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FAQ's and More |
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Over the years we've been asked certain questions about walking and riding over-and-over again so, in self-defense, we've compiled this compendium to answer them, as best we can. The compendium is a living thing - new questions are asked all the time - and we continuously make additions. Here's today's version
Here are a few rules we insist upon for riding safely and respectfully on and off road; they're distilled from Massachusetts' Code of Regulations regarding operation of bicycles (to read the regulations, click here); from the teachings of America By Bicycle's quintessential transcontinental ride leader, Mike Monk; from the writings of John Allen (http://www.bikexprt.com/index.htm), author of a must-read manual for surviving in traffic; and from years of riding with accomplished and long-lived (read road-smart) riders associated with the Northeast Bicycle Club, Charles River Wheelmen, and the New England Mountain Bike Association:
On the road:
Off Road and In the Woods
And here's a final note: In Massachusetts, cyclists are subject to the same rules as motorists and have the same rights and privileges. It's a rare motorist who understands and acknowledges this, but the courts might. Better to ride defensively, however, than to contend from a hospital bed that the right of way belonged to you. Frequently Asked Questions About Walking Q. Will this walk be hard and long enough for me? A. Sole Search'N Walks typically cover four to five miles of wooded trails in about two hours, with some climbing and descending. They are social, not power walks, but the uneven terrain can be challenging and tiring. Q. If I can't keep, up should I turn around and go back? A. No. Walks are designed for a two mile-per-hour pace, a pace our experience suggests is brisk but comfortable for just about everyone. If, however, you find this speed too demanding, we don't recommend giving up and turning back. We never leave anyone behind; we feel responsible for returning you safely to the starting point and will make an on-the-trail accommodation to assure this happens. If you insist on leaving the group, we will either detach someone to return with you, provide a map, or issue verbal instructions. Q. What happens if I miss a walk? A. We will work with you to find a makeup time when we are leading walks elsewhere. Q. May I bring my dog? A. No. We like dogs, but not everyone does, and some folks are downright scared of them. Furthermore, we don't want to risk lost dogs, wet dogs, dogs fighting with each other, and the awkward pauses made necessary by "picking up after your pet," something most venues now require. Q. May I bring a child? A. If you're experienced at carrying your child in a back carrier for two hours, then it's up to you. So far, we've only had one person try it. If the youngster can walk two miles an hour for a couple of hours, sign her up. Q. Do you walk in the rain? A. Yes, as long as it is safe to do so. Q. What kind of shoes do I need? A. For winter walking, you need a comfortable and warm boot with a good gripper sole. Lightweight wool or fleece socks are recommended. Q. What about special clothing? A. For Winter walking, wear (or bring in a rucksack) several layers of clothing that can be added, removed, or adjusted as the walk proceeds. We swear by shirts with zippers. A windblocking vest or jacket is a must. You will need a warm hat; Lee recommends very warm mittens, Bob does OK with lined gloves. The disposable hand warmers available in many sporting stores (and even Stop & Shop) work well if you have a cold-hand problem. We also recommend long underwear or fleece-lined pants layered with windblocking "over pants". Of course, all of this depends on the temperature, wind velocity, and chances of getting wet on the day of the walk. Blue jeans or light weight corduroys aren't enough when it’s very cold. Q. Do I need special equipment? A. No, but we recommend either walking sticks, trekking poles with carbide tips, or cross-country or alpine ski poles. They are very useful on ice and climbing and descending hills. Q. How do I know where the starting point will be? A. Check the website's "This Week" page, which posts starting points and a click-on link to driving directions. Q. Do you cancel because of cold weather? A. No. It is possible to dress properly for New England weather. That's the key. Frequently Asked Questions About Cycling Q. Can I join you at any time? A. As explained on our Home page rides are structured into blocks of eight weeks or so, and participants typically sign up for a complete block. But we recognize that circumstances don't always permit this (for example, we may be in the middle of a season when you learn about Get Up'N Go) and certainly don't want to leave anyone behind if we can help it. So the answer is yes, you can join at any time, but we ask that you contact us first to determine whether space is available and to negotiate terms. To start the process, send an e-mail note to info@getupngoadventures.com. Q. Will this ride be hard and long enough for me? A. Out Spoke'N rides typically cover fourteen to sixteen miles of roads and wooded trails in about two hours, with some climbing and descending. They are moderately paced, not races, but the uneven terrain can be challenging and tiring. Soft Spoke'N is less aggressive; it avoids hills and rough trails, traversing eight to ten miles in an hour and forty-five minutes. Super Spoke'N, on the other hand is more ambitious; these routes are seldom shorter than twenty miles, sometimes as long as twenty five, and don't shrink from hills. So, recalling that we're talking mountain bikes and hybrids here, there's something hard enough for just about everyone except folks deeply into race training. Q. If I can't keep up, should I turn around and go back? A. No. Rides are designed for a pace that'll be comfortable provided you've made a suitable choice of program. If, however, you find it too demanding, we don't recommend giving up and turning back. We never leave anyone behind; we'll return you safely to the starting point and will make on-the-trail accommodations, as necessary, to assure this happens. If you insist on leaving the group, we will detach someone to return with you, provide a map, or issue verbal directions to the starting point. Then, once you're safely back, we'll work to find a slot in one of our less demanding programs that will work for you. Q. What happens if I miss a ride? A. We'll negotiate a makeup time on another of our rides. Q. May I bring a child? A. No. Our routes are not appropriate for child carriers or "tag-alongs". Q. Do you ride in the rain? A. We won't start in the rain; if rain is likely, we'll cancel and reschedule to the end of the season. In New England, however, variable weather is a (delightful!) fact of life; sometimes rain sneaks up on us in the middle of a ride. Against this eventuality, we carry with us "impromptu raincoats"; that is to say, large trash bags, to distribute to otherwise unprepared riders. They work nicely and get everyone home with minimal discomfort. Q. What about special clothing? A. In chilly weather wear (or bring in a rucksack) several layers of clothing that can be added, removed, or adjusted as the ride proceeds. We swear by shirts with zippers, which can be opened or closed to make fine adjustments to temperature as climbing heats (unzip) and descending cools you (zip). A waterproof wind blocking jacket is a must. We insist you wear a helmet at all times and suggest an early-season ear covering when it's still chilly. We recommend cycling gloves; in cold weather (under fifty degrees), consider replacing open-fingered warm-weather gloves with a lightweight closed-finger version. If it's seriously cold, in the twenties or lower, add a glove liner. Disposable hand warmers, available in many sporting goods stores (and even Stop and Shop), work well if you have a cold-hand problem. When it's chilly, we also recommend wind-blocking long underwear or fleece-lined tights. Of course, all this depends on both temperature and wind velocity; the lower the wind chill factor, the more warmly you must dress. We also strongly recommend bicycling shorts with a padded crotch liner; believe us, your body will thank you. By May, and certainly by June, shorts and light shirts will do. Q. Do I need special equipment? A. No, but your bike must be in good working order and you should carry a spare tube correctly sized for your wheels, tire irons (to help with flats), and a pump properly set up for the type of valve you're using (Presta valves for high-performance bikes and Schrader for everyone else). Make sure your bike has a water bottle cage (and a bottle!). Q. How do I know where the starting point will be? A. Check the website's "This Week" page, which posts starting points and a click-on link to driving directions. Q. Do you cancel because of cold weather? A. No. It's possible to dress properly for New England weather. That's the key. What kind of bike should I buy? There are three basic types of bike; namely, those specifically optimized for maximum efficiency and minimum effort on smooth surfaces (i.e., road bikes ; racing bikes fall in this category), those specifically optimized for ruggedness and sure footing on rough terrain and uncertain surfaces (mountain bikes), and an in between category that isn't optimal for either type of riding but can go almost anywhere. This last is what’s known as a "hybrid". For Spoke'N rides, which have a habit of going off-road from time-to-time to avoid traffic and explore out-of-the-way places "roadies" never see, either a mountain bike or a hybrid is needed. With that settled then, the next issue is cost. As a general rule, serviceable (we'll come back to what that means) mountain bikes cost more than a serviceable hybrid does, by roughly a factor of two. That's because you're paying for a tough bike, easily repaired in emergencies, stable, equipped with a shock-absorbing front fork to sop up the worst of the big bumps, and all of this for as little weight as possible. Mountain bikes have panache, are the closest thing there is to indestructible, but are slow on the road unless equipped with special "bald" tires to reduce rolling resistance (the downside of these tires is they reduce the bike's ability to handle mud and snow). By virtue of their smaller diameter wheels, 26 inches versus 27 for a hybrid, they keep you closer to the ground and make it easier to put a foot down. So, if money is no object but confidence in staying upright is, we recommend you buy one. We use them because they're durable and because we have fancy racing bikes for those days when going really fast is a priority. On the other hand, for a first bike a hybrid is an excellent, maybe even an unbeatable, choice. They're affordable (if you find your hybrid's not enough bike, no need to shed crocodile tears, just unload it on the kids or your spouse and buy something else), they have as many gears as a mountain bike, are stable, can be purchased with "shocks", and most now come with cool paint jobs. By far the majority of Spoke'N riders use and swear by them. So if price tag is a concern and you trust yourself on a bike, a hybrid is the way to go. What should I expect to pay? For a Huffy or a Toy's R Us bike, less than a $100. Don't do it!! You get what you pay for (at least up to a point; diminishing returns set in above $1,500 or $2,000). Plan on something in the $300 to $600 range for a hybrid and say $600 to $1,200 for a mountain bike you'll be happy with. Feel free to spend more if you like; if you do, what you'll get is a little less weight, more durable components, and maybe fancier graphics. Here's our take on that: One, it's much more cost-effective to take a few pounds off the rider than the bike and Two, high-end components only matter to folks who plan to push the edge of the envelope; bikes in the price range we've quoted are more than adequate for Spoke'N rides where, by design, the edge-of-the envelope is always far away. Are all hybrids the same? No; in our experience, some lean toward being mountain bikes and some toward being road bikes. The former have wider and knobbier tires, straight-across handle bars, favor a more upright position, and are often equipped with a front shock absorber. On the other hand, hybrids designed for more on than off-road use have thinner, knob-free tires, stretch the rider into a slightly more "aero" posture, and may forego the shock. Our advice? Look for the hybrid going-toward-mountain-bike. For more on the difference between "going-toward-road" and "going-toward-mountain-bike" hybrids and for some specific examples of each, take at look at the accompanying addendum prepared by the Cycle Loft's Mike DelRossi. Mike also adds detail to our description of what a mountain bike is and what it can do. By the way, the Trek 6700 he cites as an example is the bike we're currently riding. Does the manufacturer matter? In our opinion, not really. Most frames are made in Taiwan, no matter the brand name, and most components come from Japan. What does matter is the fit. A bike has to fit you, not some idealized average rider of the same height and weight. This is where the bike shop comes in; a good one will work with you to make a close, if not perfect, fit (there's only so much one can do with standard frame sizes; perfection requires a custom bike). A good shop will insist you test drive the bike, and then, when you find one you like, they'll put you (and it) on a rig that let's them adjust your riding position to near optimum. Does it matter where I buy the bike? Our experience is, emphatically, yes. Buy from a shop that lives and breathes bikes and whose employees ride them. Most importantly, look for a shop with a first-rate service department; bikes break and go out of adjustment and, when this happens, you want things fixed right and fixed quickly. The Boston Area is rich in such outfits; pick one conveniently close to you. If you can establish a good working relationship with the shop where you purchase your bike, it'll be a win-win situation for everyone. You'll keep going back, and they'll happily accept your business. Can we make recommendations? Sure, we have our favorite shops, and we'd be happy to talk to you about them. But there are plenty of other good ones. Finally, serviceability. Webster defines this as "fit for use", and that's pretty much what we mean too; good enough to do the job. Anything more is a frill. Two things we don't consider frills are quick release wheels and brakes, things that come automatically on most bikes purchased in the price ranges given above and from knowledgeable retailers; i.e., bike shops or outdoor stores like REI or EMS. We regard them as a necessity. Buy a bargain bike at Toys 'R Us and what you'll get is wheels and brakes that require a heavy wrench when it's necessary to fix a flat on the road. These tools weigh so much and are so bulky that we don't carry them in our tool kits; nobody does anymore. This means either you must lug them or, someday, face a long walk home. The extra outlay is an investment that pays back in spades. We urge you to please, when choosing a bike, insist that it have these features.
Now here's what Mike DelRossi, a guy who makes a living fitting and selling bikes for the Cycle Loft, has to say: The Traditional Hybrid Bike A good example is the Trek "7300"; it's what we would consider a traditional "Hybrid" bike. It has large diameter wheels and skinny tires like a road bike, but its upright riding position makes it a much more comfortable choice for the recreational rider. Hybrid bikes like this one typically have quite a bit of adjustability that allows for a bit of personal preference in riding position. Want to be a bit faster and more efficient? Lower the handlebars. Want to be more upright and relaxed? Raise the handle bars. Hybrid bikes typically have pretty "low" gearing, which means that you won't be going super fast, but climbing hills will be a breeze. This particular bike sells for about $450, and comes with quite a few nice comfort features including a suspension fork (shock absorber), suspension seatpost, and excellent handlebar adjustability. So what do you get if you spend a bit more? Basically, you save some weight and gain quite a bit of durability. If you're planning on doing some long distance touring, commuting, or any off-road riding, the more expensive bikes will prove well worth the money. The next model in Trek's line is the "7500", which sells for $680. Their nicest Hybrid, the "7700", sells for $1030 (note: Mike quoted these prices and those below in 2003; they've probably slid upward a little since then). To learn a bit more about Trek's Hybrid bikes, follow this link: http://www.trekbikes.com/bikes/2004/citybike/largerview The Modified Hybrid Bike Sometimes called "City Bikes," these bikes share the upright riding position and comfort features of a hybrid, but with one significant difference: they have smaller diameter wheels and fatter tires. The tires are still slick and very smooth on the roads, but their size makes them a bit more stable in rough conditions. If you want the comfort of a Hybrid, but a little more "Mountain Bike" versatility, this is the way to go. If you find yourself off-road quite a bit, you can even swap tires for something with a bit more tread. The Navigator 300 sells for $440, and just as with the Hybrids, you stand to gain quite a bit more durability by stepping up to one of the higher-end bikes. Trek's "Navigator 400" sells for $499, and the "Navigator 500" sells for $529. Follow the same link as above to view Trek's Navigator line. The Mountain Bike The Evans' ride Trek "6700’s", a mid-level mountain bike that sells for $900. Mountain bikes are a necessity for those who are doing a considerable amount of off-road riding, especially if that involves trails with lots of rocks and roots. Not only are these bikes tougher and more capable of handling abusive conditions, but the rider position is changed to allow better handling of the bike. Hybrid and City bikes are not ideal for loose or rough off-road conditions because the rider position is so upright that there is no weight over the front wheel and they become very difficult to steer and maneuver. The mountain bike is the most versatile of all bikes. It can handle the roughest off-road conditions, but will also make an excellent on-road bike (especially if you switch to a slick tire). Just as with Hybrids and City Bikes, more expense results in lighter weight and increased durability. Mountain Bikes tend to hold up to the general wear-and-tear of off-road riding better than others. As above, of course, increased durability means carries with it a higher price. Learn more about the Trek 6700 and other models by following this link: http://www.trekbikes.com/bikes/2004/mountain/ - largerview. Especially after a soggy ride, when bikes pick up a lot of dirt and muddy water (if ridden over trail segments shared with horses, other unmentionables too), it's a good idea to clean them right away. If there's no time for a complete scrubdown, at least wipe chains and cables dry; these are particularly susceptible to rusting because, by their very nature, links and rollers continuously scrape against each other, removing protective oxides (and lubricants!) to expose fresh, ferrous surfaces ripe for rusting. Immediately after drying these elements as best you can, coat them with a water-displacing lubricant to get at the nooks and crannies no cloth can reach. Most penetrating oils, WD-40 for example, fit the bill nicely, as do most "dry" chain lubricants, which are carried in a liquid base but rely on something other than oil (little Teflon particles, flakes of molybdenum disulfide, whatever) to prevent metal-to-metal contact. 'Nuff said; a smoothly flexing chain and cables you can count on to shift gears and apply brakes go a long, long way toward a happy, safe trip the next time out. What about the rest of the bike? We follow the advice of The Cycle Loft's repair and maintenance guru, Anthony Laskaris, who points out that modern bikes, with their exotic alloy components and fancy paint jobs, aren't afraid of a little water (except as mentioned above). So, for a quick fix, just hose the bike and wipe it dry. This should remove the worst of the gook. Don't forget to wash and dry the bearing surfaces of rims, which must be kept scrupulously free of grit and oil if brake pads are to do their job and do it without behaving like belt sanders, gnawing inexorably away at the metal. For a more thorough treatment, first put a little dishwashing detergent in a bucket of warm water and, with the help of a big brush, scrub everything, including the tires. A smaller brush, maybe even a toothbrush, will get into the really narrow spaces where tubes come together, hard-to-reach areas like insides of fork blades and chain stays, and tight spots around the headset. Does the type of detergent matter? Anthony says yes, it does; use a grease-cutting formulation like Dawn or even go to one of the citrus-based hand cleaning (also available as bike cleaning) compounds. These are all designed to allow total immersion without skin removal, so are paint-safe. After the suds have done their work by loosening the grip of grit and grease, hose the bike to rinse them and the detritus away, then, as in the quick-and-dirty method, dry everything carefully. Bouncing the bike a few times helps to shake a lot of the water off the chain and the tires, making it easier to wipe things down. Now, once the bike is dry, is the time to deal with chains and cables, and to squirt a little (preferably water-displacing) lubricant into derailleur pivot-points, cable housings, into jockey-wheel axles (jockey wheels are the little gear-like things on the rear derailleur), brake pivot points, and, if the bike is equipped with clipless pedals, into the cleat clamping mechanisms. And that's it! Shouldn't take more than ten or fifteen minutes and the payoff is huge; miles-and-miles of carefree riding with you and your bike working seamlessly together, never nagged by annoying mechanical glitches, just going wherever you like, whenever you like, secure in the knowledge you won't have to walk home. Gears are Good! Here's how to get the most out of them There was a time, long, long ago (no, this isn't a fairy tale) when bikes had just a single gear and life was simple. Oh, but was it hard! Today it's still possible to find so-called "fixed gear" (i.e. direct drive and no shifting) bikes for a price, usually an exceedingly high one as these bikes are now a specialty item used by experienced racers on banked tracks. The rest of us will probably never see one and can forget all about them. A good thing too, because modern bikes are designed to make life easy, if we'll let them. Nowadays they come off the shop floor with up to thirty gear ratios, ranging from a low-low which (almost) makes it possible to climb vertical walls to a super-high useful on fast descents at speeds over twenty five miles per hour. The trick, and this is where the "if we’ll let them" comes in, lies in knowing how to quickly and smoothly find the gear combination precisely matched to the terrain you're passing through, over, up, or down. With thirty ratios to choose from, this isn't necessarily an easy task, especially if you're new to the system. So here's a "how-to" guide we hope will help. First things first To change gears you need shifters, one of which is mounted on each side of the handlebars. The lefthand shifter is the chain ring selector (chain rings are the large gears near the pedals). Because there are usually three chain rings (sometimes only two), this shifter clicks through three stations numbered one through three (although some shifters dispense with numbers). The righthand shifter is the rear cog selector, so it clicks to seven, eight, nine or ten stations depending on the number of cogs your bike has (cogs are little gears clustered on a freewheel attached to the back wheel). Just as in the case of a car with a manual transmission, where third gear is higher than first, the higher the number on a bicycle shifter the higher the gear. Higher gears are harder gears. Here's a rule to help you remember which shifter controls what: "Right is rear" and "Left is large". Using the shifters These days virtually all shifters are "indexed", meaning they click into gear; this is a relatively recent technological advance and a most welcome one. But not all shifters work the same way; the most frequently encountered employ a finger-driven lever or levers to click-shift up and down. These are typically very fast and accurate. A second type of shifter, the "grip shift"”, looks and feels like a handle bar grip (thus the name), but instead of being just a piece of rubber whose purpose is to cushion and improve your hold on the bars, these rotate. As they rotate they induce gear changes. In our (limited) experience with them, they’ve worked very nicely although they're not quite as quick as "rapid fire" lever systems. Whether your bike has lever-based or grip shifters is immaterial; either way, the lefthand shifter, the one that drives the front derailleur and selects the chain ring you're looking for, makes big step changes in gear ratio, typically something like 30 percent from one ring to the next smaller or larger ring. On the other hand, the righthand shifter, the one controlling the choice of cog in back, makes small step changes, more like 15 percent from one cog to another. The usual strategy is therefore to use the righthand shifter much more frequently than the left. Most riders pick a chain ring with the lefthand shifter and then, as pedaling becomes harder or easier, make small adjustments with the righthand shifter by asking it to move the chain from cog-to-cog as needed to keep force exerted on the pedal more or less constant. Not until an extreme change in terrain (big climb or big descent) forces another choice is it necessary to shift chain rings. It may take a little while to learn which way to move the levers or rotate the grip to select an "easier" gear and which way makes things"harder", but after a little practice this becomes automatic. For shifters with numbered positions, remember that shifting to a higher number always makes pedaling harder (“Higher harder”). Curiously, the "easy" direction for the lefthand levers is just the opposite of that for the right. Don’t let this throw you. We've learned to shift by feel rather than by the numbers and you will too once you get the hang of it; you don't want to take your eyes off the stretch of road or trail coming up in front of you every time you shift. But whether you shift by feel or rely on numbers, here are three different ways to predict when a shift will produce an "easier" or a "harder" gear:
We don't really expect you to look at the drive train on every shift to see which way the chain moved or what combination of front rings and rear cogs is in play; none of these rules matter a whit unless they help you decide which way to move levers or rotate grips to make "easier" or "harder" gear choices. Learning to make these choices without having to think about them is the key thing. Practice is the only way to get there. One more thing: Shifts can only happen when you're pedaling. The chain must be actively in motion for a change to occur. The levers or grips can, or course, be clicked or rotated when you're coasting, and they will dutifully move the derailleur cages, but the chain won't find a new ring or cog until it's pulled there by pedaling. If your bike won't shift, and you're not giving it a chance by continuing to pedal softly as you work the derailleurs, don't blame the shop. Just keep pedaling. Shifting Tips Experienced riders have learned the hard way that, fancy as a modern shifting system is, it's still not perfect, and pushing it to the edge of the envelope may result in one or more of the following discomfiting or potentially dangerous complications: slow shifts; startlingly abrupt or “clunky” shifts; and dropped chains or jammed chains. Avoiding these is largely a matter of shifting technique. So here are some tips.
Get out and practice Now for the most important thing; PRACTICE. Find a smooth, flat, wide-open, traffic-free parking lot or bike path, hop on the bike, and begin shifting. Here's a specific program you might try. Drive to the Minuteman Bikeway (plenty of parking at the Bedford end) and walk your bike to the Bikeway. Before you get on, take a look to see whether the chain is on the middle chain ring (number 2) in front and whether it's on one of the extreme cogs, either inside or outside, in the back. Hopefully you’ll find it in the middle ring and somewhere in the middle of the cog set. Whatever the situation, hop on and begin pedaling slowly toward Lexington. Once you're under way, the first task is … Using the lefthand shifter, select position number two (i.e., put the chain on the middle chain ring). If it's there already, you're in luck; go on to the second task. If not and if you've got a typical two-lever shifter, pushing the top lever forward selects a harder gear (do this if the system starts in position one) while pulling the bottom one backward makes things easier (do this is if the system is initially in position three). If you're a grip-shifter, rotating the lefthand grip forward selects a harder gear (do this if the system starts in position one), rotating it toward you moves to an easier one (do this is if the system is initially in position three). The next item on the agenda, once the chain is on the middle chain ring is … Using the righthand shifter, take a single step to the next easier gear. If the chain started on the innermost cog, the one nearest the wheel, there's nowhere to go; you're already in the easiest gear. So proceed directly to task three, "take a step to the next hardest gear." For two-lever systems, each push forward on the righthand shifter's top lever makes one step toward an easier gear. Push the top lever forward once. You should immediately feel less pressure on the pedal (and your legs should start to go 'round faster if you maintain the same speed). Grip-shifters, rotate the right-hand shifter toward you one-step. Take a moment to acclimate to this gear setting, and then move on to task three … Using the righthand shifter, continue making one-step changes at your pleasure until you reach the easiest gear (lowest number, inner cog). If things become too easy before you get there, skip the rest of the program and go to task four, which is to make life progressively harder. When you've reached the easiest gear and ridden in it long enough to tire of having your legs whiz around while you move down the Bikeway at a snail's pace, try task four, namely … Using the righthand shifter, reverse the process of making things easier and make them harder one step at a time. With lever-type shifters this means clicking the lower lever once for each shift. As before, let the bike settle for a while between shifts so 'til you get the feel of the new gear. Grip-shifters, rotate the grip forward one click for each shift. Keep shifting until you either run out of gears or reach one that's uncomfortably difficult, then choose an easier one. While you're running through all these gears the process will most probably be interrupted by one or more road crossings. When this happens, dismount, walk the bike across, resume on the far side in the same gear, and go on as if nothing had happened. Go far enough and you'll also encounter the slight grade climbing up from Route 128 toward Lexington, but by this time you should have made shifts in both directions (easier and harder) and have a good idea of what must be done to find a comfortable climbing gear. Finally, the last exercise; it's designed to show you what the lefthand shifter does. Now that you're a righthand shifting “expert”, it should be no problem to put the chain on the number four cog in back. So do it! Then … Using the lefthand shifter, move from the middle to the small chainring (number two to number one) in front. To do this … With lever shifters, push the bottom lever forward once; if you’re a grip shifter, rotate the grip toward you one click. This change will suddenly make things almost too easy. See how you like it, and then … Using the lefthand shifter, move from the small to the large chainring (number one to number three) in two fairly quick but discrete steps, giving the chain time to settle between steps. That's two successive pushes on the top bottom lever, or two successive forward clicks with grip shifters. From the sublime to the ridiculous; this gear combination should feel very hard. Take whatever countermeasures you see fit to find a gear you think's a better choice to get you home.
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