Biking Insights and Heresies

I spend a lot of time on my bike, and it gives me a lot of time to think. Often when I get back I write them down and I'm offering them to you here.

These are my ideas and some are counter to current opinions. Feel free to disagree but if you give them an open mind and are willing to try out some of the ideas you may find you self agreeing with me.

Other pieces are merely observations from thousands of hours on a bike seat. 

Feel free to let me know how you feel, one way or the other. murray@grouseland.com

You ride where you look.

Your wheel follows your eye. If you look at something on the trail you will ride into it.

Ok, I’ve been reading this line for decades. I don’t buy it.

My experience shows the opposite.

As far as I’m concerned you don’t ride where you look, you look where you ride.

Years ago I read about looking away from an object in the road (or trail) to avoid it. It never seemed to work. Not hitting it also required steering around it, and it got me thinking about things. I tried several experiments, the first was swerving around on the road (an empty flat one) and taking note of where my eyes went. What I found was that my eyes automatically traced a line immediately ahead of where the tire would go. The faster I went the farther ahead my eyes tracked, and it didn’t matter how much or little I swerved my eyes always tracked the eventual path of the wheel. That would only make sense. Why should your eyes waste time looking any where else? Beginning as soon as you can walk your eyes track where your feet will go and when riding a bike it does the same with the wheel.

So if you are looking at an object it is because you are about to hit it.

The advice should be, not to look away, but to ride loose enough to be able to swerve around objects when they are in line to be hit. This is what you need to practice. I find I have no problem looking at an object while I’m swerving around it.

Dogs

I’ve been meaning to write this for a while and an encounter yesterday reminded me to do it.

I’ve ridden by this house hundreds of times, it’s only a mile and a half down the road. As I rode by I heard the owners, people I know a bit, start yelling. I’m glad they did, it alerted me to a white streak coming at full speed. I am very familiar with dogs, and it’s easy to tell what their intentions are. Some are just out for fun, tails wagging, maybe a bark or two but not threatening. Others are conflicted, the bark is aggressive but their tails are wagging. Then there are the silent or snarling ones. Ears back, tail down, teeth bared. That is what was coming at me. We are both aware of what is happening here. This is a medium dog and certainly poses a threat, but it is Rotwielers, Dobermans, German Shepherds, and Great Danes, that really get my attention. It takes about half of a second to reach back, grab the handle of the whacker, pull it out and poise it ready for a strike. I have done this countless times. Even when dogs don’t pose a threat, I still arm myself. Never know. This dog has misjudged his trajectory, and swings behind me, around to my left, a side I don’t like, but resumes his attack on the right. He then lunges for my leg. I can hear his owners, frantic now, screaming at the dog, (he’s a little busy at the moment to bother with them).

How hard I hit the dog is in direct proportion to the threat I perceive. This is a medium dog but his attack is direct. When the dog comes within 15 inches of my leg I bring the whacker down on his nose. The whacker is a piece of plastic tubing with a large wooden dowel lathed to fit into the pipe and rounded at the end, the opposite end is wrapped in bike tape to give a none slip grip. At 5 oz. it is light enough to swing very quickly and because the weight is at the end it can deliver a very powerful hit. I’m convinced it can break a man’s arm if I needed to. My aim is to hurt but not injure, and I land a solid thwoock on his nose. As with the more than 30 other attacks I have averted, this stops him in his tracks. He heads home in pain, I ride on.

All of us have come out on top. Had the dog’s attack succeeded it most probably would have ended in injury to me and damage to the bike. These are things that the dog owners would have had to have paid for. If the injury were severe and prevented me from riding it would impact my earnings and this would require compensation. If the injury were sever enough it could end my career, hopefully their insurance would be sufficient to cover this. A dog attack in the road is pretty clear cut. I have a right to ride unmolested on the roads, and the owners have a legal responsibility to control their dog.

This was not the most dramatic dog attack I’ve had, just the latest. The worst happened several years ago. As I rode by a farm house a German Shepherd watched from the driveway. After I had gone by it ran parallel to the road, out in front of me, wheeled around and came straight in for the attack. This was a large dog in the most direct attack I’ve seen. My adrenaline was pumping hard on this one, and when he got to within a small fraction of a second from clamping down on my leg I hit him as hard as I could across the nose. In that instant his life changed. He didn’t know where he was, who he was or what had just happened. He sat down in the road for about 15 seconds and then walked home. He never left the driveway again.

Here at Grouseland the roads are mostly empty, and the drivers are friendly, but because the houses are far apart and cyclists are rare (almost entirely me), dogs aren’t used to intruders on their territories. Allowed to run free they can be a real danger to cyclists, (and financially to their owners).

About 10 years ago, while roller bladeing I was bitten by a dog (a German Shepherd). I vowed that wouldn’t happen again. First I bought a cattle prod. The 5000 volt arc it produced was awesome. But it weighed 5 pounds, and was really awkward. There was no way to get it out in time during an attack. Then I got a pistol pellet gun. This worked well, but again it weighed over 2 pounds, took a lot of space and worst of all it looked just like a real gun. This is fine until you walk into 7-11 for a snack. A gun stuck in the rear pocket of a biking jersey just doesn’t work well - and you can’t leave it on the bike. Then I started to use my bike pump as a club, which worked well until I bent the shaft. I thought, why not build something similar. My first attempt was pretty long and it kept falling out of my pocket, various later versions shortened to the point where they stayed put yet worked well. So far no attacking dog has gotten through.

My fear is not a dog who wants to maul me. In an attack we both know the rules. I know what he is going to do but he doesn’t know what is in store for him. My problem is stupid dogs who want to play. They bounce around with out realizing that colliding with me can be a disaster. This has happened. A stupid puppy looking to play ran into my front wheel. Two hundred dollars of damage to the bike and my clothing and over a year of tendon pain resulted. It’s easy to whack an attacking dog, but it’s tougher to hurt a happy dog who only wants to play, but to me they are the most dangerous.

I sell dog whackers here at the shop for $20.00, if you are interested email me at murray@grouseland.com

Car Carriers

Hauling your bike around is never easy. There are 4 main ways to do it.

Rear carrier.

This is a removable rack that straps to the back of the car; it can carry 2-4 bikes. They usually run about $40-150. When you consider how much to spend think how much your bike is worth. I’ve seen several thousand dollars worth of bikes on a flimsy cheap carrier. (I hope that they have good insurance).

The benefits are:

Inexpensive, removable, so that it doesn’t cause drag and noise when not in use, can hold multiple bikes, bikes are not in danger of being knocked off.

Down side.

It takes several minutes to get the carrier on and off the car. This psychological barrier may be enough to scuttle a whim ride. You can’t get into the trunk. This is how bikes get scratched. This type of carrier allows the bikes to rub together and against the car. It may seem stable when they are put on but several miles of bouncing can often produce damage.

Roof carriers.

Fast to load, (some carriers are faster than others) always ready for your bike, won’t scratch anything,

Down side.

Expensive, $250 - $500, wind noise even when not carrying your bike, reduced gas mileage, possibility of knocking your bike off. Bikes exposed to the elements.

SUV trailer hitch carriers.

Secure, no scratching, no danger of debikeatating, once on it’s easy to get the bikes on and off.

Down side.

Expensive, $200 - $400, takes effort to put on and off the car, gets in the way of the rear hatch.

Sticking your bike in the car.

No expense, no wind noise, bike doesn’t get rained on, no bugs,

Down side,

You usually have to take off one or both wheels, it is easy to scratch the bike, damage or grease up upholstery, and it leaves little room for anything else in the car.

As you can see, there is no one best way to transport your bike. I use a roof carrier because I need to move bikes often and because it is really the only good way to carry a tandem. I also have and use a rear carrier when I need to take more than the 3 bikes the roof carrier will hold. (More than that I use my trailer).

I have also knocked bikes off the roof, (none damaged seriously), chains have rusted from the rain and road salt, and I’ve accumulated lots of bugs on the front tubes.

Mostly I just ride from Grouseland.

Road vs. Mountain bike

I have some friends who only road bike, and I have some friends who only mountain bike. They are cheating them selves. Each is a different animal and equally fun. Also you can’t be the best road rider if you don’t mountain bike and you can’t be the best mountain biker if you don’t road bike. Each demands different skills that are useful for the other.

Road riding demands discipline, aerodynamics, efficiency, and a smooth pedal stroke. The payoff is speed. With tiny tires, high gearing, and light weight these bikes will open a new world of speed. You should be able to average 50% faster for the same effort.

Mountain biking demands skill to deal with obstacles, such as hopping logs, riding on rocks and serious down hills. This is its own reward. The difficulties on the trail are the fun things. The joy of flying over rocks and logs, ducking under limbs, crossing creeks, and bombing down mountains brings the kid back to even ancient geezers like myself.

So how do they help the other?

Mountain bikers learn to hop, and slide. They are used to the bike’s tires sliding around a curve and slipping off roots. Learning to get used to the bike’s vague handling allows a comfort with gravel and a more sure style. Knowing how to go down hill in control and how to stop using both brakes no matter how steep, comes in handy when you need to stop your road bike on a sharp downhill.

Mountain biking usually consists of going all out, up steep hills, and coasting downhill. This is an all or nothing sort of exercise, anaerobic, - rest, - anaerobic, etc. It is constant interval training. It develops an explosive power but not long term aerobic conditioning.

Road riding is usually steady power for long periods of time. Most riders apply the same power to the pedals uphill, on the flats and downhill. This builds long term aerobic stamina.

One of the problems that mountain bikers have is that they don’t develop a smooth pedal stroke. I see it when they are unable to ride with their pedal release set at a low pressure. They kick out when they are riding. This is because they thrash their feet. A smooth pedal stoke allows the pedals to be set as light as possible and never pull out accidentally. Because mountain biking is mostly explosive power and resting it doesn’t require smooth pedaling, but this is inefficient, too much effort goes into flailing their feet. Road riders develop a smooth and supple pedal stroke, good ones learn to move only their legs while riding, with the rest of their bodies rock steady. This maximizes efficiency, wasting no power. Mountain bikers are much better with a good pedal stoke. It allow for better uphill climbing, preventing a loss of traction, it allows for a light release of the foot from the pedal, making lightning quick step out possible, and it increases overall efficiency.

Mountain biking and road riding require different amounts of brain power. On my mountain bike I need to be aware of everything on the trail, hop the log, duck the branch, watch the root, compensate for wheels slipping, wheelie over hole, bunny hop puddle, downhill get back, shift before I climb, full power up the other side, hop the log, duck the branch, etc. My mind is working almost as hard as my legs. You can’t let you attention stray for a second with out dire consequences.

Road riding is almost the opposite, there are times that you need to be completely aware of the other bikes and cars around you but most of the time I ride the roads are empty, my body goes on autopilot and my mind wanders. I often compose letters or even entries for my Heresies.

On my mountain bike my mind is on crystal-meth, while on the road bike my mind is on Valium.

I’m told that a road race and mountain bike race take an equal amount out of you physically but a mountain bike race takes several days to recover from mentally where as a road race only one.

I find that each form of riding is a good complement to the other, and each brings skills useful to the other. Mountain biking is more difficult to learn but that’s where we come in with our lessons. I tend to favor one bike over the other for a time and then switch back.

Everyone should experience the joy of doing both.