Sorry I've been gone for a long time as I moved to another state. I now reside in Oregon and have been working way too much. I will be writing more soon. Hope everyone has had a nice time riding and as always     Keep on Pedaling

Breaking a spoke

      What happens when you ride and a spoke brakes? It's happened to me. I was stopped at a light and all of a sudden I heard a ping. I waited till the light changed and rode to the sidewalk. I found one of my rear spokes had just broke. I wrapped the broken spoke around an unbroken one and continued my ride. I did notice a slight wobble in the wheel but it was not bad. When I finished my ride I replaced the spoke and and got it trued. Truing a wheel is making the wheel straight and if done right puts proper tension on all the spokes. If you start to pop a lot of spokes it's time to get a new wheel. When one goes many time another then another will brake. This happens because the tension becomes uneven and stresses out all the other spokes on the wheel. If you find that your brake starts to rub you can sometimes loosen the brake just enough to keep going.  Hope this helps you stress less when it happens to you. It is usual not to bad and can be taken care of when you finish your ride.

Keep on Pedaling 

Marco

Commuting on a bike

    I'd like to tell you all about commuting to work on a bike. I rode my bike to work for over two years. First just one day a week then two and so forth. After several months I was riding every day. My commute was just over six miles.

    I worked in a bike shop in Los Angeles. At first I only had one route. After several months I had at least three different routes. One was very direct but had a lot of traffic as it was in a bike lane. Another way was street and bike path it had a lot less cars but more people. The third was through residential streets and about a mile longer. This way became my favorite because it had the least amount of traffic and was the most interesting. 

    Pedestrian traffic can be worse than cars as people will be wearing head phones or earbuds and not hear your approach. Many times I would be on the bike path and people would be walking in the bike lane not in the pedestrian part of the path and not get out of the way even after I alerted them to my presence. It became very frustrating as many people would scowl and sneer as I asked them to please walk on the pedestrian part of the path not on the bike part. I would alway be polite and slow down as to not frighten them but many time they still get angry. I alway felt that as a cyclist I was an ambassador for all cyclists and try to to be courteous to all.

     My ride home was mostly at night so I had several lights. one rear red light, two front white lights. Of the two front one was mounted on my handlebar and the other on my helmet. I came to really love riding at night as there was less traffic. I was also much cooler when I was riding in the summer.         My wife sewed reflective ribbon to my backpack as it was black and she felt better as I was more visible. Remember it's always better to be safe than sorry.

     My favorite night to commute was Halloween. The ride home was full of people in costume. Children everywhere were laughing, talking and having fun. The cars would drive slower and seemed to be more aware of people and cyclists. 

        Please let me know your commuting experiences. 

one of the many bike paths in Los Angeles

Keep on Pedaling

Marco

Keeping your bike clean

   How often should you clean your bike?
I get asked this question a lot. Water and bikes are not friends. If you bike is muddy mist it down with a hose and use a cloth to wipe off the mud. I use rubbing alcohol to wipe down my bike. It takes off grease and other grime. I tend to do that every other ride depending on how dirty my bike is.
   On my mountain bike I use a soft tee shirt type material to wipe off the part of the shock or fork that goes inside(stanchions). I do this after every ride. Dust that collects there acts like sandpaper and can cause damage. Doing this can save seals and lengthening the time between service. If you must use water make sure you dry of your bike after every wash. Never use high pressure to wash your bike it put water in places that grease or oil should be.
   I remember a customer came in 6 months after buying his new full suspension bike complaining that all the pivots were making squeaking noises. The mechanic and myself noticed that the bike was very clean and asked how often he washed his bike. He said he power washed it after every ride. We explained what he was doing and gave him a discount on the labor to replace all the pivots and told him never to power wash his bike again. He was grateful for our generosity.


Keep on Pedaling
Marco

Comming down from Mt Gridley with my brother and Friends, Ojai California

Favorite day to ride

   What days to avoid riding?
   I love to ride so I've ridden in many different conditions. My favorite is right before a storm. I've ridden in rain, blistering heat, cold, hail, snow and wind. Wind is the worst as it can blow you around and even cause you to crash.
   I was riding one day and the wind came up. I decided to turn around and when I did it blew me right over. Luckily I was not moving fast. You would think the way home would be easy with the wind at my back but you never seem to be going in one direction. With twist and turns the wind seems to always pushing you around.
  Please let me know about your windy rides and how you coped.

 Keep on Pedaling
Marco

me in the snow

Helmets are fun

   Today I'd like to tell you about Helmets. I like to say that "wearing a helmet is the difference between getting up and waking up". What I mean is that if you wear your helmet and you have an incident you get up, wipe off a scrape or two and keep riding. If you are not wearing one you could wake up in the hospital with the doctor waving a flashlight in your eyes telling you about your concussion and that you have to stay the hospital overnight for observation.
    When my friends and I go riding we always wear helmets. I remember several times when we would meet for a ride and one of us was rummaging around our car as the others waited. Of course we told the others that we had forgotten our helmet and to go on without us. We would then go home to get our helmet and ride alone that day. Each of us has done this more that once.
   There are three thing to keep in mind when purchasing a new helmet.
1st     FIT!    If it doesn't fit well and comfortable you won't wear it.
2nd & 3rd switch places per the individual. They are: price and color.
Some people don't have a lot of money so price becomes 2nd and some want their helmet to match the color of their bike so color is 2nd. I have had many helmets in my time and some last longer than others.
    When is the best time to get a new one?
If the hard foam inside comes apart when you rub it, time to replace. If the outer shell is coming away from the foam again time to replace. If your helmet is cracked or broken in any way you should replace it with a new one. Most companies say you should replace your helmet every 5 years even if it appears to be ok. If you have any further questions please go to your local bike shop and ask the salespeople what they think. They can be a wealth of information. My favorite thing about wearing a helmet is helmet hair.

Keep on Pedaling    

Thanks Marco   

The Joy of Bicycles

This is my first entry. I want to help people discover the joys of riding a bike. It can uplift you and help you see the world in a new way. I have been riding all my life. I have made friends, gotten healthier as well as gotten to see the the world from a different perspective. I've said more than once that a bike is an adventure waiting to happen. Please let me know of you adventures.
I'll post more soon.
Keep on Pedaling,

Marco