[SDCBC] Threadjack: The trackystand wobble.

[Bicyclist]

I suspect that many people using bicycles, especially but not only 
those using a pedal-foot retention system, are just not comfortable 
enough with their (lack of) skill at starting and stopping a 
bicycle... besides wanting to keep rolling momentum, they feel 
uncomfortable coming to a stop and ungainly starting out.

Besides their unsureness with exit and entry from the pedals, many 
people don't know (or forget) to put/pull/place a pedal up at a 
power-position (2:00 O'clock?) for a take-off; they use a foot on the 
ground push to start up.... related and part of the cause of this, 
lots of otherwise well equipped riders don't get off of their 
seat/saddle to start out and when coming to a stop. All Road 1 skills.

It's difficult to try to help someone unless they ask, but modeling 
good riding techniques - a form of "style'n" - might eventually help 
reduce the "trackystand wobbles" and inappropriate rolling non-stops.

Jim (used to lean on traffic signal/sign posts for fear of unclipping) Baross


At 08:43 AM 6/20/2008, rob_leone at earthlink.net wrote:

>Hello! I'd like to divert the "what's a stop?" topic from the 
>"Stop-and-roll" thread.
>
>I personally have come to a full stop, looked both ways, evaluated 
>traffic and restarted without my feet leaving the pedals on many 
>occasions. On the other hand, those who've ridden with me may have 
>noticed I don't have clips, straps, cleat-holders or any othe form 
>of real retention on any of my bikes, so I'm ready far more quickly 
>and conveniently to drop my toes to the tarmac. This isn't always 
>safer (I've got to take real care to keep the feet on the pedals in 
>the rain, for example).
>
>One of the things that drives me nuts (sorry Carol Carr, it doesn't 
>drive me nuts enough to write a "Chainguard" article about it) is 
>when some rider somehow equates unclipping, unstrapping or otherwise 
>removing an appendage from a pedal and coming in contact with the 
>earth with some sort of soul-death, like putting child-seats in 
>minivans or stepping on cracks in the sidewalk. They slowly wobble 
>across one, two lanes of traffic unable to go forward for regulatory 
>reasons (like stop lights) and unable for internal reasons to just 
>put a foot down (for reasons that Freud could probably identify 
>although I doubt they cover bike fit in med school anatomy classes, 
>even in the 1880's or so). The imitation track stand is a really 
>good way to negatively impress the "cagers" with cyclist's 
>willingness to face up to road conditions, especially when the 
>cyclist falls over because they didn't want to unclip (seen that 
>twice in the last six months on my commute).
>
>Robert "I make the coffee, not the policy at the SDCBC" Leone