I used the feature to see what route it would generate between my house and workplace.  I was impressed to see that it provided a couple of routes – both of which I use regularly!  Nice!

This feature is still in beta but there is no doubt that it is great tool you can start using now to plan your bicycle trips!

Here’s a video with an overview of the new features…

CatEye TL-LD1100

The TL-LD1100 is Cateye’s top-of-the-line bicycle tail light with 10 super bright LEDs – six that point rearward (aligned in two rows of three) and two on each side.

What I like: Each row of three LEDs that face to the rear can be toggled through several settings like a) constantly on, b) flash, c) cylon mode (side-to-side display) and d) random. Choosing a different flash pattern for the top and the bottom row can yield a very eye-catching overall pattern that is sure to be noticed by motorists.

What I don’t like: This is a big damn light. I find this to be a minor drawback since this light fits perfectly on the end of my bicycle rack. That said, I could how this light might be unwieldy for someone clipping it to a backpack, clothing, etc.

NiteRider CherryBomb

The CherryBomb features a half-watt LED powered by two AAA batteries.

What I like: The flash pattern is noticeable and a variation of the popular PlanetBike Superflash design where two smaller LEDs fire before the brightest LED fires. In this case the two smaller LEDs fire from top and bottom while the more powerful LED fires immediately afterwards in the middle. In addition, this middle LED has a lens covering that tends to diffuse the light not just rearward but also to the side. I also like that this light has a reflector built-in so that if your batteries die, the reflector built-in will be picked up by headlights and still offer some visibility.

What I don’t like: At least for me, the default clip for this light had far too much of a gap for it to hook on my Topeak bicycle bags in the designated place on the rear of the bag. I solved this problem by wrapping some duct tape around the clip to “bulk it up” enough to close that gap to keep the light from flying off the bag at the first big bump.
Here is a shot of the Cateye light on the back of my Topeak Explorer bicycle rack:

I have earned the official designation of “salt monster on two wheels.”

I’m not really kidding, either.

When I arrive home after my bicycle commute, there are sometimes egregious amounts of salt on my helmet straps, bicycle bag or anywhere else my salt exuding body has touched. It’s at times fascinating but mostly just gross.

Here are a few tips to help you survive and perform well when the mercury is soaring past the century mark:

• Don’t start your rides dehydrated. Even trained athletes have been known to underestimate their hydration needs. Days that you’re biking in the heat should be days when you’re drinking a lot of fluids.

• If you’re a salt monster like me, it might not be a bad idea to down an electrolyte beverage. Gatorade’s G2 drink has just 70 calories a bottle but doesn’t skimp on the vitamins, potassium and sodium your body may be begging for.

• Carry more water than you think you’ll need. I really should follow this advice but usually don’t. If you have two water bottle cages, you can use some of the water from one of the bottles to act like a fire hose – a “douse your head with water” maneuver that can offer some instant relief if the heat is really getting to you.

• Think about drinking most of your water early in the ride. Why? A simple reason is that when you’re dealing with temps over 95 degrees, the water in your bottle can get quite hot. I’ve brought bottle to parched lips and recoiled when I discovered the water was at a temperature better suited for warming up a baby’s bottle (that said, even hot water is better than no water so “cowboy up” and drink it!).

• Back off on your speed. If you’re treating your bicycle commute home as The Tour De France and it’s 102 degrees outside, you could be asking for trouble. Reducing your physical exertion can help to keep things manageable. Yes, the granny gear just might be the ticket for that next hill…

When you’re cycling in temperatures that give the preheat setting on your oven a run for its money, I hope these tips will help. Here are some great online resources to learn more about how to beat the heat…

Extreme Hot Weather : Preventing Summer Heat Injuries
Drink Wisely
How to Avoid Dehydration

Be safe out there!

The class was nine hours long – 4 hours of classroom instruction and 5 hours of “on the road” training. That may seem like a lot, but the time passed pretty quickly – no surprise for someone like me with a bad case of cycling obsession.

The classroom instruction was comprehensive and helpful. While most of what was covered served as more of a refresher to me than brand new material, I could quickly appreciate just how valuable the class would be for new and prospective cyclists.

Some of the accident statistics shared during the presentation really drove the message home that riding predictably as the slow-moving vehicle that you are and taking your share of the lane when necessary is the safest way to get from Point A to Point B. For example, the statistics prove time and time again that being hit by a vehicle coming up directly behind you is actually one of the more rare bicycle accidents yet it is the type of accident most cited by new riders as their greatest fear.

The “on the road” portion of the class was a lot of fun. We learned and then practiced emergency maneuvers like rock dodges, quick turns and very hard, minimum distance “emergency” stops. We then completed a 6 to 8 mile ride in Downtown Austin where we put our traffic skills to use.

All-in-all, the course was worth every penny – I highly recommend it. Kudos to Wes & Stan(our instructors) for a job well done!

Periodically check your lights to ensure they are at peak efficiency. If they’re getting weak, replace the battery. That’s a small expense for a big return in added safety.

Reflectors are just one part of being conspicuous

As a bicycle commuter, riding in the dark (especially in the morning) is a simple reality. For me, its a choice of making myself visible to a small number of cars in the dark on my commute to work or waiting for daybreak and mixing it up with rush hour traffic.

I chose the former.

As a result, I’ve done some research on how to be as safe as possible while riding during those dark, predawn hours.

Let’s start with an important fact. It is one thing to be seen by drivers. It is a second and equally important thing to be recognized by drivers as cyclists.

A tailight, for example, can assist a driver in spotting you initially. Florescent clothing (especially the bright yellow-green variety or orange), a headlamp mounted on your bicycle helmet and reflective bands on your arms/ankles are all elements that help the driver recognize, as they get closer, that you’re a cyclist. Ankle bands, for example, move with your pedal strokes and communicate a characteristic motion that drivers attribute to a person riding a bike.

Bob Mionske mentions on his excellent site Bicycle Law that wearing reflective material can increase a driver’s recognition from 150 feet to 2200 feet at night. That’s a lot of extra time to allow a driver to move over into another lane or plan their speed so they can enter an oncoming lane safely to pass you.

Make no mistake, riding at night without taking steps to make yourself visible to motorists is a dangerous affair backed by sobering statistics. A majority of fatal bicycle accidents happen at night and if you survive a car-bike collision the lack of lights and reflective materials may be be viewed by courts as negligence.

Here are the steps I’ve taken to make myself more conspicuous:

• The rear of my bicycle usually has two tailights. Usually, two Planet Bike 1/2 Watt Superflashes. One mounted on the bicycle rack and the other on my Topeak bag (attached to the rack).
• I wear a pair of Vedante Super Reflective Pop Bands around my ankles and around my wrists. The ankles provide the pedal motion while the wrist bands help communicate my hand signals when turning.
• A Seca 400 headlamp is attached to the bike providing up to 400 lumens of light. I run the headlamp in steady mode in the dark to help drivers gauge my distance and to ensure I’m not about to nose dive into one of the many potholes that litter my path to work.
• In most circumstances I’ll wear bright-colored clothing like my neon yellow Gore Bike Wear Helium jacket.

What do YOU do to be conspicuous?

About 57 minutes into my bike ride to work this morning I became one with the pavement. I was coming down a steep hill but due to wet roads had been doing some periodic braking to keep the speed manageable. Fortunately, this meant I crashed doing about 17mph versus a normal max speed on this descent around 25mph (or more).

What happened?

In a nutshell, I screwed up.

I was slightly right of the middle of the lane when I noticed some cars approaching. In an effort to be courteous, I eased right and struck uneven pavement that knocked me down. The fall was so quick that I didn’t realize what had happened until it was after the fact. My hands remained on the handlebars so the bike frame (and after closer inspection, the right pedal) absorbed a good portion of the impact.

That is not to say my own body didn’t do its share of absorbing the energy as well as these photos attest.

The fact that this crash could have been much worse does not escape me. I fell away from traffic, the wet conditions resulted in less skin to pavement friction and my bike – after some wonderful assistance from the helpful mechs at BikeWorld 1604 – appears to have sustained almost no damage except for $23 to replace the pedals.

The big lesson learned here for me is to put more thought into the decision to relinquish my lane position since moving too far to the right leaves so little room for avoiding road hazards and begs drivers to squeeze into the lane with you.

Thanks to my parents for providing transportation all over creation today and my wife/daughter for all their support (and everyone else out there that expressed your concern about my well-being).