[Clublist] AthensGaBicycling.com Newsletter
j...@athensgabicycling.com
Athens, Georgia the premier bicycling community in the United States!*
Hello AthensGaBicycling riders,
The bad news is this week marks the end of most 6:00pm rides, due to the limited light in the evening. For example today’s sunset according to Google is 7:28pm. So let’s make the most of the rides this week. In many cases this week has some of the largest rides, since many people cannot make rides earlier than 6:00pm due to work and family obligations.
The good news is next week most rides start 30 minutes earlier to help get the ride in before it is dark. Please check the ride calendar for the specific ride you are joining. Though the rides next week may have a few less people because of the earlier departure, just remember it is not the size of the peloton, but the quality of the peloton that is most important.
Tonight’s 6:00pm Antelope ride from Oconee Heights Baptist Church should be a great one. Since last week the ride was joined by the 5:30pm Cheetah Hub riders, all the riders received an excellent workout and will be in great shape this week.
One other long-term planning note. The Winter Bike League (WBL) is officially moving all rides to The Hub Bicycles for the “official” WBL riding season, which begins December 6. Of course, the “unofficial” rides begin in November (also from The Hub) and are highly recommended for those Antelopes and Cheetahs, who are riding during the “official” WBL season. Please see The Winter Bike League’s web site for complete details: http://www.winterbikeleague.com/
Many other great rides this week. Please see the Ride Calendar.
AGB Tip of the Week:
“Clear” and the peloton. Remember in a peloton when someone ahead states, “Clear” that is true only at that moment in time and a car that is coming from the left or right can easily make it “not clear” in a matter of seconds. With this in mind always look for yourself at every stop sign or turn. Now for the logic/math portion of the Newsletter:
A car is coming at 40 mph, a typical speed for in town cars, from the left, but is perceived as far away by the leader of the peloton, who says, “Clear left” and proceeds from the stop sign into the intersection. A rider who is 7 riders back in a double paceline peloton hears this as the peloton proceeds into the intersection. Should the rider go full speed ahead without looking left? Hint: A car traveling at 40 mph, is traveling at 59 fps (feet per second)
AGB’s recommended answer: No, always look left, when crossing any intersection even in a peloton. If the rider that is 7 riders back takes 7 seconds to reach the intersection, the car traveling at 40 mph has covered 413 feet or over four football fields in those 7 second. So a car that is perceived as far away 7 seconds ago will now by most people be perceived as too close for a bicycle and rider to safely enter the intersection.
(For most people, the above is the best answer; but just in case there happens to be philosophical debate among the riders: AGB used classical mechanics rather than quantum mechanics to calculate the answer since classical is deterministic and there is a debate among physicists, scientists, engineers and mathematicians whether quantum is probabilistic or deterministic.)
Good riding!
Joe
For details on all the group rides, please visit the Ride Calendar:
AthensGaBicycling Ride calendar: http://athensgabicycling.com/group-ride-calendar
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