Cycling: The basics for getting started
Some people decide to commute to work or use a bike for shopping and find it saves money while exercising and losing weight. Some families are able to trim down from a two car to a single car by making a bicycle their second vehicle.
First decide what type of riding to you plan to do. Maybe it is a simple as riding to the local supermarket, or an hour or so on a local bike trail a few times a week. Do some research, find what bicycle will best meet your needs. Read some consumer reports.
Where to buy a bike.
The local Big Box Store may have a range of bikes at reasonable
prices, but there will be no one there to give advice such as will this
bike even fit, then there is the problem of assembling the bike and
making sure everything is adjusted properly.
Buy the wrong bike and it will end up gathering dust and taking up space in your garage. It is probably better to spend a little more and buy from a local bike store, where the staff is knowledgeable, or at least they should be. If they are not talking about the proper fit within the first ten minutes, you are probably in the wrong shop.
Many bike stores will swap out the saddle on a bike if it comes with one that doesn't suit. Some will even let you try a saddle and change it if you find you don't like it. It is little things like these options that is the reason why you may pay a little more buying from a proper bike store.
Buy the wrong bike and it will end up gathering dust and taking up space in your garage. It is probably better to spend a little more and buy from a local bike store, where the staff is knowledgeable, or at least they should be. If they are not talking about the proper fit within the first ten minutes, you are probably in the wrong shop.
Many bike stores will swap out the saddle on a bike if it comes with one that doesn't suit. Some will even let you try a saddle and change it if you find you don't like it. It is little things like these options that is the reason why you may pay a little more buying from a proper bike store.
Buying used.
If your budget won't run to bike store prices, then consider a
used bike. Local thrift stores or even pawn shops may have a few choices
at any given time. Make sure to do some online research on bike fit
before buying or you may come away with a bike that is the wrong size.
Another interesting article:
Statistics actually confirm a cyclist is as safe, possibly safer than driving a motor vehicle; that is, with the exception of one. When comparing the fatality risk by miles traveled, every one million miles cycled, (1.6 Million Kilometers.) produces 0.039 cyclist fatalities, compared to 0.016 fatalities for motorists.
Both figures are very low but it would seem in this straight up, mile for mile comparison, that cyclists are more than twice as likely to die on a bicycle than in an automobile. However, this statistic is flawed to the point that it can be ignored, for the simple reason it would take a cyclist riding slightly under 385 miles per week, 50 years to ride one million miles.
Most of us will never come close to that kind of cycling mileage; 500,000 miles in a lifetime would be very good. Compare this to driving, where it is relatively easy it is to put 100,000 miles on a car speedometer, two million miles in an automobile in a lifetime is not unreasonable.
Another interesting article:
Cyclists live longer
By Dave Moulton
Statistics actually confirm a cyclist is as safe, possibly safer than driving a motor vehicle; that is, with the exception of one. When comparing the fatality risk by miles traveled, every one million miles cycled, (1.6 Million Kilometers.) produces 0.039 cyclist fatalities, compared to 0.016 fatalities for motorists.
Both figures are very low but it would seem in this straight up, mile for mile comparison, that cyclists are more than twice as likely to die on a bicycle than in an automobile. However, this statistic is flawed to the point that it can be ignored, for the simple reason it would take a cyclist riding slightly under 385 miles per week, 50 years to ride one million miles.
Most of us will never come close to that kind of cycling mileage; 500,000 miles in a lifetime would be very good. Compare this to driving, where it is relatively easy it is to put 100,000 miles on a car speedometer, two million miles in an automobile in a lifetime is not unreasonable.
Time spent cycling a more accurate gauge than distance covered
When you consider the lower mileage covered in any given year,
the chances of a bicycle fatality are greatly reduced. This is confirmed
in another statistic that compares hours cycling with hours driving.
For every million hours spent cycling the fatality rate is 0.26,
compared to 0.47 deaths per million driving hours. Therefore, driving a
motor vehicle has nearly twice the risk of fatality as riding a bike for
a given duration.
If a cyclist rode non-stop for 114 years, which is one million hours, his chances of being killed on the road would be roughly 1 in 4. In that same period, her chances of dying of natural causes would be at least 99.999%.
Another statistic compares fatalities per million people. According to the US National Safety Council, for every million cyclists in the US, 16.5 die each year, whereas for every million motorists, 19.9 die each year.
How about the chances of dying as a result of injuries from a bicycle accident? One would suppose that crashing on a bicycle has a higher risk of death than crashing in a motor vehicle, but according to the NHTSA, bicycles compare rather well.
If a cyclist rode non-stop for 114 years, which is one million hours, his chances of being killed on the road would be roughly 1 in 4. In that same period, her chances of dying of natural causes would be at least 99.999%.
Another statistic compares fatalities per million people. According to the US National Safety Council, for every million cyclists in the US, 16.5 die each year, whereas for every million motorists, 19.9 die each year.
How about the chances of dying as a result of injuries from a bicycle accident? One would suppose that crashing on a bicycle has a higher risk of death than crashing in a motor vehicle, but according to the NHTSA, bicycles compare rather well.
Is it safer in an SUV or riding a bicycle?
The odds of dying from a bicycle crash are 1 in 71. This
compares to 1 in 75 for an SUV, truck or van, 1 in 108 for a car, 1 in
26 for a motorcycle, and 1 in 15 for a pedestrian.
In other words, the odds of dying in a bike crash are about the same as the odds of dying in an SUV crash. The false sense of security that comes from driving an SUV tends to produce far more dangerous driving behavior.
Many cyclists fear being hit from behind. This type of accident only accounts for slightly over 10% of all bicycle accidents, and half of these occur at night when the cyclist does not have lights.
In 90% of cases where a cyclist is hit from behind, injuries were minimal. In explaining the high death rate when pedestrians are hit. A pedestrian hit by a car doing 40 mph, the pedestrian is practically stationary, and the 40 mph impact is directly on the body. Whereas, a cyclist traveling at 15 mph, hit by a car doing 40, the impact is 25 mph if hit from behind, and it is often not a direct hit on the body.
In other words, the odds of dying in a bike crash are about the same as the odds of dying in an SUV crash. The false sense of security that comes from driving an SUV tends to produce far more dangerous driving behavior.
Many cyclists fear being hit from behind. This type of accident only accounts for slightly over 10% of all bicycle accidents, and half of these occur at night when the cyclist does not have lights.
In 90% of cases where a cyclist is hit from behind, injuries were minimal. In explaining the high death rate when pedestrians are hit. A pedestrian hit by a car doing 40 mph, the pedestrian is practically stationary, and the 40 mph impact is directly on the body. Whereas, a cyclist traveling at 15 mph, hit by a car doing 40, the impact is 25 mph if hit from behind, and it is often not a direct hit on the body.