Yep, I'm now the proud owner of a bike (thanks for the Christmas present, Jamie :D)! I've been pretty bummed about the no running thing, so Jamie and I went to test out bikes when he was here over Thanksgiving. I fell in love with this one and it came home with us (even after a little bit of an incident involving me and an oncoming Muni bus).
Right now I'm still getting used to the whole riding with traffic thing, since the last time I owned a bike I was 12 and riding on a dead end street. Since I don't have a lock or a rear blinky light, I can really only ride over the weekend from and to my apartment...I should be able to get ample road practice that way, right?
My plan is (once I'm comfortable riding, of course) to bike to and from work and get some longer rides in on the weekend. Hello, cross training! Nice to finally meet you! I'm pretty nervous about venturing into the open road...any advice for a newbie? I know there are hand signals for turning, the bike lane doesn't mean you are always safe, and I'm not allowed to ride on the sidewalk...basic stuff.
Do I make left turns like a car? Do I make left turns from the bike lane? Jeebus. So much to learn. I think for now I'm sticking to Crissy Field. Wish me luck!
2 comments:
Oh fun!! Unfortunately I can't answer any of your questions. I love to ride my bike, but I could never be an avid rider because of the traffic and cars and whatnot.
Pretty bike! My new bike is a Specialized too. DC's waba.org gives out handy dandy DC bike laws guidebooks - they are pocketsized and a quick, enlightening read. I'm sure San Fran has an equivalent. Here you can move away from the right side of the road and pretend you're a car for left turns except in some places in DC where the bike lanes are in the center of the road and they have signs instructing bikers to use the crosswalks for turns. Wish we lived close enough to go biking together! :-(
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