Road Cycling: Things you never realized/noticed untill you started cycling

1. I can ride my bike up a 9% grade
2. I like pain
3. Early Saturday morning + back country road + hum of my tires on asphalt = nirvana

Sometimes it's better to give a pedestrian a fright as you whiz past on a shared cycleway than to ring your bell and have them stop, look around and then try to get out of the way. on the flipside pedestrians are unpredictable animals and warning them will help avoid a collision (or at least hard braking and loss of momentum.

Pedestrians on mobile phone have no clue what is going on around them stay well clear.

not much point ringing a bell for a jogger with and ipod - and they've ALL got one.

i still think it's safer to run into a pedestrian (not yet) than be hit by a car!

Things I've noticed:

1) Old, under-serviced country roads form a ridge down the center. This is the BEST place to ride a bike.

2) A mink playing in a storm ditch by the side of a corn field is so much more beautiful than a mink coat on Broadway.

3) Words cannot describe the majesty of two golden eagles in flight.

4) Fields full of corn are much better at blocking a breeze than a field of soybeans.

5) It was a lot more fun riding past cornfield after cornfield before I knew the names, Stephen King and Malachy.

6) Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" may be a great song, but having it stuck in your head for 4 hours will have you looking for an ice pick to dig it out when you get home.

7) Drivers with gunracks in the back of their pickup trucks can actually be more courteous the a Prius driver with a bike rack.

How surprised I am when I stumble onto a road with bike lanes.

How pissed I get when I see another cyclist riding the WRONG WAY in a bike lane.

How much I loathe cars.

How terrible people in south-eastern michigan really are.

How I love when people pass me right before a stop sign, then watch me pass them as I blow right through the stop sign. 

How I cannot wait to get my first traffic ticket while biking. Asking the officer what happens if I dont pay this? Are you going to take my bike license? Crumpling it up in front of him or her and riding off.

How I cannot wait to buy a can of pepper spray with a bike mount. The next time someone pulls up and starts talking shit they get sprayed and I ride off laughing.

Ironically enough, in Southern Cali, I've noticed SSSSOOOO many more people coming closer to oncoming traffic than me.  People are usually so good about not endangering me.  Maybe it's just me.  There have been a couple people I've made a comment to or given a facetious thumbs up, but, when I'm in an auto, that's where I see the retardation! 

I've noticed Prius drivers seem to be cruising in their own little worlds, usually looking less like part of normal civilization, not noticing the rest of what's going on.  It appears that the Prius thing is hype, a trend.  You can get better mileage on a scooter.  Way better.  That's a generalization based on my experience, not 100%.  Also, I haven't heard of too many Prius owners discussing hydrogen on demand.  Hydroxy (hydrogen/oxygen) hybrid systems not only increase fuel economy and efficiency, butalso virtually eliminate your emmisions!  And you can add it to any vehicle on the road!  

I've noticed how great it is to explore.  Take your bike on vacation!  Went to Flagstaff with my wife and 3 kids, and brought the bike.  If you're up at 5:30, you will be blessed by what you can discover in (personally) uncharted terrain! And the Fam won't even miss you!  Also, take your camera with.  25 miles from Flagstaff had some great photo opps.  

The health care and obesity comment: here, here.  Get up off your couch.  There is a sun outside that is quite refreshing.  Get some fresh food that comes from the ground.  Try cooking!  It's amazing!  I love animals, but I have an increasingly large garden that continues to bless my family, friends and of course, ME!  All that comes from the ground is designed to be good for you.  Those picky people,  Try new things.  Your body will thank you! 

UMmmmmm theres so much I notice or think about...many have already been said, and some are new to me but on reflection probably quite true.

Over here in New Zealand we are just coming into spring, and I live in the country, so my rides are currently passing through rolling hill country and sheep farms so every paddock is full of new born lambs and calves....unfortunatly the pine trees are full of nesting Magpies which are territorial and attack bright shiney things like cyclists...a Magpie with its beak wedged into the slats in you helmet is a worry LOL.

I've just got back in from a brief ride this afternoon of about 15 miles and the one thing I did notice is that sping winds always seem to be head winds!

An Australian perspective.  I live in Melbourne, in southern Australia.

My theory on car drivers and their aggression.

Most of us are car drivers too.

Being in a car is like being in a cocoon and the worst habits, angers, aggressions that a person feels come out inside that cocoon.  BUT...car driving is set in one of the most social, regimented environments possible.  Rules, laws, protocols. 

So, combine rules and laws with people alone with their anger and their metal machines equals very dangerous behaviour - generally, let alone vis-à-vis cyclists.

We all do it - there are dicks everywhere.

As 99% of us are drivers too, we can understand this.  But to the average driver, the cyclist represents an attack on their inferiority complexes.  Cyclists can do something healthy and enjoyable; they (the drivers) are doing something they have to do, i.e. getting to work etc.

They envy our freedom.  They then try to self-justify their criticism and their anger - "look at the stupid gits in lycra", "who do they think they are, Lance Armstrong?" etc. etc.

99.9% of drivers are fine.  It's the .01% who don't yield a half-metre or barrel past you within six inches, they're the dicks. 

Other comments:

1.        I cycle to work every day.  I live too far from work, so I part drive; part cycle.  I am amazed that it is not difficult to drive in cleats!

2.        I go for long rides on the weekends.

3.        I love the (many) roads that have either bike dedicated lanes or wide shoulders.

4.        I hate magpies - spring is upon us in Australia and I hate being swooped by magpies - a most terrifying thing.

5.        I usually look at the weather forecasts on the internet and, if there is a big wind blowing, will catch a train against the wind and come home with the wind.

6.        I listen to music on my i-pod attached to my mobile (cell) phone.  Amazingly, whilst it blocks traffic noise, I have a very alert and aware knowledge of traffic around me.

7.        It is helpful to have been a driver for 30 years, so as to understand the mentality of drivers as they navigate around you.

8.        Don't like snakes in Australia; they can be anywhere and they just look like twigs until you just about ride across them - especially, killer brown snakes.

9.        Australia is a comparatively flat country to other countries like the USA, so we don't have killer mountains to climb.  They would be "pimples" to readers from other countries.

10.     I have ridden for 20 years but only 2 or so years ago did I muster the courage to wear lycra.  Best decision I ever made.

11.     But, I'm still not too slim.  I do know the location of every McDonalds and KFC in Melbourne!!!

12.     Cycling is great fun.  As a heavier cyclist (see immediately preceding paragraph), going up big hills is hard, but I manage to do them, notwithstanding that I weigh approx twice the weight of the best Aussie cyclist, Cadel Evans.  That's heavy haulage.

13.     I recently swapped from a Taiwanese-made Giant bike to a little-known Italian, artisinal brand, Olympia.  Like chalk and cheese.  Go Italian every time.  Visit http://www.olympiacicli.it/ - lovely road bike.

14.     I look like a dork every time I cycle, but I still cycle.

Great thread.

I used to bicycle-around in the 70's on a run-of-the-mill Schwinn (You know...back when they called bottom brackets "hangers".), and had't touched a bicycle between 1980 and September of 2008.

I bicycled-around on a K-Mart-purchased Schwinn since last year (at most a mile or two every few days), until just recently.

I've been "cycling" on the same Schwinn two or three days a week for the past 74 days (according to my Wii-Fit fitness log, because it's probably the most enjoyable way of keeping fit that I can imagine.

I don't care for urban cycling because of untended roads, lack of bicycle lanes, and the all too often requirement to stop for signal lights; so I tend to stick with the river cycle ways.

Things I've noticed over the past 74 days:

1. 30 MPH (48 KPH) sure seems a lot faster when you're pushing the pedals on a bike, instead of a car.
2. Drivers in LA County don't seem to understand the purpose of a crosswalk--they WILL run over you without looking at you--so you'd better see them first.
3. On a 40 mile circuit, as long as I keep moving, I feel fine--temperature-wise--but as soon as I stop riding, I feel like I'm going to burst into flames.
4. I now love breezes!
5. When I pass by one of those "cycling clubs" on my "less than chic" bike, they laugh loud enough for me to hear them for nearly 100 yards (I also wear running gear and a cowboy hat).
6. When the members of that same "cycling club" can't seem to muster the horsepower to catch up to me (or even pass me), on my "less than chic" bike, I can hear--quite clearly--that they are not laughing anymore.
7. When I'm riding a bike, I don't just enjoy the scenery like I do in a car, I feel as though I'm immersed in it.
8. Every occasion I go out on a ride, I can see improvement in the physical me: another mile per hour faster on a straight away or up a grade, or longer distances between coasting, or feeling more energized after a long ride.
9. Big dogs rarely chase me on the bike.  It's the little ones (the ones that will get sucked into my chain or scrambled-up in my spokes--Toy Poodles, Chihuahuas) that seem to want to chase me.
10. Having a cell phone with you, on a ride,is such a good idea that it's a ridiculous proposition not to bring it.
11. Having a Bluetooth GPS hockey puck, and Google Maps (or Nav4All), with you is an even better idea (GPS integrated into most cell phones is pretty bad, comparatively).
12. Fellow cyclists are generally good folks, and willing to engage in friendly conversation.
13. Stopping to help a fellow cyclist, with a problem (s)he is having, is the right thing to do, spreads good Karma, makes instant friends, and just plain feels good.
14. I prefer "old school" lever friction shifters to indexed shifters.
15. Having done a 60 mile circuit this past Saturday, it'll only be a few more weeks before I'm doinf "century rides".
16. This wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't quit smoking bout 2-1/2 years ago.

I have been cycling for only a couple of months.  Now that I have been on the road a lot more here are my comments.

1) How affraid some riders are to getting on the road to ride, and how "CRAZY" they say I am for riding on the roads.

2) The different sounds of birds that vary with the different times of day.

3) How confused some animals look when they see you ride past them.

4) How many people don't let their dogs ride with their face in the wind, and how happy the dogs look when they do.

5) How some dogs are so brave, or stupid, to try to jump out of the back of moving trucks. Only one has made (unlucky for him).

6) How different a light rain shower feels while riding.

7) How difficult it is to clean your bike after a rain ride.

8) What a big differance wearing some kind of eye glasses  make to keep the bugs out.  I have a set of clear lens that I use, and no more bugs in the eyes.

9) If you yell at the dogs that do chase you "Go home, go inside, no, get inside" One of those always works, and if not a little water squirt in the face has seem to stop them.

10) Chicks tend to dig the shaved arms and legs, it is always an ice breaker. 

 -Kid-