Forum Replies Created
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I’ve got the Northwave Artic
I’ve got the Northwave Artic Commuter version (SPD clips on my road bike) and they’re great shoes. When the temperature gets down to freezing, my feet will end up (after an hour or two) getting cold, but I put the blame on only wearing tights and thin merino socks and not anything more substantial.
Definitely go for a bigger size – I’ve found that Northwave tend to under-size their shoes.
Yep, sounds like you’ve got
Yep, sounds like you’ve got the right idea. I’m not so sure about the herky-jerky pedalling – I prefer a smooth pedalling style, but that needs some experience.
Another tip – don’t spend too long practising. 45 minutes should be plenty, but needs to be every day to get your muscle memory working.
Also lots of advice here:
Also lots of advice here: http://www.juggling.org/help/circus-arts/unicycling/starting.html
Unicycling is probably closer
Unicycling is probably closer to learning to walk than it to cycling.
First, you need to get over the fear of falling as when you go forwards, you’ll be continuously falling forwards and ideally keeping the wheel moving as fast as you fall. If you practise falling off the front, you should be able to easily “step off” it and land on your feet. Falling off backwards is when you tend to actually hurt yourself (or hitting your shin with a pedal).
I learnt by positioning myself with my back to a wall, mounting the uni (using the wall for stability) and then launching/falling forwards and slowly learning how to pedal for a few strokes. A smooth concrete floor is preferable.
However, I’ve seen a teaching technique that involves practising a step-over technique first. Position the unicycle as if you’re about to do a free-mount – saddle in your groin, wheel in front and one foot on a pedal that’s down and towards you. Put weight on the pedal to push the uni under you and swing your other foot forwards as if taking a step (a free-mount would involve putting that foot on the other pedal – takes some practise). Practise that with both feet until it feels like a simple flowing movement – this should be very similar to a dismount (extra points for catching the saddle behind you). After that, try using a wall/support to mount the uni and launch yourself forwards until you get the hang of it.
I reckon that you’re not leaning forwards (falling) enough, which is why you’ve got no forwards momentum when your foot hits the 6 o’clock position. Keep in mind “controlled falling”.
Keep with it, it’s a lot of fun when you get to grips with it.
There’s not much dismantling
There’s not much dismantling you can do to a front mech. I’d recommend leaving it alone as they can be tricky to position correctly once you’ve taken it off (and then realised there’s nothing else to do to it).
I always try to avoid using
I always try to avoid using “swear” words here, but I don’t have any problem with other people using them. As far as I know, all languagues feature swearing and it’s a valuable part of communication (although it becomes diluted when used all the time).
Road.cc seems to strike a good balance between restricting users’ comments and not being overly abusive. I don’t think we need to change it at all.
Are you sure that isn’t a
Are you sure that isn’t a giraffe?
Overtaking a cyclist needs
Overtaking a cyclist needs some consideration. Don’t overtake if you’re immediately turning left. Don’t overtake if the road narrows (e.g. A central reservation). Also, indicate ahead of time – especially if you’re waiting at traffic lights.
A cunning ploy
Cheaper (sub £400) power meters and cheaper (eg. sub £400 50mm) carbon wheelsets and UK based.
But those are true engineering challenges. Pretty much most other stuff is just tat with an app.
Cheaper power meters are almost here. I like the idea of power meters that fit into your shoes: http://www.brimbrothers.com/
What I want to see is a rear view camera that links up to a real-time display; either on your phone or a separate display (maybe even a HUD).
And pedestrians should be treating cyclists as vehicles and not as “oh, its just a cyclist”.Nobody here is invoking ‘victim blaming’. The closer analogy might be if a group of cyclists were cycling along a narrow lane (so, a road, not just some little bridleway/green lane, presumably) filling the entire roadway such that a car (or, indeed, another cyclist) couldn’t get past, and then complained that the driver didn’t use their horn or the cyclist their bell to let the club know they were there.
I know plenty of pedestrians who listen for a car then happily step out into the road – without looking – if they don’t hear one.
But I don’t know any cyclists that speed close and silent past a group of pedestrians.
Everyone I know would ring a bell or call out, and slow down if there were children or animals wandering around (I do wonder why the OP is happy to let them wander about on a road anyway…? That is a completely separate issue from walking facing or with the expected traffic flow).
I probably didn’t word my thoughts very well – but your analogy is a good one: if a cyclist who had been in a group taking up most of a quiet country lane was on here complaining about a car (let’s say an electric one, so no noise) that had zipped past them without warning, I doubt many of the denizons of this group would have started suggesting that the fault lay with the cyclists not leaving enough room. That is exactly what, it seems to me, a lot of posters are suggesting about the OP’s walking group.
Everyone I know would also ring a bell or call out and additionally slow down. Anyone who doesn’t is an @sshat – I’m simply suggesting that deflecting criticism to the walking group is disingenuous.
I think you’re conflating two different issues. A group of cyclists using a country lane are generally following the Highway Code (as long as they’re not more than two abreast) and are treated as vehicles. Pedestrians not facing the traffic are not following the Highway Code and are not considered as vehicles. Thus, the situation is different.
In general, the public roads are a shared resource, so we should be considerate and actually share them with other users. This means that as pedestrians, we should use pavements when available and walk facing the traffic when there are none. Not being in control of your dog/children is inconsiderate and dangerous – especially if you’re on the “wrong” side of the road. It’s not victim blaming – it’s simply pointing out which parties are being inconsiderate and not actually sharing the roads.
Incidentally, the bold
Incidentally, the bold warning text should read “PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ALERT” as this should be a warning for pedestrians to follow the highway code, especially when there’s no pavement.
All of the above!
All of the above!
If there’s no pavement, you should be facing oncoming traffic (i.e. on the right hand side) and ideally go single file when there’s traffic. Relying on being able to hear traffic behind you might become more problematic when electric cars become commonplace, so it’s best to use your eyes especially if you have hearing problems (I would have thought a deaf person would definitely want to keep to the right to avoid getting startled all the time).
You’re right about horses though as they can get startled easily. I always slow down and overtake carefully giving as much room as possible (I typically encounter them on two lane roads, so I wait until I can use the oncoming lane). I usually smile and wave/nod at the horse riders (as if they’re other cyclists) and it’s mostly reciprocated.
As long as parties abide by the highway code and there’s decent visibility, I don’t see why we shouldn’t be able to race/train along narrow country roads.
The more things change, the
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Back in the day, it used to be adults complaining about skateboarding corrupting the youth and destroying society and how watching cartoons on TV destroyed their (the kids) attention spans. People don’t change – have a look at this list: http://mentalfloss.com/article/52209/15-historical-complaints-about-young-people-ruining-everything
CXR94Di2 wrote:
It makes you irresistible to women with toned legs and glutes:DWhich is great if you like women with toned legs and glutes.
I agree with @Davel – for
I agree with @Davel – for (utilitarian) cycling to damatically increase society needs to change its perception of the safety of cycling.
I’ve just come back from a holiday in Munich and (like other European cities) there is really nice cycling infrastructure. There’s cycle lanes on both pavements although you do get two-way traffic on them. As a pedestrian, you get used to checking the cycle lane as you cross it as there’s so much traffic. I saw loads of bikes and the vast majority of them were relaxed style (not racing) bikes (maybe like Boris bikes). Almost everyone was cycling in usual clothes – they didn’t look like “cyclists” they just looked like ordinary people that happened to be on bikes.
The missus and I hired a couple of bikes and had a brilliant day cycling round Munich and we were just astonished as to how much better it was than cycling round Bristol. The biggest difference was that cars, cyclists and pedestrians all seemed to be friendly towards the other modes of transport.
