This time of year, I usually find myself in conversation with someone who is curious about my bike habit. Often they feel like they could never do it themselves. So I usually give some simple starting advice. Because pretty much anyone can ride a bicycle for two miles- for fun, to run […]
Sometimes when I see “Share the Road” on signs I think there needs to be a silly cartoon character to go with the message: Don’t get me wrong, in a world without cycle tracks sharing the road is obviously a necessary thing. But on a sign it’s a little simplistic. It isn’t actually clear what […]
When I first started biking I didn’t know what I was doing. But I knew I was having fun. Yes, loads of fun, until… Yes, the unsolicited advice from strangers started coming. Of course some of it was useful advice. But no matter what it was also condescending. I wished they would be quiet and let me enjoy my ride. […]
The other day I was biking home after work when out of nowhere… It gets dark early these days. That means lights are something to plan on having. But even some folks that technically have lights don’t make it easy to see them. So make sure to remember your lights, but also make sure they […]
You’ve just parked, turned off your car, and given a sigh of relief that you’re no longer stuck in traffic. You reach for your things, kick open your door and CRASH! Okay, so you didn’t “door” a cyclist. But you very well could have! Just because you stopped driving doesn’t mean you can stop looking. Dooring […]
Whenever a person first discovers I bike, they reply with a story. And it’s always the same story. “I was driving down [insert any road name] when all of the sudden I saw a cyclist in the MIDDLE OF THE ROAD!” Inevitably it always ends with them saying they “just tapped on their horn” or […]
It’s not good to honk at a cyclist because, well, it’s startlingly loud: I can understand the need to communicate, but horns don’t do the trick. But even when some folks use their words, they don’t really do much better… So when find myself the target of horns or yells, I simply don’t respond. They’re […]
The other day I was waiting at a red light while a flood cyclists passed by me in every direction. It was a particularly long red, and car traffic was lower than normal. And I’m glad there has been such and increase in biking. However I witnessed several close calls because no one was operating […]
The other day I witnessed a crime… The wheels had “quick-theft” levers and the whole transaction was done in 2 minutes. Which made me wonder how many bikes are lost to poor lock-up jobs just waiting for the wrong person with the right tool to come along… And if that doesn’t happen, there could be […]