Another newbie (me) saying hi and needing advice

dadii

Hi all. I'll cut to the chase with questions I have whizzing in my head, but have put my newbie status below too as a means of saying hello.

When riding, should I always maintain a peddling cycle or allow myself to coast when at a speed I'm happy at? Coasting seems to defeat the point of riding for exercise quickly, but peddling for the sake of it seems pointless too (ESP when speed is outpacing the gear)

Should I be trying to keep my knees in line with my feet (and peddles) when peddling; I'm finding my right knee naturally veering outward during a cycle and wondering if I should be correcting this?

I'm riding a hybrid (Carrera Subway) which I really like. Only gripe is the stiffness on bumpy track. Do you think it's worth getting some front suspention forks or should I grin and bear it? What about rear/seat?

Is it best cycling etiquette to ride to the left or right of a path?

Should I ring my bell to alert EVERY person I ride up from behind, or just old people, kids, dogs etc? What about oncomers in front? Ring the bell, say thanks, ignore??

Thanks for any replies and hope to be a good group member in return


[my newbie profile]

Almost 32 and getting back into riding after many years - now overweight and keen to do something about it now I no longer live at the top of a hill. In fact I'm in the relatively flat grounds of Ealing, London and currently exploring the Perivale area and grand union canal paths during my ride. so far up to 10k on rides and riding about 3 times a week for 30 mins.

Still keeping mainly to pavements and park tracks as not 100% confident on roads, but keen to get there as my hybrid is stiff and bumpy paving hurts and kills ride pace! Hoping to join some local rides soon and when fit enough, take on a charity ride or something

Using Stava, Bikebrain and Bikehub apps on my iPhone - all of which seem pretty good so far for different things

Bike: Carerra Subway - riding a ladies 16" as I'm only 5' 1" and it's the subtlest frame I could find. Is this taboo??

MichaelW

It is better to pedal continuously, selecting a gear that permits you to apply some pressure at a rapid turning 'cadence"
Being quite short you may find that the cranks are too long to pedal quickly. Ideally a 5'1" rider should be on short cranks of 160-165mm. Usually they ride standard 170mm. Occasionally someone puts long 175mm cranks onto a small bike.

You should try to keep your knee in line. There may be too much vertical movement for this to be comfortable.
On bumpy tracks you should try to support more weight on your arms and legs and less on the saddle. Wider tyres are a cheap solution. Schwalbe make the Big Apple which if fat but fairly efficient on the road. It is much cheaper and lighter than suspension. Canal tow paths should be fine with the stock Subway tyres.
I think it is polite to give one or two pings but give time for them to notice. People react very differently, some ignore, some cross the path at random.