1. All cyclists
should be familiar with LAWS of the road. There are few things more
annoying than seeing someone riding towards me, against the flow of traffic.
Not only is it in defiance of the laws of physics (cyclist moving toward car +
car moving toward cyclist = greater impact), but because the “salmon” (going against
the flow) decides to ignore traffic laws, one of us is going to have to swerve
closer to car traffic in order to avoid colliding with each other!
As my frustration has
been growing with the number of idiots I encounter riding on the wrong side of
the road, I’ve tried not to treat each person as a repeat offender. After all,
this is probably the first time I’ve encountered this one particular idiot. In
the past I’ve politely gestured with a hand and said, “You should be riding on that side,” but most of the time, the
person has just taken this as a “suggestion” and ignored me.
I was riding on a
rural road and pulled alongside someone pedaling on the opposite side of the
road in my direction. I looked around to make sure it was clear and gently
swerved over to calmly say, “You are supposed to ride with traffic, not against it,” and was met with a blank stare. I
went back to my side, and after about a mile I looked back to see Mr. Idiot still
on his merry way, still on his path to stupidity.
The other day I
tried to keep my anger level down when I saw another directionally challenged
friend, sat up and spread my arms wide to get his attention. Then, like a
traffic cop, I motioned both arms toward the other side of the road and in an
over-authoritative voice, “You are supposed to ride with traffic.” Again, the blank stare and the continued wrong-way
route!
I nearly went
ballistic just a few minutes later when I saw a woman with no helmet (strike
one) riding towards me (strike two) with headphones on (strike three), and just
when I realized she wouldn’t hear me even if I did say something, she swerved
onto the sidewalk. I know there is no strike four, but hey, you aren’t eight
years old, you shouldn’t be cycling on a sidewalk unless you are accompanying an eight-year-old, and in
some municipalities riding on the sidewalk is against the law!
And just because
someone out there might be thinking, “What’s the harm of riding on a sidewalk?”,
I’ll give you a perfect illustration why it’s a bad idea. Some time ago I was
pulling out of the Bikesport (of all places!) parking lot, turning right. I was
looking to the left at the approaching traffic for an opening, and then I
glanced back to the right as I started to push the gas pedal. All of a sudden a
teen with a dazed expression jumped down off of the sidewalk on his BMX bike
right in front of me, and he made a four-inch
(I’m making a generous estimation) clearance of my bumper - dude almost became a hood ornament!
2. All cyclists
should be familiar with ETIQUETTE of the road. After seeing a collision
Saturday morning during Sue’s triathlon, precisely because of this (poorly
handled) situation, I was reminded how important it is to communicate when
passing and that it should always be done to the left.
While riding in New
York City last week, we were heading towards Battery Park on the Hudson River
Greenway, which is a fantastic cycling-dedicated paved trail. The Greenway
includes mini-traffic signals, lit up with a bicycle symbol of the appropriate
color, at the few intersections near businesses located on the river side of
the trail. My son Colin and I stopped at a red signal and Sue slowed up next to
us. All of a sudden this guy yells and blows by us on the right, just inches
from Sue’s wheel.
Get this – he
grumbles at us, “You should just roll through the red lights.” - WHAT? Well, those of you
who know her will note how Sue can (putting it as nicely as possible) get
emotional in moments like this, and she gave him a loud reminder of what he should have done. Needless to say, we
were then greeted with the friendly “Welcome to NYC” hand salute in return, and
yes, it included a digit-al representation of his I.Q.
In Sue’s defense
when handling this situation - and I can’t quite remember what was said, but it
wasn’t offensive or unreasonable, considering his incredibly inane comment –
she was already a bit on edge, after nearly being taken out twice in Central Park. The first
instance was a small group of tourists riding against the flow of
traffic, despite the numerous signs reminding them to go counterclockwise around the park, and then panicking by fanning out in multiple directions, instead of staying closely together when approaching us. The second incident involved a
woman slowing suddenly and doing a 90° turn right in front of Sue, which caused
her to lock up and slide on her tires a few feet.
Yes, FREE BIKES! My
brother-in-law Jay passed a bunch of trash in front of a house in his neighborhood, and circled back when he thought he spied a bike in the pile. It turned
out to be an early Kestrel bike, pretty much complete, and not in too poor
condition. He thought it should be worth further examination, so he loaded the bike into in his vehicle to take back to the house.
Kestrel pioneered
the manufacture of carbon fiber frames, including the first made completely of
the material in 1986 - this 200sc model was a 1989-90 product. The curvy
flowing junction of the main tubes, made possible by the monocoque structure,
was a distinguishing feature of Kestrel frames. All necessary parts were on this
bike, including a classic Shimano 600 component group and nearly new set of
excellent Mavic Ksyrium wheels. The bike seemed to just really need a good cleaning,
probably some new cables and a bit of lube/tuning.
Well almost. The
righthand brake/shift lever wasn’t operating correctly, so teaming with
Jay, who has more of a knack for tinkering with the clockwork-like mechanism stuff
than I do, we were able to get it functioning properly. I was unable to take
any pictures of the operation because it was all spring-loaded and our hands
were always in the way holding it together while something was being assembled
and tightened, but the blow-apart drawing of the component below gives an idea of the complicated job we faced (without the "special tools").
Although he swapped wheels, wanting to replace the inferior Alex set on his Cannondale bike with the excellent Mavic counterpart, Jay did his best to dress up his "new" ride. He bought a nice
Jagwire brake and derailleur cable/housing set and some green (I don’t know
why) accents in bar tape and a bottle cage. He also purchased a pair of flat platforms
that clip into his Shimano SPD pedals, so that a switch between riding in
cleated shoes or sneakers is possible.
I had met a new
friend through my listing the Bianchi bicycle, and we began exchanging stories
about our collections, while I provided a bit more of the technical information
and some advice on components he might use in a few build projects he was
looking to finish off. Aaron admitted to having far more stuff around his house
than he was going to have time or funds to complete. He was amazingly generous
when he expressed a need to clear some things out and offered a 2008 Cervélo
Soloist Team bicycle frameset to thank me for the services I had provided, no
matter how minor I thought they were!
I expressed how
much I enjoy sharing my knowledge and enthusiasm for the hobby and that his
gesture wasn’t necessary, but he is a wonderful person, and he made the trip
out from the West Philadelphia area to visit, with the frame in hand. I gave him a tour around my shop and showed off some of my collection, and I was very happy
to see that he shared my passion and was very patient listening to me, which I’m
sure can get overwhelming sometimes!
The frame is in
very good shape and has a fantastic airfoil shape with a super-narrow profile
for excellent aerodynamics. I plan to build this bike mostly as it was set
up originally, with a few improvements here and there, such as a better
wheelset – maybe carbon rims? Hmmmm…
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