Three weeks ago I started commuting to work by bicycle. My son thinks I am doing it for the enviroment which I guess is somewhat true. If the environment around my mid section gets larger I may be forced to buy new clothes. Since riding I have lost four or five pounds.The gas money savings have been nice as well. We have a single car so dragging my lazy butt to work was costing us about five or six dollars a day. The best benifit though is that its been fun and makes me feel healthier.

The daily twenty mile round trip hasn’t been without its lows though. The first week sucked for me. I had a flat, my bike wasn’t adjusted properly, and I was terribly out of shape. The second week and the third week improved but I had several more flats. My body started adjusting to the work load and I felt less exhausted at night. My bike has been fixed with help from a local bike shop and workmates who are into cycling.

A few things I’ve learned along the way….

1. If you buy your bike from anywhere other than a bike shop take it immediately to a bike shop. It needs to be checked and tuned. If your an average Joe you haven’t cycled since childhood. You don’t know how dangerous a badly constructed bike is until you get some experience. This can save your life.
2. If your stubborn and didn’t do step one at least get your wheels trued at a bike shop. Then read up on how to adjust them yourself. Truing is when they straighten out your wheel by adjusting the spokes. This adjustment has made a largest difference in my commutes average speed.
3. Carry extra tubes its easier than patching a tire in traffic.
4. Get an old school patch kit to patch your tires. The “new” press on kind of patches might get you home but they won’t hold air for longer than a day.
5. Get a good frame pump to take with you. A crappy one frame pump means you’ll be riding a mushy tire after you fix a flat.
6. Get a spoke wrench, a set of metric allen wrenches, tire levers, and what ever wrenches you need to take apart your bike and put them in a pack to take with you. Do this before your first trip because your going to feel dumb when you break your bike five miles from home and you can’t fix the damned flat.
7. Tire levers ( I call them tire irons but apparently I am showing my age ) prevent ripping your tube when you install them. After you rip your tube with a screwdriver when installing a tire you’ll wish you got one.
8. Get liners for your tires or Armadillos. I had three flats last week because the roads here are filled with debris
9. Get cages with toe clips and straps for your pedals. You might need to get new pedals. These hold your feet in place and make your pedaling more efficient and allow you to wear regular shoes. This cheap addition lead to a large speed increase but takes a bit of practice getting used to.

Two sites I like:
Road Bike Review - The name says it all thye review everything related to cycling.
The Bike Forums - I don’t post here but I search them for answers and to read different opinions.

Filed under: Misc — Scott @ August 8, 2007 1:24 pm

Comments »