Any female cyclists out there?



"cityjen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Peter - is there a general maintenance book you'd recommend, that

gives a
> great overview of bikes in general, plus specifics (changing tire,

etc.).
> I'm planning on taking a maintenance class but would love to have -

and
> recommend - a bookshelf primer.
>

[snip]

A few general comments

1. I like a book with drawings rather than photographs. They are
always clearer. Alas, such books seem to be becoming rare.

2. A subject that all books leave out is how to clean your hands
afterwards. "Swarfega" from car parts shops, is the standard stuff.
You put it on without any water. If you wash it off with cold water,
not hot, your pores stay closed until the dirt has gone.

In the USA you can get, in bike shops, similar stuff in toothpaste
tubes for convenience in carrying round on a bike, but I don't think
it exists in Britain. However, you can get empty, fillable,
toothpaste tubes in camping shops for carrying whatever you want.

If you put on barrier cream, also from car parts shops, before you
start, that keeps you cleaner.

Emergency substitutes are soft soap for the barrier cream - that's
what you get under a bar of soap when it sits in a puddle by the
washbasin. For Swarfega, you can use olive oil, shampoo, washing up
liquid, or things like those.

3. There seem to be two different types of maintenance book. One
gives general principles, and the other detailed instructions on the
lines of , step 1 , do this, step 2, do this. It's a matter of taste
which you prefer. I suppose the general principles style needs you
to have seen a few examples before, so you know what they are talking
about.

4. All books leave a few things out. If you have only one book, it
is guaranteed to have left out the one crucial step you need

[John Forester's "Effective Cycling" does tell you, briefly, how to
clean your hands - see p 112 6th edition. Some people, including me,
swear by this book, but other people can't stand JF's dogmatic tone.
He covers all the ground that "Cyclecraft" covers, and EF is a good
general cycling book as well, covering lots of stuff covered nowhere
else.. For maintenance he is the extreme of the general-principles
school.]

Jeremy Parker
 
"Jeremy Parker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "cityjen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Peter - is there a general maintenance book you'd recommend, that

> gives a
> > great overview of bikes in general, plus specifics (changing tire,

> etc.).
> > I'm planning on taking a maintenance class but would love to have -

> and
> > recommend - a bookshelf primer.
> >

> [snip]
>
> A few general comments
>
> 1. I like a book with drawings rather than photographs. They are
> always clearer. Alas, such books seem to be becoming rare.
>
> 2. A subject that all books leave out is how to clean your hands
> afterwards. "Swarfega" from car parts shops, is the standard stuff.
> You put it on without any water. If you wash it off with cold water,
> not hot, your pores stay closed until the dirt has gone.
>
> In the USA you can get, in bike shops, similar stuff in toothpaste
> tubes for convenience in carrying round on a bike, but I don't think
> it exists in Britain. However, you can get empty, fillable,
> toothpaste tubes in camping shops for carrying whatever you want.
>
> If you put on barrier cream, also from car parts shops, before you
> start, that keeps you cleaner.
>
> Emergency substitutes are soft soap for the barrier cream - that's
> what you get under a bar of soap when it sits in a puddle by the
> washbasin. For Swarfega, you can use olive oil, shampoo, washing up
> liquid, or things like those.
>


Use those very thin disposable plastic gloves.

--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
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in message <[email protected]>, Jeremy Parker
('[email protected]') wrote:

>
> "cityjen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Peter - is there a general maintenance book you'd recommend, that

> gives a
>> great overview of bikes in general, plus specifics (changing tire,

> etc.).
>> I'm planning on taking a maintenance class but would love to have -

> and
>> recommend - a bookshelf primer.
>>

> [snip]
>
> A few general comments
>
> 1. I like a book with drawings rather than photographs. They are
> always clearer. Alas, such books seem to be becoming rare.


Zinn on the Art..., as recommended earlier. Excellent, clear line
drawings.

> 2. A subject that all books leave out is how to clean your hands
> afterwards. "Swarfega" from car parts shops, is the standard stuff.
> You put it on without any water. If you wash it off with cold water,
> not hot, your pores stay closed until the dirt has gone.
>
> In the USA you can get, in bike shops, similar stuff in toothpaste
> tubes for convenience in carrying round on a bike, but I don't think
> it exists in Britain. However, you can get empty, fillable,
> toothpaste tubes in camping shops for carrying whatever you want.


The wet wipes you can buy from chemists for cleaning babies' bottoms
work very effectively and come in handy travel pack sachets.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
/-\ You have discovered a security flaw in a Microsoft product. You
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\_/ * Spend hours helping us fix this problem for free?
 
On Wed, 07 Jul 2004 11:11:13 GMT, Velvet <[email protected]>
wrote (more or less):
....
>I can highly recommend getting a copy of 'cyclecraft' - I can't remember
>the author but others here will be able to tell you. I think it might
>be available via amazon.co.uk - a new edition was done a while back.
>
>Very very useful - it's like highway code for cyclists,


I think you mean it's like 'Roadcraft', the driving manual, for
cyclists.

The Highway Code is the highway Code - whether you're a a car-driver,
a horse-rider, a pedestrian o rany other highway user.

I got my first copy of the Highway Code as part of my Cycle
Proficiency training.


>and is full of
>excellent advice about where and how to cycle (not as close to the kerb
>as you might think, for example), and how to best negotiate junctions,
>etc etc.
>
>Cycling with experienced cyclists helps too - you can follow their lead
>and learn where they position themselves on the road at various points
>to avoid problems being squeezed by cars, etc. Of course, that assumes
>they actually do the sensible thing and don't cycle in the gutter all
>the time, so you might have to ask around a bit!


--
Cheers,
Euan
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