Various discoveries

[pegkerr]

1. I still do not have the finicky knack of adjusting my helmet mirror. It is either over too far for me to easily see in my peripheral vision, or it is at the wrong angle. This is very frustrating. I do have to take it off and switch it from one side of the helmet to the other halfway through the commute, when I switch from a two way street (bike over to the right) to a one way street (bike lane over on the left).

2. I am developing a lovely pattern of greenish bruises on the backs of my calves where they keep hitting the panniers as I push off from the curb.

3. Portland Avenue is a rather busy road.

4. I actually can bike ten miles a day. Wow.

5. It's only Monday, and I have already exceeded my number-of-minutes exercise goal for the week (120).

6. I have never been so aware of or irritated by the fact that I live at the top of a hill.

7. I am still the slowest bicyclist on the road. I hope I will get faster.

(What is good for getting bicycle grease off the hands? I keep daubing myself when locking up.)

Comments

[knitmeapony.livejournal.com]

There's this waterless cleaner called GoJo (though I think you can get generic brands -- yes, I see my current tub is called Orange Goop Hand Cleaner) that is designed to break up grease and other garage/mechanic related ick. Take a dab, rub briskly, wipe with towel. Works like a charm and you smell faintly of orange!

[satakieli.livejournal.com]

Glycerin soap, I think. Neutrogena used to make one; they probably still do.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

I found GoJo works better than glycerin soap or dish soap for removing grease residue from skin. For clothes, it's really best to keep your good clothes away from the grease altogether, but OxyClean can help in the occasional emergency.

[folk.livejournal.com]

Undilute, un-wet yellow Dawn and a rough-scrubby-dishsponge. Put the Dawn on, then scrub; don't wet it down until you're clean for best effect.

(My injury was always on my shins, where I kept barking them against the pedals!)

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

All of the above, plus bike-shop "citrus degreaser" -- orange-peel distillate, I believe.

[jbru.livejournal.com]

Rather than push off the curb, you can rotate your crank so that the foot opposite the one you would push off with is at its highest point. Then when it's time to roll you just step up on that foot and let your weight push the crank and get you going. I hope that makes sense and that I'm not being foolishly advice-giving if you already do this and still push off.

In any case, hurrah for you! So cool to see you doing the full 10 miles so soon!

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

No, that makes sense. I will try that tomorrow. Thanks.

[naomikritzer]

Congratulations! And you'll get faster, don't worry.

[aome.livejournal.com]

I'm so impressed by your bike-to-work commitment.

Try Borox hand soap? It's abrasive, might help with the grease. Or - and this is just a wild guess, literally - baking soda?

[annieways.livejournal.com]

1. I never could get my helmet mirror adjusted correctly, so I bought handlebar mirrors.

Go-Jo will get the grease off.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Nothing beats gojo for cleaning grease off hands. It works and it's cheap.

I've never had to move my mirror. If I had that situation, assuming the right position was uncommon, I'd probably put a handlebar mirror over there for that part of the ride.

I don't think there's such a thing as having a bike mirror perfectly adjusted. I just got used to moving my head around to look around. I don't even think about it anymore. One thing is that your helmet mirror may be too far from your face. The closer you get it, the more you can see at once. The limiting factor is, if it's too close, you can't see around your head. I put mine so that the left edge of it lines up with the left edge of my glasses, and scoot it in until I can barely see around my head a little; I have to turn my head a bit to really see straight back, but that's natural anyway. I can still see cars that approach me in stealth mode at least a dozen yards back or so, should that happen.

It's kind of funny, when I'm walking around at a store or on the street on the weekends, or even around work, if I want to look behind me, I keep glancing up and to the left. Then I wonder where my helmet is. Then I remember that I'm not riding.

[katakanadian.livejournal.com]

I've never considered getting a rear view mirror for biking but I've sometimes wondered about getting one for rowing. Many years ago when I had my first massage therapy treatment for a neck spasm, the RMT was running thru the usual range of motion testing when he was very surprised to find my ROM turning left (the spasmed side) was better than turning right. I figure that is just from doing so much turning to check traffic.

Re #7: Check your tire inflation. It makes a big difference in speed. If you are just on paved roads then you should have it closer to the maximum pressure which decreases rolling friction.