Notices by Phil (ascentale) (ascentale@sfba.social)

For our last question, @MartyCormack asks about travel:

Q8. If you travel, what city or locale you've visited had the best cycling infrastructure or culture, good enough to tempt you to visit again?

#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ

A5. I was trying to think of examples as I wrote this, but it was hard.

I used to be against kickstands (added weight, rattleyness) but then now I'm for them, because I don't want to lay my bike down with all of its heavy stuff always.

I don't remember if I was opposed to bike shorts/jerseys but I think I wasn't into it until I tried doing longer rides and realized the benefit. I still don't wear them often, but I do sometimes.

I used to wear a backpack when carrying stuff by bike, but now I don't because my back would get tired or extra sweaty.

I used to think skinny tires would be faster, but now I prioritize comfort and stability more.

I used to MTB and not want to ride on roads. Now I mostly ride on roads.

This is fun, maybe I'll think of more later!

#BikeNite

Q5. What's something you used to believe, regarding some aspect of cycles or cycling, but now you believe the opposite?

#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ

@NNN has a question about riding in an upright position:

Q2. When I try to ebike an hour each way using a Dutch/upright position on a sprung Brooks Flyer saddle, my bottom gets sore. But I can ride 2+ hours on a MTB or roadbike with hard saddle OK.

Any advice for getting comfy in an upright riding position?

#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ

@EverydayMoggie asks about cycles with smaller wheels:

Q3. Do you have a folding bike or mini-velo? What kind?

(No particular point to this question, just that I may be slightly obsessed with small-wheel bikes.)

(Also, for those who don't, how differently does it ride? How often do you fold?)

#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ

A1. I am in Oakland, CA. We celebrated the ribbon cutting of some protected bike lanes on Telegraph Avenue with @BikeEastBay today. It was great to see so much support from city staff for the project. Also some friends from PDX joined!

Our #BikeBus for Walk and Roll to school day (Oct 9th) was a big one and hopefully brought in a few new riders.

#BikeNite

Welcome to the October 11th #BikeNite - Thanks for joining, and I hope we all enjoy chatting about cycle stuff! Answer whenever at your convenience. Anyone can join, now or later. Reply to what you like, and boost for visibility.

We'll start out with our introduction.

Q1. Where are you posting from today? We had a week full with Walk and Roll to school day and a protected lane ribbon cutting. What is going on in the cycle world around you this week?

#BikeNiteQ

And the last question of the night is from mas.to@meganL about different types of cycles and how many wheels they have!

Q8. How many types of cycles have you ridden (more than once): uni- bi- tri- quadri-?

#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ

@Bilbo_Haggins has one of those "it's funny because it's true" questions:

Q5. How do I keep the raindrops from pelting me in the eyeballs while I'm riding and blinding me? Asking for my poor battered eyes...

#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ

I saw a sticker that someone had put on their cycle: ""ONE TESLA FEWER""

Q3. Are there any stickers that you've seen on cycles that have been particularly enjoyable or interesting? Photos are welcome of course!

#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ

And the last question is sort of from @ai6yr and sort of from @Brownian_motion

Q8. Which gears do you use in which situation? When do you shift gears? How would you explain this to someone who's relatively new to using their cycle's shifter(s)?

#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ

@meganL @ai6yr @Brownian_motion Ahh, yes, this is a good point.. Cross chaining is not great and can make riding more difficult and noisy.

@crschmidt asks about bike locks and how much to invest in them:

Q2. What advice do you give people on how much to spend on locks relative to their bike value? How do you tailor this advice for someone's situation?

#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ

We had a very bad and brief interaction with a driver who I believe is a dangerous person who will hurt someone with their car if they haven’t already.

It was a terrifying near miss where the driver made an illegal lane change across the double yellow to pass a driver who had slowed to let us pass. They sped through at I’d guess 2x the speed limit. A witness on a bike was behind us and said she’d get their license plate. She came back to find us later than expected and said that the driver had gotten out of their car and assaulted her!

There happened to be two other people cycling behind that witness who stopped the driver from continuing their assault!

As we weren’t physically harmed, is there anything we can do to stop this driver from hurting anyone else? I feel helpless here.

#BikeNite on July 26 is starting! Thanks for joining, and I hope we all enjoy chatting about cycle stuff! Answer whenever at your convenience. Anyone can join, now or later. Reply to what you like, and boost for visibility.

We'll start out with our introduction, via @genex

Q1. Where are you posting from today? Do you have a photo you'd like to share of your cycle? Or you with your cycle, if you feel comfortable?

#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ

I got so many flats on my old tire that I paid more than normal for a heavy but more flat-proof tire (Schwalbe Marathon Plus). My bike is noticeably heavier now and a little harder to carry. But hopefully I'll spend less time frustrated repairing flats.

Q7. How do you navigate trade-offs between performance, cost, convenience, and reliability? When do you prioritize one over the other? Has that changed over time?

Are there magical products that satisfy all your criteria?

#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ

@jfparis notes that it's the middle of the year:

Q4. It's the middle of the year. How are you doing with your cycling goals (mileage, passes, ...) if any?

#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ

We have a music question from @pete ! This is timely for me, because our #BikeBus playlist needs a refresh.

Q3. You're only allowed one choice, so which bike-related track are you gonna add to a #BikeNite playlist?

@pete is kicking things off with 'Bike Rider' by Mungo's Hi-Fi. https://youtu.be/4oUxPWnrXNk

cc: @forteller who asked a similar question.
#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ

While riding with kids to school today, a driver performed a dangerous, close and fast pass. They changed lanes, but put themselves into a nearly head-on collision with a car traveling in the opposite direction. I didn't have immediate answers when thinking about solutions to this.

Q5. What are easily-actionable short, medium, and long-term fixes/mitigations for this type of behavior?

#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ
Sorta inspired by a post from @cainmark https://sfba.social/@cainmark@mstdn.social/111706759716702810