I’ve seen in reference to triathletes that they have poor bike handling skills.
This made me wonder how one would determine poor vs good skills.
What traits or abilities would a good rider have that a poor one would not? What “Feets of handling” would a good cyclist be able to pull off that would end up with a poor cyclist eating an asphalt sandwich?
As an aside what would a poor cyclist do or practice to improve their skills?
~Matt
Girls like guys that have skills.
Would wheelies count as good skills? I can’t do them, but I haven’t crashed in three years either.
Good skills I have seen are jumping over a downed rider, stick the landing and keep on going. Being able to hop sideways up on a curb/sidewalk when there is no room on the road. Hang a corner in front of me that I could not even dream of making.
Skills every rider should have are. Being able to look over either shoulder and ride straight. Be able to bunnyhop a pothole or railroad track when you need to. Be able to corner without too much fear, and have good pack manners. G
To me the first step is in not eating pavement and not causing others to eat pavement. Next step is same as above but doing it fast. Typical skills are cornering, twisty decending, loose pavement, panic stops, and obstacle avoidance. Then add wet conditions as a third skill set.
Styrrell
I think that it is important to be able to (1) ride a straight line, even when looking behind, (2) be able to use the bike’s controls, like brakes and shifters, without slowing down or swerving, (3) be aware of where other riders are on the road and making moves that don’t put others in jeopardy. There is a confidence, a flow of movement that is the result of knowing how to ride well as opposed to just being able to turn the cranks. I know there are some riders much faster than I with whom I would not ride in a group or in a pace line. There are other things that are nice to know, like a track stand, but are not essential in defining one with good bike handling skills.
I cant do those things with my Powercranks. Guess I have poor skills.
Why cant you do those things with PC?
Styrrell
Exactly as Btag states and also to be able to reach for a downtube bottle without swerving all over the road. Don’t cut somebody off with your rear wheel against their front when passing and cutting back in front. I’ve seen both these things happen in triathlons.
The best way to gain handling skills is ride with roadies. Learn about the single and double pace lines and close pack group riding.
An ex road racer/coach in our group sets up clinics for newbies where he does things in a parking lot like ride in smaller and smaller circles, pick up a water bottle off the ground while riding, etc. He also has them ride on the grass and touch wheels so they know what it feels like and won’t panic in such a situation on the road.
Trigeeks don’t need to refine their skills to the same degree as road racers or mountain bike racers, but they should still become competent bike handlers.
I came from mtb racing and am very comfortable on my bike and I think everyone should know how to control a bike just like they should now how to drive their car in all conditions.
This has been kicked around a few times here at ST and the issue of riding with roadies seems to come up and although I can see that as a solution I don’t think it is necessary. I think what really gives you good skills is spending time on the bike and trying these things before you need them. If people would just build some of this stuff into a ride, like swim drills, then they would have all the proficiency they need. If people would practice getting a water bottle, eating, etc they would be fine. The problem is that people who are new don’t think about it until they are out there in a race.
I’ve always thought the mtb racers are the best bike handlers. We’ve got a few guys in our road group who race mtb bikes and they’re all excellent road bike handlers.
Living in the flatlands, decending is a relative weakness for me. On dry pavement it means being careful not to impede others who are faster decenders. Add wet pavement, and I get nervous on fast decents with only minor turns in the road. How does one improve in these conditions? It’s not exactly a good time to experiment.
I’d consider myself pretty darn good at bike handling. I’ve been racing for 15 years. The first year I had a road bike I took the USCF Weekend Cycling College in College Park, Maryland. It was an excellent weekend and mostly bike handling, crashing, racing some…it taught me tons. I’d recommend it if you ever have one in your area. The second thing I did (since I was a cop) was to become an International Police Mountain Bike Instructor. I taught police bike units all over the state of Virginia. Since I taught so many classes I got really good at slow speed manuevers, jumping, track stands, cornering, you name it. I can do lots more on the mtn bike then I can do on the TT bike. I can track stand an entire red light on the TT bike, it took LOTS of practice.
BTW - I’ve crashed my mtn bike so mant times that I should probably not be walking anymore. Its VERY interesting seeing a policeman going down a set of 200 stair steps at the University of Virginia and crashing when he gets to the bottom, or doing a track stand on stair steps only to fall over, in FULL uniform!! : ) Great way to meet girls though! : )
Due to the race being sold out, I watched a friend at the Catalina triathlon. The bike course was a 3 loop “technical” bike leg, technical being that there was a long flat section followed by a 90 degree (with plenty of visiblility so you could see it coming) turn that went uphill at about 7% for 20 yards or so. I saw at least 30 people fall over on the little hill because they got caught in their big ring. I would say that is disgusting bike handling skills. Good bike handling would be the ability to react to something unexpected smoothly and quickly. It’s amazing what you can pull on two wheels if you stay calm and loose - E