BWL Column: Checklist gets you ready for next bike ride

 This week's BWL column gives you tips on what you need to do to get ready for your next ride...plus some research results that will encourage you to take a lunchtime walk.

News-Press "Go Coastal" Section--BikeWalkLee's 2/19/15 column

NP Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Want to ensure you make it back from your next ride? Get in the habit of checking these dozen things before you hit the road. It will only take a minute, and it will make the difference between a great ride and one that is much less so:

•1. Tires, inflation: Check that they’re properly inflated… too low increases your risk of a flat, too high makes the ride rougher.
•2. Tires, condition: Got enough tread to get a grip on the road?
•3. Wheels: Check your quick-release skewer to make sure it’s tight…and if you don’t have one, then check your wheel nuts for the same thing.
•4. Chain, lubrication: When was the last time you lubed it? Can’t remember? Then do it now.
•5. Chain, condition: Is it tight enough, and not sagging (which can lead to slippage and worse)?
•6. Brakes: Enough left on the pads to enable you to stop smoothly? Are they properly adjusted? Too loose and you’ll struggle to slow down, too tight and you might buck yourself over the handlebars.
•7. Seat post: Tight and at the proper height?
•8. Handlebars: Secure and properly adjusted?
•9. Helmet, location: Hopefully, on your head. If so, is it tight and straight? If not, do you have any next-of-kin to notify?
•10. Helmet, condition: Looks for cracks and frayed straps.
•11. Visibility, day: Wear something that will stand out from the landscape and is also appropriate for the weather.
•12. Visibility, night: Might be out after dark? Pack those lights (front and rear) and your reflective gear.

BikeWalkLee is a community coalition raising public awareness and advocating for complete streets in Lee County—streets that are designed, built, operated and maintained for safe and convenient travel for all users: pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit riders of all ages and abilities. Information, statistics and background online at BikeWalkLee.org.


Turtle wins the race
Good news for slower runners and mid-day walkers: Two recent studies suggest your habits might help you live longer and think better.

First, according to Danish research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, slow and steady wins the race for a longer life. While joggers in general live longer than those who don’t exercise, this study said that joggers who go slow (no specific pace was cited) and less (between 1-2.4 hours a week) lived longer than those who ran faster and more often. In fact, the study suggested the non-exercisers and faster/more frequent runner might enjoy the same mortality… but without enough explanation (or sample size) to make a convincing case.

A better case was made for the benefits of a lunch-hour walk, in a different study published in a Scandinavian medical journal (apparently that part of the globe is the go-to place for walk/run/bike studies). There, researchers compared the mood of noontime walkers.. no prescribed distance or intensity, just 30 minutes minimum.

Those who strolled said they felt “more enthusiastic, less tense and generally more relaxed and better able to cope” after their walks. Productivity was assumed to rise as well, although that was more difficult to measure. All the walkers also showed gains in fitness after their participation in the study.
So tell your boss you can’t work through lunch — you need to take a walk to be better at your job that afternoon. Maybe even try a little jogging… live longer and work better, what’s not to like?