Just Ride by Grant Petersen -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Dedication Acknowledgments Contents Introduction Part 1: Riding

Don’t pedal circles Don’t count miles You have way too many gears Heavy rider, hard hill Ride bumps with skill, not technology Ride like a fairy, not an ox Corner like Jackie Robinson Shift with your legs first No ride too short Paddling beats pedaling

Part 2: Suiting up

The clothing ruse Desert dwellers don’t wear tank tops Dress woodsy in the woods Surprise: fabric doesn’t breathe Don’t overthink your underwear The shoes ruse Ponchos: the ultimate Unracer’s garment

Part 3: Safety

The predictability ruse Warning: your blinky light can kill you Don’t get doored Racers don’t ride bike paths. More room for you. Be saintlike on the bike path Helmets aren’t all they’re cracked up to be Helmet laws have unintended consequences Your helmet’s not a bonnet, and other tips on how to wear it The Moe Howard bike helmet Hi-vis beats high risk Lights for nights Fending off Phydeau (Or, even my dog hates you) Control your quick release

Part 4: Health and Fitness (don’t confuse the two)

Riding is lousy all-around exercise Riding burns calories and makes you eat more Carbohydrates make you fat Branch out and buff up Stretching is overrated The Unracer’s guide to heart-rate monitors Know your guts Drink when you’re thirsty, not before Electrolytes for dummies and cheapskates Saddles don’t cause impotence Four features of a reasonable saddle This is the golden age for good saddles Women’s saddles, women’s crotches Funny saddles, problem crotches The deal with leather saddles

Part 5: Accessories

Bags, not armloads or sweaty backs Baskets beat bags? Yep, sometimes. Fenders, not muddy stripes up your butt Kickstands, not balancing acts Pumps, not greenhouse gas Clips and straps for urban fixie riders who wear sneakers Gloves: the least necessary accessory

Part 6: Upkeep

The tree bike stand Chains: everybody’s least favorite bike part How to tell when you need a new chain Cleaning and lubing the chain Putting your chain back on if it falls off Avoiding and fixing chain suck Washing and waxing your bike Bandaging boo-boos Beausage (byoo-sidj) Beautify your handlebar tape with bug excrement Finish your handlebar tape with twine, not electrical tape

Part 7: Technicalities

Most bikes don’t fit Reaching to the bars The right way and the right place to sit Saddle, fore and aft The weight ruse Crank length doesn’t matter . . . much Q-Factor Tire clearance means everything Tire casings and a case for heavier tires Frame arithmetic Frame material matters Toe-clip overlap is something to deal with, nothing to fear What 700 and C mean in 700C The fork: looks, and steel versus carbon

Part 8: Velosophy

Racing ruins the breed Ride with pride on your own dime. Or mooch politely. The dark side of charity rides “Commute Clot,” dba “Critical Mass” How to make your family hate riding Riding with kids too young to pedal or trust in traffic The S24O Recalibrate your bike-o-meter Keeping score so you always win Your bike is a toy. Have fun with it. Racer or Unracer? A true/false quiz

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