Bicycle commuting, ingrained behavior and my left knee
I've become a big bicycle commuter this summer, for the first time in several years
I don't know that I've yet saved money overall in the short term, as it has meant getting an Arkel Bug pack to keep my computer safe and happy, and literally off my back (I realized that backpack causing back sweat and occasional backache was the biggest thing keeping me making excuses to not ride). That necessitated getting a longer rear rack (Jandd Expedition was the recommendation - I modded it with a 3/8" cable rope clamp to keep the Bug's lower hook from sliding) as the Bug sat too close to my heel, and then I figured out that my super-comfortable New Balance MR790's were getting ripped up by the bike pedals and cage ... so I bought some Perl Izumi X-Alp Seek bike shoes that I could cycle in, yet wear into work all day.
Well, they didn't go easily into the toe cages of the pedals, so I took the cages off, and then my feet slipped. So back to REI for some Shimano M520 SPD Pedals (the shoes are drilled for SPD cleats). OK, I knew that this would be something I'd need to practice with, as now, once your foot is on the pedal, it's ON the pedal, and the way to get it off is to twist the back of your heel outward. Common sense (as well as the instructions, several times over) told me that I needed to know how to do this cold in an emergency situation, so I practiced around our little cul-de-sac for quite some time, and the first few days riding I constantly would clip in and out. I thought I had it down cold after a couple of weeks.
Come Tuesday morning, I'm going along a quiet street on the way to work, and trying to adjust a little rear view mirror I have clipped to my glasses. Usually I wear contacts and sunglasses that have flattish side pieces, but that day I was wearing my normal glasses, and the side pieces are a bit rounded, so I was having trouble getting it to stay in the right place.
And I accidentally knock the mirror off onto the ground.
Now I go into life-long ingrained behavior in terms of taking a quick look that there is indeed no traffic, and then while looking back at the ground to spot my mirror, two-week-old ingrained behavior gets superseded by all-my-life-since-age-five-to-two-weeks-ago-ingrained-behavior, to wit -- stop bike, take right foot off pedal and put it out to brace myself (I just figured out that day that I am right-foot-first on that) ... except right foot won't come off pedal, and bike, which when moving is perfectly stable with the Arkel Bug on the left side, well when it's at a dead stop, it wants to fall leftward.
So in a fraction of a second, just as my brain kicks in with you-need-to-turn-your-heels-outward-especially-your-left-heel ... it's too late, and left foot hits ground, still attached to pedal.
Luckily the only damage was about a dime-sized patch of skin on my left knee, and my dignity -- for once, my cry was not an expletive, it was simply a very loud "OH NO!" on my way down, which brought a woman running who was out on the sidewalk, and English not being her first language, it took me just a bit to convince her that no, aside from the bit of blood on the knee (I was wearing shorts so no clothing damage even), I was feeling pretty physically fine, though mighty stupid. Oh, and my chain got caught really hard between rear gears and hub, and I had to wrench it out and put it back on the gear, wearing a mostly-white T-shirt (which got a couple of small smudges, me only having grass to wipe my hands off on).
Well, physically not AS fine later. I must have really tensed up my muscles. About two hours later, I was sitting eating lunch, when I suddenly became aware that a band of muscle from my left chest to my left back felt bruised, though it wasn't. That was sore for a couple of days.
You can believe I'm practicing the get-outa-those-pedals ever harder, as well as making sure it's left-foot-first, at least as long as the Bug's on the bike.
And as an aside, for those who have asked me about my Bug pannier, as well as previously when I've had just one grocery-bag-sized pannier on one side of my bike, .... Arkel has a FAQ that has become an FAQ for me - "will one pannier only make a bicycle tip to the side?". I can add a bit to the answer, too -- even when my pack is the fullest it's ever been, with computer and notebooks and cables and external hard drive and such, when I ride, it's as though it's not even there. The gyroscopic effect has a lot of momentum and I don't notice even the slightest lean. However, I do notice with all of that or a shopping-bag pannier with a gallon of milk within, when I stop. The bike definitely wants to pull that way and it takes a bit of getting used to.
Here's hoping I have enough clothing to be properly layered until it gets too snowy to ride safely and effectively, without having to run back to the bicycle shop or REI -- I already see some wear in some of my gears and I suspect they will have to be replaced come Spring (last year I caught a lock chain in them accidentally once, and I think it did some damage to them, a few weeks ago I looked at the gears and the wear is really getting to be noticeable)., but I hope I can actually ride enough to have a net $$ savings in terms of gasoline saved.
Carolyn's been making me look like an amateur though -- she rides all the way across town (about 7 miles each way) for Yoga classes, and does virtually all our grocery shopping by bicycle. One perk of being mostly unemployed is having the time to do that. For me, the time isn't much of an issue. The way our condo complex is, I have to drive out to the west take two rights to skirt our condo complex (work is to the northeast). When I ride my bicycle, there's a sidewalk I can take due north, and also on the way home it's even a bit worse driving -- I have a "Michigan left" (turn right to turn left). So even though bicycling's slower, it saves me something like 3/4 mile each direction. My time's down to about 18 minutes into work now (mostly uphill) and around 15 minutes home with the flying downhill much of the way.
I don't know that I've yet saved money overall in the short term, as it has meant getting an Arkel Bug pack to keep my computer safe and happy, and literally off my back (I realized that backpack causing back sweat and occasional backache was the biggest thing keeping me making excuses to not ride). That necessitated getting a longer rear rack (Jandd Expedition was the recommendation - I modded it with a 3/8" cable rope clamp to keep the Bug's lower hook from sliding) as the Bug sat too close to my heel, and then I figured out that my super-comfortable New Balance MR790's were getting ripped up by the bike pedals and cage ... so I bought some Perl Izumi X-Alp Seek bike shoes that I could cycle in, yet wear into work all day.
Well, they didn't go easily into the toe cages of the pedals, so I took the cages off, and then my feet slipped. So back to REI for some Shimano M520 SPD Pedals (the shoes are drilled for SPD cleats). OK, I knew that this would be something I'd need to practice with, as now, once your foot is on the pedal, it's ON the pedal, and the way to get it off is to twist the back of your heel outward. Common sense (as well as the instructions, several times over) told me that I needed to know how to do this cold in an emergency situation, so I practiced around our little cul-de-sac for quite some time, and the first few days riding I constantly would clip in and out. I thought I had it down cold after a couple of weeks.
Come Tuesday morning, I'm going along a quiet street on the way to work, and trying to adjust a little rear view mirror I have clipped to my glasses. Usually I wear contacts and sunglasses that have flattish side pieces, but that day I was wearing my normal glasses, and the side pieces are a bit rounded, so I was having trouble getting it to stay in the right place.
And I accidentally knock the mirror off onto the ground.
Now I go into life-long ingrained behavior in terms of taking a quick look that there is indeed no traffic, and then while looking back at the ground to spot my mirror, two-week-old ingrained behavior gets superseded by all-my-life-since-age-five-to-two-weeks-ago-ingrained-behavior, to wit -- stop bike, take right foot off pedal and put it out to brace myself (I just figured out that day that I am right-foot-first on that) ... except right foot won't come off pedal, and bike, which when moving is perfectly stable with the Arkel Bug on the left side, well when it's at a dead stop, it wants to fall leftward.
So in a fraction of a second, just as my brain kicks in with you-need-to-turn-your-heels-outward-especially-your-left-heel ... it's too late, and left foot hits ground, still attached to pedal.
Luckily the only damage was about a dime-sized patch of skin on my left knee, and my dignity -- for once, my cry was not an expletive, it was simply a very loud "OH NO!" on my way down, which brought a woman running who was out on the sidewalk, and English not being her first language, it took me just a bit to convince her that no, aside from the bit of blood on the knee (I was wearing shorts so no clothing damage even), I was feeling pretty physically fine, though mighty stupid. Oh, and my chain got caught really hard between rear gears and hub, and I had to wrench it out and put it back on the gear, wearing a mostly-white T-shirt (which got a couple of small smudges, me only having grass to wipe my hands off on).
Well, physically not AS fine later. I must have really tensed up my muscles. About two hours later, I was sitting eating lunch, when I suddenly became aware that a band of muscle from my left chest to my left back felt bruised, though it wasn't. That was sore for a couple of days.
You can believe I'm practicing the get-outa-those-pedals ever harder, as well as making sure it's left-foot-first, at least as long as the Bug's on the bike.
And as an aside, for those who have asked me about my Bug pannier, as well as previously when I've had just one grocery-bag-sized pannier on one side of my bike, .... Arkel has a FAQ that has become an FAQ for me - "will one pannier only make a bicycle tip to the side?". I can add a bit to the answer, too -- even when my pack is the fullest it's ever been, with computer and notebooks and cables and external hard drive and such, when I ride, it's as though it's not even there. The gyroscopic effect has a lot of momentum and I don't notice even the slightest lean. However, I do notice with all of that or a shopping-bag pannier with a gallon of milk within, when I stop. The bike definitely wants to pull that way and it takes a bit of getting used to.
Here's hoping I have enough clothing to be properly layered until it gets too snowy to ride safely and effectively, without having to run back to the bicycle shop or REI -- I already see some wear in some of my gears and I suspect they will have to be replaced come Spring (last year I caught a lock chain in them accidentally once, and I think it did some damage to them, a few weeks ago I looked at the gears and the wear is really getting to be noticeable)., but I hope I can actually ride enough to have a net $$ savings in terms of gasoline saved.
Carolyn's been making me look like an amateur though -- she rides all the way across town (about 7 miles each way) for Yoga classes, and does virtually all our grocery shopping by bicycle. One perk of being mostly unemployed is having the time to do that. For me, the time isn't much of an issue. The way our condo complex is, I have to drive out to the west take two rights to skirt our condo complex (work is to the northeast). When I ride my bicycle, there's a sidewalk I can take due north, and also on the way home it's even a bit worse driving -- I have a "Michigan left" (turn right to turn left). So even though bicycling's slower, it saves me something like 3/4 mile each direction. My time's down to about 18 minutes into work now (mostly uphill) and around 15 minutes home with the flying downhill much of the way.