I discovered another use for the bicycle today. I spent a couple of hours delivering election campaign material into letterboxes in my neighbourhood. It was brilliant. If I had walked, it would have taken twice as long. Or longer. I dropped the seat down to a height that allowed my feet to touch the ground easily.
As an aside, this is one of the unstated problems of the lack of decent, practical bikes in New Zealand. My bike is a ‘hybrid’. It’s design is part commuter, part mountain bike. The issue is with the height of the bottom bracket from the ground. To get a comfortable leg extension while riding, the seat needs to be so high that it is impossible for me to touch the ground comfortably, when stationary. Ultimately, it is a sports and recreation bike. Recently, I dropped the seat down just to see how low I could have it and still ride comfortably. It was a useful experiment. I can still ride comfortably but it has made me slow down even more. Perfect. I have heard stories of how some bike shops do ‘bike fittings’. Isn’t that funny. Since when was riding a bike meant to be that complex?
In case your wondering whose election material I was delivering…it was not for the party that is promising to build RONS. The dinosaur age finished a long time ago. Neither was it for the party with the ghost transport spokesperson. The material I was delivering had this written on them…
Green transport solutions will make our communities safer and ensure you can get where you need to go, however you choose to travel.
And it gets better for me. My local candidate for said party is a genuine transport expert. I feel very reasured. It may not happen over night but a smart transport New Zealand is on its way.
Cycling-the non-vehicular way.
Good on you Mark – I met Julie last week at a sustainability transport presentation where she highlighted the high externalised costs of "free" parking and other "natural" aspects of our car culture. She's a pretty good speaker too, would make a good MP, I think.
As for the bike seat position, I agree – I may raise it a little when I do my Lake Taupo ride next week, but otherwise, I prefer it low, for easy access to the ground when riding around town.
Hybrid bikes: Okay for everything, but good for nothing.
@Mikey lol. Well summed up.
Mark – bike fits if you're doing any serious k's, a lot of training and/or racing is invaluable in both getting more power and reducing injuries.
For riding around town not doing big k's, then meh, don't really need it.
I like to have a few pamphlets and free mail in my pannier just in case I am caught by an officious cop for riding on the footpath. Its not only the posties who are allowed to do this you know. Watch out for those drivewyas tho.
tom
@Tom. That is a brilliant idea! – stuffing pamphlets in my saddlebag as we speak.
I do actually help my son with his paper round each week and I'd have to say wearing no helmet and riding on the footpath feels like the most natural thing in the world.
antoine, natural if you keep the speed down, our driveway has a fence and trees, then a bus shelter on the verge on the right, fine for slow moving pedestrians as I usually pause before crossing the footpath, but the other day a guy on a mountain bike was bombing down the footpath and had to do a brakie to stop in time after I emerged from the drive, whew!
Tom, as far as I now it IS only posties who are allowed to ride on the footpath (unless it is signed as a shared path of course)? Enlighten me – did I miss something here?
Having built a bike based on a bike fitting, I would say it rather like getting clothes made to measure, the fit is so much more comfortable. OK so most people are happy to wear ready to wear, and why not, but it will never be quite as comfortable.
More important is make riding a bicycle safe and convenient, that means providing safe routes to places people actually want to go. This is easy to find, just look for where the big roads are (they are there for a reason), then provide safe routes along them. Also get rid of the need for silly head ware which serve no useful purpose. Simple really…
@Kim I always get a laugh when I see what appear to be novice cyclists on sports bikes, wearing lycra wobbling on the road. they are probably just imitating what everyone else is doing. There are not enough examples of utility cycling in Akl for these people to reference themselves to.