RainmanP

I took a longish ride home yesterday. Less than a mile after the turnaround at the end of Lakeshore Drive, I passed a road warrior headed the other direction. I figured he would be turning around soon and hoped he would catch up with me as I headed into the wind. Sure enough, about a mile later I saw him gaining on me in my mirror. He cruised up next to me and started chatting. I was actually doing, for me into the wind, a respectable pace and could still converse with out too much huffing and puffing. He noted that I had only one pannier, or bag as he called it, (my Arkel UBP, Technogirl) and suggested that I needed another for balance. I took my hands off the bars to show him that balance wasn't the problem people seem to think it is. Your body compensates. In retrospect, I would like to have asked him how often he has ridden with panniers since he volunteered that he used to commute but never had a rack. Actually, I wouldn't have asked such a smartass question because I was enjoying the chat.

He said he used to have a mirror like mine until a close encounter with a vehicle cutting him off and popped the mirror out of the bar end, but he was able to maintain control. He actually chased down the driver, who stopped when he realized the chase was on. The driver accused the cyclist, who was riding a straight line in the right lane, of cutting HIM off. The cyclist said how about if they called the police to sort it out. The driver, who had obviously had a couple of drinks, quickly pulled out a $20 to reimburse the guy for the mirror.

After a few minutes we said goodbye and he eased ahead. Maybe one day I will be able to go 20 into a headwind. Sigh.

nebill

How cool! Glad to hear about your encounter!

On my very first day of riding, one of the local road warriors was kind enough to slow down and ride with me for the last couple of miles. I only rode about 7 miles, but I was huffing and puffing so hard that I could barely talk to him, but he was patient with me. It was really a treat for me to have someone to talk to. Another rider later told me that he is the kind of rider who goes up hills at 18 mph...faster than I usually ride on the flats!! Anyway, we had a pleasant (if one sided!) conversation untill it was time for me to turn off, and he easily accelerated away from me. A nice experience.

And, I know that you will get better, too. I know I have improved a lot since that day in April. I did 20 miles this morning, the last 10 of it into a headwind, and was in a lot better condition than I was at the end of that first ride!!

JonR

I wish I knew the answer to the "balance" question.

I suspect there isn't a clear-cut one. Yes, the body automatically and with ease compensates for the empty side of the bike, but are stresses still set up in the frame that could eventually lead to weakening it? I doubt that the frame "knows" about the compensation, since the compensation is dynamic but the weight on the frame from the one pannier is static.

Apparently long-distance tourists are very concerned to get weight distributed just so on their bikes to prevent shimmy and frame stresses over the long haul.

Oh, well, just something else to fret over.

P. S. Re-reading this before posting (how unusually diligent I am this morning!), it sounds like something MichaelW might have some good thoughts on.

RainmanP

Good points Bill and Jon. I have thought about that, too. I think the total weight comes into play. There is a big difference between my 10-20 pounds of shoes, clothes, spares, tools, etc., and 60-100 pounds of touring gear. The bike probably doesn't even notice the former, at least a heavier bike like mine, but the latter could certain set up some extreme stresses. The same goes for the balance question. Within reason, the little automatic compensation the body does is not even noticed, but compensating for a big imbalance would probably become fatiguing over a long ride.

Regards,
Raymond

Stumon

Guys!

Now you know what Isaac Newton was b*tching about all those years ago.

A bicycle is a gyroscopic device, and will find its own balance so long as it is moving faster than a walking pace. The whole bike could be rolling along, bent-framed or off-center loaded, tilted a few degrees from vertical, and you'd probably never notice. As long as the bike was happy with its balance, it wouldn't necessarily "pull" to one direction or the other. Countersteering for turns would work exactly as it would for a better balanced, more vertical bike.

Ever seen a motorcyclist ride inside a Wall of Death? 25 - 30 mph, and he can ride SIDEWAYS in perfect balance. He can countersteer to climb or descend the wall, and it makes no difference whatsoever that he has his whole a$$ hanging off one side of the saddle. And you thought that the Wheel-O you got for your eighth birthday (okay, I got one) was just a stupid toy!

I bet you'd have to grossly overload a bike in order to affect its balance... say, one front pannier with a cinder block in it... yeah, that'd do it.

The only thing that the Rainman is likely to notice is his bike's tendancy to turn just a tiny little bit faster in one direction than the other, and he's probably attributed that to his riding style.

RonH

Rainman,

You and many others are luckier than I am. I never see another commuter in the morning or evening.
Here is what happened in my only encounter with cyclists since I started commuting.
Last night as I rode home I saw three cyclist in my mirror. They were just out riding Treks and a Bianchi.
I pulled up behind the cars that were already backed up at a light. I was third in line. These three cyclist whizzed past me like I wasn't there. (I guess they don't talk to commuters. They might have spoken if I had been on my Litespeed wearing a colorful jersey.) They proceeded to the front of the traffic, paused momentarily to check for oncoming cars, and took off across the intersection.
The motorists in front of me were not happy and I can only imagine what they were saying or thinking about cyclists. But I did get one nice benefit because of this display of stupidity. The drivers who saw that I waited for the light to change and waited my turn in the line of traffic were a little more courteous than usual. I guess they figured that not all cyclist are jerks and decided to give me a break.

Maybe someday I'll have a riding companion. Till then I'll be the lone commuter.

Ron

nebill

"A fiery bike with the speed of light,
A cloud of dust and a hearty "Hi-Yo Fuji!"
The Lone Commuter rides again!

Hmmmmmm, could be a TV series there!

JonR

I've seen times when a mask and a six-shooter would both have come in handy....

RainmanP

No offense to the road warriors out there, but around here the "serious cyclist" types don't do cycling in general any favors. As Ron described, they MAYBE slow down for a red light, maybe not. I have never seen one slow down for a stop sign. It's a wonder there aren't more collisions. When I mentioned the Saturday morning training rides the local racing club does, a friend nearly jumped down my throat, saying "Yeah, and they spread out over the whole #&!**?$ road so you can't get past them!"

I neglected to mention that this guy was suitably impressed when he asked how many miles I had on my bike and I told him almost 2800 since November. I think it might be more than he rides.

JonR

We as cyclists can't expect road conditions to improve as long as we ourselves flout the traffic laws and act as though we had special privileges. I have wondered how much riding some club cyclists do apart from the group rides seemingly designed to show off their prowess and cash flow.

Behavior such as described here is one reason my hopes are mainly pinned on commuting cyclists and other daily users of their often humble machines--rather than the showoffs that endanger themselves and others on the road on weekends.