Touch here for mobile friendly version

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Random bike advice and some helmet cam footage



I've been attaching a video camera to my bike helmet when I take longer rides (when it isn't raining). I just leave it running for the whole trip. You never know what you will run into on a bike ride, or get run into by. This is a nondescript clip of me returning a DVD up on 45th. The ride was only a few miles long but the errand took half the time it would have taken in a car. If cars are free to pass me on the left, I feel free to pass them on the right. Two things you must watch out for: People in parked cars who may open a door on you and people stuck in traffic who suddenly and without warning decide to get out of line at the next cross street just as you are going by. This happened to me last year. I left a dent just above the car's gas cap.

The other night I was riding with the camera on when another biker started drafting. People behind me can see what I see in the camera's screen, especially at night. This guy was strong. I've never had a rider stick with me like that. I moved from the bike trail into the street and cranked it up to about 30. He stuck right with me. I eventually got enough air between us on a hill that he lost the drag advantage and dropped back. I might just get a bigger front ring. I was pedaling like a hamster on a mouse wheel.

On occasion I wonder if it's worth getting on my hybrid electric bike but then I remember what it's like to drive in Seattle traffic and off I go. Bike riding isn't a religion. If it's raining, too cold, or you have a cold, just drive your car. The key is to minimize how much you drive without sacrifice. Sacrifice is for martyrs and as a solution does not scale. Riding my hybrid bike is usually more pleasant and faster than driving a car.

Remember to sit correctly on the bike seat. Your butt should be on the back part. If you sit on the front half of the seat you will eventually notice a tingling sensation, and not the good kind. Do that often enough and you will be visiting your urologist or a fertility clinic.

The back rim on my bike developed several metal fatigue cracks. I bought a heavy-duty rim at a local bike shop and asked them to string up my electric motor. A young bike mechanic wanted to give it a go, assuming he will eventually see a lot of electric bikes in the future. He did a great job and the wheel is working fine.

I will be posting video on occasion when I encounter something of interest, which is pretty often in this city.

Click here, hit "Send" and then click "OK" to recieve an email alert when a new article is posted. You can unsubscribe any time and email addresses will not be sold to spammers!

Click here to see a list of my articles and to subscribe to future posts.

4 comments:

  1. You should see this helmet with the camera, face guard, and mirror installed. Dorks, nerds, and geeks are all closely related and can be difficult to identify on first glance.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous10:40 PM

    Cool king geek-nerd super hero look bio-d!

    Imagine a futuristic velomobile wrapped around, you would probably inspire a comic book series and UFO reports! Rule!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Who needs a super hero suit when you can just wear spandex riding gear?

    ReplyDelete
  4. That's true, spandex is super hero garb. Keep the electric bike news coming! It's great.

    ReplyDelete

Comments that are not respectful of other participants will be deleted, so don't waste your time on a post that will be canned. Feel free to post links to pertinent sources and to your own website as part of your comment. Spam disguised as a comment will also be deleted as will comments that consist primarily of copied and pasted words from other authors (plagiarized content).