Is it just me or....
Thomas D. Taylor II
Is it just me or do other people find _Bicycling_ magazine basically,
well, boring. We subscribe to _B_ as well as two other Rodale
periodicals, _Runner's World_ and _Prevention_. My perception is
that they all seem to recycle a lot of articles.
Not a real life example, but it's almost if an issue contains an
article "Better Cycling Through Intervals!" and you seem to recall
previous articles like "Intervals, Your Key to Better Cycling?", "Get
Faster with Intervals!", "Intervals: Over-Hyped or Under-Utilized?"
and "Will Intervals Make You Faster?" all published within the last
few months.
But my real peeve with Rodale is their never ending stream of renewal
notices. I swear if I sent them $1,000,000 tomorrow with a note
instructing them to send me Bicycling as long as the money held out,
I'd receive an "URGENT! SUBSCRIPTION ENDS SOON!" letter next week.
Oh well.......just waiting for it to warm up enough to go ride.
Tom
Tim McNamara
In article <66egoi$d...@camel15.mindspring.com>,
tdta...@atl.mindspring.com wrote:
>Is it just me or do other people find _Bicycling_ magazine basically,
>well, boring. We subscribe to _B_ as well as two other Rodale
>periodicals, _Runner's World_ and _Prevention_. My perception is
>that they all seem to recycle a lot of articles.
I subscribed to _Bicycling!_ back in the 70's, before Rodale Press bought
it. When I first started reading it, _Bicycling_ was an odd combination
of articles for both the beginner and the cognoscenti. They had actual
racing coverage of major events, such as the Tour de France,
Paris-Roubaix, the road and track World's, the PanAm Games, etc (mostly
written by Owen Mulholland, as I recall). They had the usual tech columns
by Fred DeLong and Frank Berto, as well as a medical column by Eugene
Gaston. Lots of bike reviews, too, of both top quality and cheap models.
I remember one round up of 10 speeds costing $100 (in about 1974 or so),
which found that you actually could buy a halfway decent bike for that
much money.
Anyways, I let my subscription lapse after Rodale bought it. I felt a
little bad about that because Bob Rodale did put his money where his mouth
was in terms of supporting cycling, but I thought the editorial emphasis
and philosophy changed dramatically; it became a "lifestyle" magazine
rather than a "bicycling" magazine. I have never renewed my subscription
and only buy 2-3 copies a year at the newsstand. It just doesn't interest
me, but I think their target audience is not the 5,000-10,000 mile per
year racer/enthusiast. Oddly enough, most of their staff seem to fall
into that category! In fact, few if any of the mass market cycling
magazines interest me any more. I now only read _Dirt Rag_, _Bike Culture
Quarterly_ and _Encycleopedia_, the _Rivendell Reader_, _Tandem Magazine_
and _Cycle Sport_. Even _VeloNews_ doesn't cut it, since their Euro race
coverage has gotten so insipid (since LeMond left Europe, it seems like
_VeloNews'_ reporters just don't have access to the insider aspects of
bike racing. Now it's little more that a description of *what* happened
rather than *why* it happened. And *reading* about MTB races tends to be
pretty boring as well). As a LAB member I get their magazine, but only
skim it. It's good to know what's going on on the legislative front.
--
Don't you touch hard liquor- just a cup of cold coffee.
Gonna get up in the morning and go.
-Robert Hunter
Ken Kifer
Thomas D. Taylor II wrote:
> Is it just me or do other people find _Bicycling_ magazine basically,
> well, boring. We subscribe to _B_ as well as two other Rodale
> periodicals, _Runner's World_ and _Prevention_. My perception is
> that they all seem to recycle a lot of articles.
>
> article "Better Cycling Through Intervals!" and you seem to recall
> previous articles like "Intervals, Your Key to Better Cycling?", "Get
> Faster with Intervals!", "Intervals: Over-Hyped or Under-Utilized?"
> and "Will Intervals Make You Faster?" all published within the last
> few months.
Ken Kifer replies:
The repetitive idea that I first accepted, then grew irritated with, and
finally looked on as a joke came out in titles like these: "Get Fit
Fast!" "Get Fit Faster!" Get Faster While Getting Fit!" "Increase Your
Speed!" "Increase Your Speed Faster!" and so on. Excuse me for having
to make up the examples, but it's been ten years since I gave up on the
mag. I couldn't help but notice the same theme in your examples.
The joke is, of course, that a bicycle is not really fast. I can just
see this pumped up fellow riding down the road feeling how terribly fast
he is, and behind him a long line of honking cars because he's so slow!
To tell someone to ride a bicycle in order to be fast is crazy. Instead
the theme ought to be, "Slow down, you're going to fast / You got to
make the moment last!"
The bad part of this theme of speed is that a lot of the people who try
to keep up with the LeMond's burn up and give up because their bodies
are not really meant for speed. I have no quarrel with fast cyclists,
only with the idea that speed is important on a bike. Going fast is not
necessary for the health or for practical cycling. As a long thread
just demonstrated, most of us here are in the 15 mph category.
I wonder if they "research" the articles the same way they used to. The
course of the article always included telephone calls to "experts" who
were each asked a single question and the results woven into a whole
explanation. It would have been more interesting to have asked each of
the "experts" the same question; then we could have witnessed a cat
fight.
----------------(David Grayson Adventures in Contentment)-------------
One day -- it was in April, I remember, and the soft maples in the city
park were just beginning to blossom -- I stopped suddenly. I did not
intend to stop. I confess in humiliation that it was no courage, no
will of my own. I intended to go on to Success; but fate stopped me.
ComutrBob
I think the big problem with Bicycling Magazine is that they're trying to be
all things to all cyclists. A little of this and a little of that -- nothing
in depth. Plus, they are total suck-ups to their advertisers. There's no
objectivity in their review of products. The more seriously I get into the
sport, the less satisfied I am with Bicycling Magazine.
As for blowing the dust off the article on intervals and recycling it, there
are two reasons I can think of for that. 1) Intervals are tried and true,
painful as that fact may be. 2) The editors of Bicycling Magazine know
they're only addressing fairly neophyte cyclists. Since the audience is new
all the time, they don't know they're reading a retread. The serious cyclists
have all moved on to other publications (that are also becoming dilluted by
the "all things to all cyclists" mentality).
Frank Burke
My thoughts on Bicycling Magazine:
I do not subscribe, but buy a copy occasionally at airports when I am
travelling. It is a good read for a 1-2 hr flight, but not for anything
much longer. The April issue, which reports specifications and prices
for the current model year bicycles is well worth the price. The
reviews are useful for their information content, but not as a critical
assessment of the products. "Bicycling" likes everything, or perhaps,
dislikes nothing. Caveat Emptor. I have found their feature writing to
be of good editorial quality.
Avery Burdett
Thomas D. Taylor II writes:
>Is it just me or do other people find _Bicycling_ magazine basically,
>well, boring. We subscribe to _B_ as well as two other Rodale
>periodicals, _Runner's World_ and _Prevention_. My perception is
>that they all seem to recycle a lot of articles.
Bicycling Magazine is the poorest excuse for a cycling publication on
the newstands. Its articles are geared to its advertisers (helmet and
four wheel drive manufacturers) rather than its readers. Try to get a
letter printed pointing out distortions or errors. I submitted two in
one year. One on an article which disgracefully trashed the performance
of the US Olympic team and another exposing distortions on helmet efficacy.
While you wait for your letter to appear (it won't) count how many
useless "I Love Bicycle Magazine" letters are printed. And don't look
for any ethical standards to be imposed on advertisers. Bell and the
rest are free to imply a helmet will save your life.
The best way to deal with an inferior product is to put it out of
business by not buying it.
--
Avery Burdett
Ottawa, Ontario
Jym Dyer
> Is it just me or do other people find _Bicycling_ magazine
> basically, well, boring. We subscribe to _B_ as well as two
> other Rodale periodicals, _Runner's World_ and _Prevention_.
> My perception is that they all seem to recycle a lot of
> articles.
=o= Most definitely!
o _Bicycling_ (motto: numbers sell magazines) -- Reverse delta
anterior lat flex crunches should be done in 5 sets of 15
reps, 3 times a week, until your gripping power when riding
in the hooks of standard 39.5cm handlebars complements your
optimal tire pressure at 0.8MPa.
o _Mountain_Bike_ (motto: attitude is everything) -- It might
be a drag to go to the gym, but after a day of bone-jarring
descents through mud, rocks, and old Louisiana cypress tree
roots, you'll be grateful for the reverse delta anterior lat
flex crunches when you're washing the bugs out of your teeth
with the local microbrew while everyone else keeps dropping
their bottles.
o _Men's_Health_ (motto: we are NOT bald and impotent) -- Have
you ever wanted to say, "here, let me lift that for you" but
held back because you weren't sure you could go through with
it? Five sets of fifteen reps of reverse delta anterior
lat flex crunches done three times a week will give you the
kind of fingers that she'll want to cling onto during your
moonlit walks on the beach.
o _Organic_Gardening_ (motto: your garden will outperform the
Midwest) -- Pigeon guano did wonders for my radishes! I had
to do some reverse delta anterior lat flex crunches just to
carry the harvest back into my rustic frontier-style home!
o _Prevention_ (motto: here, try some of these) -- If you're
having trouble opening up this many vitamin and supplement
bottles, you should start doing some reverse delta anterior
lat flex crunches.
o _Backpacking_ (motto: buy stuff to get back to nature) --
This new line of packs and tents made with Tox-o-Tex(R)
fibers will shave 3oz from your load! If you don't run
out and buy them now, your only alternative is to spend
weary months in the gym doing a bunch of tedious reverse
delta anterior lat flex crunches.
=o= In all seriousness, though, despite the attitude, I've found
_Mountain_Bike_ to be a more useful publication than its sister
_Bicycling_. _MB_ reported facts about a bus running over a
bike courier here in San Francisco that the local media ignored,
and its coverage of Critical Mass (by a writer who's actually
been there) has been decent. What does _B_ offer along these
lines? A "Critical Morass" editorial regurgitating tired old
myths about the ride.
<_Jym_>
matt
It's not just you--_Bicycling_ magazine has been very boring since the
early '80's when it started to cater exclusively to fitness obsessed
yuppies.
A very good magazine (albeit focused on racing) is VeloNews and the
best bike mag of all, is of course, _Dirt Rag_.
cheers,
matt
Thomas D. Taylor II <tdta...@atl.mindspring.com> wrote in article
<66egoi$d...@camel15.mindspring.com>...
> Is it just me or do other people find _Bicycling_ magazine basically,
> well, boring. We subscribe to _B_ as well as two other Rodale
> periodicals, _Runner's World_ and _Prevention_. My perception is
> that they all seem to recycle a lot of articles.
>
> Not a real life example, but it's almost if an issue contains an
> article "Better Cycling Through Intervals!" and you seem to recall
> previous articles like "Intervals, Your Key to Better Cycling?", "Get
> Faster with Intervals!", "Intervals: Over-Hyped or Under-Utilized?"
> and "Will Intervals Make You Faster?" all published within the last
> few months.
>
Billonbike
As someone whose total cycling is on the road, I have fallen away from
"Bicycling" because of its ever-increasing content on off-road riding and
almost total ignoring of the road rider. I have no interest in racing so I
can't assess the mags in that area, but I've found my bicycling reading lately
has been limited to "Bicyclist," formerly "Bicycle Guide."
KMsSavage
And then there's the proofreading. Some years ago a buddy submitted a
freelance piece mentioning Tucson, Ariz. The editorial assistant who re-wrote
the article transposed letters in the town's name. No one on the staff caught
the error, which presumably sat on desks longer than this "Post Response"
window is open.
Several Tucson residents wrote to take umbrage with this horrible error. Did
the staff take blame? No-o-o-o. They published a "correction" essentially
blaming the author.
Journalism grads and student interns looking to climb the Rodale corporate
ladder.
--Karen M.
(subscriber in the early '70s, now a library browser)
Harvey
KMsSavage wrote:
> Several Tucson residents wrote to take umbrage with this horrible error. Did
> the staff take blame?
Awful, just awful!!!!! There oughta be a law!!!
> --Karen M.
> (subscriber in the early '70s, now a library browser)
I can't believe you can still read it, after such a horrible tragedy......
Jack Dingler
I subscribed to Bicycling 'Advertising' Magazine for the span of two
issues and cancelled. The quality of information and opinions was IMO
much higher on these NGs. At least here, I'm exposed to more than one
viewpoint and can decide which is better at addressing my needs. Though
I found the articles in Bicycling 'Advertising' Magazine about mountain
biking in the Moab to be almost interesting, the dearth of articles
pertaining to practical riding gave me incentive to drop the
subscription.
I'm sure the countless articles about which bike under $20,000 is the
best buy or which outrageously expensive component has been judged best
by the Jones' will be useful to someone. They weren't useful to me.
So thank you, to everyone who has contributed any opinion on these NGs.
You have enriched my experiences here and have helped to shape my
opninions about cycling in many ways. Your input has been far more
valuable to me than any provided by Bicycling 'Advertising' Magazine.
Keep on Pedaling!
--
* Jack Dingler * I'm going back on the bicycle,
* jdin...@onramp.net * I just can't pay the bills.
* Probably not * I'm going back on the bicycle,
* your opinion * Freewheel down the hills.
* * - Tommy Sands -
Eleanor MacMaster
You are absolutely correct. Last year after having subscribed to
Bicycling for years and years and years, I allowed mine to lapse
for the reasons you gave. I check the table of contents on the
newstand issues and occasionally buy it IF there is something
I really want to read in a particular issue. Also, the focus
of this mag in recent years is increasingly mountain biking,
and while Ihave nothing against it, it is not what I do. I
would be interested in a bike mag for tourists -- one that does
not cost the earth.
--
"Biker Chick"
Jessica Mosher
Thomas D. Taylor II wrote:
>
> well, boring. We subscribe to _B_ as well as two other Rodale
> periodicals, _Runner's World_ and _Prevention_. My perception is
> that they all seem to recycle a lot of articles.
I've decided to let my subscription lapse ever since they started
quoting threads in print from this newsgroup.
> Not a real life example, but it's almost if an issue contains an
> article "Better Cycling Through Intervals!" and you seem to recall
> previous articles like "Intervals, Your Key to Better Cycling?", "Get
> Faster with Intervals!", "Intervals: Over-Hyped or Under-Utilized?"
> and "Will Intervals Make You Faster?" all published within the last
> few months.
How about, "Women's Cycling: Riding While Pregnant" Women's Cycling:
Cycling for Two" Women's Cycling: Lessons from the Kid". Not that
there's anything wrong with covering this topic. But I'd bet that, to
cite one example, there are more tandem cyclists than pregnant cyclists
out there and you don't see nearly as much discussion about that.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jessica L. Mosher UniKix Technologies
tabula
Avery Burdett (ab...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA) wrote:
:
: Bicycling Magazine is the poorest excuse for a cycling publication on
: the newstands.
But the beauty of it is that you can read the entire worthwhile content
in one lunchtime browse!
-Ray
tab...@speakeasy.org
http://www.speakeasy.org/~tabula
JerZ Fox
Anyone remember "Cyclist"? It went defunct in 1989. It had some really good
articles and was alot of fun to read.
Diana B.
The JerZ Fox
Money doesn't buy happiness.
Poverty doesn't buy anything.
Rick Arnoldy
Jessica Mosher <jess...@unikix.com> wrote in article
<348C5C...@unikix.com>...
> Thomas D. Taylor II wrote:
> >
> > Is it just me or do other people find _Bicycling_ magazine basically,
> > well, boring. We subscribe to _B_ as well as two other Rodale
> > periodicals, _Runner's World_ and _Prevention_. My perception is
> > that they all seem to recycle a lot of articles.
>
> I've decided to let my subscription lapse ever since they started
> quoting threads in print from this newsgroup.
>
Yeah, the "You know you're a cyclist when..." bit was the most blatant
rip-off I've seen.
Eleanor MacMaster
Jack Dingler is absolutely right! When I thought about what he
had to say, I realized that it was after I began to participate
in the cycling newsgroups that I decided to allow my subscription
to Bicycling lapse.
--
"Biker Chick"
KMsSavage
Thanks for your comment.
My point, which may have been elusive, is:
if Bicycling's staff can't figure out something that simple, how accurate can
the rest of their advice and facts be?
KMsSavage
JerZFox wrote: >Anyone remember "Cyclist"? It went defunct in 1989. It had
some really good articles and was alot of fun to read.
And it went under because the publisher turned into a salivating pryapic
(sp?) FOOL at the sight of a woman rider. He wrote an article about this, many
subscribers cancelled, corporate said "hey you aren't mature enough to run our
mag" but by then the damage was done.
It was a good book with nice photography and interesting articles, until
they unzipped...
KMsSavage
(Jym provided some editorial slants of different Rodale publications.)
Let's see what Velo-News, Winning (Everything), MTB Action, Two-Wheeled Woman
would have to say about those >Reverse delta anterior lat flex crunches ...
contributions welcome!
Ken Kifer
Ken Kifer replies:
I used to go into a rage whenever I thought about the stupid advice they
were giving people. I fell for the training methods, and they didn't
work, and then I started looking hard at some of their other advice.
For instance, one statement they made was that one should never use the
brake on the downhill curve, just lean into it. That's a good way to
die! It is very fast, but the curve may be banked wrong or have a bad
surface. They said if you had to brake, you should brake before the
curve. That's very slow. Every day, I went down two steep, tight
curves on very rough pavement, so I experimented with the fastest way.
The fastest way is to feather the brakes -- that is, brake very lightly
-- just as you gear down in a car. It's also the safest way, because if
things get out of hand, you're got the brakes partially on anyway.
Another bad piece of advice -- bounced from one mag to the other -- (and
I got flamed for calling it a myth in this group, which it is) is that
you can tell if you're dehydrated by the color of your urine. The color
is from vitamins and has absolutely nothing to do with dehydration.
This is a stupid ass-backwards way to solve the problem; if you dump the
Latin term, the closest English word is "thirsty." Ask any 3-year-old
how he can tell if he is thirsty. While, as Velocio used to say, it's
better to drink before you're thirsty, you certainly don't want to wait
to see what color your urine is.
For some reason, people enjoy explanations that make no sense at all, I
don't know why, ask Dr. Science.
-------------(T. S. Elliot The Rock)--------------------
And the wind shall say: "Here were decent godless people:
Their only monument the asphalt road
And a thousand lost golf balls."
Robert P. Cleary
In article <19971207193...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
comu...@aol.com (ComutrBob) wrote:
> I think the big problem with Bicycling Magazine is that they're trying to be
> all things to all cyclists. A little of this and a little of that -- nothing
> in depth. Plus, they are total suck-ups to their advertisers
The most blatant examples of this is in those stupid "fashion"
spread/articles they run. I have also let my subscription lapse. I don't
need to pay for advertising.
--
Bob Cleary
mu...@showme.missouri.edu
Rick C.
How about their" Get fit for a century in 10 weeks"program ...it has
been published at least 10 times since 1990, plus it has been published
at least 3 times in their sister mags...
--
Ricardo Colon-Narvaez
Rick C.
Rick C. wrote:
Then there's the infamous "Cycling induced impotency" article...
After reading that I gathered all my saddles and tied them to a pole and
burned them while chanting "Die you evil saddles!!"
;-)
Thanks to the B_Mag for such great help to the growth of the sport by
printing this article!
BAH!!
Ricardo Colon-Narvaez
Larry Reynolds
While I am relatively new to the cycling world, I did read the article
on bicycling and impotency. Being somewhat active in the medical field,
I found the article to be well written and appearently backed up by
reputable persons, as I recall. I wonder what it was that gives Rick
the feeling that it was not a good article or had at least some element
of truth in it??
As for my own experience, I suffered a nearly a month of numbness and
weekness in both my hands acquired during my first Metric last September
from stress on my Ulner Nerves. So I am aware of at least one side
effect of cycling. Switching to a recumbent solved my problem.
Larry
Jobst Brandt
Ken Kifer writes:
> Another bad piece of advice -- bounced from one mag to the other --
> (and I got flamed for calling it a myth in this group, which it is)
> is that you can tell if you're dehydrated by the color of your
> urine. The color is from vitamins and has absolutely nothing to do
> with dehydration. This is a stupid ass-backwards way to solve the
> problem; if you dump the Latin term, the closest English word is
> "thirsty." Ask any 3-year-old how he can tell if he is thirsty.
> While, as Velocio used to say, it's better to drink before you're
> thirsty, you certainly don't want to wait to see what color your
> urine is.
The people who are most concerned with this are the ones who never
lose enough water to make a difference and seldom ride any distance on
consecutive days. By the time urine is any indicator, there are other
far more obvious indicators that you ought to drink some water. On
the other hand, there are those who listen to Garrison Keilor on how
many glasses of water to drink daily. If Keilor took himself as
seriously as the dehydration folks, he would always wear a Camelback.
Jobst Brandt <jbr...@hpl.hp.com>
Jobst Brandt
Ken Kifer writes:
> I used to go into a rage whenever I thought about the stupid advice
> they were giving people. I fell for the training methods, and they
> didn't work, and then I started looking hard at some of their other
> advice.
> For instance, one statement they made was that one should never use
> the brake on the downhill curve, just lean into it. That's a good
> way to die! It is very fast, but the curve may be banked wrong or
> have a bad surface. They said if you had to brake, you should brake
> before the curve. That's very slow. Every day, I went down two
> steep, tight curves on very rough pavement, so I experimented with
> the fastest way. The fastest way is to feather the brakes -- that
> is, brake very lightly -- just as you gear down in a car. It's also
> the safest way, because if things get out of hand, you're got the
> brakes partially on anyway.
They probably don't have newsgroup reading ability and don;t know that
there are people who have studied this process as you have and have
analyzed it enough to write something for the FAQ as follows:
Subject: 9.15 Descending II
From: Jobst Brandt <jbr...@hpl.hp.com>
Descending or Fast Cornering
Descending on mountain roads, bicycles can reach speeds that are more
common on motorcycles. Speeds that are otherwise not attainable, or
at least not continuously. Criterium racing also presents this
challenge, but not as intensely. Unlike a motorcycle, the bicycle is
lighter than the rider and power cannot be applied when banked over
low. The hard and narrow tires of a bicycle have little traction
margin, so that a slip on pavement is usually unrecoverable.
Drifting a Road Bicycle on Pavement
Riders have claimed that one can slide a bicycle in curves on dry
pavement to achieve greater speed, as in drifting through a turn. A
drift, in contrast to a slide, means that both wheels slip, which is
even more difficult. This notion may come from observing motorcycles,
that can cause a rear wheel slide by applying power when banked over.
Besides, when questioned, the ability was always seen, done by others.
A bicycle can be pedaled only at lean angles far less than the maximum
without grounding a pedal, so that hard cornering is always done
coasting. Therefore, there is no power in the curve. Although
bicycles with high ground clearance have been built, they showed only
that pedaling imbalance has such a disturbing influence on traction,
that pedaling at a greater lean angle than that of a standard road
racing bicycles has no benefit.
That bicycle tires have no margin for recovering a slip at the maximum
lean angle, has been measured by lean-slip tests on roads and testing
machines. For smooth tires on pavement, slipout occurs at slightly
less than 45 degrees from the road surface and is precipitous and
unrecoverable. Although knobby tires have a less sudden slipout and
can be drifted around curves, they begin to sideslip at a far more
upright angle, because they exhibit tread squirm, whereby the tread
fingers walk rather than slip. For this reason, knobby tires cannot
achieve the lean angle of smooth tires, offering no advantage.
How to Corner
Cornering requires assessing the required lean angle before reaching
the apex of the turn, in which the angle with the road surface is the
critical parameter. This angle is limited by the available traction
so to assess it the rider must have an sense for velocity and
traction. For good pavement, the angle is about 45 degrees, in the
absence of oil, water, or smooth and slick spots. Therefore, a curve
banked inward 10 degrees, allows a lean of up to 55 degrees from the
vertical, while a crowned road with no banking, where the surface
falls off about 10 degrees, would allow only up to 35 degrees.
The required lean angle for a curve must be estimated from the
apparent traction and the expected speed after braking to the apex of
the turn. The skill of visualizing the effects of speed, traction,
braking, and curvature is highly complex but it is something humans
and other creatures do regularly in self propulsion. The difficulty
arises in transferring this to speeds higher than customary. When
running, we anticipate how fast and sharply to turn on a sidewalk,
dirt track, or lawn, to avoid sliding. Although on a bicycle the
consequences of error are more severe, the method is the same.
Cornering requires reflexes to dynamics that are usually developed in
youth, but that some have not exercised in such a long time that they
can no longer summon these skills. A single fall strongly reinforces
doubt, so cautious practice is advisable while regenerating these
skills.
Countersteer
Countersteer is a popular subject for people who belatedly discover or
rediscover how to balance. What is not apparent, is that two wheeled
vehicles can be controlled ONLY by countersteer, there is no other
way. It is the means by which a broomstick is balanced on the palm of
the hand or a bicycle on the road. The point of support is moved
beneath the mass to align with the combined forces of gravity and
cornering. This requires steering, counter or otherwise. It is so
obvious that runners never mention it, although football, basketball,
and ice hockey players conspicuously do it.
Braking
Once the basics of getting around a corner are understood, doing it
fast involves careful use of the brakes. Besides knowing how steeply
to lean in curves, understanding the brakes makes the difference
between the average and the fast rider. When approaching a curve with
good traction, the front brake can be used almost exclusively, because
it is capable of slowing the bicycle so rapidly that nearly all weight
transfers to the front wheel, at which point the rear brake is becomes
useless. Once in the curve, more and more traction is used to resist
lateral slip, as the lean angle increases, but that does not mean the
brakes cannot be used. When banked over braking should be done with
both brakes, because now neither wheel has much traction to spare and
with lighter braking, weight transfers to the front diminishes. To
develop a feel for rear wheel lift-off, practice at low speed.
Braking in Corners
Why brake in the turn? If all braking is done before the turn, speed
will be slower than necessary early in the turn. Anticipating the
maximum speed for the apex of the turn is difficult, and because the
path is not a circular arc, speed must be trimmed all the way to the
apex. Fear of braking in curves usually comes from an incident caused
by injudicious braking at a point where both front and rear brakes
must be used with a fine touch to match the conditions.
Substantial weight transfer from the rear to the front wheel will
occur with strong use of the front brake on good traction. This
should be done just before entering the curve. When traction is poor
or the lean angle is great, deceleration and weight transfer is small,
so light braking with both wheels is appropriate. If traction is
miserable, only the rear brake should be used, because although a rear
skid is recoverable, one in the front is generally not. An exception
to this is in deep snow, where the front wheel can slide and function
as a sled runner.
Braking at maximum lean
For braking in a curve, take for example a rider cornering with good
traction, leaning at 45 degrees, the equivalent of 1G centrifugal
acceleration. Braking with 1/10g increases the traction load on the
tires by one half percent. The sum of the braking vectors is the
square root of the sum of the two accelerations squared,
SQRT(1^2+0.1^2)=1.005 or an increase of 0.005. In other words, there
is room to brake substantially during maximum cornering. Because the
lean angle changes as the square of the speed, braking can rapidly
reduce the lean angle and allow even more braking. For this reason
racers nearly always apply both brakes into the apex of turns.
Suspension
Beyond leaning and braking, suspension helps substantially in
descending. For bicycles without built-in suspension, it is furnished
by the legs. Standing up is not necessary on roads with fine ripples,
where just taking the weight off the pelvic bones is adequate. For
rougher roads, enough clearance must be used so the saddle carries no
weight. The reason for this is twofold. Vision will become blurred
if the saddle is not unloaded, and traction will be compromised if the
tires are not kept in contact with the road while skimming over bumps.
The ideal is to keep the tire on the ground at uniform load.
Lean the Bicycle, the Rider, or Both
Some riders believe that sticking the knee out or leaning the body
away from the bike, improves cornering. Sticking out a knee is the
same thing that riders without cleats do when they stick out a foot in
dirt track motorcycle fashion. On paved roads this is a useless but
reassuring gesture that, on uneven roads, even degrades control. Any
body weight that is not centered over the bicycle (leaning the bike or
sticking out a knee) puts a side load on the bicycle, and side loads
cause steering motions if the road is not smooth. Getting weight off
the saddle is also made more difficult by such maneuvers.
To verify this, coast down a straight but rough road standing on one
pedal with the bike slanted, and note how the bike follows an erratic
line. In contrast, if you ride centered on the bike you can ride
no-hands perfectly straight over the same road. Leaning off the bike,
the trail of the front fork causes steering on a rough road,
especially in curves. Centered over the bike gives the best control,
Outside Pedal Down
It is often said that putting the outside pedal down in a curve
improves cornering. Although most experienced riders do this, it is
not because it has anything to do with traction. The reason is that
it enables the rider to unload the saddle while standing with little
effort on a locked knee, and this can only be done on the outside
pedal because the inside pedal would hit the road. However, standing
on one extended leg is not enough if the road is rough, because a
stiff leg cannot absorb road bumps nor raise the rider high enough
from the saddle to avoid getting bounced. Rough surfaces require
rising high enough from the saddle to avoid hard contact while the
legs supply shock absorbing knee action, pedals horizontal.
Vision
Where to direct vision is critical for fast cornering. Central vision
should be focused on the pavement where the tire will track, while
allowing peripheral vision, with its low resolution and good
sensitivity to motion, to detect obstacles and possible oncoming
traffic. Peripheral vision is monitoring the edges of the road and its
surroundings anyway, so the presence of a car in that "backdrop" does
not require additional consideration other than its path.
If central vision is directed at the place where an oncoming vehicle
might appear, its appearance presents a new problem to be confronted
and it will bring image processing of the road surface to a halt for a
substantial time. Because the color or model of car is irrelevant,
this job can be left to peripheral vision in high speed primitive
processing, while concentrating on the surface and composure of the
pavement.
When following another bicycle or a car downhill, the same technique
is even more important, because by focusing on the leading vehicle,
pavement and road alignment information is being obscured and the
tendency is to mentally become a passenger of that vehicle. Always
look ahead of the vehicle ahead keeping it in the peripheral vision.
Many riders prefer to keep their head upright in curves, although
leaning the head with the bicycle and body is more natural to the
motion. Pilots who roll their aircraft do not attempt to keep their
head level during the maneuver, or in curves, for that matter.
The Line
Picking the broadest curve through a corner may be obvious by the time
the preceding skills are mastered, but that may not be the best line,
either for safety or because the road surface is poor. Sometimes it
is better to hit a bump or a "Bott's dot" than to alter the line,
especially at high speed. Tires should be large enough to absorb the
entire height of a lane marker without pinching the tube. This means
that a minimum of a 25mm actual cross section tire is advisable. At
times, the crown of the road is sufficient to make broadening the
curve, by taking the curve wide, counterproductive because the crown
on the far side will restrict the lean angle.
Mental Speed
Mental speed is demanded by all of these. However, being quick does
not guarantee success, because judgment is even more important. Not
be daring but rather to ride with a margin that leaves a feeling of
comfort rather than high risk, is more important. Just the same, do
not be blinded by the age old presumption that everyone who rides
faster than I is crazy. "He descends like a madman!" is one of the
most common descriptions of fast descenders. The comment generally
means that the speaker is slower.
Ride bike!
-------------------------------
Jobst Brandt <jbr...@hpl.hp.com>
Richard Moorman
"Bicycling" magazine deliberately "churns" subscribers - they have to
have new subscribers all the time because I've heard that their
average subscriber retention period is about 18 months. It's not an
illusion that the same articles reappear endlessly.
I found their articles on the BikeE, recumbents, and penile artery
damage very interesting. The first two articles were why I bought a
recumbent in the first place, adn the last one was a nice thing to
wave at people occasionally.
But the rest of it? Nah...
On Sun, 07 Dec 1997 15:56:05 GMT, tdta...@atl.mindspring.com (Thomas
D. Taylor II) wrote:
>Is it just me or do other people find _Bicycling_ magazine basically,
>well, boring. We subscribe to _B_ as well as two other Rodale
>periodicals, _Runner's World_ and _Prevention_. My perception is
>that they all seem to recycle a lot of articles.
>
>Not a real life example, but it's almost if an issue contains an
>article "Better Cycling Through Intervals!" and you seem to recall
>previous articles like "Intervals, Your Key to Better Cycling?", "Get
>Faster with Intervals!", "Intervals: Over-Hyped or Under-Utilized?"
>and "Will Intervals Make You Faster?" all published within the last
>few months.
>
>But my real peeve with Rodale is their never ending stream of renewal
>notices. I swear if I sent them $1,000,000 tomorrow with a note
>instructing them to send me Bicycling as long as the money held out,
>I'd receive an "URGENT! SUBSCRIPTION ENDS SOON!" letter next week.
>
>Oh well.......just waiting for it to warm up enough to go ride.
>
>Tom
>
------------------------------
Richard Moorman
rmoo...@concentric.nospam.net
(Just remove the nospam to reply.)
------------------------------
John Serafin
jbr...@hpl.hp.com (Jobst Brandt) writes:
>They probably don't have newsgroup reading ability and don;t know that
>there are people who have studied this process as you have and have
>analyzed it enough to write something for the FAQ as follows:
Maybe they do and read:
9.14 Descending I
and figured that was it.
Roger has been spotted riding on Arastradero Road when there was a perfectly
good bike path a few feet away. I wonder if he really doesn't brake in a
turn and what a tabloid would pay for a picture if he does.
>Subject: 9.15 Descending II
>From: Jobst Brandt <jbr...@hpl.hp.com>
>Descending or Fast Cornering
--
John P. Serafin | Operating a bicycle is more like driving than riding.
jps at pobox com | Operating an automobile is more like riding than driving.
Garry Lee
You can usually tell you're dehydrated when you're thirsty, except in my
case when it's extremely hot. I've been cycling on occasions abroad up
around 37C or more, which no Irishman is used to, and have found myself
pissing amber crystals without feeling thirsty.
Rick C.
Larry Reynolds wrote:
>
> While I am relatively new to the cycling world, I did read the article
> on bicycling and impotency. Being somewhat active in the medical field,
> I found the article to be well written and appearently backed up by
> reputable persons, as I recall. I wonder what it was that gives Rick
> the feeling that it was not a good article or had at least some element
> of truth in it??
>
> As for my own experience, I suffered a nearly a month of numbness and
> weekness in both my hands acquired during my first Metric last September
> from stress on my Ulner Nerves. So I am aware of at least one side
> effect of cycling. Switching to a recumbent solved my problem.
>
First of all, if you read the article and saw the piece on "20/20", you
might just find out that the study conducted didn't have any piece of
hard evidence to it.It just had some testimonials from patients and some
misleading cause and effect assumptions. There was a lengthy discussion
on this NG soon after the "20/20" piece aired and most everybody found a
major flaw or two in the way that this story was presented.
I'm as interested in preserving my manhood intact as the next guy, but
to come out and publish something without the necessary facts to back it
up is just irresponsible. I too have had some numbness in "that" area
after a hard ride and I solved it the way that it's supposed to be
solved, I corrected my seat position.
One more thing on the "20/20" piece. They showed the bike that belonged
to one of the patients being treated by the Dr. and it was a piece of
crap bike with a piece of crap saddle and really bad position setup.
I've subscribed to the B_mag for almost 9 years now, but I only do it
because that way I have some reading material to last me 1-2 hours, even
if it's repetitive. My really favorite mags, the ones I just read over
and over because they're really good are Cycle Sport (no better magazine
on earth) and VeloNews (a distant second).
Hope that clears things up for you a bit.
Ricardo Colon-Narvaez
Dfklaw
I basically agree about the minuses of Bicycling Magazine, but will continue to
be a subscriber because it does generally serve for an hour or so of amusement.
I'd like to tout a monthly mag "Midwest Silent Sports" out of WI for general
reading. It deals with running, xcountry, canoeing, and other human powered
sports, is informative, and helpful for regional events. It really focuses on
the northern Midwest, but we in the Banana Belt can always dream!
Dennis P. Harris
On 7 Dec 1997 19:38:51 GMT in rec.bicycles.misc,
comu...@aol.com (ComutrBob) wrote:
>I think the big problem with Bicycling Magazine is that they're trying to be
>all things to all cyclists. A little of this and a little of that -- nothing
>in depth. Plus, they are total suck-ups to their advertisers. There's no
>objectivity in their review of products. The more seriously I get into the
>sport, the less satisfied I am with Bicycling Magazine.
i refused to renew because they sent my first renewal notice with
my second issue, and continued to send me mailings 2 or 3 times a
month until about 6 months after the sub expired. in addition,
rodale sold my name to a number of cycling and sports catalogers,
who began sending me junk mail and catalogs i don't want, in
spite of my asking a number of times that they *not* resell my
name!
i have emailed and complained by phone a number of times, but i
continue to get junk mail from them. well, it's been about six
weeks since i've had some, so maybe the last complaint worked.
but rodale makes a lot of profit from selling their lists (i
know, i read the direct mail trade press), so beware of
subscribing to any of their publications.
and the content is indeed partly recycled, as are the "books"
(actually booklets) that you get for subscribing...
==============================================================
I actively boycott and never buy from any organization that
sends Usolicited Commercial Email or SPAMs Usenet newsgroups!
SPAMBOTs which harvest sigfiles will like replies from
frau...@psinet.com and p...@govt-aff.senate.gov
Dennis P. Harris NO_SPAM_FO...@alaska.net
Virtual Juneau http://www.alaska.net/~dpharris
Peter Saint James
tim...@minn.net (Tim McNamara) wrote:
> I think their target audience is not the 5,000-10,000 mile per
>year racer/enthusiast. Oddly enough, most of their staff seem to fall
>into that category!
Yes. I was quite surprised when in an article on how the staff
trained I realized that I rode more miles per year than all except two
of the staff members--and I don't ride that many miles! I realized
that I probably had more experience than some of them, so I don't need
their mag.
One of the reasons that the content of the mag is so bad is because of
Rodale's poor relations with free-lance writers. They try to grab all
rights, pay poorly, and are afraid of anything that does not follow
their format.
It seems that this is not a mag for bicyclists as much as for people
who want to spend money on bicycling products.
Peter Saint James
Tim Smith
On Sat, 13 Dec 1997 20:49:26 GMT, pete...@ix.netcom.com (Peter Saint
James) wrote:
> It seems that [Bicycling] is not a mag for bicyclists as much as for people
>who want to spend money on bicycling products.
That sums it up very neatly.
--Tim (tss...@best.com)
Garry Lee
I think that the two best mags are Cycling Plus (British) and the CTC
magazine. I like to read good product reviews, descriptions of good tours
etc. and they have them.
Tim Smith
The CTC magazine I get regularly, and it is fine. Cycling Plus is only
received erratically on this side of the turbulent, Titanic-free
ocean. What I've seen, I've liked.
--Tim (tss...@best.com)
Martin Goldstein
I agree! I pay to have them airmaied.
Be well.
Martin
Joe C
Hey, I can top that one:
For a couple of ears, I bought their 'Cycling Calendar'.
Well, For a couple of years, I didn't buy it, yet, it showed up
in my mailbox anyway! Thanks Rodale!
Well, they started sending me billing statements for said calendar.
I replied with a note stating that 'I never ordered the calendar and
to remove my name from the billing list.'. Did I keep the calendars?
Why yes, I did. I talked to the US PostMaster where I lived and he said
that since I never ordered the calendar, it is not my responsibility
to return it.
Rodale continued to send me billing statements. I finally ignored them
after awhile. The straw that broke the camel's back was when a
collection agency called and told me that Rodale had turned me over to
them to collect the fees for two calendars!
"Look," I told the person on the phone. "I never ordered the calendar to
begin with! I have written letters to Rodale telling them this and they
have ciontinued to harass me." I then went on to tell the operator on
the phone what the postmaster had told me. The only response I got
on the other end of the phone was silence, followed by a 'We will take
of this for you...'.
That was a couple of years ago. To this day, I still get propositioned
by Rodale for their frickin mag and calendars.
Joe Cipale
David Martin
Garry Lee wrote:
>
> I think that the two best mags are Cycling Plus (British) and the CTC
> magazine. I like to read good product reviews, descriptions of good tours
> etc. and they have them.
Add to the list Paa Sykkel (The Norwegian equivalvent of the CTC mag but
you have to be able to read norwegian) and Bicycle Culture Quarterly.
Both of these are on the web. Both have a variety of good and
interesting articles. PS has a lot more news and is obviously written by
experienced cyclists though lacks the breadth of a mag from a larger
country. (Still has more reading matter in it than 'bicycling in ten
minutes a month'). I find London Cyclist a better read than Bicycling.
..d
--
* David Martin - Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis research group *
* http://www.uio.no/~damartin/ david....@biotek.uio.no *
* Lab +47 22 95 84 54 Fax +47 22 69 41 30 GSM +47 90 74 27 65 *
mlightner
Joe C wrote:
The management there must be a bunch of turkeys - the first year I
subscribed
to them I got two renewal notices before I got the 1st mag, and I got
probably
twice as many notices than magazines. I wrote notes to them telling what I
thought about their junk mail three times before the flow of renewal notices
slowed down. Then I renewed and they started cranking out notices again.
They've already got the last cent they'll ever get out of me.
What a bunch a turkeys...oh, well.
josh
--
josh...@cheta.net(Michael Lightner)
homepage: www.cheta.net/mlightner/
Dorai Sitaram
I'm only just beginning to peruse these magazines, and so I
am not jaded yet, but what I find dismaying is the total
non-mention of rigids. I'm in the market for a good-quality
rigid mtb, and I've read high and I've read low, but it
appears that these animals are now extinct. Are they?
In "suspense",
--d
Jack Dingler
'a good-quality rigid mtb' is not trick, trendy or expensive enough to
interest 'Bicycling' magazine. Unless it's bleeding edge, looks really
rad, expensive, and has some advertising bucks behind it, a product
isn't going to appear in the magazine.
From the informal info gathered here, it appears that Bicycling's target
audience is newbies who don't know any better. Most of us have learned
that the best component to apply the effort to improving, is ourselves.
--
* Jack Dingler * I'm going back on the bicycle,
* jdin...@onramp.net * I just can't pay the bills.
* Probably not * I'm going back on the bicycle,
* your opinion * Freewheel down the hills.
* * - Tommy Sands -
Karl Krasnowsky
Hey! Now you know how us Touring Roadies feel! ;^)#
Dorai Sitaram wrote:
>
> I'm only just beginning to peruse these magazines, and so I
> am not jaded yet, but what I find dismaying is the total
> non-mention of rigids. I'm in the market for a good-quality
> rigid mtb, and I've read high and I've read low, but it
> appears that these animals are now extinct. Are they?
>
> In "suspense",
>
> --d
--
--------------------------------------------
For anti spam purposes I may have purposely
decorated my return address. Please remove
the NODAMNSPAM portion of my return address
when responding if applied.
--------------------------------------------
Robert Schaap
In message <349346d7....@nntp.best.com>, tss...@best.com (Tim Smith)
wrote:
a number of health and fitness mags-if so, I know they cross-pollinate, the
company is like another counter culture out there in PA. Perhaps they exercise
in other ways as well-surely a good idea, to keep the hunchback away.
Rob.
Posted with Ink Spot