News / Articles

Join the SP Bike Club for the 2022 “Ride of Silence.”
Wednesday, May 18, 2022

The St. Petersburg Bicycle Club is participating in the worldwide Ride of Silence for 2022. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, May 18.

This will be a short (7-mile) slow and silent funeral-style processional that we hope will attract cyclists from all corners of our community.

Why should you participate in the Ride of Silence?  For those who cannot.  Every one of us knows someone who has been injured while cycling - sometimes minor injuries, sometimes critical, life-changing injuries.  We’ve all heard of people who have been killed while cycling, through no fault of their own.

This event is in their honor and in their memory. The Ride of Silence was created to raise awareness that cyclists, too, have a legal right to the road. It’s also a potent visual reminder to local motorists and citizens that cyclists share the road with motorists - and we all need to look out for each other. 

Please take time to join us on this important ride, May 18th. We’ll meet 6:30 p.m. North Shore Pool, 901 North Shore Dr. NE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701. Please wear a helmet.

Join Us at Our Club’s May Social!

Date: Saturday, 5/21/2022
Time: After the Saturday Morning Ride
Place: At the Ballpark Next to the Pool

Social-Elections-McNulty Memorial

On Saturday May 21, the Club will host a Social after the Saturday morning ride. It will take place at the ballpark next to North Shore Pool. 

During the Social, we'll hold elections for the 2022-2023 Board of Directors. 

Also, an informal Memorial Service - honoring longtime Club member Pat McNulty - will be held during the Social. As most of you know, he was one of the grandfathers of our St. Petersburg Bicycle Club and - as such - deserves loving recognition.

Food will feature our usual breakfast fare plus some of Patrick's favorite dishes. 

All friends of Pat are invited to share a "McNulty" memory during the service.

Properly Sizing Your Bicycle Helmet
by Jim Dodson

Properly Sizing Your Helmet: A Small Change to Avoid Big Injuries

As a cycling attorney, I know the importance of wearing your helmet while riding. As it turns out, getting the right fit is nearly as vital as wearing one at all.

So how do you correctly size a helmet?

First, sizing on helmets varies between manufacturers. Some use diameter ranges (such as 52-56 cm) and others use word sizing (small/medium/large). For nearly every manufacturer, you will be able to find a sizing chart online. An easy way to measure your head for a helmet is by using flexible fabric tape or even string and measuring just above your eyebrows and ears.

In addition, because people have a variety of head shapes, different styles of helmets will fit better or worse for each individual. It’s best to actually try on individual ones before making a final purchase as well (so forego Amazon for a local bike shop!). A helmet’s comfort, as well as the correct fit—snug but not too tight—can only really be determined if you’re wearing it.

Given that you’ve done your homework on type, style, size, cost, and fit, place the helmet on your head and adjust the cradle with the dial (typically at the rear) to tighten or loosen or move it up or down. There should be no room for the helmet to rotate or tilt backward or forward.

If you haven’t already downloaded my free Cycling Essentials eBooklet, you can get it here. I wrote this eBooklet to help fellow cyclists be prepared before a crash happens, avoid injuries and also know what to do if the worst happens.

Do You Really Know What a Concussion Is?
by Jim Dodson

A concussion is a brain injury. The formal term for concussion is “mild traumatic brain injury” (“mTBI”).

Don’t be fooled by “mild.” Mild does not mean that it’s unimportant or a minor injury, only that it involves a loss of consciousness less than 30 minutes. There is no such thing as a minor brain injury and all brain injuries should be treated by medical professionals.

The symptoms of concussions vary widely but largely fall into four categories:

1. Physical: headaches, migraines, dizziness, blurry vision, and sensitivity to sound and light
2. Cognitive: memory problems, lack of concentration, problems finding words and forgetfulness
3. Emotional: anxiety, depression, irritability, aggression, and acting out
4. Sleep: sleep disturbances, changes in sleep pattern, insomnia, and fatigue

Patients typically experience one or more symptoms from one or more categories.

Concussions are one of the most often overlooked injuries following a crash especially for cyclists. Never overlook or downplay concussion symptoms through denial or a desire to appear strong. They are very serious injuries and should be treated as such.

To learn more about brain injuries and how we can best protect ourselves, tune in to the Joe Knows Brains live streams with attorney, Joe Lamb, on Facebook. You can view past episodes here.

Expert Advice on the Best Bike Lights Available
by Jim Dodson

I came across an interesting article posted on March 23, 2022 on the www.bicycling.com website entitled “How to Choose the Best Light for Your Ride.” The writer, Dan Chabanov, states what most of us know, that bike lights have in recent years gotten brighter, smaller, more lightweight, and more time-durable because of advances in LED technology and lithium batteries. Based on careful testing, Chabanov describes the best possible choices for bike lights in today’s market.
Here’s an initial summary of his findings:

• Everyone Should Have This Light: Bontrager Ion 200 RT Front Light
• Best Budget Light: Cygolite Metro Plus 800
• Best For Mountain Biking: Light & Motion Seca Enduro
• Best Commuter Light: Specialized Flux 1250
• Best Small Light: Nite Rider Lumina Micro 900
• Best All-Around Light: Lezyne Macro Drive 1300XXL
• Three Great Rear Lights: Archer USB Light Set | Lezyne KTV Pro Alert | Bontrager Flare RT

The above recommendations are based on a number of considerations.

1. Think about the purpose of your light. Is it for illumination or visibility? Riding in well-lighted urban areas may require different lighting than riding a mountain bike on rural roads. All of the above lights have a flashing mode. Lights that flash draw attention and make you more visible compared to a steady light. As to lumens, a typical halogen car headlight emits around 700/1200 lumens in low and high beam. So a minimum of 600 lumens for bikes is recommended.
2. For riding at night, it’s good to have two lights: one on the handlebars and one on the helmet. A helmet mount is better when mountain biking if you can only afford one light, because you, as a rider, are often looking beyond where your bike is pointed.
   
3. In urban settings where vehicle traffic is a stronger factor, it can be more important to be visible rather than to illuminate the road ahead. So it’s a good idea to use a flashing rear light as well when commuting or road riding at night.
4. One final thing to consider is beam pattern. According to Chabanov, “Many mountain bikers will prefer to use a wider beam (or flood) light on their bars for general trail illumination. Then pair it with a more focused spotlight on their helmet to throw as much light as possible in the direction they are looking. Commuters, on the other hand, might want a light that combines the two functions by using multiple LEDs with different lens geometries (like the Specialized Flux) to simultaneously produce both kinds of beams.”

Cycling Aches and Pains III: Numb Hands or Hands that Hurt
by Coach John Hughes
Road Bike Rider Newsletter

Do your hands go numb when you’re cycling? In the RBR reader survey a few weeks ago, painful or numb hands was the third most frequent problem cited – afflicting 16% of you as your main physical issue on the bike. (While it may not be the main issue for most of us, hand pain or - especially - numbness, happens to almost all of us from time to time.)

I have a cyclist client, Sam, who had completed a series of brevets (200 km / 125 miles, 300 km / 187 miles, 400 km / 250 miles and 600 km / 375 miles). He developed numbness, also known as “cyclist’s palsy,” and actually damaged his nerves (neuropathy). It took a year of barely riding for his nerves to heal and to recover from the neuropathy. After he could ride again, I started coaching him.

Physiology Behind Hand Pain Numbness While Bicycling

Nerve compression of one of the two nerves in the wrist is usually the culprit.

- Ulnar nerve — If you’re getting numbness in your little and ring fingers, it’s probably this one being compressed. This is the most common due to its location, at the bottom of the wrist, close to the bars and hoods of a road bike.

- Median nerve — If the index, middle, and ring fingers feel numb, it’s probably this nerve, which runs in the middle of the wrist. This tends to be more problematic on a mountain bike. It’s also called carpal tunnel syndrome.

Although one is more likely to afflict roadies and the other MTBers, they aren’t mutually exclusive.

Riding Technique is Key to Preventing Hand Numbness

The compression usually comes from the positions of the hand and wrist and/or pressure on the handlebars. The more your wrist is bent, the more likely you are to have tingling and potentially numb fingers.

You can reduce or eliminate the compression through better technique.

You have five different hand positions on the bars, which vary in terms of how bent your wrists are:

- Tops – near the stem. Your wrists are very cocked in this position.
- Bend in the bars — just outside of the tops. Depending on your exact grip, your wrists are also relatively bent here.
- Brake hoods — Your wrists are fairly straight, although this depends on where the brakes are on your bars.
- The hooks, or bends underneath the brake hoods — again, your wrists are pretty bent unless you are crouched very low.
- The drops — Your wrists will be more or less bent depending on how low your bars are and how far they are away from the saddle.

On the hoods is the best position — I use a variation I learned years ago from a pro. Instead of my thumbs on the inside of the brake hoods and my hands on the outside of the hoods, the hoods are between my index and second fingers. My wrists are much straighter and more comfortable. Some riders think this isn’t safe since you can’t grab the brakes as fast. This has never been a problem for me over 40 years of defensive riding.

However, riding on the hoods may not be comfortable if your bike isn’t fitted correctly - for example, if your bars are too far away (your reach is too great) or too low.

Learn the positions in which your wrists are the straightest. 
Although #3 (on the hoods) is the best position:

The key to preventing compression of the nerves is to vary your hands among the five positions.

I’ve developed the habit of changing positions literally every few minutes among all five of the positions, although I primarily use #3 and #5 (in the drops), in which my wrists are the straightest.

Make it a habit yourself to switch positions regularly!

Solving Hand Numbness: Equipment Plays a Role, Too.

Even if you change your hand positions frequently, you’re still exerting pressure on your hands against the bars, and on a longer ride the cumulative effect may cause problems. Here are some suggestions:

- The more rake and the higher the spoke count of your wheels, the more the bike absorbs any road shock.

- Depending on the position of the bars relative to the saddle, more or less of your weight will be on the bars.

- Padded bars can also dampen road shock. There are numerous gel tapes and others with a bit of built-in cushion available. You can also add your own. For padding, use foam that will compress a little, but springs back to shape. (I use foam sold for insulating water pipes.) You only need to pad the parts of the bars where your hands rest, not the underside of the bars. And, in some cases, depending on the size of your bars, you may need to use 4 rolls of tape rather than the usual 2 rolls to get full coverage.

- Padded gloves may also help, although they’re sometimes hard to find.

TT (Technique Tips)

Flat Back. 

When cycling, your back should be relaxed, keeping a fairly straight line between your hips and your shoulders. The best way to check this position while you are riding is to ask yourself: Is my core engaged?

Watch the pros: You’ll note that they ride with flat backs. Many roadies ride with a rounded back, so that the chest is bent down a bit toward the top tube.

In this position, the rider needs to hyper-extend the neck to lift up the head to see down the road. Not only does this create huge strain to the neck, but riding with a flat back opens up your chest so you can breathe more fully.

Strengthen that core - and straighten that back!

The New Kits are Here, the New Kits are Here, the New Kits are Here!

The St. Petersburg Bicycle Club Board of Directors chose Wisconsin-based apparel manufacturer Borah Teamware as the vendor for our 2022 cycling kits.

Our full custom cycling jerseys, bibs, and shorts are made in the USA from premium fabrics and materials. Our new logo and kits were designed by graphic artist and SPBC member, Mike Toth (https://michaeljtoth.net/design).

The SPBC Store was open for 14 days for the first batch order, which ended May 9, 2022. All orders received by the initial deadline were batched for the first open-ship date in Borah’s production schedule. (Approx  4-5 weeks from our May 9 store closure.)

If you missed this opportunity to place your order, the SPBC Store will reopen again in September for fourth quarter deliveries. The store opening will again be posted on the club’s website, StPeteCycling.com, the club’s Facebook page, as well as via email and a text message if you have “opted-in" for text notifications.

Thanks to Scott Malatesta, Paul Norris, and John and Lenore Sinibaldi for all their hard work in designing the jerseys, researching vendors and collaborating to make these 2022 Club Kits a glorious fait accompli.