“Don’t do it!” I warned, “you will be killed.”

In our town in Europe, we bike everywhere. The bike trails are so extensive I can bike from my house to the center of town without ever having to be on a road; the trails go under them or next to the sidewalks beside them. My vision of NYC was of the delivery people on bikes jostling with taxi cabs and local drivers all careening through five lanes of traffic, which easily became three due to double parking. Everyone kept banging into everyone else leaving bruises and stress and ugliness.

“Take the subway,” I recommended, “it is SO much easier.”

When my friends got back they told me I really needed to revisit NYC. They had rented bikes, and it was a great success. So last summer, I took a trip to NYC and rented a bike. While it wasn’t quite the experience of my current city, it was much better than I envisioned.

NYC has become a bike friendly city. There are bike lanes, blocked off from traffic with large dividers. People are patient with bicyclists (well, as patient as New Yorkers can be). It is easy to get around on your bike, and it is easy to rent a bike.

A quick Internet search can score you a fantastic bike tour of NYC. This is great if you want to combine riding with your trip. You can schedule your rides appropriately, and you can stop and see things along the way. Or you can sign up for a guided trip – usually these range from half a day to a full day. Your guides will tell you about the city as you go along, and there are multiple breaks along the way to get a closer look at things.

If you rent a bike in NYC, you cannot skip the trip around Central Park. If the weather is nice, it is an awesome way to take in all of the park and even people watch. You should also grab a pretzel for the road.

New York City has been making great strides to become a more biking friendly city, and now is the time to take advantage of that. Biking trails are well-constructed and busy, but not too crowded yet. And it isn’t too difficult to find bike parking (like it is where I live). So next time you are in NYC, skip the subway and rent a bike.

Biking as your main form of transport can be healthy, invigorating and fun, but just like any other form of exercise, you have to be motivated and dedicated.

Here are some tips I have for anyone looking to add biking to their lifestyle – as a way to get around town or get to work. I usually have a 20 minute biking commute, that’s 40 minutes roundtrip. I am grateful that my office is downhill, which means I don’t break too much of a sweat on the way to work, more so on the way home.

1. A good bike doesn’t have to be the most expensive bike. It should be the best bike for you. Where I live you don’t see a lot of expensive bikes, because they tend to disappear pretty quickly. You park them outside of work and all around town. For me, a good bike is one I won’t miss much.
2. Get out there – rain or shine – with good gear. If I bike for 40 minutes a day, I feel less guilty about not making it to the gym as much. But it does mean getting out there in the rain. I invested in some really good rain gear. It keeps me dry for when I arrive at the office. I admit I am not as hardcore as some around here, when we had 1 foot of snow, I ditched the bike. But there were a lot of people biking as usual.
3. Get a good helmet, you only have one head. Around here the cobblestone streets make me very nervous, so I have invested in a fancy helmet. I don’t want to find out the hard way what happens if my head hits one of those stones.
4. Your bike = transportation. Before I moved to Europe, I knew a lot of people who loved to bike with lots of equipment, clothing, and training. I enjoyed a few rides with friends, but never really felt I had the time. These days I view my bike as a mode of transport. A great way to get where I am going, a great way to get home after a night out with a couple of drinks, and an environmentally friendly way to get around. I even have an infant chair tacked on the back so I can drop my daughter off at pre-school on the way to work. And occasionally I end up with a bouquet of flowers or a loaf of bread in my basket.  

If you’re not worried about a budget, there are tons of snazzy gifts available for bikers.

• Bike Garmins – This gift is for one of those bikers that loves data. Garmins can cost a couple hundred dollars, but that’s because they are basically mini-wireless computers (with a bunch of sensors).  Most Garmins will measure speed, distance traveled, time, calories burned, altitude, climb, descent, and then records the data for later analysis.
• Hydration Packs – Is your biking buddy still fumbling with a water bottle during bike rides? Buy him a hydration pack! A widely used brand of hydration packs is CamelPak. They offer several different models that store around 70-100 fluid ounces. Additional storage pockets allow you to stay refreshed all day long.
• Helmet Cameras – What better way to keep a journal of a biking excursion than to record it on video? Modern helmet cams offer a hands-free way to capture fast-paced footage. A good camera will be waterproof and record professional-grade sound (so you don’t just hear wind on the recording).
• Bike Seat – Has your biking friend ever considered switching up his or her bike seat? A high end saddle can cost up to $250 (at which point, you’re paying for ultra light construction that doesn’t compromise comfort). How will you know if the recipient will actually like the saddle? Luckily, most bike shops will let you take the saddle home to give it a few trial rides, and then allow returns if the cyclist is unsatisfied.
• Gloves – Wait, gloves make a $50+ list? A good pair of gloves for cold-weather riding certainly can. For example, you will find Giro Ambient 2 full-finger bike gloves for $50 at REI. They are windproof, moisture-wicking, breathable, and rated to 40°F. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a cheaper pair of gloves that actually work as well as they are advertised.

The following is for someone who isn’t necessarily a beginner in biking, but who hasn’t put much thought into the way the gears on a bike work: shift from higher gears to lower gears to make the pedaling easier/faster; shift to higher gears when the pedaling is too easy. In essence, this is true, but it won’t lead you to the most effective method of shifting. Here are a few tips:

• Plan on pedaling quickly. You might notice that you can be traveling the same speed as someone while pedaling much slower than them. Part of the reason for this is the difference between any two bikes, but it probably has more to do with choice of gear. Who’s right? In general, it is best to keep a brisk pedaling pace; plan on pedaling continuously, and change your gears accordingly.
• Pedal while shifting. A common misconception is that you temporarily need to stop pedaling to change gears. The truth is, shifting will not occur unless there is pedaling. This moves the derailleur, which moves the bike chain from sprocket to sprocket. In you’re powering up a hill, you will want to reduce the amount of pressure you are applying to make the pedals turn. This takes some planning; you may need to speed up briefly to be able to ease up on the pedals and to shift smoothly.
• Match low with low and high with high. If you have a bike with gears on the left and right, you will want to pair your lowest gears on the left with the lower ones on the right (e.g. 1 or 2 on the left with 1-4 out of 7). Visually, this means that the chain line is kept as straight as possible. Audibly, it reduces the amount of grinding and rattling noises you will hear as you continue to pedal.
• Shift down to a lower gear before stopping. Starting in a high gear is as difficult for you as is it for the bike. If you try to shift the gear down after you have stopped, the major shift happens all at once when you start up again, and can cause some unsettling grinding.

By getting the most out of your bike, you’ll get the most out of the outdoors!

Hubway (New Balance Hubway, officially) was launched on July 28. It opened with 46 stations around Boston and 600 bikes. This is Phase 1 of this bike share system. Phase 2 will begin in 2012, bringing Cambridge, Somerville, and Brookline into the picture. Ultimately, we might see as many as 5,000 Hubway bikes and 300 stations around Boston and the surrounding cities.

There are four simple steps for using Hubway bikes. The first step is to join the system. You can only use Hubway if you are a member. A one-day “casual” membership costs $5, a 3-day “casual” membership costs $12, while a full-year “registered” membership currently costs $60. After you’ve become a member, you will be able to check out bikes an unlimited number of times during the time period for which you registered. The first 30 minutes are free, so if you’re making a quick trip, you won’t pay an extra dime, regardless of whether or not you have a casual or registered membership.

Hubway bikes are designed for quick rides, and that’s what the prices encourage. Period longer than 30 minutes incur additional usage fees listed here. The prices are quite steep. In fact, Hubway recommends renting from other companies if you are looking to rent a bike for an extended period of time.

After joining, the last three steps are easy. Take a bike. Ride it. Return it. Hubway bikes can be returned to any Hubway station.  If the station where you want to return your bike is full, you get 15 (free) extra minutes to get to the next station. There is also a smart-phone app that allows you to check availability at a particular station in advance.

Riding Tips:

• Wear a helmet. Hubway encourages users to wear helmets when biking, but does not provide them. There is no Massachusetts law that requires that bikers wear them; however, low-cost ($7.99) helmets can be purchased at a number of locations in Boston.
• Obey all regulatory signs and traffic lights.
• Ride on the right of traffic, in the same direction as the traffic, and use hand signals to indicate a change of direction.
• Leave at least four feet between your bike and parked car doors; people don’t always check the bike lane before stepping out of their cars. Be alert!

Boston’s Hubway is a three-season operation. The bikes and kiosks will be removed during the winter.

• Helmet. First things first – buy a helmet, and wear a helmet. It could save your life. Besides, everyone on the trails will be wearing them, and you can find helmets that look quite snazzy (in addition to being fully-functional) nowadays.
• Water bottle. Being properly hydrated will keep you biking efficiently. Use a water bottle or wear a hydration backpack if you have one; just have some sort of hydration plan. A short bike ride doesn’t always go as planned.
• Repair kit. What will you do if you’re 7 miles from your destination, the sun sets in 40 minutes, and you suddenly end up with a flat tire? Most bike repair kits are quite small, and are a negligible load to carry; there’s no reason not to have one attached somewhere to your bike. A kit containing a multi-tool designed specifically for repairing bikes, tire levers, a patch kit, and an extra tube, just in case the existing tube is beyond repair, should be enough to handle the most common repairs. Make sure you know how to use all of the items. A mini-pump should also be in the repair kit if you do not have a pump attached elsewhere to your bike.
• Eye protection. You can end up traveling quite fast as you cruise down a mountain, and you never know what might fly into your eye. Wearing sunglasses or glasses with clear lenses will keep the wind from your eyes to prevent tears that might cause blurred vision.
• Bike gloves. Ever come back from a bike ride and noticed blisters on your hands? Bike gloves prevent blistered hands, but can also save your hands from a lot more damage. When taking a fall, a biker’s hands are usually one of the first things to make contact with the ground. Spare your hands by wearing a pair of full-fingered gloves.

Less essential for safety, yet extremely essential for comfort are:

• Bike shorts. Wear the wrong pair of shorts while biking, and you could end up regretting that decision for many days to come. (Did I hear someone say, “chafing”?) If you’re relatively new to long bike rides, your butt will be sore no matter what you wear during your first few long-distance rides; however, padded bike shorts can definitely provide some extra cushioning that will keep the pain to a minimum, allowing you to bike for longer distances.

There are three different ways of getting a bike to explore a city:

• Bringing your own. If it’s possible, why not? Don’t forget a lock.
• Renting/hiring a bike. Bike hires have been around for many years on small “vacation” islands such as Nantucket, Massachusetts; however, they are gaining popularity in bigger cities as well. When I was visiting Amsterdam, there was a deal that if we parked for $6 in a specific lot on the edge of the city (to reduce congestion inside the city), we would receive bikes for that day at no additional cost. Of course, they weren’t stellar bikes, but they got us from A to B, and we didn’t have to be afraid of people trying to steal them.
• Using a bike share system. Some cities have developed a bike share system. For example, Melbourne, Australia, has a bike share system that has 50 stations around the city. An annual subscription would only cost $50, but one can also subscribe for a week, or even just a day. The subscription allows a member to simply borrow a bike from one station, and ride it to the next. This is ideal for short trips around the city, provided that you have some idea of where you are headed. At $2.50 for a day of unlimited use of the bike share system, this is much cheaper than the other forms of public transportation in Melbourne. The same is probably true in other cities with a bike share system.

Of course, there are a few disadvantages to relying on public bikes. One does have to find a way to get to the bike hire/share station. It is also possible, though unlikely, that the station you had in mind is out of bikes, or that the bikes are in poor condition. Weather can obviously cause some problems. There is also the issue of safety. Fortunately, many cities are working on updating their roads to better accommodate bikers. For example, Cambridge, Massachusetts is adding green bike lanes to several of the main roads. Last but not least, in many cities, not wearing a helmet is against the law, so you will need to figure out what to do with the helmet when you are not riding the bike.

Private vehicles are not allowed on the island, so how does one get around? The easiest way to get around Rottnest is by bike. If you don’t feel comfortable biking around the island, there is a free hop-on-and-off bus service that can take you to any of the major destinations on the island, but biking is definitely the way to go. You can control your pace and spend your entire day outdoors. For a small fee, you can take a bike with you on the ferry, rent one from the ferry, or rent one on the island.  The road around the island is paved, but does have a few dips and bumps, nothing a bit of walking can’t solve, if necessary. The island is only 7-8 miles long and about 3 miles wide. This means that it actually only takes 3-5 hours to circumnavigate the island, depending on how fast you bike. But why hurry?

Rottnest Island has an incredible variety of offerings. There are 63 sheltered beaches and bays, which means there are plenty of options for snorkeling, surfing, swimming, or simply sun bathing. These beaches are clean and uncrowded, some of the best you will ever encounter. If you bike far enough, you can probably have a beach all to yourself, especially during Australia’s winter season.

As if that’s not enough, the island offers scenic flights, a family fun park, tennis, lawn bowls, and golf.

Once you get off the ferry you will immediately find the island’s visitor center, where you can stock up on maps of the island. There are also a few people who serve as guides on the island and can help you find your way. They would be delighted to give you a free tour and show you where to find the best flora and fauna can be found. You will find anything from olives trees to the rare quokkas (pictured), which are not so rare at all on Rottnest Island.

Leave your electronics (except perhaps a camera) behind, and explore Rottnest Island, Western Australia’s island getaway.

Have you ever been pedaling up a hill, with all of your might, only to be passed by someone who seems to be doing the same thing, yet effortlessly? Have you ever noticed that the biker’s feet seem to stay firmly fixed to their pedals? It’s probably because the person is using clipless pedals.

“Clipless pedals” is a misnomer. A few decades ago, toe clips were basically the only form of improved pedaling, so new pedals that came out that offered a different kind of connection between the shoe and the pedal were called “clipless,” even though users technically still had to clip-in to them. Instead of going out to buy clipless pedals, one should actually go out to buy bike shoes, looking for shoes compatible with the “clipless” system. They will commonly come with the “clipless” system, which you can install, and be positive that you have the perfect fit.

One benefit of the clipless system is that it provides maximum efficiency when biking. You can simultaneously push down and pull up during a pedal stroke. Most bikes simply have flat or “platform” pedals. They are wide, stable surfaces, but do not allow bikers to get any power out of the upward motion of their stroke. Though being “clipped in” may sound frightening, it provides extra safety, because your feet will never slip off the pedals if you’re trying to power through a tough area (similar to ski bindings).  It may take a few trial runs to get used to engaging and releasing the shoes from the bike, which is done by twisting the foot outward.

A cheaper alternative to the clipless system are toe cages or toe straps. These do not require the purchase of special bike shoes, yet provide close to the same efficiency as clipless pedals (the ability to pull up and down in one pedal stroke); however, they are a bit less secure. Again, it takes some time to learn how to get in and out of the pedals naturally.

Thus, if you’re looking to increase the efficiency of your outdoor biking experience, you may not need to look at new bikes, but rather at new bike pedals.

The Charles River Bike Path has numerous noteworthy points. On foot, one might choose to visit Norumbega Park in Auburndale (on one end of the route), the Boston Science Museum (on the other end of the route), or the Esplanade (in between); however, on a bike, the opportunities are much broader. In Cambridge, the Charles can get you just a few hundred yards from the center of Harvard University. Only a few miles down the river, one will quickly recognize the Great Dome of MIT. The field in front of it is a popular place for a picnic. With a bike, you can visit all of the sites in one day!

I love the juxtaposition of nature and city-life along the Charles. I like to bike slowly along the river so I can enjoy the views, often adorned with sailboats and rowers, and the flora and fauna (especially now, with the trees blooming with white and pink flowers). I also like to check out the surrounding architecture, from bridges like the Weeks Footbridge to buildings like the Genzyme Corporation, with its shiny blue-green windows and tall, brick peaks. The Charles is surprisingly beautiful at night as well. Many of the bridges are lit and become stunning features above the water. Unfortunately, the entire bike path is not lit, and without a proper bike light, riding at night can be dangerous because of the scattered potholes and presence of other travelers. (By Boston law, you could be fined if you are not using a bike light after sunset or before sunrise).

The Charles River Bike Path is where urban life and nature come together in a beautiful way.