Tips For Commuters

Ah, commuters. Those of you who commute to work on a bike in Houston are our heroes. You know who you are- you have the heart of a lion and your bike has the scars to prove it. You ride when it’s cold both weeks of winter, you ride when it’s hot and muggy, and you ride when it’s even hotter and more muggy. You ride when it’s raining, you ride when it’s sunny 10 minutes later, and you ride when it starts raining again. You ride on streets choked by millions of drivers in gigantic SUVs, and you ride on sidewalks that make the trails in Memorial Park look smooth. You ride because something in your soul tells you that it’s just the right thing to do. You ride, and we love you for it. You are a hero.

At Blue Line Bikes, commuters automatically go to the front of the line. Your bike belongs on the streets, not in a rack.

If you’re thinking about becoming a hero, and you’ve never commuted on a bike in Houston before, there are some things that we think you should know. We’ve made a list of things that we think are good ideas based on our own personal experiences, and which may not reflect anybody else’s opinions or realities. They may not even be legal- we’re bike mechanics, not lawyers. Here they are….

• WEAR A HELMET! If your feet are on the pedals, you should have a helmet on your head. Yes, they do look a little silly, but then again the whole “brains oozing out of the ear thing” has never really been a good look either.

•GET A LIGHT! Even if you only ride during the day, a set of front and rear blinking lights will help drivers see you. If you’re commuting in the dark, the more lights the better. Remember the spaceship in E.T.? That’s the look you should be going for.

•GET A GOOD LOCK! You are responsible for your own bike. If somebody steals your bike from you, it’s your fault- it obviously wasn’t locked up securely enough. Locks are an area where it never pays to be cheap- cable locks can be cut with a pair of wire cutters, and if you buy your lock from Wal-mart, then you deserve what you get. Lock your wheels to your frame, and your frame to something that you are sure is secure. Be careful- thieves have been known to loosen poles from the ground and unscrew signs from their posts and then wait for somebody to lock their ride up. Don’t be easy pickings.
Take your bike inside whenever possible.

•TAKE YOUR LANE! It’s not a privilege to ride your bike in the street, it’s your right. In fact, it’s the law. Houston is a city full of aggressive drivers, so this is the part where courage and resolve really comes in handy. We do not, under any circumstances, ride against the curb. The area near the curb is where all of the water and road debris collects, and in many more progressive places it’s what is known as “the gutter.” Any time that you surrender your lane, it’s likely that somebody really important, usually juggling a cell phone and a triple venti nonfat two sweet and low four pump caramel macchiato from Starbucks, is going to accelerate past you in a three ton sport utility vehicle. Don’t ride in the gutter!

•DON’T RIDE ON BUSY STREETS! There are plenty of back roads in Houston. You never have to ride down Westheimer during rush hour. It may technically be your right, but it’s definitely not cool. Besides, all of the neat stuff to see and experience is off of the beaten path anyway. Isn’t that part of why we ride, to see life from a different angle?

•START RIGHT NOW! Tomorrow may never come, and if it does, it may be too late. Commitment is useless unless it is followed by action, so stop thinking about living and start doing it.