{"id":758,"date":"2010-06-04T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-06-04T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wabikes.org\/2010\/06\/04\/rules-of-thumb\/"},"modified":"2010-06-04T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-06-04T15:00:00","slug":"rules-of-thumb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wabikes.org\/index.php\/2010\/06\/04\/rules-of-thumb\/","title":{"rendered":"Rules of Thumb"},"content":{"rendered":"
I’m a new contributor to the Bicycle Alliance blog, so I should probably introduce myself. The basic facts:<\/div>\n
Name: Dave Shaw<\/div>\n
Residence: Capitol Hill, Seattle<\/div>\n
Age: 64<\/div>\n
Cycling since: 1973<\/div>\n
Number of bikes: 2<\/div>\n
Number of cars: 0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I was involved in the formation of the Northwest Bicycle Federation (NOWBike) the predecessor of Washington Bikes. I attended the first BAW auction, and I still own a NOWBike T-shirt. Currently I volunteer, mostly as the resident geek. I have participated in most of the varieties of cycling – recreational, racing, long distance touring, utility – and have worked in the sport as a race and event promoter, and publisher of The Bicycle Paper. Many years, many miles. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Out of all those miles some rules of thumb have emerged: <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>A split second is the time between when you unclip your foot from the pedal and when the light changes. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>If you ride south in the morning, the wind will blow from the north in the afternoon.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>Twelve miles an hour is about the best speed you can make through city traffic however fast you sprint between traffic lights.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>The optimal seat tube length for your road bike is equal to the circumference of your head less 2 cm. (Credited to Bill Ferrell, developer of the Fit Kit, in the catalog of The Third Hand of Ashland, Oregon.)<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>The sum of the weight of your bike and the lock you would use to secure it on a college campus is a constant.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>When you take a long trip, plan only half of it and leave the other half open for enjoying surprises.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>Pace lines are fastest with 4 to 6 bikes. Fewer is not enough horsepower, more riders increases the chance of a pace-breaking disruption. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>The batteries in your lights never go flat when the bike is at home.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>Add an hour to your usual check-in time at the airport if you are bringing a bike.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>A bike shop will take twice as long to true your wheel if you have worked on it first.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>If there are n types of tires in your group, there will be n-1 types of spares. The nth person will get a flat. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>For in-town trips less than about 3 miles, a bike will be faster than either a car or the bus door-to-door.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>Soon after you first adopt cleated shoes, you will have a \u201cfalling down story.\u201d It happened to all of us.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>Saddles don\u2019t \u201cbreak in,\u201d butts do. If your saddle hurts after 20 or 30 miles, get one that fits you. You\u2019ll know it\u2019s right if it doesn\u2019t hurt.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>When a local person gives you directions like \u201cJust down the road a mile,\u201d it won’t be either down or a mile.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>Maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age. Optimal training rate is 80% of that. It will hurt to go that fast. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>A \u201cquick stop\u201d on a group ride is 5 minutes times the number of people. Double that if it\u2019s raining.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>Often is better than long. Five 10-mile rides each week will do your training more good than a half-century every Saturday.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>No matter how many bikes you have in your basement, at least once a year they will all have a flat tire simultaneously.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>Bikes go faster when they are clean. (That’s my excuse for going slow.)<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>No matter how many times you check the list, you will forget something. The best you can hope for is that it will be something you can replace at your destination.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>Starting about March, all the hills in the world flatten out slowly. Somewhere around November they start getting higher and steeper again, reaching a peak just before your first ride of the season. This is a known physical fact.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Who else has a favorite rule of thumb?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
(If you are seeing this in Facebook, please return to the Bicycle Alliance blog<\/a> to post comments.)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m a new contributor to the Bicycle Alliance blog, so I should probably introduce myself. 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