The Art of Urban Cycling Lessons from the Street

[N_C]

If you live in any kind of town or city with at least one motorist, one stop sign or traffic light this book is an absolute must read.

If your community has any kind of established bike route or multi-use rec. trail or bike trail this book is an absolute must read.

I just got done reading it. I read about everything I already knew about cycling in an urban setting. But I also learned about some things I have been doing wrong & have since made changes to my cycling behavior while out on the streets of my city. And I learned about things I never knew about.

The book was written by Robert Hurst with the Foreword by Marla Streb.

Very well written, a must read for every cyclist that rides in any kind of an urban setting no matter how large or small. Even if you are just riding through a town to get to a trail head or the country side for a long ride such as a century.

[supcom]

Curious as I too have just read this book. I found it to be interesting, generally good advice though it wanders from the core subject unneccessarily at the expense of including useful information.

The book wastes about the first quarter on the history of bicycles, automobiles, roads, and cities. While this is all very nice, it doesn't matter one whit when you are riding. I would have preferred the space be used instead for topics like selecting parking locations and effective locking strategies, driver psychology and survival techniques in the transition zones (those semi-rural areas between urban and suburban where it gets really nasty), interfacing with public transportation, and maybe even some advice for cycling in the bad parts of town (just don't do it?).

Why the author chose to bring up the tired helmet debate is totally beyond me. And the extended discussion of the history and behaviour of goatheads seemed way out of place. If there's one place I don't expect to find goatheads, its on an urban street. In an abandoned lot maybe, but hardly on the street. He could have done a more thorough job in the clothing section to deal with winter cycling and 'urban camoflage'.

Still, I really enjoyed the core philosophy that survival is your responsibility. There are bad drivers and bad roads. Just deal with it.

[brokenrobot]

What's a goathead?

[supcom]

What's a goathead?

Goatheads are small, very hard multiprong thorn-like seed pods that can can flat even a solid tire.

http://www.noble.org/imagegallery/Forbhtml/Forbs351-400/F3803.JPG