Helmet Skills 101

Do you wear your helmet backwards? I'm looking at you well known local Tour daKota rider from a few years back.

What if the local news were to do a story about some neat cycling thing and there you are...

...in the daily news getting it backwards?

In Smart Cycling classes we start at the beginning - we put our helmets on right and adjust them to fit all proper like.

A Tale of Two Walgreens

Just rode through the Walgreens Rx drive-thru with the family to pick up a prescription. When the transaction was complete the pharmacist wanted to add another comment.

Considering the spectacle of four people on bikes at the pharmacy drive-thru window I steeled myself for what I thought would be the inevitable "please don't bike in our drive up."

Instead he offered - next time you bike through you can push that button to call us. Our sensor only detects cars.

"41st and Louise says don't bike in their drive thru", I said.

"I don't care about them", he said.

"Neither do I." I'm a big fan of my neighborhood Walgreens.

It's On: Cycle Smarter with Smart Cycling

The League of American Bicyclists says:

"Traffic Skills 101 (TS101) gives cyclists the confidence they need to ride safely and legally in traffic or on the trail. Through TS101, students learn how to conduct bicycle safety checks, fix a flat, on-bike skills and crash avoidance techniques. We recommended this class for adults and children above age fourteen. The curriculum is fast-paced, nine-hours, and prepares cyclists for a full understanding of vehicular cycling."

City councilor Greg Jamison says:



League of American Bicyclists: Smart Cycling: Traffic Skills 101

League Cycling Instructor & Falls Area Bicyclists Advocate of the Year: Michael Christensen

NO COST: thank you Center of Hope for not charging me for the space.

The nine hour class begins Friday, June 7 from 5pm to 8pm and continues Saturday, June 8 from 9am to 4pm.

Downtown Sioux Falls at the Center of Hope, 225 E 11th St Suite 101, Sioux Falls, SD 57104 - see map.

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Bring a bike and a helmet - it's required.

We'll spend time in a classroom.

We'll spend time in a parking lot doing bike handling.

We'll spend time on the streets practicing lane positioning.

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Join us in the class - e-mail Michael at mytzpyk@gmail.com.

Bike To Work Tips

I use these. 

Also, after taking the photo put them back in your bag so tomorrow you'll be able to use them again.

Oops. Hope all my meetings are phone calls today.

Visibility & Predictability Statement

I read this statement to the Citizen Advisory Committee of the Metropolitan Planning Organization. It went ok. Maybe this statement has a brighter future than I thought...

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In light of a recent well reported incident involving a bike rider and a truck driver I’d like to take a few minutes of your time and remind you of a few things about safe bicycle riding.

First, people on bicycles fare best when they act like and are treated like drivers of other vehicles. The two major factors that go into people on bikes acting like vehicles are riding visibly and riding predictably.

A person on a bicycle that is stopped at an intersection or riding down the road is most safe when they have positioned their body in the lane similarly to where they would be if they were driving a car. This position communicates the future direction of travel - predictability - and allows the rider to see and be seen by all other drivers on the road - visibility.

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People might ask - what about riding to the right? Indeed the law requires riders to ride to the right when it’s safe. The law describes many situations that are not safe, including when a lane cannot be safely shared side by side with another vehicle. How wide is safe? Drivers vehicles are at least 7 feet of width, riders are 3. Add some space to the drivers left to keep away from cars, add some space to the drivers right to keep away from the rider. Now we’re over 14 feet - most lanes in the city are 10 or 12 feet wide and not safe.

People might ask - what about riding on high volume roads? High volume roads are intimidating to many. However, high volume roads can limit the speed and sudden movements of drivers. A competent, visible and predictable rider can often intermingle with traffic more easily in high volume situations.

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I have two requests...

First, please be supportive of safe, responsible and legal cycling. Do this in your conversations with citizens. If a person complains to you about all the nasty bicycles - ask questions. Find out if the complainer is talking about visible and predictable cycling. If they are, respond informatively. This costs nothing and contributes to the well being of the community.

Second, it is an institutional design choice that the only way to get into the city from the south and west is by travelling on high volume arterial roads. You are people who can begin to change this. If you need help imagining something different consider the 12th and 18th Street bridges over I-229 to the east or the pedestrian bridge over I-29 in the northwest.

Mostly though, I ask that you be supportive of predictable and visible cycling.

Thank you.

100 Eyes on Bicycle Safety

A few days ago I sat down with Argus Leader Managing Editor Patrick Lalley and talked safe bicycling.  Here. Now. For your viewing pleasure...

Watch live streaming video from sdpolitics at livestream.com

Bicycle Law Revisions: (sub)Standard & 3ft Minimum

I recorded this quite a while ago and kept it private because I didn't like a bit of it. Today I watched again and my standards must be lower so I'm publishing it. The proposed laws I talk about are now REAL laws.

It's a narrated bike video journey on west 26th Street, Louise Ave and 41st Street. In it I demonstrate lanes that are wide enough to safely share and lanes that are not.

Day 10 of #30DaysOfBiking

Today's ride was adventuresome.

It was so bad, what usually takes me 25 minutes took 45!

The ice was thick, but really only the first 1/10th of an inch on the road matters.

I shot a Vine.


While I was stopped and posting it a dog walker approached. It was my city traffic engineer! He's managing a 24 hours a day crew right now. Sounds like traffic signals don't like the weather either. It's never bad to be a face for city officials to think of when they're thinking of road users, eh?

The bike trail surface proved more predictable than roads - which is to say for 20 minutes I rode knowing the slightest error would dump me on the pavement.

Still I averaged 10mph which is fast enough to actually get somewhere.

I saw two separate bike tracks - I was not alone.

Riding in this was extreme, no doubt. I didn't fall and dabbed a few times. The Pugsley tires are 4 inches wide and not studded. It's important to keep centered over the top of the bike. I don't expect to turn with any speed, not even small adjustments. Wind and cambered surface can push me in directions I don't want to go, but I accept that until I can scrub enough speed to make a course correction.

If the windspeed would have been more and the temperature less I would not have ridden.

Happy 30 Days of Biking. It really is joyful.

Substandard Width Lanes

South Dakota law says a rider can move from the right-hand curb or edge of roadway when the lane is substandard width.

South Dakota law defines a substandard width lane as a lane that is too narrow to safely share side by side with another vehicle.

The question at hand; what is “too narrow?”

Determining too narrow is more of an art than a science.

If the driver or rider is drunk, texting, sleeping, talking on the phone, or fighting with the kids in the back seat there’s not enough pavement in the world to make a lane wide enough to safely share side by side with that vehicle.

Speed plays a role too. It is much easier to share a lane side by side with a car going 20mph than a car going 80mph.

The ability of a rider to ride predictably straight also plays a role.

Let’s see if we can find an empirical width. In feet. Something we can put a tape measure to.

1. How many feet do you need to your right between you and the curb to feel like you’re riding safely?

2. How many feet wide are you?

3. How many feet do you need to your left between you and a passing car?

4. How many feet wide is a passing car?

Typically when these four numbers are added together you’ll get between 14’ and 18’. The bike safety experts I know will readily agree that a 14’ lane can usually easily be shared side by side with a car.

Fact: MOST South Dakota lanes are 10’ or 12’. So, which lanes are too narrow to safely share side by side by a bicycle and a car? MOST.

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Here’s how I apply this to the way I ride.

I look ahead as far as I can see and pick the left most lane position that will afford me safe passage by any obstacles to my right. Most often it’s a parked car so leftward enough to safely pass if the car door opens while I’m riding by.

Any driver that sees me immediately realizes there is not enough space in the lane to pass me. Expectations are set.

When I become aware of a driver behind me I evaluate the situation. Can I safely move to the right to give the driver more space to pass? When can I safely move to the right to give the driver more space to pass?

When I can move right, I do move right.

First Accumulated Snow 2012 - Bike It!

It snowed. I rode. To work and back. My ride, condensed, with occasional commentary.

Cold Air Density

The sweaty guy on my bike tonight wanted to know if cold air is more dense.

Finished Bicycle: Dec 13, 2012, 5:35:14 PM
Average: 12.36 mph
Distance: 7.91 miles
Bicycle This Week: 26.40 miles
Bicycle This Month: 89.59 miles

http://www.cyclemeter.com

12/10 Transportation Donut

This donut is for the past two weeks. I replaced 83 single occupant vehicle miles with my bicycle and my feet. Yes, walking counts too. All 2 miles of it.

Morning's Ride To Work

BillySquier'sMusic and I agree - best winter morning in a long time!

Finished Bicycle: Dec 11, 2012, 8:54:32 AM
Average: 13.70 mph
Distance: 5.28 miles
Bicycle This Week: 5.28 miles
Bicycle This Month: 68.47 miles

Before The Tubas

I found a free hour before Tuba Christmas.

Finished Bicycle: Dec 8, 2012, 2:04:47 PM
Average: 12.32 mph
Distance: 14.04 miles
Bicycle This Week: 57.05 miles
Bicycle This Month: 63.19 miles

Snow Yeah Part I

For some reason I think it's important to ride the first snowfall.

Enjoy Dunn Bros.

Finished Bicycle: Dec 7, 2012, 3:13:31 PM
Average: 11.52 mph
Distance: 18.66 miles
Bicycle This Week: 37.90 miles
Bicycle This Month: 44.04 miles

Meeting @ Monk's

That was some of the coldest 50-degrees I've experienced. The 20mph wind and darkness may have been contributing factors.

Rode to a FAST meeting at Monk's tonight. I spent a fair amount of time taking the long way there.

Good to see the usual suspects and to welcome the new president and secretary. FAST 2.0 is getting started.

Finished Bicycle: Dec 5, 2012, 9:29:14 PM
Average: 14.14 mph
Distance: 19.24 miles
Bicycle This Week: 19.24 miles
Bicycle This Month: 25.38 miles

Happy Global Fatbike Day 2012

The internets told me today was Global Fatbike Day. So I too mine to the park and let it run aroud a bit.

O Holy Night...Then A Dog

On my ride home from work. It was after sunset. I was listening to the Christmas Story from my best of Francis Chan collection. Just as a trio began to sing O Holy Night a dog comes out of the darkness and manages to get my lower leg between its jaws.

Could it be a metaphor?

Amazingly it didn't bite me.

I'm smiling though. Lots of people dream about carrying a gun when they ride. It seems to me this would be a time where I would use one if I had one.

I'm glad I didn't and don't.

However, I am a fan of laws requiring dogs to make their owners use leashes.

Finished Bicycle: Nov 29, 2012, 5:54:29 PM
Average: 14.02 mph
Distance: 7.86 miles
Bicycle This Week: 28.48 miles
Bicycle This Month: 224.84 miles

Walk This Way

Walking to lunch is another way to avoid sitting in a car.

Finished Walk: Nov 29, 2012, 1:42:18 PM
Average: 3.26 mph
Distance: 1.65 miles
Walk This Week: 1.65 miles
Walk This Month: 1.65 miles

Just Another Ride To Work

It was fun! How was your ride?

Finished Bicycle: Nov 29, 2012, 8:58:03 AM
Average: 14.54 mph
Distance: 7.25 miles
Bicycle This Week: 20.62 miles
Bicycle This Month: 216.98 miles