I saw a girl riding her bike out in Mesa who looked like a she was riding to campus, but I thought, “nah, she is not riding that far.” I went to the store, did a 
little shopping and as I was driving home I saw the same girl who apparently yes, was riding that far. Good for her, you might think. A real trooper. Yes she is a real trooper, but her seat was so low and her tires so un-inflated that she had to lean side-to-side to get that old Trek 800 to move forward. She could have gotten there with so much less effort. It was over 100 ° that day!
Here are a few simple rules that I see violated every day. If you follow these rules you can go farther with less effort.
- Pump up your tires. I ride at max psi and then some. This alone can decrease your effort considerably.
- Properly oil your chain once a week. Do you really want to waste energy making noise? Plus the squeaking sound makes you a person on a bike instead of a cyclist.
- Properly adjust your seat height. When your seat is in the right position you get to use all of your leg muscles. When it is too low you are only using two. When it is too high, you are just going to get chaffed. (I rarely see it too high)
- Pedal with the ball of your foot.* Not your heels or arches. Again, you get to use more muscles this way.
Follow these rules and you can get to where you are going with less effort, guaranteed. Plus you will exercise all of your leg, and someday have killer gams like me. One last rule: wear a helmet so your family will not have to feed you with a spoon.
*The ball of the foot is where the toes join with the rest of the foot. (via Wikipedia, the source of all trvth)
on Sep 17th, 2009 at 4:20 am
I see this kind of thing a lot. A few weeks ago, I rode up behind of a couple of very attractive college girls. Their seats were so low, I was suprised they could even pedal at all. As we rode alongside each other for a few seconds, I asked them if they were open to advice. They said okay, so I suggested that they raise their seats, but they said they didn’t know how. I pointed to the local bike shop, which was visible from our vantage point, only a half mile away.
To this day, the boys down at the LBS thank me for sending those two cuties, and their long summer legs, into the shop to adjust their seat height.
Just doing my part.
on Sep 17th, 2009 at 11:46 am
You are a saint.
on Sep 19th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
My brother pointed out my too-low seat during a ride through Rock Creek Park. Surprised me since my legs are so short! I didn’t think my seat could possibly be too low. But after he raised it up for me I had to admit it. He was right!