Skip to main content

The Huntington Bicycle Club, NY

HomeFolks on Spokes May 2021

  It's May and rides are finally taking off now that the weather is warmer. Lots of good news to share here:

      The 3 Foot Law was passed and signed by County Executive, Steve Bellone on Tuesday, April 27. VP, John Greene, Web Administrator and Board Member, Malachy O'Connor and I were present for this event. It was great to hear from Bellone and Kara Hahn, the sponsor of the law, and hear their support for safe driving and cycling practices. Dan Flanzig has not only been a great proponent of this bill, but of all legislation directed at bicycle safety. Now that this is passed in Suffolk, he is going to egg on the Nassau legislators and County Executive Laura Curran, who is up for re-election. Our goal is for it to become a state law.

 Thanks to Pat Kalvar for facilitating a Bicycle Rodeo hosted by Harborfields HS on Wednesday, April 28. HBC members who helped with this endeavor were: Bob McClaughlin, Don Natiello, Art and Terry Causin, Arne Johnson, John Greene and me. Bicycle Rodeos were originally created by the LAB to instruct children about the basic safety and rules of riding on the shared road. This program involves properly adjusting helmets, inflating tires to the proper psi, brake adjustment, and having them ride a “course” in order to learn signals, and riding on the road properly. This Rodeo was implemented by AAA who sent all the needed equipment and instructions. FYI, if you have a mechanical and have your AAA card, they will pick you up and take you home, if needed.



EZ Rides are beginning again, so get the word out to friends who may want to be start riding with groups. Check the events page for dates and times, they will be on the weekends and week nights as well.


  Ride leaders are encouraged to go to the Ride Leader section on the Website Menu: There is step by step information on how to post rides including tantalizing videos to follow along the process. Please take a few moments to watch these! After posting a few rides, it will become pretty easy to navigate. 

 New to our Website are the Forums. These are specific places to sell/buy bicycles, gear, equipment; talk about gear (you guys always do!); safety. Each Forum has a set up process, for instance, if you want to receive emails or not, you need to set that up when you start using them. Furthermore, it's a great way to communicate with club members about bicycle specific topics.

   The next club meeting will be, Tuesday, May 11, 2021 at 7:00 PM via Zoom.

 Guest speaker will be Howard from Bicycle Planet.

     He will be talking about ebikes.

See you all on the road soon, and at the May 11 meeting!

Karen Gellert, HBC President

           


Getting the kids started

Signing the 3 foot law


At the Bike Rodeo

Master Mechanic at the Bike Rodeo

  ROBERT MOSES CAUSEWAY BRIDGE BIKE PATH

                                                                             ADVOCACY ALERT!

                        The Ocean Parkway Greenway is now complete, but Suffolk County Residents have no access to this world class greenway from the mainland. There is a way you can help! The Robert Moses Causeway Bridge has three lanes going north and two lanes going south. By taking one of the northbound lanes and converting it to a two-way bike lane you have almost instant access. In case of emergency evacuations all the southbound lanes and the bike lane can be converted to northbound emergency use. NY DOT has already investigated this as a feasible project. If you live in newly elected Congreesman Garbarino's district: https://garbarino.house.gov please give him a call and/or email him to let him know you want him to take advantage of earmark funds that can be used to finance part of this important access project. More federal funds will be coming down the pike under the new administration to fund the rest of the project, but he needs to hear from you!

Thanks but don't wait for others to do it for you, this small task can get big results.


https://garbarino.house.gov/contact

Phone: (516) 541-4225

 


L.I. Greenway would save lives, create jobs
Posted March 18, 2021
From an online JournalThe LIHerald.com

By Carter Strickland

During the coronavirus pandemic, many of us have needed to get outside, and have rediscovered the joy of walking or riding a bike to see friends and exercise. Should this trend continue — and record bike sales suggest that it will — then New Yorkers will be healthier, traffic will be less congested and air quality will improve. But for walking and biking to be realistic options for most people, we first need to invest in safe and adequate infrastructure, just as we have done for every other mode of transportation.

This is a critical public safety issue for Long Island. Today, our roads are too risky — Nassau and Suffolk counties were ranked second and third most dangerous in the state, as measured by the number of fatalities, personal injuries and property damage resulting from traffic crashes. In fact, in 2019, Long Island accounted for over a quarter of all bicycle fatalities in New York. Too many lives have been lost because of dangerous roads.
Safe places to bike and walk are also part of a holistic economic recovery. Civic leaders seeking to attract and retain young professionals with amenities comparable to any major city and to solidify a strong “sense of place” across the Island have already invested in revitalizing downtowns with walkable communities and affordable multi-family housing. The missing commercial part of that mix may follow even faster than expected now, as many people who have worked from home for more than a year question the value of long commutes. In fact, the large redevelopment areas proposed for Long Island are mixed use, with the intention of creating live-work-play communities — and future residents and workers will look for recreational opportunities and better connections to parks.


The good news is that both Nassau and Suffolk counties have started to invest in safe biking and walking trails. There are first-class bike paths in Eisenhower Park and Bethpage State Park, as well as several trail systems in parks and a few north-south trails. What is missing is a main artery to tie this all together, much as the Long Island Expressway did for an earlier generation that wanted to drive their cars to the post-war suburbs.

A proposed Long Island Greenway would provide this connectivity and jump-start a true network of trails for point-to-point travel across the Island. Stretching 175 miles from Manhattan to Montauk, the greenway would be a multi-purpose trail that would be mostly off-road along power lines, connecting downtown redevelopment areas such as Innovation Park and the Nassau Hub, 26 parks and 46 train stations. It would make walking and biking safe for people on Long Island and a real option for exercising, visiting friends, even picking up groceries. And it would be good for downtown business as well: Trail users spend about $250,000 per mile annually on trail-related local businesses, according to a 2012 study by the Rails to Trails Conservancy.

This project could be shovel-ready and provide jobs in the near term while setting the foundation for Long Island’s success over the long term. The state has already built the Empire State Trail from Buffalo to New York City, and has invested in preliminary engineering studies to extend it across Long Island. According to a study released recently by New Yorkers for Clean Water and Jobs, 65,000 jobs could be created by the $3 billion New York State Environmental Bond Act, which would support projects like the Long Island Greenway. We need those jobs now to help our economic recovery, and those investments would pay back health and economic dividends for years. Long Islanders should call on their elected officials to support investments in park infrastructure.

Carter Strickland is the New York state director for the Trust for Public Land.




Pat Doing Helmets

Meeting at the Lot

59 Bike Maintenance Tips Every Cyclist Should Know

(60-101, next month!)

YOUR GUIDE TO A LONGER LIFE FOR YOUR BICYCLE AND GEAR.

BY JENNIFER SHERRY AND THE BICYCLING EDITORS

Apr 22, 2021

Your bicycle doesn’t run on leg power alone. It also needs a little lube, a lotta­ love, and a good listen. You may not know every remedy your bike needs to live a long life, but you can gain enough wisdom along the way to keep it in tip-top shape and out of the shop with proper bike maintenance.

This collection of mostly timeless advice (until advances in bicycle technology make some of it obsolete) will guide you through the role of primary caregiver—so you can leave the tough stuff to the professionals.

Good Rules of Thumb

No. 1 Never loan tools to friends.

No. 2 If it’s threaded, grease it.

No. 3 You can’t properly adjust a bicycle that is dirty and not lubricated.

No. 4Perfect the art of changing a flat. No excuses.

No. 5 Nylon tire levers are better than metal ones.

No. 6 Measure twice, then cut. This especially goes for steerer tubes and integrated seatposts.

No. 7 When disassembling something, keep track of the order in which you remove parts. It takes the mystery out of putting it back together. (Pro tip: Set up your smartphone to video the disassembly for an easy reference guide.)

No. 8 Check tire pressure before every ride, especially if you’re running tubeless.

No. 9 The three most important tools to have on a ride: a multitool with a chain breaker, a pump or CO2, and a patch kit or tube.

No. 10 When tinkering with anything near your cranks, shift into the big ring first so you don’t mangle your hand on the chainring teeth.

No. 11 Periodically check for bearing play in your headset, hubs, and cranks. To check your headset, squeeze the front brake and rock your bike fore and aft. For wheel and crank bearings, pull the wheel or crank side to side. If you feel a wiggle, your component needs an adjustment. Don’t ignore it, or the problem will get bigger and more expensive.

No. 12 Using a torque wrench (see No. 81), check the tightness of your crank bolts every month. If you just bought a new bike, check them after every ride for the first week.

No. 13 After you box your bike for travel but before you seal it, give it a side-to-side shake to note any loose or rattling parts. Then secure them.

No. 14 Loctite Threadlocker­ Blue 242 is a must-have­ accessory for bolts that assemble using standard hand tools. It seals threaded fasteners and keeps them from rattling loose due to vibration.


Squeaks, Creaks, and Squeals

No. 15 If your bike makes a noise, it’s trying to tell you something. Don’t ignore it.

No. 16 A creaky crank is likely loose on the spindle. Remove the crank bolts, lubricate the threads, and reinstall. Tighten everything using a torque wrench.

No. 17 Use a light lubricant to silence squealing rear-derailleur pulley wheels.

No. 18 If your saddle creaks, drip a few drops of oil on the rail where it connects to your saddle and into the clamp where it grips the rails. (But before you do that, make sure that the area is fully clean and free of dust and grime—a good cleaning might solve the problem.)

No.­ 19 Master the skill of wrapping a handlebar.

No. 20 Create an ‘easy charge’ station near where you store your bike so you can easily plug in your cycling computer, bike lights, and even your electronic shifting post-ride, so you never lose power halfway through a century again.


Respect Your Mechanic

No. 21 Don’t be a hero. Whether it’s due to lack of knowledge or experience, or not having the proper tools for the job, you are not capable­ of every repair. Sometimes you have to take your problem to a professional.

No. 22 Find out what your shop mechanic’s favorite afternoon munchie is, then bring it along the next time you stop in for a repair.

No. 23 It doesn’t matter how you broke it. Just don’t lie to your bike mechanic.

No. 24 Never roll your bike into the shop and expect an on-the-spot repair. You don’t know what your mechanic is up against on any given day.


These Are the Brakes

No. 25 Three signs your brake pads are worn: You hear a gritty scraping sound, the grooves in the pad have all but disappeared, or you feel stickiness when you brake.

No. 26 Don’t touch disc-brake pads with your fingers. The oil from your skin can decrease their braking power.

No. 27 Work on one brake at a time so you always have an intact brake to reference.

No. 28 Always remove disc-brake pads when bleeding your brakes. Use a spacer, like Avid’s bleed block, to hold the pistons in place.

No. 29 If you’ve been running bolt-on brake pads and it’s time to replace them, now is the time to switch to the cartridge-style type. The next time your pads need replacement, you can simply slip them into the holder, no alignment needed.

No. 30 After removing­ a disc-brake wheel from the frame or fork, do not squeeze the brake lever. Doing so can cause the brake pads to clamp together tightly—­and separating them is no easy task.

No. 31 When replacing a brake cable, initially adjust it so the pads are fully against the rim, then squeeze the brake lever as hard as you can a few times to release slack in the cable and compress the housing. Repeat these steps until you don’t feel the cable and housing give anymore. Now adjust your brakes the way you want them to feel.

No. 32 Use sandpaper to roughen up glazed brake pads.

No. 33 Snug down your brake levers with a rubber band when adjusting rim-­brake pads.


Need to Know

No. 34 Do not use a solvent to lube your chain.

No. 35 If your wheel doesn’t sit straight in your bike after a hub overhaul, make sure the springs on the quick-release are installed correctly. The tapered end should always face in.

No. 36 Over time, the sealant on your tubeless setup dries out and becomes less effective at preventing leaks. Refresh it every three months (or every month if you have a mountain bike).

No. 37 Lots of experts tell you to use a level on your saddle as a starting point for comfort. What they might forget to mention: Your bike has to be on a level surface for this to work properly.

No. 38 Forget which kind of valves you have? Schrader valves are similar to the ones found on your car; presta valves are thinner, with a small nut that has to be opened prior to inflation.

No. 39 Places where grit hides: in brake pads, between tubes and tires, in cleats and pedals.

No. 40 If a carbon part moves when it’s not supposed to, it can get scratched or trashed.

No. 41 If you pinch-flat often, the PSI (air volume) in your tires is almost certainly too low.

No. 42 The difference between an axle and a spindle:­ An axle remains stationary while something rotates around it (think wheel); a spindle revolves inside a stationary body (think bottom bracket).

No. 43 Pluck your spokes often so you get to know what feels and sounds right. When one feels off or its tone is different from the rest, you know you have a loose spoke.

No. 44 Install quick-release skewers so the levers are on the non-driveside.

No. 45 The easiest way to get your rear wheel out is to shift into the highest gear so your chain is on the outer (smallest) cog. If it’s in the middle or all the way to the inside, you’ll have a harder time getting the cogs past the chain and derailleur.

No. 46 If the type on your front hub doesn’t read left to right as you sit in the saddle, your wheel is installed backwards.

No. 47 Most newer bikes have a sealed-cartridge bottom bracket, which means you could get three to five years out of it (even if you ride a ton) and never have to touch it. In fact, if yours loosens or wears out, it’s easiest to just buy a new one. The swap takes about 15 minutes but is best left to your mechanic—not because it’s difficult but because it’s cheaper to pay someone than to buy the tools you’ll need but rarely use.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cable and Housing Assistance

No. 48 Avoid a shredded fingertip. Always cap off the end of a freshly cut cable.

No. 49 Cut cables using a bike-specific cable cutter. You’ll get a cleaner cut, with no frayed ends on cables or sharp burrs on housing.

No. 50 Never use brake housing with shift cable or shift housing with brake cable.

No. 51 A few drops of Teflon oil in cable housings can fix sticky braking or slow shifting. (Don’t try this with electronic shifting, though!)

No. 52 When installing new cable, use your old cable housing as a guide when cutting new housing.

No. 53 Cut shift housing square and brake housing at an angle.

No. 54 Use a metal ferrule at the housing entrance to the rear derailleur rather than plastic, which can crack easily with looped entrances.


No. 55 If you store your tools in a toolbox, color-code them with their corresponding drawers or slots. If you have a pegboard in your shop, trace each tool in the spot where it hangs. Everything will be easier to find.

No. 56 No matter how long it takes, invest in quality bike tools until you have a complete set of the basics. See our list of essential tools.

No. 57 When doing a full tuneup, work from front to back or top to bottom so you’ll know where you were should you get interrupted.

No. 58 When you ­disassemble something complicated,­ use your smartphone or digital camera to document the process. If you end up with an extra part after reassembly is complete, you can look back at your pics to figure out when and where things went wrong.

No. 59 Never turn your bike upside down to work on it. You could ruin cables, accessories, even your saddle. If you don’t have a repair stand, find a way to suspend it.


More next month!


    Minutes from the

                                HBC Meeting April 6, 2021

·      Called to order at 7pm

Karen-President

·      Vote to approve the minutes from March, which were approved

·      No new members were present

·      The ride season is officially open with the restriction of the number of riders per ride and that they must sign up. Protocols have been posted.

·      Store will have club jerseys and possibly in the future, club socks with a high visibility and a cost around $10

·      Please note that with membership comes many bike store discounts

·      Road ID is a great idea for protection with a big discount to club members (www.roadid.com) 20% discount code (BC8YHA5Z5X43)

John- Vice President, Ride Chairman

·      All Riders: PLEASE CANCEL AHEAD OF TIME IF YOU DO NOT INTEND TO RIDE

·      PLEASE BE AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT ON YOUR RIDE- CALL OUT ALL OBSTRUCTIONS AND LISTEN TO YOUR RIDE LEADER

            To all Ride leaders:

  • ·      Let Ride Captains release and post rides.                        

    ·      Keep to the pace or paces to the slowest riders

    ·      Signal turns well in advance

    ·      Try to schedule as many rides as possible

  •     After the ride, send an email to John with:                                                                                                   

  • The name of the ride, ride level and sweep, ASAP

    ·      We are always looking for new ride leaders and new rides

  • Patty-Secretary

    ·      All is well

  • Gregg-Treasurer

    ·      Great job on the austerity budget

    ·      65 family memberships with a total of 79 members

    ·      Debits were for (insurance, club express, fees, paypal fees= $3100 but will go up next year

    ·      We are in good shape for next year.

    ·      A big "Thank you" to Bruce F!

  • Sal Levy-Membership

    ·      40 new members since March 1st

    ·      213 members renewed

    ·      Will follow through to send emails and phone those who have not renewed

  • Steve -Gold Coast

    ·      The ride will be July 10 & 11

    ·      It will be regular club rides that follows Gold Coast Route with a leader and sweep

    ·      Routes to be determined (may go back to previous years, since road markings are not being done)

    ·      The Gold Coast will be offered to members only

    ·      Donation button on the website will all go to charities.

    ·      Please let Steve know of potential Donors or Sponsors.

    ·      Not planning to do road markings

    ·      The routes will be changed to start at the lot or breezy point

    ·      NYC PD bike team is asking about the ride

  • Featured Speaker: Arne Johnson – Presented “Safe Group Bike Riding

    Alex, from Bicycle Playground – Showed products geared for bike safety, especially lights

    No old business

    Note: Susan Farren now is the ride leader of the B group

    Changes to Club By-Laws - Approved by unanimous vote

  • Meeting Adjourned: 8:30 PM

                                       Next meeting – May 11, 2021

    Respectfully submitted,

    Patricia Kalvar, Secretary