Phil (ascentale)

Our community discussion #BikeNite starts in about an hour, at 4pm Pacific (UTC-8). I post cycle-y questions w/ Q1, Q2, Q3; if you answer w/ A1, A2, A3, etc, it's easier to match.

Tag #BikeNite if you want your answer to be more discoverable; follow it to see questions & replies in your feed. Boost & reply to replies to keep the discussion going.

(You can follow the BikeNiteQ tag so questions are easier to find, but don't include this in your answers)

image: @meganL cc @bikenite

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Also a programming note: I am trying to schedule via Phanpy this week, rather than Buffer. The character limit on Buffer is challenging to work with, but I appreciated the prescheduled slots for posts. We'll see how it works!

@grammasaurus @bikenite

Hopefully the scheduler is working?

A1. I am in Oakland, CA, and am prepping for a 4th of July bike costume as well as for a trip to England next week. (Part of the trip will be in London mid-week, and Iam excited!)

We have been very fortunate to not have had very hot weather yet this year, though it sometimes comes later in the year when it is wildfire season..

I don't have great recommendations other than I haven't been doing long rides in the heat for quite some time. But I did get terrible electrolyte imbalance headaches in the past, and so if I am smart about preparation, I take electrolyte tablets and electrolyte drinks, and plenty of liquid.

#BikeNite

@SamUpstate @bikenite A2 part 2

Legal liability: I guess you could have a waiver but the sad fact is that though it's hopefully rare, kids get hurt in cars on the way to school. Parents carpool their kids all of the time and there's usually no liability waiver involved there

Happy to answer any other questions you might have. Ours never got very big but we did it consistently, probably ~150+ bike buses over our (now ended) elementary school career

#BikeNite

@SamUpstate @bikenite A2. I think BikeBusWorld has a good summary:
https://bikebus.world/how-to-start-a-bike-bus
I wrote this a long time ago when I first started one but it is dated:
https://ascentale.com/starting-a-bike-train-to-help-kids-bike-to-school
There's a giant many many paged PDF from Alameda County Safe Routes to School that goes into tons of detail but it might make it scarier than it really is.

I think the most basic thing is to consistently ride it and look for families who are already riding and get them to do it with you.

Then find friends of kids who are riding or people who see you (always be talking about it or give people an easy way to join in) and ride with them

For safety of kids, we have adults ride in the front, back and middle. We ride through a fairly busy street that we can't avoid, and we just take the lane. The middle adult(s) kind of keep kids on the right side of the road so they don't cross the double-yellow as necessary.

1/2

#BikeNite

@isol asks:

Q7. Are there any books, movies, TV shows where the *details* of a bicycle are vital to solving the crime?

I've read "The Five Red Herrings" murder mystery, which has a lot of bicycles being "borrowed", or sent on trains, but I'm wondering more like Sherlock finds a hat and deduces the owner's IQ, marital disharmony, economic trajectory, etc., etc.

Something like finding a broken master link, knowing the type of chain wax used (because he's written a paper on the 47 most popular brands), and because it's Silca, the rider must have been a keen GCN viewer during the Silca sponsorship period, which means it was a carbon frame…

Or that impression in the mud matches the aerodynamic dimple pattern on the "Ecstatic Beetle" brand carbon wheel, which were only sold [somewhere], and only rated for a rider weighing less than …

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@elliek @bikenite A4. Amazing that you haven't had flats until now! I thought I saw somewhere a cheap option for lifting an ebike for servicing it. I think it might have been something as simple as putting the bottom bracket up on a box or crate? I can't remember though 😩

Tire sealant, mixed success. When I've used it, it's probably prevented a couple of flats I didn't know about. But a couple of things:
I rode over a large piece of glass once, made a gash in my tire, and all of the sealant came out onto my leg and bike frame.
Other times, when the sealant wasn't able to seal the leak, it was very hard to patch because the sealant was wet, and I couldn't apply the patch to the rubber cement without sealant being in the way.
So I don't really use it anymore.

#BikeNite

@BongoTwisty asks:

Q6. When riding up a hill do you find yourself gripping the handlebars tight and pulling with your arms?

I do and was wondering to what benefit since it's my legs that turn the pedals.

I've been trying out just resting my hands on the bars to see what difference it makes. It's much more relaxed and I can still get up most hills in that style.

Occasionally I do have to employ the "arm assist" so it obviously does help to a degree but thinking a bit more finesse in the bio-mechanical function would redirect energy to where it's needed most - the legs.

What's your thoughts on this?

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@SamUpstate asks:

I've been interested in trying to organize a bike bus in my suburban school district.

Q2. What resources are there for that kind of effort? I'm particularly concerned about the safety of the kids and legal liability for the adults involved.

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@gbargoud asks:

Q5a. If you have more than one bike, how much overlap do they have in their functionality?

Q5b. If you're going on a ride do you immediately know which bike you're taking because it's obvious or do you have to debate which one you feel like riding today because there are multiple that would be good for it?

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@uxMark asks:

While acknowledging that, for some folks:
n=current number of bikes
n+1=optimal number of bikes

Q3. If you could have only *one* style (or brand) of bike, what would it be for you? Why this one? And what might you be giving up?

#BikeNiteQ #BikeNite #BikeTooter #Cycling #MastoBikes cc @bikenite

Welcome to #BikeNite on Friday, July 3rd.

Thanks for joining our chat. Anyone can join, now or later. Reply to what you like, and boost for visibility.

Our intro, and question from @grammasaurus

Q1. Where are you posting from today?

It's unsafely hot in many parts of the USA, and was last week in Europe. If you must, what’s your best hot weather cycling tip?

#BikeNiteQ #BikeTooter @bikenite

@elliek asks:

I had my first flat tire EVER this week! I've been riding for 71 years, so that's saying something.

The culprit was the screw in the photo. The holes (2 of them) were too big to allow me to ride home.

An e-bike is not an easy road repair, so we got it home to fix.

Q4a. Without a bike stand/lifter (expensive), any tips to repair a tire on such a bike at home?

Q4b. Has anyone used Slime (or similar)? What's your experience with it?

Photos: https://zeroes.ca/@elliek/116813148966063572

#BikeNiteQ #BikeNite #BikeTooter cc @bikenite

And our last question this week: your week in a photo.

Q8. What did you see this week? Reply with a photo if you'd like. Cycling related or not is fine. Tell us about it!

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