Cycling in the South Bay

I went riding with a young fellow this morning. He is about 20 years younger than I am and so I thought it would be a good opportunity to give him some instruction on the finer points of bicycle riding. It is always a great feeling to be able to give back to the younger generation.

One of the things I taught him right away is not to push down so hard on the pedals. This causes a lot of lung turbulence and cardiac disorientation for the person who might happen to be behind.

Another thing I taught him is that when the road goes up it is important to greatly reduce speed. Otherwise the person behind might happen to become behinder.

As we rode along I gave him a lesson on conversation. Often times the person who might be behind is not slower or weaker but is simply desirous of conversation. So it is important when the person who might be behind, even though he appears to be gasping, is allowed to talk about something, but this means that you must push down on the pedals a lot less.

Stopping. Many young and ambitious cyclists do not stop enough. This can be a huge problem for the behind person who usually is just as fast and strong but who wants to show scenic highlights to the younger, inexperienced bicycle rider.

Downhill pedaling can be treacherous. Young bicycle riders often move the chain onto the littlest cog and push extra-super hard on the pedals in order to go much faster. This is okay. But the behind person can lose the ability to see clearly, concentrate, and breathe which could result in a bicycle-falling-off incident, so I instructed him how to downhill pedal with more of a coasting technique.

Few new bicycle riders appreciate the importance of full-body breathing. This is what you do after the bicycle ride and it allows full perfusion of the heart, lungs, intestines, teeth, etc. I demonstrated this after the bicycle ride by lying down for a few hours and breathing with maximal depth and power. Closed eyes help the person who might have been behind, too.

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