What's a Warning to Do?



CURRENT WARNING - Older Adults Should Limit Outdoor Activity - and How Old are "Older" Adults?

THURSDAY UPDATE
One of the above came out at 4:46PM this afternoon, precisely as I was halfway home on my bike. After the fact warnings are not too useful!

Sometimes government, at least at the local level, is phenomenally responsive. One might wonder about this sometimes. I'll give you an example. NCTCOG sends me email alerts when pollution levels get high. Things are, in theory, pretty bad when there is an Orange Pollution Warning. We're told to limit outdoor activity.

The alerts that have been issued SINCE "Bike to Work Day" look like the picture above. I asked the NCTCOG lady about those warnings, and particularly their mention of bikes as shown in the "before" warnings that are pictured below.

No, I didn't suggest they actually eradicate cycling from their suggestions, merely that they might want to consider what they are advising. Mostly, I get these after I have left for work and am checking my email at Starbucks on the way home. Yup, simply based on a semi-serious inquiry at BTW Day, NCTCOG has changed their email broadcasts. I was surprised, particularly after the response I got from Fort Worth when I made input to their bike plan.

Government response aside, has anyone in otherwise reasonable health ever suffered some sort of damage due to failure to limit outdoor activity during such episodes? For example, would the Cowboys or Rangers cancel a game due to a pollution warning?



Before BTW Day, We Older Types Were Supposed to Limit Outdoor Activity but Were Also
Supposed Bike or Walk Instead of Driving

Student Advice

Student Objective - ALSO Student Advice!

One aspect I like about the LAB program, despite its other warts, is the organized feedback it offers. Case in point: last weekend, a student inadvertently offered me some advice without realizing it. You can see that advice above. Yes, campers, teachers have bad habits every bit as much as any student. And, if Gail Spann is reading this, it isn't what she thinks. Even Warren would admit I was VERY well behaved about avoiding cyclocross mounts and dismounts. My recent fixie purchase should help further, but I have to drag THAT story out a while. For reasons that will become gradually clear in future posts.

It all started with Quick Stops and Instant Turns. For those not practiced in the bike handling drills common to LAB and Cycling Savvy, Quick Stops are the theory and practice of stopping a bike as quickly as possible in an emergency. You will NOT do a Quick Stop or Instant Turn every day. In fact, I cannot say I have EVER had to do a life or death Quick Stop. With luck, I never will. Still, should that day come, I hope I will be around to tell y'all how the three or four feet quicker I stopped, or the three feet quicker I turned, made a real difference. That is why we practice. Similar motives lead me to practice emergency motoring maneuvers. As in SCCA Solo Racing. What can I say, I'm an engineer?

But, bike ed has its possible downside. Today, I had one incident in which I considered initiating a Quick Stop. I also had a second incident in which I considered how ineffective the "back brake only" version of the Quick Stop truly is - and where you want to be wearing helmets the very most. Was this coincidence? I hope so. I'd rather not think that practice creates the need for the actions we practice.

Bedford Road. Scofflaw Motorist Was Off to the Right. No Cones Today...

First off, I was going down a slight incline on Bedford Road - IN Bedford, on the way home; headed towards a major coffee chain that creates a "most days" major homebound delay, when I saw a motorist and her vehicle off to the right at a stop sign. Following my usual policy, I watched the car's wheels. When they moved forward prematurely, my hands applied pressure on the brake levers and I considered potential Quick Stop options. An Instant Turn also was momentarily considered, but at close to 30MPH, was considered only as an adjunct to a Quick Stop after speed got scrubbed off. Then, the motorist recognized - or registered me - and waited. Recollections of last weekend flooded through. Once again, I didn't have to actually put any of that bike ed stuff to REAL use. Whew. The cycling equivalent of a reduction in the "DEFCON" level. Still, it was nice to know the recent practice was ready if needed.

The Offending Parking Lot. On a Day a Little More Slipperier Than Today

Before long, I was pulling into the coffee chain parking lot and exposing a BAD habit. Namely, I took off my helmet as I pulled in, which I often do to let my head cool down a smidge before I go inside. I do NOT want to start any helmet wars here, but in my experience, parking lots are one of the four situations in which helmets are the most useful. The other ones are: regular walking around or riding on slick ice, and crowded bike paths. All three situations have a lot of potential conflict and the helmet wearer is going slow. Simply said, if you wear a helmet on the road, do not take it off until you stop. That parking lot is a hotbed of potential conflict. Rantwick's mom is right.

My Dear, Departed Helmet. Killed in a Texas Summer. Still, Illustrative of Today's BAD Habit. The Helmet in the Photo Got ZINGED in Texas Heat

To make the story move forward, I took off the helmet, and held it in my left hand, leaving me with only rear braking. A car pulled out. Good thing I wasn't going fast, or I'd have made a good dent in the motorist's fender and we'd have had to argue why it was OK for him to run that stop sign when I didn't have one. I'd really rather not argue. BOTH HANDS available for braking. That's good practice. The premature helmet removal is a bad habit, and doubly so when it compromises one's ability to use the strong (front) brake. Nuff sed.

Those students learn. They also teach.

Warren Casteel Illustrates a Point in Parking Lot Drills

Renee Jordan Explains Instant Turns to TS101 Students

FOCUS!

Captain Picard Contemplates Steve's Habits...

Myth or Method?

Amazingly often, I hear people advocate riding against traffic. Almost invariably, their stated reason is to see oncoming traffic in case they need to jump off their bike.

Well, in the one recent time I had an "oncoming car" experience, I didn't have any time to take evasive action or to jump off my bike. Which brings up the question of whether it is actually possible to actually jump off a moving bike. For that matter, might my loyal reader know how such a feat might be accomplished even from a stationary bike. It MIGHT be possible with a step-through frame, but even then it seems much more just a theoretical possibility than anything realistic when riding. Am I somehow confused? Are my bike handling skills simply dramatically inferior to those that favor the "against traffic" mode?

I'm not talking about safety here. I'm wondering about simple physics and human motion mechanics. People are not fleas!

Bike Mode Share at the Gym

Spinning With a Famous Bike Coach in Dallas

I’m mystified. At almost any gym in Tarrant County, you will see a room full of stationary bicycles, with people taking spin classes. At the same time, you will see a completely empty bike rack outside the gym entry door. Is it just me, or does anybody else think this is a peculiar combination? Personally, I find driving specially to the gym to be a time waster, because transit time is lost workout time, unless you walk, run, or bike to the gym.

As an example, it takes me ten minutes to drive to the gym near my house. It takes me fifteen minutes to bike there if I’m working at it. For the round trip, I get thirty minutes of exercise and it only takes me thirty minutes. Looked at another way, if I were planning to do a half hour workout, it would take me thirty minutes (plus shower time) to ride, but it would take me fifty minutes (plus shower time) to accomplish if I drove. On the other hand, I’d probably spend less time in the sauna and drinking post-workout coffee if I drove, so maybe the bike really ISN’T quicker.

REMEMBER, HOW YOU GET TO THE GYM IS PART OF YOUR TOTAL WORKOUT TIME and it can improve your overall results. Don't waste that trip!

Kermit and Frankenbike All Alone During a Spinning Class