ejd_mil wrote:
Adult onset cyclist here.
My bike handling skills (esp descending and managing rough roads) are lagging my cyclr fitness by a healthy margin. Furthermore, My confidence has taken very big step backs after my first and second bike accident (second one involving several nights in the ICU).
For those of you that had relatively modest bike handling skills and/or bike confidence, how did you go about improving? What worked? What didn't ?
Thanks
So, assuming we are talking about non-draft permitted tri's, you might not gain as much time by descending fast as you might think. The difference between going a mile @ 40 mph v. 35 mph is only 13 seconds. So if your comfort zone max on a descent is 35, you will incur a lot of risk to go 40 with not very much reward -- especially if you have to pedal hard to maintain 40 on the descent but can recover a bit at 35.
A lot of descending skills is about speed going into the turn and line going into and through the turn (as others have pointed out). To me it's a matter of feel. Your brain has to have seen a bunch of turns and developed a sense of correct speed and correct line. So I believe the best thing you can do is ride a lot within your comfort zone and you will probably find that your comfort zone will grow faster over time. Riding with skilled riders might help you see the lines, but be aware that it is an additional skill to follow riders down hill -- there is a crack the whip effect and the tail rider may end up riding faster at points along the turn than the lead rider was going.
You also asked about rough roads. The feel for this can take even longer because there are so many variations on what makes a road rough and often you don't know the road is rough until you're into it. So the bail out skill is (1) don't panic (2) slow down smoothly without jerky turning if at all possible (because either hard turning or hard braking can make you lose traction and doing both practically guarantees it; and you don't want to be on your brakes, especially your front brake, when you hit the far side of a pothole because that transfers weight to the front wheel right when you need to be unweighting it) (3) don't stare at the danger points (e.g., potholes, rocks, patches of gravel, etc.) -- instead find your path through and concentrate on that. This is the same bail out if you decide you overcooked going into a turn -- instead of trying to turn hard on your intended line (which you now realize won't work at your speed), brake smoothly without turning hard if at all possible even if you have to come all the way to a stop if that will keep you on the tarmac (or a safe patch of grass, etc. off the tarmac if available) -- this move is seen every year at the TDF -- it costs the rider some time, but not nearly as much time if he would have ridden off a cliff ; ).
Also, part of comfort zone is not being in aero position. So don't be in aero at high speed going into turns so you have a bigger margin of error. If you are in aero and find you are getting in trouble (rough road, too fast on turn, etc), you have to judge whether you have the skills to get onto your base bars while doing everything you need to do to save the situation. You should get as comfortable as you can get getting quickly out of aero. You will be in such a better position to survive with hands on base bars and weight more balanced between your wheels.