Falling of bikes or having accidents in traffic can really take the fun out of cycling so learning a few key skills to improve your bike handling is a great idea.
What are Basic Bike Handling Skills
Bike handling skills are the bread and butter of staying safe on a bike and not being a danger to others. A little practice might just save your life. Some polishing of the basics will keep you cycling safely. This does not take much effort and can be quite fun.
Bike Handling Skills
Looking behind you. Turning your head to look back over your shoulder to check for other road users sounds quite simple right? The problem is that when on the bike your steering starts to follow in the direction you look. Even if its only slight (and it often isn’t) it can be dangerous if you don’t realise it’s happening until you look forwards again. The distance you veer off course is greater the faster you are travelling and on city roads this can cause an accident.
Looking up before looking down. This is a simple safety habit to create and is to be used with many things in cycling but we shall use the example of checking your speedometer. Before looking down at your speedo make a conscious effort ‘look up’ and check the road ahead. Make a habit of doing this before you look back, check your gear selection etc etc.
Braking hard / emergency stop (note this apples to braking in a straight line). Just like when learning to drive a car you will need to practice your cycling emergency stop. Unlike driving a car you have a font and rear brake and can easily fly over the handlebars with to much pressure on the front brake. To emergency stop you need to put your weight back off the saddle and apply both brakes hard. Do not jam the brakes on locking the wheels up, rather apply them progressively and if the rear wheel begins to lift off the ground then release the front brake pressure. You will eventually get a good feel for how quickly you can stop safely but it only comes with practice.
Hand signals. Indicating to your intention to turn or change lanes in traffic is essential for your safety. Also when riding in a group you will need to let other cyclists know of potholes , dangers and turns for their comfort and safety. Practice your hand signals (which mean you need to be able to ride one handed) on a quiet road or street until you can perform them without danger to your self or others (this will look silly but should save you some skin later).
Bicycle Skills Training
Slow riding/line riding. The skill of riding slowly without wobbling all over is great for riding in traffic or in groups. Not difficult to practice and with a little time you can get surprisingly good at it. Also practice riding in a straight line (road markings are great to ride along but be careful). Once you can ride in a straight line very slowly its time to lean to track stand.
Track stand. A track stand is from track cycling. It’s standing still on your bike without putting your feet down. Useful for brief stops at junctions etc. On a track bike its done with the pedals as they are a fixed gear bike. On a road bike you need to apply the brakes, its easier if you are standing up also.
How To Improve Bike handling Skills
Improving your bike handling doesn’t mean hours of boring practice eating in to your ride time, these skill can be practiced for a few moments each and with practice will improve over time.
Where to practice? Probably goes without saying but find a closed road , car park , park or empty wide pathway. Not in heavy traffic on the daily commute as this may end in death or worse still damage to your bike.
Road Bike Skills Training
No hander. I have actually seen someone riding in traffic, no handed whilst texting with both thumbs! Although you should never do that, riding no handed is a valuable skill that will improve your riding feel. Start with just 1 hand on the bars (which is a skill you will use often) then progress to 1 hand and a light touch of the bars with the other(do this both sides). Then brief no hand riding should not be a problem. (No texting)
Bunny hop. This skill is really useful for jumping over potholes or small obstacles in your path. Once you are riding with clipless pedals you can jump from a standing position , keeping the bike level using the handlebars.
Eating on the move. On longer rides (over about 90 minutes) you will need to replace muscle glycogen stores or ‘hit the wall’ metaphorically speaking. Although there is nothing wrong with stoping to eat and ideally at a cafe that sells good brownies, learning to eat on the move is a useful thing to practice. There a plenty of dedicated products that you can store in your jersey pockets that provide simple to digest calories but even something as enjoyable as some sweets (jellybabys are a cycling clasic) can stave of the ‘bonk’ and yes thats a cycling term.
Bike Drills
Replacing your bidon. Every moment spent looking down as you try to put your bottle back in its cage is time you are not looking ahead for possible dangers or obstacles. Practice feeling with the bottle for the cage and learn to slot it in whilst concentrating on what is in front of you. In time it will be second nature to put the bid on back without having to glance down.
Getting stuff out of jersey pockets. Retrieving a handful of jellybeans from your jersey pocket sounds easy but doing it whilst moving at speed in traffic takes a little skill and quite a flexible shoulder joint. Luckily you can practice off the bike to get better before attempting at speed.
Slalom. Using chalk, draw some dots on the ground in a line about 3 meters apart. Ride your bike and slalom between them at different speeds. Make the practice more challenging by reducing the distance between them.
What are some Tips For a Beginner Rider
Clipless pedals. When you are just getting in to cycling and first hear about special shoes and pedals that clip together effectively sealing you and the bike together, it seems like dangerous madness. Long term it turns out that its actually safer and easier to ride with them. There is a massive choice and different ones for road cycling and non road cycling, with further variations by brand also. When you have your pedals and shoes set up practice clipping in and out a few times stationary at home. Then take your bike somewhere safe and practice starting off and clipping in then stopping and clipping out.
Riding on grass. Practice going off road in a controlled manner for those times when you are forced of a path or road in an emergency. This will give you the experience of riding on grass or rough terrain as it has a different feel.
Bike handling skills & tips summary :
Learning some new skills and practicing some familiar ones will make you a much better and safer rider. Please take it slowly when first training a new skill. Crashing is easy, painful and sometimes expensive so stay within your limits. Once you are better at bike handling you will be far more confident out there and might just avoid a serious accident.
Stay safe & I hope this helps 🙂
“Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a bike” – John F Kennedy
