great advice here. The only thing I can think to add is having either dedicated riding boots (racing boots) or steel-toed work shoes. I go with the latter. Makes shifting and braking with your toes easier, splits air better around your shoe to keep your feet warmer on cold rides and (most importantly) protects your toes on a tight turn. When I first started riding I leaned into a turn with my foot too even on the peg and the toe of my shoe scraped the ground and since it could flex it caught the rough pavement and almost bent my ankle under me!
Please please please don't be like those idiots I see riding around in shorts and t-shirts. Always gear up properly. If it's too hot, take the car and crank the AC. I generally don't ride if it's hotter than 90F out, since I prefer black riding gear - even with a mesh jacket it's rough.
Like it's been said, it's not if you're going to fall, but when. And most people don't take that generally enough and only apply it to their driving habits and say "oh well I'm not going to go fast or race or anything like that" but they don't realize it'll prob be because some idiot in a car does not see them and WHAM! Also like it's been said - always assume that no other vehicles on the road see you. Especially dangerous scenarios are those like where a person is making a turn into the opposite lane, doesn't see you behind a car and thinks it's all clear once the car passes, pulls out and ends up right in front of you. Happened to me once luckily I saw it coming and swerved and there was no oncoming traffic. So BE AWARE
Last edited by Gaiiden; 05-27-2010 at 10:13 PM.
|