Biking

Biking is good, fun exercise, and you can learn many things from it. What gear to wear while riding depends on what kind of riding you’re doing. No matter what, wear a helmet. If you’re just biking around your neighborhood you probably don’t need pads or gloves; if you’re jumping or doing tricks or mountain biking, wear gloves and perhaps pads.

Always wear a helmet. Each year in the U.S., biking accidents cause about 800 deaths and 500,000 injuries treated in emergency rooms. If you’re in a bike accident, wearing a helmet decreases your likelihood of a head injury by 85 percent and lowers your likelihood of a brain injury by 88 percent.

General Safety

• Use a bike that’s the right size for your height and has right-size forks (suspension), brakes and tires.
• Don’t ride unsupervised or alone.
• Wear reflectors if you’re riding at night.
• Always ride defensively. Assume that cars don’t know you’re there and that they won’t give you the right-of-way, even though they should.
• Remember to tie your shoelaces tight so they don’t get caught in the chain, which could cause you to fall.
• If it’s raining and you’re riding your bike, go slowly enough that you won’t skid. Skidding can cause you to lose control.
• If you’re riding on gravel or cobblestone, ride and brake slowly and make as wide turns as possible.
• Always wear a helmet!

Bike Maintenance

It’s important to take care of your bike for your own safety and to ensure the bike lasts a long time. Start taking care of it as soon as you can so it will stay in better condition and be safer.

• Chains and gears. Keep them clean with an all-purpose spray cleaner, such as Finish Line Concentrated Citrus Biosolvent, which you can find at most bike shops. Don’t breathe in too much of the spray; it’s concentrated, flammable and can be bad for you. You can recommend this cleaner to your mom or dad to use on their bikes, cars or anything else with gears and chains. After cleaning, oil your chain often to prevent it from jamming.
• Brakes. Before every ride, hold your right brake and see if you can move the bike forward while pushing hard. Repeat with the left brake. If you don’t move while holding down the brake, your brakes are working. If you do move, adjust your brake(s) or go to a bike shop to get them adjusted.
• Tires. Your tires should be almost rock hard. If the tires feel squishy, inflate them. If a tire becomes flat, try to find the hole and bring it to a bike shop to get new tubing or tires. (Usually, you just need new tubing.)

Fun Biking

Riding with a friend can make biking much more fun. Here are some tips:

• If your friends or parents don’t bike (or don’t want to), you can bike alongside them while they run, scooter or rollerblade.
• Bring water while you bike or make sure you’ll have access to water.
• Enter some bike races for kids or charity/fun races with your parents or friends.
• If you also like to swim and run, try a triathlon (swim, bike, run).
• Remember, the best way to have fun is to relax and ride safely. Wear a helmet, ride supervised and enjoy it.

Bike Safety for Drivers

If you drive a car, you’re expected to share the road with bicycles. Many of the people on those bicycles are youth who deserve your protection and respect. Many children take a bicycle safety class before they share the road with cars. In those classes, bicyclists are taught that a bike is like a car and needs to follow the same traffic rules.

DMV rule 21201(a) is something all drivers should know: “Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations:

1. When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
2. When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.”

Drivers — please follow some basic bike safety rules around bikes, especially near schools:

• Check the bike lane. When turning right across a bike lane, always look behind you for a bicyclist. If someone is approaching, wait rather than trying to go first.
• Pass with ample room. You can safely cross the center line to pass a bicyclist as long as oncoming traffic is clear (except over a double yellow line). Passing close, especially over 25 mph, is very scary for cyclists.
• Don’t honk to communicate with cyclists unless there’s an emergency. If your horn sounds loud from inside your car, imagine how loud and shocking it is from just in front of it.
• Be cautious in residential neighborhoods. Children riding bikes or running on the sidewalk may not see you. If you aren’t slowing down before they cross the street, you could run them over.
• Look for cyclists before opening your car door. When parking on the street, make sure you’re not opening your car door into the path of a cyclist.
• Use good manners. Apologizing if you make a mistake goes a long way. Eye contact and waves are very humanizing, especially in the stress of rush-hour traffic.

Youth reviewer: Sarahjeet Dosanjh

Reviewed by: Sharanjit Dosanjh, R.N.

Last reviewed: September 2019