Quote:
Originally Posted by cabasse
i'm starting my new commute into the office tomorrow, and planning to bike. part of my route is going to be on a very bike unfriendly road; potholes, hyper aggressive buckhead betties. i feel like i should bike this short portion on the sidewalk, but is this ever appropriate? (i know it's not legal, but that seems to be unenforced) also - how do you guys feel about helmets in general? i picked up a couple of cheap retrospec helmets but they look incredibly dorky - something much more low profile would be preferred, i dont think they need to be 2" thick... |
Unfortunately a lot of the South is like this. I lived two places in Tennessee (Knoxville and Nashville) and it's really tough to ride a road bike in those places since you need to seek refuge on the sidewalk pretty often.
I'd ride a mountain bike so you can jump off and on the sidewalk mid-block as needed. If you have a commuter bike get Kevlar tires. Don't ride a road bike. You're going to be pinned up between traffic and gravel and glass that collects along the curb.
If you get a helmet don't skimp on a cheap one. The ones that are upwards of $100 or over are way better than the cheap ones. They aren't any safer but they're much more comfortable and the aero features of the road helmets keep your head from being pushed sideways during wind gusts. I didn't believe that it made a difference until I broke down and bought a good helmet.
Also, helmets are really useful for mitigating the annoyance of light rain showers and they help keep your head warm during the winter. Don't wear anything with a hood because when you turn your head left and right the hood doesn't move and you're just looking into the hood.