11 mistakes cyclists should avoid

The shorts need no intro­duc­tion and obvi­ously no spare tube or pump

There’s some clas­sic mis­takes people make when they first get into the sport of cycling.

Stuff that’s really funny to the seasoned vet­eran and things that are down­right dangerous.

Learn­ing the etiquette and unwrit­ten rules of cyc­ling is just part of the jour­ney. This is true not just in cyc­ling, but in any new endeav­our we take on in life. Mis­takes are a good thing. That’s how you learn.

In order to recog­nise them as mis­takes how­ever, you need someone like me to tell you — and that’s really hard. Most people won’t. They’ll just giggle behind your back at your expense.

It’s things like blow­ing your nose on the nap­kin at a res­taur­ant, or put­ting your big goofy feet in the back of my chair at the cinema — it’s all very uncool and more often annoying.

So to fast track the inter­me­di­ate or begin­ner cyc­list through kool school, I’ve put together the fol­low­ing list of things you should do and things you shouldn’t do in cyc­ling.

Should Do

1. wear socks — no socks and cyc­ling shoes is immensely uncool. High socks are bet­ter. White, low calf is wicked sick.
2. wash your hel­met reg­u­larly — crusty, salty sweat marks on your hel­met straps is dis­gust­ing. Wash your hel­met in soapy hot water once a week.
3. take food on your rides — muesli bars are con­veni­ent.  ‘hit­ting the wall’ is very unpleas­ant. The same applies to tak­ing water.
4. take a spare tube and a pump on your rides — your first $57 taxi ride home will be the last time you leave home without spares… I prom­ise you.
5. use your voice - yell out to ped­es­tri­ans, traffic and other cyc­lists. Let them know you exist. It’s bet­ter than turn­ing grandma ped­es­trian into a bike rack.
6. mount a bell — although mildly uncool, this is a legal require­ment. In the absence of one, see rule 5 and use it generously.
7. oil your chain — grease up all mov­ing parts often, espe­cially in winter. Con­stant squeak­ing and creak­ing on your bike will crack me if we ride together.
8. thank traffic — wav­ing to a truck driver who safely passes you will do won­ders for the cyc­ling com­munity. Thank people when they are cour­teous and nice with a wave.

Shouldn’t Do

1. wear undies under your cyc­ling nicks — very com­mon new­bie mis­take and very uncool. Espe­cially if they’re grandma undies or a G-String. You need help.
2. ride at 40km/hr — every­where — enjoy your cyc­ling. Dur­ing train­ing, even pro’ cyc­lists spend most of their time rid­ing between 28 — 35 km/hr.
3. over­lap wheels — In group rides when the pace is on, it’s easy to over­lap your front wheel with someone’s back wheel. This is a dis­aster wait­ing to hap­pen for beginners.
4. use triath­lon bars in a bunch rides — bunch rides tend to be stop, start and twitchy. You need to be near the brakes in case of an emer­gency stop etc. I’ve spoken about this.
5. ‘efforts’ on foot­paths — Woman with prams, chil­dren and the eld­erly like to walk on foot­paths. Doing your 45km/hr efforts on the foot­path is going to end in tears. If you’re one of these people — please stop doing it. I’ve seen some ter­rible stuff hap­pen over the years and even heard of ped­es­tri­ans get­ting killed.
6. ride 2 abreast in a single lane of traffic — Be cour­teous to other traffic and ride single file until it becomes dual lane. I cringe when I see riders doing this.
7. run red lights — I’ve done this — many times, so I even feel guilty telling you not to. The bunch rides tend to enhance this sort of poor beha­vior. It’s a strange thing that hap­pens in a cyc­lists mind, when you’re in pain — the bunch is tear­ing along at 60km/hr and the adren­alin is flow­ing. It gives us cyc­lists a really bad name and we should all make an effort to behave.
8. tuck your jer­sey into your nicks — this is some­thing my dad would do. You can’t even get away with this even if you’re middle aged. It’s grotesque.
9. hel­mets — yes wear one — but please put it on the right way. Check and then check again.
10. leave stock reflect­ors on wheels — can any­body spot the new­bie! how cute, he’s got reflect­ors on his wheels. Nuff said.
11. wear ankle high socks — for girls this is fine, Guys — you shave your legs. I think that’s enough in the S.N.A.G depart­ment. Leave the ankle high socks for your lady friend.

I could go on and on, but I need to save some­thing for future posts. If you have any tips of your own, feel free to share them.

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