Max's Miscellaneous Musings

Welcome to Max's Guide To Cycling For N00bs, Part 2. This instalment deals with the three previously-identified essentials of cycling:

1. A willingness to ride
2. A bike with a working bell
3. A helmet.

A willingness to ride. When it comes to having a willingness to ride, you've either got it or you don't. But in the interests of encouraging a willingness to ride, I will list some of the great things that cycling can do for you, in no particular order.

• Cycling gives you a sense of freedom. The wind in your hair, at one with nature.
• For the tree-hugging hippie that lives in all of us, cycling is environmentally friendly. Aside from walking or running, what other method of transport can get you from A to B without somehow fouling the Earth? I'll give you +1 if you answered "unicycle", or "pogo stick".
• Cycling is relaxing. Take a moment to enjoy the world around you as you cycle along. Many bike paths (and, indeed, roads) go through beautiful bushlands or run parallel to rivers or streams. Take a moment to have a look at the local wildlife. My local bikepaths are frequented by ducks, geese, bush turkeys, frilly-necked lizards, turtles (though admittedly the turtles stay in the water) etc.
• Cycling is FUN! Everyone in the family can go for a ride and have a big grin on their faces the whole time. Families can enjoy cycling together. Bike paths are a great way to introduce kids to cycling.
• Cycling is healthy! Improve your fitness and lose weight, all while having a good time. It's low-impact and doesn't require you to have a high level of fitness to start with
• Cycling is a social activity. Sure, you can noodle along all on your own if that's what you want to do (and I do recommend this for its meditative qualities), but riding with a bunch of mates makes it that much better!

Do I really need to go on? Cycling is allllllll good.

A working bell.
It is a legal requirement in most (if not all) states for your bicycle to have a warning device on it. In practice, that means a bell. There are many types of bell on the market. Some are, in my opinion, more appropriate than others. I prefer the style of bell that sounds like "bring bring". The reason for this is that everyone knows that "bring bring" is a bicycle bell. Nowhere else will you hear that noise apart from a bicycle bell. People hear that, and act accordingly (usually by getting out of your way). These bells come in many styles. The classic:

The cute:

Vintage style:

And so on. It doesn't matter what it looks like. So long as it goes "bring bring", everyone will recognise it for what it is.

Some bells simply go "ting":

This is a recent development in the world of cycling, and quite frankly, I don't understand it. Nobody hears "ting" and thinks to themselves, "Oooo, there's a bike behind me, I'd better get out of the way!". No. My unscientific observations have led me to conclude that nine out of ten people, when presented with the "ting" sound, will either a) do nothing, because they don't know it's a bicycle bell or never actually heard it, or b) (worse) wander all over the place trying to figure out where the noise is coming from, in an effort to identify what the noise actually is. Don't be a tinger, be a bring-bringer.

If you live in an area that is populated by people who live on their own planet and ignore bicycle bells, or if you are a commuter who regularly deals with obnoxious motor vehicle drivers, you might want to obtain an air horn:

These things are very damn loud and should, in my opinion, be used only as a last resort - after bring-bringing and yelling have been tried and ignored. I recently got one for my bike and I can attest to its attention-getting qualities. Much as I have joked about my desire to air-blast peoples' ears into oblivion, the truth is I do not use this device frequently. Reserve its use for when it is really needed.

This might prompt you to ask - when should a bell be used? The short answer is this: Any time you think there is a risk that someone has not seen you, and you think there is a risk that by virtue of not seeing you, that person might put themselves into your line of travel.. use your bell. Some examples:
1. Any time you are approaching a pedestrian on a shared path. I recommend a ring of the bell at 10 metres, followed by another at 5. I'm referring here to pedestrians who are travelling in the same direction as you (ie you're approaching them from behind). Presumably oncoming pedestrians are aware of your presence (and you shouldn't be riding in their way anyway).

2. Any time you are passing another cyclist. You should follow this up with a hollered "passing on your right". The "passing on your right" line is useful for pedestrians too, if you are unsure that they have heard your bell ringing.

The usefulness of a bell in road traffic is questionable. If you need to warn a driver of your presence, there's every chance that their radio/ipod/doof doof music/mobile phone will drown out the sound of your bell. That's when the air horn comes in handy.

Helmets. These are also a legal requirement. There's plenty of debate in the cycling community about whether helmet use should be enforced. Some claim that forcing people to buy a helmet makes people unwilling to ride bicycles, and that by virtue of that, it makes the pastime less popular. I do not want to get into that debate, except to say this: if the people who don't want to wear helmets decide not to ride a bicycle, it's a win-win. They don't wear a helmet (a win for them), and they don't have their brains splattered all over the road (since, you know, they haven't fallen of a bike, cos, you know, they're not riding one in the first place). That's a win for everyone else.

The long and short is this: it's the law, you gotta do it. No point debating what you can't change. Just comply with the rules, just like you put your seatbelt on when you go in a car (you DO put your seatbelt on, RIGHT???). Helmets come in many shapes and sizes. Some are big and chunky, some are small and sleek:

No matter your tastes, you will find something that is aesthetically appealing. Other factors in your decision-making should include (in no particular order):

1. Your helmet should conform to Australian Standards. Look for the Standards sticker on the helmet itself. Believe it or not, it is not illegal in Australia to sell a helmet that does not conform to Australian Standards. The seller should, but is not obligated to, draw a helmet's non-compliance to your attention. Do yourself a favour, and LOOK. If you're at all unsure, DON'T BUY IT. You're trusting your head's safety to this device.

2. Weight. A light helmet will cause less fatigue for your head and neck. Ideally, you want a helmet that's light enough that you can't really feel that you're wearing it.

3. Ventilation. You want air flow through this thing. If you're exerting any reasonable effort whilst cycling, your body will warm up. Your head needs to be kept cool.

4. Fit. Your helmet should fit your head snugly, but not tightly. There should not be room for movement between your head and the inside of the helmet. If there is, the helmet is too big for you. Many helmets have a "dial" at the back that allows you to tighten the fit around your head. You can use the extra padding that comes with your helmet to adjust the fit. The DPI in WA have a good guide here.

This is cute, but if this kid fell off a bike, he'd be lucky to escape uninjured:

Your helmet should be worn flat on your head, not tilted forward or back:

You get the drift.

Because this is my guide to cycling, I can say pretty much whatever I want, so here are my thoughts on helmets. There is no doubt that at some point in your cycling life, you will come off your bike. This is a fact. It will hurt. Also a fact. Putting a helmet between your head and the pavement will prevent or reduce head trauma. Fact. For those of you who want scientific evidence of this, I couldn't be bothered trawling the interweb, so I will give you some personal experiences instead:

1. I recently came off my bike in an effort to avoid a collision with an unattended child on a shared path. It was a low-speed collision, in that I was doing about 10Kph when I fell. I fell on my right side, bumped the right side of my helmet on the concrete, then flipped onto my back, hitting the back of my helmet on the concrete. I injured a bunch of other body parts in the process. I walked away, sore, but without a head injury.

2. My best mate was hit by a car last year, an incident that to this day I cannot think about without almost bursting into tears. The car turned in front of him, and he collided with it at about 40Kph. He was thrown over the bonnet of the car, flipped over, and landed on his side. He lost consciousness. When he came to, he found his helmet was cracked in three places. His skull was intact. No helmet = no more best mate. No doubt he would've died on the side of the road.

3. My mum was hit by a truck not that long ago. She remembers nothing of the impact as she lost consciousness, but her helmet told the tale. It was cracked. She had a mild concussion and some soft tissue damage, but was able to walk away otherwise unharmed.

4. This kid's head was run over by a car. Did her helmet save her life? You be the judge.

Important!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you have a crash that damages your helmet in any way, replace your helmet! By and large, helmets are designed to break or fall apart in the event of an impact. If you try to "recycle" a cracked helmet, it's no good to you. The only thing that will break next time is your skull (since the helmet has already been broken).

For some reason, I see many cyclists riding with their helmets hanging off their handlebars. I cannot understand the logic of this. Whose head is being protected by a helmet hanging off the bars? Do the handlebars require extra protection in case of a collision? Don't be one of those people. Buy a helmet, and wear it!

OK, off my soapbox now. I'll let this post mellow for a few days, then will follow up with part 3, a discussion of cycling apparel.