ayceejay
Guru
- Location
- Rural Quebec
Other than riding in a group what exercises can improve bike handling on the road?
bike handling
- Thread starter ayceejay
- Start date
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Depends what you want better handling skills for.
I've found my skills in various areas have improved as I've needed them to. I commute, so I've picked up assorted tricks for riding in heavy traffic.
To give a better idea: Riding on my own I was safe and had no problems. When I joined a club I had to learn how to ride in a group, this improved my ability to ride close to others, do through and off, react to other riders doing the less expected etc. Chaingangs have honed these skills. Racing has taken them to a new level - my ability to descend in particular has improved massively over the time I've raced because it's no good getting to the top of a climb if you can't hold a wheel going down. Previously, that was not a skill I needed or thought about, I improved it out of necessity. Equally moving up in a bunch of 80 riders riding at 25mph+ is still hard work, but nowhere near as hard as it used to be.
TO paraphrase the saying about improving speed: you'll never be able to corner at 25mph if you don't corner at 25mph.
I've found my skills in various areas have improved as I've needed them to. I commute, so I've picked up assorted tricks for riding in heavy traffic.
To give a better idea: Riding on my own I was safe and had no problems. When I joined a club I had to learn how to ride in a group, this improved my ability to ride close to others, do through and off, react to other riders doing the less expected etc. Chaingangs have honed these skills. Racing has taken them to a new level - my ability to descend in particular has improved massively over the time I've raced because it's no good getting to the top of a climb if you can't hold a wheel going down. Previously, that was not a skill I needed or thought about, I improved it out of necessity. Equally moving up in a bunch of 80 riders riding at 25mph+ is still hard work, but nowhere near as hard as it used to be.
TO paraphrase the saying about improving speed: you'll never be able to corner at 25mph if you don't corner at 25mph.
OP
OP
ayceejay
Guru
- Location
- Rural Quebec
I did find exactly what I was looking for and it is very helpful, thanks for your reply monnet.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Practice, and try not to fall off. 
As well as the advice above (and not forgetting to adapt when riding with a group that is not chaingang that will suddenly slow on you without warning for example), I would recommend riding off road on loose and slippy stuff. It really helps to be used to a bike sliding about under you and to be able to deal with it - sort of the equivalent of practising with the car on a skid pan. Lots of road riders get into trouble if the bike starts to slide because they've hit gravel or over-cooked a corner whereas with a bit of practice it can be a very manageable/recoverable situation.
PapaZita
Guru
- Location
- St. Albans
Agree with the off-road suggestion. I'm quite a nervous descender. The people I know that make on-road descents look most effortless are the ones that also mountain bike. Now I come to think about it, this may be because mountain bikers are insane, but it may also be that they've developed the skills and confidence.
I vaguely remember an old training manual that recommended an exercise for bike handling: Two riders take their road bikes onto a damp grassy field. Ride along shoulder to shoulder, and try to stay upright while knocking the other rider off. When no-one has fallen off for a while, increase the speed...
I vaguely remember an old training manual that recommended an exercise for bike handling: Two riders take their road bikes onto a damp grassy field. Ride along shoulder to shoulder, and try to stay upright while knocking the other rider off. When no-one has fallen off for a while, increase the speed...
Cyclocross is also a good discipline for bike handling in slip sliding conditions.
