The weather is warming up and soon the Colorado blue skies will shine bright. Now is the time to dust off the bike and get it ready for the season. Don’t worry we have you covered with a Top 10 list to prep your bike before your ride.

1. A Good Washing –Simply hosing it down to remove dirt and mud is a great place to start
2. Check the tire pressure –It’s likely you’ll need to add air because all bikes’ tires lose air pressure if they sit for a while. Stick to the tire manufacturer’s recommended pressure level. Invest in a quality air pump with a wide base to stand on, and large gauges that are easy to read.
3. Adjust the seat – A loose seat can lead to trouble and an uncomfortable ride. Tighten and adjust your bike seat before using it for the first time.
4. Check your chain – To check your bicycle chain tension, press your fingers against the top chain, it should not move more than 1/4 to 1/2-inch. If your chain is too loose, it will come off while riding — a dangerous situation to suddenly find yourself in. Over time chains can stretch, so replace your chain if needed. If the chain is too tight it can bind and damage your gears. Loosen the rear wheel nuts on each side to pull the rear wheel back to take slack out of the chain.
5. Apply dry lube – Apply a dry lubricant to the rear cog (set of gears), chainring (front gears), chain and all moving parts of the crankset. Also, hit the front and rear wheel bearings on each side with a bit of lubricant. Avoid using WD-40 and standard 3-in-1 oil as it will attract dirt which is something you don’t want on these moving parts.
6. Check your brake pads – When activated, the length of your brake pads should press against your rim. The brake pads should not wiggle or be loose. Replace worn brake pads immediately and adjust the cable if they are too far from the rim.
7. Check your brake levers, cables and housing – Pull on your brake levers and make sure they engage both sides of the brake pads on each wheel. The brakes should not stick and should fully stop the wheel in motion. If the pull on the lever is too long, unscrew the barrel adjuster a few turns and test it.
8. Check Spokes – Wheel spokes keep your wheels true (straight), so you should occasionally check to make sure they are all tight. It’s a good idea to check your spokes every few months, even if you don’t notice anything wrong.
9. Check Safety Gear – Check the condition and batteries of your bicycle lights and reflectors. If you don’t have front and rear lights, it’s time to get some. Do everything you can to make yourself visible to drivers.
10. Check your saddlebag – Check that your saddleback is not loose and tightly attached to your seat. Only bring the essentials such as a spare tube, take the tube out of the box and keep the elastic band wrapped around to keep it tightly together, tire levers, CO2 cartridge and inflator and/or hand pump and multi-tool. And of course, don’t forget a snack and a filled water bottle!

Want to feel super confident and know that your bike is ready, check out your local bike shop. They will have all the parts and equipment you need and are more than happy to make your bike road-ready.

Need a new bike route, or not sure where to ride? We have the solution for you. Check out the Bike Northwest Interactive Map to plan your next route!

It’s no secret that Coloradans love the great outdoors. As the weather warms up, more people get outside and utilize bikes for recreation and transportation. With more bikes on the road this summer, The Regional Transportation District, (RTD) is encouraging cyclists to ride safely around transit.

RTD bus and train operators see unsafe cyclist behavior daily, some of which leads to near misses—incidents that did not result in injury or damage, but had the potential to do so. This behavior includes ignoring warning devices at rail crossings, passing buses on the right and being distracted by headphones, to name a few.

Safety is everyone’s responsibility. Our operators are responsible for getting people to their destinations safely. Bike riders are responsible for following the rules of the road, including using caution when riding near buses and trains. Following these tips will ensure cyclists interact with RTD operations in the safest way possible:

• Ride in the same direction as traffic and follow traffic signs and signals.
• Stay alert and avoid using electronics while riding.
• Use hand signals to inform drivers and pedestrians of your movements.
• Avoid riding in bus blind spots—if you can’t see the driver, the driver can’t see you.
• Always walk your bike through stations and on train platforms.
• Never pass a bus on the right as they frequently pull over to pick up passengers.
• Ride at a 90-degree angle when crossing train tracks.
• Dismount your bike and wait for gates arms to fully rise before crossing train tracks.

RTD invites you to learn more about bike safety this summer. Check out our Bike-n-Ride page for more information or request a bike-safety presentation from me via email. Ride safe out there!

About the Author:

Lindsey Alarcon is the Senior Specialist of Safety Communications for the Regional Transportation District (RTD), where she works with metro-area communities to promote transit safety. Before joining the agency, she managed community outreach for Concentra Urgent Care. Lindsey graduated from San Diego State University with a marketing degree. Contact Lindsey at lindsey.alarcon@rtd-denver.com.

David “DK” Kemp has been putting people on bikes since 1997. Following an illustrative career as a bike shop salesman, DK moved on to conceptualize and implement the Tour de Fat event series with New Belgium Brewing from 2000-2004.  From 2006-2012, DK served as the Bicycle Coordinator for the City of Fort Collins and helped move the community from a silver to platinum level bicycle friendly community.   In 2012, DK moved to Davis, CA to become the city’s first Active Transportation Planner.  DK moved back to Colorado in late 2014 to serve as a Senior Transportation Planner for the City of Boulder where he now specializes in multimodal infrastructure design and programming and was instrumental in bringing dockless bike share to Boulder.   

What is Dockless Bike Share?

Dockless bike share is a start-up bike share system where people can rent bikes without having to check them in or out of an established docking facility, similar to today’s Boulder’s B-Cycle system. Bikes can be rented wherever they are found by using a smartphone app or digital screen located on the bike. After an individual is done riding a bike, they park it at their location and check it out to make the bike available to others.

The advent of dockless bike share technology has recently taken the U.S. by storm and the industry is very quickly evolving and changing each day.  Cities throughout the U.S. have scrambled, and in some cases, even struggled with how to regulate this fast paced industry.

While in theory, the concept of dockless bike share makes sense in order to provide people greater accessibility to bicycles; however, the ability for a bike to be parked in, or moved into, the public right of way without a managed approach presents significant issues in the way of safety for pedestrians and other cyclists.  Some dockless bikes can be parked and left anywhere, and that’s precisely the issue- they can be parked anywhere.

Dockless bike share technology can be separated into two fundamental categories:  “self-locking” and “lock-to.”  Self-locking technology enables the bike to lock only to itself before and after each use.  Lock-to technology incorporates an integrated locking mechanism that enables the bike to be locked to a fixed structure, such as a bike rack.

Bringing Dockless Bike Share to Boulder

In 2017, numerous dockless bike share operators hoping to conduct business in the city approached the City of Boulder.  Following an extensive research process and coordination with the National Association for City Transportation Officials (NACTO), the City of Boulder adopted an ordinance in June 2018 to regulate the industry in Boulder through a licensing program.  The ordinance requires all operators provide “lock-to” technology on their bicycles and the bicycles to be locked to a bike rack before and after each use.  To offset existing public bike parking, the ordinance also requires that one bike rack per bike deployed be provided.

This approach greatly avoids the potential safety issue associated with bikes parked freely in the public right of way while taking advantage of the benefits associated increased accessibility to bike share for community members. As is stands today, some operators are able to adhere to the City of Boulder’s regulations, while others are not.

In July 2018, NACTO released, “Guidelines for the Regulation and Management of Shared Active Transportation.”  This comprehensive guide provides information for agency officials who are exploring the merits and feasibility of dockless bike share in their community: https://nacto.org/home/shared-active-transportation-guidelines/

For more information on the City of Boulder’s program, please visit: https://bouldercolorado.gov/transportation/dockless-bike-share

Or, contact Dave “DK” Kemp, Senior Transportation Planner for the City of Boulder

dk@bouldercolorado.gov