  I feel a lot more comfortable when I'm riding with others then by myself.  We have a group here called RABA (Richmond Area Bicycling Association).  They offer tons of rides every month for all speeds, lengths and areas in the city.  They even have a first time rider group once a month where the veterans of the group help out those new to biking.  Everyone in the group looks out for everyone and being in a group makes it easier for cars to see you.  But remember if you meet up with a big group, break off to smaller groups.  I don't like to ride in a group bigger then 5 as it is hard for cars to pass you.

4.  While riding on the road you have to follow the same laws cars do.  You have to come to complete stops at stop signs and red lights.  You have to signal if you are turning or slowing down.  You are considered a moving vehicle and can be ticketed for the same things that cars are, including DUIs.

I don't like to use the right turn on the right as I'm always afraid that the cars cannot see my right hand.

When riding on the road you have to ride with traffic, not like running where you run against traffic.  There are different laws in different states about how a car can pass a cyclist.  Most states have laws that cars have to pass at least 3-4 feet away from the cyclist.  But the problem with this is that most drivers does not know the laws of sharing the road.  This is what makes a lot of people scared to ride their bikes on the road.  I enjoy getting out there and riding different places in the city.  I try to not ride on busy roads, makes sure I am easily seen, and always assume that the cars will not know the laws or doesn't care about the bicyclists.

5. Clothing - If you have ever seen any bikers on the road, you will notice they have a jersey on with tight shorts that go down to their knees.  Most of the shirts are on the tighter side of things (which I hate), but it's to help with the wind resistance.  And most of the shirts have some sort of pockets in the back.  This is to hold extra things like snacks or maybe a wind/rain jacket.

Bike shorts are also form fitting to help with the wind resistance.  The are made for biking in they have padding in the crotch.  If you do some biking you will notice your bum will probably be the first thing that hurts.  The padding in the shorts does help that, but what I found the most helpful is time on the bike.  If you do 10 miles one day, the last few miles might start bothering you.  But if you do 10 miles a few times a week, you will not notice the pain as much.  Your bum is something that needs to be trained like any of your other muscles.  Most people that wear the bike shorts will not wear underwear as they can cause more chafing.  Again, I know it seems gross and wrong, but if it didn't help, I wouldn't do it.  So the next time you see a bunch of bikers out on the road, know that they are most likely not wearing underwear.

But really, anything that you find comfortable is what you should wear.  Most of the time on shorter rides I'll wear the same tank tops as I do running.  For longer rides where I need the pockets, I have also found some fun cycling shirts that are made for women that don't feel uncomfortable.

Bonus tip: This is just something I like to do - pedal down the hills.  It's easy to coast down hills and enjoy the small break, but I have found that if you pedal down the hill, it makes going up the next one a lot easier as you have the speed.  And it's fun to go really fast down the hills.

Do you bike as a cross-training activity?  Do you like getting out there on the road or take a spin class at the gym? Any tricks or tips that you have?

I'm linking up with Fairytales and Fitness and Running on Happy for Friday Five 2.0