Good day, dear habrosoobschestvo.
A year ago it was exactly the same spring day as today. As usual, I rode public transport to work, experiencing all those wonderful feelings that are familiar to everyone who travels in transport during rush hour. Behind me, the bus door barely closed. The hair of a girl constantly climbed into my face, who emotionally cursed with a middle-aged lady, while shaking her head every half a minute. The whole picture was complemented by a persistent smell, as if in a cheese shop somewhere in the south of France. But the source of the smell, this lover of Roquefort and Brie-de-Maux, a follower of Louis XIV in the adoption of water procedures, slept peacefully on the bus seat. It was on that day that I decided that it was time to abandon public transport in favor of personal.
In the article below, I want to tell you how I came to the decision to use a bicycle as a means of transportation for the home-work-home route, touch upon the issues of equipment for skiing, both necessary and not so much, and also share tips on behavior on the road on a two-wheeler.
How and why I went to two wheels.
Having a great desire to give up using public transport, while remaining within the framework of the annual family budget, I found myself in a difficult dilemma. The inputs were as follows:
- Spending on public transport was about $1,5 a day, or about $550 a year.
- The maximum distance that had to be covered: 8km home->work + 12km work->training + 12km training->home. In general, about 32 km per day. On the way there is a rather long climb (about 2 km at an inclination of 8-12%) and a section of uneven road through the industrial zone.
- I wanted to move between points as quickly as possible.
Options that I immediately discarded:
- Taxi / own car / carsharing - in no way, even with the most cunning schemes, did not fit into the budget
- A hoverboard, a unicycle and a scooter cannot provide a combination of speed / safety in that part of the path that lies through the industrial zone, where only the name and sign are from the road. 1.16 Rough road. Yes, and they are unlikely to master the rise.
- Your legs are long. I tried going to work->home. It's been an hour and a half. I didn’t have time to train on foot with the current work schedule, even by running.
There are two options left: a scooter / motorcycle and a bicycle. Unfortunately, no matter how much I racked my brains, I never figured out where to leave the motorcycle for the night. No matter how I searched, it turned out either far, or expensive, or unsafe.
Finally, a bicycle. It seems that the decision was made, but doubts tormented me, because I had a bicycle about 15 years ago and then the old Stork, on which I rode in the yard with the boys. But during a trip to friends in Europe, I had the opportunity to ride around the European suburbs on a good bike, and it turned out that the truth is said that you learn to ride a bike only once and for life.
Analysis of the possibility of cycling
I must say right away that it is not entirely clear to me why there are so many propaganda efforts around the bicycle on the topic that the bicycle is the solution to all problems, in my opinion nothing like that. If you approach systematically, then for all its merits, a bicycle in general is a convenient transport from point A to point B in rather limited conditions of use. I have divided the conditions into several categories.
The necessary conditions:
- small distances. A bicycle as a daily transport is unlikely to suit people who move more than 50 km per day, although there are exceptions. Studies in Copenhagen show that most cycling trips are 5 km one way. As I wrote above, I get a little more, but I don’t feel particularly tired.
- no need to travel on business during the working day or bring children / spouse to school / kindergarten / work. Here I was lucky - I work in the office, 8 hours. I take lunch from home.
- Seasonality and weather conditions should contribute to comfortable movement on a two-wheeled vehicle. Here I want to say that everything is relative. If there is a desire, then no weather will stop, but nevertheless, my two-wheeled vehicle spent the whole winter in a box behind a closet.
Desirable conditions
- Availability of cycling infrastructure. With bike paths, everything is not so simple, in the CIS countries, bike paths seem to be built, but it seems to be difficult to ride on them. Sudden obstacles in the form of people, manholes, drains, poles and holes on the bike paths practically level their presence.
- Bicycle parking, locker room and shower at work. On bike forums they write that you can ride without sweating or wipe yourself with a wet towel in the toilet. They also say that if there is no bike parking, you can ask the guards to look after or leave it in the back rooms. But here I was very lucky - the employer provides bike parking and a shower.
- A place to store a bicycle at home. Not quite obvious, but extremely important condition, both for the safety of the bike and for the convenience of the household. On weekdays, I am the first to leave home and the last to return, so the bike is in the hallway just outside the front door. If guests are planned or the weekend is ahead, I bring the bike to the balcony. For the winter I packed it in a box and behind a closet.
It seems that all the stars have aligned, it's time to buy. The subtleties of choosing a bike, tips on choosing a bike and a meticulous study of bike forums on issues such as what is better 27.5 ”+ or 29 ” I will leave out of this article or, perhaps, I will write a separate one if this topic is interesting and appropriate on Habré. Let me just say that I chose a mountain hardtail niner (with big wheels) for $300. He came to me in a cardboard box and in one evening I assembled it and adjusted it for myself. That’s it, tomorrow I’ll ride a bike to work, although wait, it seems I forgot something ...
Equipment
After reading the traffic rules, I was very surprised that for a bicycle, the regulated minimum of equipment is only a white reflector in front, red in the back and orange reflectors on the sides. And at night the headlight in front. All. Not about a flashing red light from behind, not about a helmet. Not a word. After reading dozens of sites with advice on cycling equipment for beginners and reviewing several hours of reviews, I came up with this list of what I carry every day with me:
- bicycle helmet
The most controversial piece of cycling equipment. According to my observations, more than 80% of cyclists in my city ride without helmets. The main arguments for riding without a helmet, as it seems to me, have been formulated . Also, while traveling around Europe, I also observed that people mostly drive around the city without helmets. But, as one cyclist friend told me: Beginners and professionals ride in helmets for a reason. I decided that I was a beginner, and the first purchase in addition to the bike was a helmet. And since then I always ride in a helmet.
- Lighting
Since I drive about 50% in the dark, I tried a wide variety of flashlights / flashers / firelights. As a result, the final set came down to this form:
Two headlights in front - one with a wide angle of light, the second with a bright spot.Four small gauges - two white ones on the fork and two red ones near the rear wheel
Two dimensions at the ends of the steering wheel are red.
A piece of white LED strip under the frame.
Two red markers on the back - one is constantly on, the second is flashing.
All this luminous household consumed batteries or had their own built-in small batteries, which lasted for one and a half to two hours. Therefore, I decided to transfer all the light to food from one source. No sooner said than done. The case took about 3 nights. Disassemble the case, solder the wiring, assemble, repeat. As a result, everything is now powered from one bank with USB 5 Volts and 2,1 A and a capacity of 10 Ah. According to measurements, enough hours for 10 continuous light.
Additionally, to indicate the turns, I adapted an orange 3W LED on a bicycle glove. I powered it from 3V CR2025 tablets and sewed a button to the area of \uXNUMXb\uXNUMXbthe index finger. It shines brightly even during the day.
- Velolock
Another accessory that I bought immediately after buying a bike, since the bike is left in the parking lot under the office during the working day. I chose a bike lock for a long time, but I came to the conclusion that protecting a $300 bike with a $100 lock was somehow overkill and settled on an average combination lock.
- Clothes and bike glasses
Clothing is the most common bright T-shirt and pants / shorts. To be more noticeable - a bright cover on a backpack
and hand reflectors.
Cycling glasses are needed when driving along the road, when dust and all sorts of midges fly. I certainly would not advise anyone to catch a May bug in the eye even at a speed of 25 km / h. Another convenient thing is fingerless cycling gloves - they allow your hands not to sweat and not slip on the handlebars. - Water
If you go far, then a bottle of water will only be overweight. But if the path is longer than 5 km, then a vigorous cyclist will lose fluid very quickly, so you need to drink often. Take a couple of sips every fifteen minutes. At first I had an ordinary liter bottle of water in my backpack. Then a bottle holder appeared on the frame - a half-liter bottle of iced tea fit perfectly there. Now I bought myself a hydrator, but I don’t actively use it yet, because in the cold I don’t feel so thirsty and half a liter is enough for the whole journey.
- Repair accessories
In all the time I drive around the city, I have only adjusted gears with hexes a couple of times, but I always have a pump (a small bicycle one), a spare tube, a set of hexes, a small adjustable wrench and a knife with me. In theory, all this may someday come in handy.
- Bicycle bag, one more and one more for a personal bike plush
At first I bought myself a small bag in a triangle frame for a spare camera and keys, but after giving up disposable batteries and switching to a powerbank, there was not enough space. So there was another bag, and then another one along with the trunk. But I carry so many things with me every day that there is still not enough space and I also have to carry a backpack.
- Bicycle computer
A bike computer is not a mandatory thing, but it's nice when you can say for sure that you have already traveled 2803 km in 150 hours. And that your maximum speed was 56,43 km/h and the average on your last trip was 22,32 km/h. Well, the first 999 on the bike computer will be remembered forever.
- Bike wings
Help to drive during and after the rain. Clothing and shoes are not so dirty. Yes, and in dry weather they will not be superfluous, because it is impossible to predict whether the road will turn into a river after a water pipe breaks on the way.
Route
At first, my route lay along large city highways, since it seemed to me that the road was smoother there and seemed to be shorter and faster. A separate pleasure to drive along the cars standing in a traffic jam. Travel time from home to work has been reduced from 60-90 minutes by public transport to a stable 25-30 minutes by bike + 15 minutes for a shower in the office.
But once I came across an article on Habré about . Thank you . In short, the service builds routes through interesting sights and parks. After playing around with the 3-4 day map, I built a route that is 80% small streets with slow traffic (speed limit 40) or parks. It has become a little longer, but according to subjective feelings it is much safer, since next to me are cars that leave the yards and drive a maximum of 40 km / h, and not minibuses that drive under 60 km / h while changing lanes three or four times in two minutes. From what the next advice - build a route along small streets and yards. Yes, the yards have their own specifics in the form of marginalized elements, dogs and children suddenly running out. But each of these “specifics” can be negotiated without prejudice to them and to yourself. But with KAMAZ, which decides to change lanes without turn signals, it is more difficult to agree without consequences.
To work by bike in the big city. Survive at any cost.
As folk wisdom says, it's better to learn from other people's mistakes, so I spent several hours watching a video of a bike accident. Subjectively evaluating the video from the side of the participants in the traffic rules, I came to the conclusion that in about 85-90% of cases, the cyclist is to blame for the accident. I understand that YouTube videos are not at all representative, but they formed some patterns of behavior on the road for me. The main rules that I would advise you to follow on the road:
- Be visible on the road. During the day - bright clothes, at night - the maximum amount of light and reflective elements. Believe me, this is important. Even Uber's autopilot failed to recognize the black-clad cyclist at night. I, too, once almost ran over a fisherman in camouflage on a bicycle without reflectors and lights. I saw him, just a couple of meters away. And if my speed was not 25 km / h, but more, then I would definitely catch up with him.
- Be predictable. No abrupt rebuildings (if there is a pit ahead, slow down, look around, and only then change lanes). When changing lanes, show the direction of the turn, but remember that even if you show the turn, it is not a fact that they understood / saw you - be sure to look back and make sure the maneuver is safe. Better twice.
- Follow the traffic rules - no comment here.
- Try to predict the movement of cars. If the flow on the left slows down, then perhaps someone in front of the oncoming one wants to turn and they let him through. At an intersection, even at a main one, slow down until you see that the driver leaving the secondary has noticed you.
- A separate issue with parked cars - the doors of such cars can open and people can get out of them very quickly. And if the drivers at least somehow look at the mirrors before opening the doors, then the passengers open the door as wide and as quickly as possible. Still parked car may decide that it's time to move into a brighter future and start moving without turn signals or any other frills. Also, mothers with strollers come out from behind parked cars, and the stroller rolls out first, and only then does Madame herself appear. And also children jump out, sometimes animals ... In general, stay as careful as possible and expect everything.
- Do not hurry. Even if you are late, always leave room for maneuver.
Instead of confinement.
Last year I drove a little more than two and a half thousand kilometers on city roads. I hope this article is useful to those who decide to try their hand at this business. Not once a year for a bike ride to work, but at least four days a week for six months a year.
And in early February, I bought and installed a 350 W front motor wheel. Drove it for about 400 km. But this is a completely different story, which, however, I can tell you in the next article.
Source: habr.com