BicycleTips.com

Shit Cyclists Say the video

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:00:15 GMT

Waking up late this morning, missing the opportunity to ride due to weather, I logged into Facebook and came across this great video that was posted today.

Being new into bicycling I can honestly say that I don't say much of these things yet, but I yearn for the day

This video was put together by PeopleForBikes.org be sure to check out their website.

Is bicycle riding video is boring?

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:32:18 GMT

One of the things that I’ve been trying to do while riding is figure out how to record my rides, for a couple of reasons. 1) To create cool creative videos. 2) To document events, who knows what can happen on the road, having video proof could help out some day. I think I can safely say that #2 is a far better, easier to attain, idea, than #1. And when you come up with a reason that justifies #2, you likely have something worth using for #1.

Planning a ride with SF2G

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:47:51 GMT

As I get more and more into cycling I am looking for more and more things to get my cycling. I live in Half Moon Bay, and while my wife is started to ride as well, it is hard for us to get out for long rides because we have a 15 month old baby (15 months today!, happy 15 months Jacqueline). While we get out occasionally with the baby in tow, we typically each ride solo.

Setting goals for 2012

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:30:01 GMT

For 2011 I personally set 3 goals, you can read about them fully on my post from 1/1/2011. Basically they were to lose 30 lbs (goal weight of 255, I’m a big guy), inline skate 100 miles (I do like me some skating, I’m a freak I know this) and ride a bike 500 miles. At the beginning of 2011 the bike I had was a 2004 Diamondback XTS Moto, not exactly something you could see yourself riding 500 miles on (at least not me). So in June I picked up a Cannondale Quick CX 1 and began my journey.

Early morning bicycle ride, Lesson: Always check Sunrise times

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:34:45 GMT

I set my alarm this morning for 6am, with plans to get in a 45 minute ride before I took a shower and came in to work. I went to bed around 11pm last night, read for a while, and tossed and turned until about 2am, I guess those cookies and milk at 9:30pm weren’t such a good idea as the sugars kept me up.

6am came and my alarm went off, at first I turned it off and decided I would sleep in. Then I lay there thinking “Get up you lazy ass, go ride” so I did. I got up, and peered out the blinds to see what the sun was starting to do.

It was dark outside, very dark, with no hint of sunshine.

Bike riding in Half Moon Bay, the Video

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:50:34 GMT

The weekend before Thanksgiving I decided to strap one of my new GoPro HD Hero2 cameras on to my bicycle helmet and take it with me for a ride. I ended up with 1.5 hours of video, rather than let you watch the entire boring (wind filled) ride, I took some of the clips and put them together into a short video.

Meeting a goal, 500 Miles in 2011

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:34:49 GMT

I have attempted to set new years resolutions in the past, but I typically failed at them, and most times I failed quite early on. For this year I set 3 goals, 1 of them I am pretty confident I won’t hit, more on that later, but two of them I had/have every intention of hitting.

Riding with a GoPro and losing your Garmin Forerunner 305

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 06:12:42 GMT

Last Wednesday I went for a ride at lunch time with a coworker of mine. I decided to take the GoPro Camera along with me for the ride, though not attached to the bike itself, or to me, I attached it to a 3 foot pole, that I mounted to the front of the bike.

If you’re thinking “boy, that sounds like it won’t work” you are correct. It didn’t work out very well, the pole wasn’t near stable enough for the camera, so it made for a very wobbly video of the ride. I still think it is interesting though, so I editing, sped up, slowed down, and uploaded it to YouTube. You can see it here.

My foray into (clipless) clipped pedals

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 06:37:41 GMT

First things first, I had no idea why they are called clipless pedals, and I still doubt the reasoning I read. I am actually going to call them CLIP pedals, because that is what they really are. More on that later. So, I went to a pedal other than a standard platform, and boy am I glad I did! A couple of weeks ago I ordered a pair of shoes with the intention of getting some pedals to go along with them, Friday the pedals arrived. Saturday the wife and I (and baby) went to the pumpkin festival here in Half Moon Bay, taking the baby and trailer for the two mile drive to avoid sitting in traffic for which likely would have taken 30+ minutes. I didn’t want to try the new pedals for this trip, so I waited until Sunday to install the pedals.

Do you wear underwear with bicycle shorts?

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:46:51 GMT

So this is actually a very common question on the internet, and why would I post about it? Because I had the question, and I had to spend time looking it up and reading, so for all of you newbies (like me) who are getting into biking, the question stands.

Do you wear underwear with bicycle shorts? The short answer is NO. The longer answer follows below.

What are your Reasons2Ride?

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 05:22:25 GMT

So I am stealing the title for this posting, but I swear I have a good reason for doing so! When I finally got around to setting up this BicycleTips website I stumbled across another guy who started blogging this year about biking.

Joel over at at www.reasons2ride.com has a great website coming along. Be sure to head on over and follow his progress. In short, Joel got fed up with his life, his weight, and decided to change things. Something I completely understand. I have a very similar goals, to get in better shape, and to lose weight. Bicycling is my method to achieve those goals, just as Joel’s.

Pulling a baby in a bike trailer

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 05:05:30 GMT

So today was our first time taking Jacqueline out for a bike ride. She loved it! If by loving it, I mean, she pretty much slept through the whole thing.

A little back story, Jacqueline is coming up on 10 months old here in the next week and a half. She had a doctors appointment last week and the doc said it was okay to start pulling her behind the bike in a trailer if she’s strong enough to sit herself up. So we took the opportunity today to do just that.

We loaded up the bikes and trailer, and headed over to Bicycle Sundays on Cañada Road in San Mateo County. Basically on most Sundays they shut down a 2.5 mile stretch of the road south of highway 92, for biking. It is a nice smooth surface, and a safe place to ride, there are tons of folks out there.

My first impression of MapMyRide

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 06:14:24 GMT

So I finally got around to trying out the IMapMyRide application on my Android phone today, along with my Garmin ForeRunner 305 which I always use when I ride. Overall, I would say the application itself is pretty slick, nice interface, different than SportsTrackLive, though I am not sure it is any better yet.

Read the full post for more

Video: Changing the tube on a bike tire

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 04:45:01 GMT

So if you follow us on Twitter or Facebook you likely saw that Sunday was a planned ride day, but while trying to make sure I had air in my tires I ended up tearing one of the tubes. Not having any spares around was the first lesson, always have some extras!

So on Monday I ran out and picked up 3 tubes, between mine and the wife's bike I hope 3 will last us a little bit.

Read the full post for all the details.

What are Bicycle Legs?

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 07:46:53 GMT

So this website has been up for a few weeks now, and after looking at the Traffic here on the site, we're getting incoming search links for the term Bicycle Legs.

Read the full blog post for details on what Bicycle Legs are.

Tracking your rides, what do you use?

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 05:31:57 GMT

So this isn’t going to be a long tip, as this topic will likely fill out future tips as well, but for now I will raise a question. How do you track your rides? Or, do you track your rides?
Read the full post for all our thoughts.

Planning your weekend rides? Taking video with you?

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 06:37:18 GMT

So what all does everyone have planned for their weekend rides? Personally I’m hoping to take the Cannondale Quick CX1 out for a ride on both Saturday and Sunday. If I can get the time I’ll try to put in at least 25 miles between the two days.

Read the full post!

Staying safe while riding your bike, be identifiable

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 04:54:00 GMT

So as a new bike rider I am highly concerned about being safe while I ride. I also don’t like the idea of carrying my wallet with me while I ride. It’s bulky, could get lost, or who knows what else.

Last year while watching the Tour de France I saw advertisements for RoadID and I though, what the heck is that for? Well, this year as I started riding I quickly figured it out.

What would happen if I got into an accident while I was out riding, sans wallet. What if I was unable to speak, how would anyone know who I was, where I lived, or how to get in touch with my wife and baby?

Hello World, Welcome to BicycleTips.com

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 07:55:26 GMT

So here we go, yet another blog for me, but this time for something a little different than what I usually (project350z.com, project240z.com, dnndaily.com, solo2.org) blog about. Bicycles! Read the full post for all the details

Learning to deal with your new bicycle legs

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 07:55:26 GMT

So this won’t necessarily be a tip, but it will hopefully be something for people to comment on with their own thoughts. I’m new to cycling, I’ll explain more of that over the next few weeks, but just understand that I’ve not really ridden a bike in years, until the past couple of weeks.

Read the full post for all the details

Getting a bike to ride, here’s our story

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 07:55:26 GMT

So our story began a while back. We’ve talked of getting bikes so that we could start riding. By a while, I think we’ve talked about it for 3 or 4 years? My brother is “in the industry” or used to be, so I had visions of getting deep discounts on something really cool. Before we get into the selection, a little background on me. As a kid I was always on a bike, but only a bmx style bike, never a road bike, never a “10-speed” as we called them back then, never a mountain bike. Though I did pick up a mountain bike for $25 in high school, I honestly think I rode it home, and then likely never again. I never rode for competition, it was always for fun.

Biking at night, prep for the trip

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 07:55:26 GMT

So today is the Fourth of July, and what is everyone going to be doing tonight? Going to watch Fireworks of course. The wife and I are as well, though we are leaving the baby at home with her Nana for the evening. Here in Half Moon Bay, CA there are fireworks scheduled over in El Granada, which is about a 3 mile bike ride for us.

Read the full post for more