Volume 1 / Issue 001

Dallas Fitting Trip, September 19th through 22nd. We will be holding fittings at the Cooper Guest Lodge.

Dallas Fitting Trip, October 3rd through October 6th. We will be holding fittings at the Cooper Guest Lodge.

Dallas Fitting Trip, October 17th through October 20th. We will be holding fittings at the Cooper Guest Lodge.

Dallas Fitting Trip, October 31st through November 3rd. The Cooper Guest Lodge is booked this weekend so we will use the Hyatt Summerfield Suites at Lincoln Park.

I am constantly asked why I ride on the road. My smart alec answer is usually something like “Because it is there,” and there is something to this. We have a huge network of roads and precious few trails and bike lanes. The obvious solution to me is to figure out the best way to use what we have, because I want to ride now, not wait until the government gives us another infrastructure.

With this said, I see a lot of cyclists on the roads who could do a better job of riding safely and who could have a much better time as well. I also talk to many people who state their biggest fear is traffic and the possibility of getting hit from behind. I continue to lobby for cycling advocacy and tell anybody who will listen (and some that won’t!) that cycling is a lot safer than we think, but we need to really look at the situation to demystify things.

I liken cycling to flying in airplanes for a couple of reasons. First, both are quite safe if done properly. Second, when bad things happen, they are really bad. All of us know someone or know of someone who has been hit by a car. We may know someone who has been in a plane crash. I don’t want to lessen the tragedy of these events but do want to put them in perspective. There is risk in anything we do, even doing nothing! A sedentary lifestyle whereby the heaviest thing we lift is the tv remote is certainly not risk free and the riding of a bike, a running lifestyle, or even driving in a car is not risk free either.

That said, I want to get to the heart of the issue. We can minimize risk on the bike and accept the risk that while living life to the fullest; we can still have bad things happen to good people.  I ask people to Claim Your Lane! How do you do this?

The first thing I like to tell people is to think about themselves as a vehicle, not someone outside on a bike in their underwear. We all see the looks of amazement from sedentary people in cars as we are out sweating our way to health. We have also been in cars looking at other riders from the car and have a perspective of how we perceive them if we are in a hurry, cranky, not paying attention, etc.

Here are some things to think about.

• A vehicle can operate on the road. If a bike is a vehicle, it can be ridden on the road. Simple.
• The road is not the shoulder. No kidding. A car can’t drive on the shoulder, we can, but we don’t have to! If the shoulder is full of glass and trash, the road is wide enough to handle riding on it, guess what? I ride on the road.
• Vehicles need to obey the law. This is a biggie. There are ways to interpret the law to keep you out of trouble and I will go into that later, but for now, just consider, if we get to ride on the road, we have to obey the law.
• There are good places and bad places to ride on the same road. To me, a good place is one where I have maneuvering room to the right, where I can be seen from behind, and one that is free of glass and obstructions.
• You need to be as far to the right (or left, more on that later) as “practicable.” What’s practicable? Well, for me it is defined in the bullet point above. I like to ride in the path of the right hand tires of cars on a road. This is about 2-3 feet from the side of the road. I will explain more about this in future segments.
• You need to pay attention! I have had so many people tell me they don’t want to ride on the road because they have to pay attention. I strongly suggest that they consider paying attention while driving their cars. If you are watching ahead and to the sides, while listening behind, you will avoid the highest percentages of problems.

This article will expand to more newsletter issues because it is quite in depth. I hope you will ponder the things I write here and ask questions which I can answer in our Q&A section. Cycling is fun and healthy and can be safe if you take it upon yourself to learn to ride effectively and responsibly and then be a good example for others.

Until next time,

Kevin
President
KGS Bikes

Dear Kevin,

I have trouble at intersections. I try to unclip my foot early before a stop light and sometimes I trip up while stopping. I also have a lot of trouble getting started smoothly and I almost ran in front of a car which scared me. My bike is off balance when I start out and I can’t seem to get into the cleat, and all the while I am supposed to be accelerating and going in a straight line. It is a little overwhelming. Help!

Linda

Dear Linda,

Thanks for asking. You are not alone here.  Some of the things we do on the road will come much easier if a parking lot practice session occurs. Here is what I learned to do when I was a full time bike racer. I found that if I made the practice of stopping and starting a process that became automatic, I had much fewer problems. Let’ break this into two sections, starting and stopping.

For starting, I recommend that people learn to start two ways. You can either stay seated on the saddle with your tiptoe touching the ground while balancing, or get off the saddle with a foot firmly on the ground. The latter will be used to get you going when you get on the bike or when you are too tired to balance, and the former is the preferred method when at a stop light.

Become aware of where your clipped in foot is and where the pedal is that you are about to clip into. This is where the parking lot practice helps. I like to get my “on the ground” foot close to the pedal, with the clipped in foot ready to help get a good strong pedal stroke to get me moving. You can practice this in a parking lot by looking at your foot transitioning from being on the ground to finding the pedal, to clipping in. Once you get the hang of it in the parking lot, try learning to do it while looking forward.

Either way you get started, your foot goes from touching the ground to clipping in. If you can learn to get your foot into the pedal clip while the other one is pushing down, you are ready to snap it into the clip when that foot comes around. Soon this becomes automatic and your starts are very easy.

Stopping is a process too. The first thing I do is put the bike in the correct gear for starting, before I stop! Second, I decide which foot to put down and make sure I am coasting up to the stop light with that foot down but still clipped in. Right before I coast to a stop I gently unclip and then put my toe on the ground right by the pedal. I have already “set up” for the start this way, as the other foot is ready to push off and my “down foot” is near the pedal so I can find it easily.

It usually takes about 10-20 tries in a parking lot to get this technique down, but once it is mastered, cycling in town is so much easier. One last tip. The road usually is crowned, so the left side of the bike will be a little closer than the right. If you learn to unclip from both sides effectively but make the left side the one you “usually” unclip, life will be just a little bit easier.

Kevin

Kevin Recommends

This section will grow over time. We only recommend products, services or companies that we have actually tried or worked with personally. A recommendation, like a reputation, is very important and we do not take this responsibility lightly. The following links are to our friends at the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas. Dr. Kenneth Cooper is considered “The Father of Aerobics and has put together a group of world class companies that have a direct impact on us as cyclists and as professional people

Cooper Complete – We have arranged for 10% off anything you buy from Cooper Complete if you put “KGS” in the coupon link and then “recalculate”.

Cooper Clinic - The world renowned Cooper Clinic is starting to create medical exams and services aimed at professional adults who ride bicycles.

Cooper Fitness Center – The Cooper Fitness Center has a special strength training introductory program for cyclists.

About KGS Bikes and Kevin

KGS Bikes is known around the world as the premiere bicycle fitting studio and cycling boutique. Kevin Saunders, President, has over 25 years experience in bicycle fitting and high-end bicycles. He also has a broad knowledge of anatomy, structural engineering and industrial design. In addition to fitting services, KGS Bikes sells bicycles from Parlee, Serotta, Zinn, Co-Motion, Storck and Guru. They also feature Lew wheels, custom shoes by Rocket7 and the best available components from around the world. Visit kgsbikes.com for more information, including beautiful photography of the bikes carefully created for their owners.

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KGS Bikes – 16611 Huebner Rd. – San Antonio, TX 78248 – 210-849-2501