The resources here are one more set of data for the world of "getting into ___," but hopefully they prove useful. My writing here, as with most, is primarily for myself anyway.
Growing up in Akron, Ohio, a bike is essential to childhood. Now, in Chicago, I find myself on a vintage Specialized Crossroads, both to get around the city and to glide along the Lakefront Trail. See my map, and maybe even this playlist.
Despite my many gripes with Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, I believe that unfortunately much of its philosophy on motorcycles is how I feel about bicycles.
Riding in the city
A guide to attention, derived from a longer piece I wrote for someone who sometimes put themself or others in dangerous situations, despite obeying traffic laws almost precisely.
- Safety above all, visibility after; everything else follows.
- Treat intersections as negotiations. Green lights and rights of ways guarantee nothing. Stay alert, keep those around you alert (usually by eye contact), and keep an escape route.
- Assume everyone might be distracted, not malicious. Act as if every car might turn in front of you and can't see you.
- Biking is not a test of speed. The speed you go will greatly influence your riding style, which should be shaped by your environment and situation.
- Know when to take space. Politeness doesn't mean making yourself dangerously small. The door zone, which is often the bike lane, is wider than many think.
- Never be on the side of a truck or bus that could turn that direction. Stay well behind it, or well ahead where it can see you.
- Be gentle with pedestrians. You are vulnerable around cars, but hazardous to people on foot. Announce yourself and pass behind them. Do not ride on sidewalks at faster than a walking pace.
Against vehicular cycling
John Forester's Effective Cycling (1976) holds that "cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles." I reject this elitist notion. The guide above says to take space when you must, a survival practice for streets built wrong under a faulty traffic system, not a picture of how streets should be. Forester either mistook the workaround for the ideal or didn't care about the consequences, and then fought the cure. He opposed separated bikeways, and his thinking shaped the 1978 Caltrans and 1981 AASHTO bicycle guides, which kept protected lanes out of American street design for decades. Meanwhile, the evidence points against Forester: a study of 12 U.S. cities over 13 years found that what made streets safer for everyone, drivers and pedestrians included, was how much separated and protected bike infrastructure a city built.
Before a ride
A checklist, inspired by Atul Gawande's The Checklist Manifesto.
- You: awake, sober, present.
- Helmet on, lights charged, wearing something visible.
- Air: tires firm, at the pressure printed on the sidewall.
- Brakes: squeeze both; pads touch the rim or rotor, not the tire.
- Chain: clean, lubed, quiet through the gears.
- Quick releases and bolts tight; lift and spin each wheel.
- The route: how far, what weather, what's on the way.
- A lock, and if the bike is insured, the kind of lock the policy expects.
On the bike
- Don't cross-chain (big ring with the biggest cog, or small with smallest).
- Keep the inside pedal up through turns.
- Stand when climbing.
- Know the hand signals.
- Find your local bike shops; know how to fix common issues.
Read
some of the most useful literature on cycling I've found.