Share the Road

Life is a largely valued thing in this world. So why put someone else’s life in threat for your stupidity? This is a common question for many people who ride their bikes on roads for transportation and recreation. Like cars cyclists have the right to use the public roads for transportation. Some motorists don’t seem to understand this simple concept. Road rage haunts the minds of motorists who become frustrated to see a cyclist that is biking on a road at a speed that doesn’t meet the speed limit for a car. After this particular kinds of people begin to get flustered they often partake in aggressive actions towards cyclists that include, yelling with vulgar content, driving very fast, and driving very close to the cyclist to scare them. When this type of aggressive behavior is exhibited to intimidate the rider, accidents can occur which is the main cause for cyclist to vehicle accidents.

As a cyclist myself I have personally seen many of these actions. Some personal account that I have include, getting yelled at, honked at, and driven by at high speeds that come within 2 feet of my handle bars. This type of action just seems totally un needed to me.

Things like bike lanes are being created and promoted by many city officials, but even with this type of alternative, some roads will not be compatible to bike lanes which leaves the need for bikers to ride along with cars. A better cooperation needs to be made between riders and motorists as to prevent future accidents that can result in injury and even death.

Different groups have began to support the awareness through things such as license plates that say “Share the Road”, across the top of the license plate. This short little phrase incorporates so much meaning that can save many lives. I hope this message can finally get through the thick skulls of many motorists. But it can not just take a few people to facilitate this change; its going to take all of you to chip in through a role model, public support, and awareness throughout your community. If this just saves one life, it will be worth it. So join the movement and save a life. In the long run it will be worth it and you might even thank yourself when a driver slowly passes you on a country road. So just do it, save a life.



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Deer vs. Car ( A Growing Problem)

For everyone that lives in places such as the Midwestern Untied States, in states including Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota, it is known that deer can pose a hazard for driving. With a large population of deer that flood the Midwest it is inevitable that they might cross paths with not just humans but their cars also. Although there are many deer crossing signs on heavily deep populated areas of a road way, they still seem to surprise us people as they dart across the road in front of our cars. Throughout the Midwest many deer come into contact with high speed moving vehicles each day, which can cause an array of damages done to both the deer, person and car. This type of confrontation can result in injury that can lead up to death of both the human and deer, along with endless damage to a car.

As a person living in a rural area just outside of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, I have had my own personal interactions with deer on the road ways. With many close calls with accidents involving deer, I finally was unlucky and actually had my own personal account of hitting a deer a couple of weeks ago.

On a cool and dark morning in March I was driving to my lifting class at 545 am, when a deer came sprinting across the road for deer life. With no time to react while driving 60 miles per hour, the deer was quickly bounced of the right front side of my car. After a involuntary verbal exchange with myself and the deer that some people would categorize as bad English, I pulled over to view both the damage to my car and deer. The deer unfortunately didn’t come out so hot. With my font right side of my car crumpled up I drove my car home. In the passing couple weeks my car was fixed for a large price.

This like many is a story that can be told by the vast majority of the people who live in this overpopulated deer area of the United States. One factor to this deer problem could be a small number of predators that deer have. A solution for this would be to introduce a predator to the deer into the Midwest. Now I am looking for your ideas? Do you want to spare your life and your car? If so than please present some ideas.



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Wheels.. wheels.. wheels

Are you one of those cyclists that already has a fairly nice road bike or tri bike, but would like to upgrade their bike in some way? As many experts will tell you, the easiest way to upgrade your bike is the wheels. If you just think about it for a little while, this upgrade seems to make easy logical sense that it would create the largest upgrade in both speed and comfort. Okay, okay there are many other different types of upgrades that you can make including handle bars and shifting, but what really makes a more comfortable and fast ride is what you are actually riding on, which is your wheels.

So now that I have gotten you convinced that wheels are the first thing that you should upgrade, you may be thinking where to start and what to be looking for. Well like many other aspects of a bike there is a very wide variety of wheels that you can choose from under various price ranges that all have their certain strengths. Some wheel companies that may ring a bell include, Zipp, Hed, and Easton. These are just a few of the enormous amount of wheel companies.

Each of these different wheel manufacturers have different types of wheels that are suited for certain types of riding. So now is the time when you need to ask yourself what kind of riding you may do. Do ride casually, competitively (road races, time trials, triathlons), or do you ride just for fitness and fun. After asking yourself this question you will have a better understand of the kind of wheel that you should be directed to.

For all of you people doing triathlons and time trial riding, you would be most benefited with a light and very aero dynamic wheel. Most wheels suited for this kind of riding start at around 1000 dollars for a set of wheels and can escalate up to close to 4000 dollars for a set. The base wheels will give you a small dish with a aluminum braking surface. As you raise your price the dish of the wheel becomes larger, the braking surface transfers to carbon, and the rolling resistance decreases. So whatever your budget is you will be sure to find a wheel that suits your needs.

Now for the rest of you who like to ride competitively on road bikes, for fitness, and just casually, and are looking for an upgrade in your wheels, you will most likely be looking for a wheel that is very light with a small dish if any.

I hope this advice helped your wheel search.

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