Bike handling skills are good
to practice, as some of the bike riding tutorials online tell us. You know,
practice riding upright so you can do things like pull snacks or a windbreaker out
of your jersey back pockets while still riding. Practice riding slowly, so you
gain confidence maneuvering tight spots. Practice balancing on the bike while
not moving, such as when you’re waiting for a red light. Practice peeing while
still riding your bike, so you don’t fall too far behind other riders.
OK, the last one I added in,
but only because I’ve seen pro riders do it on TV with the help of another
rider steadying their bike. Quite a skill that looks pretty dicey to pull off
successfully.
But for we common riders, it’s
just not worth the risk. What if a side wind comes up and hits you, your bike
and your steadier/rider with back spray? Or what if you lose your balance while
in the delicate act of peeing and you crash? Oh, that’s a horrible image, but
it has to have happened to a pro or two at some point in history, hopefully
when no TV cameras were rolling.
But yeah, that one should
probably be left to the pros, who are only doing it to keep from falling too
far behind in their race. Best to just stop, get off the bike where there’s a
tree or a bush, go behind it and pee. Or, better yet, at a public restroom if
there’s one along the trail. Then get on the bike and ride in new relief.
Still, no doubt, having bike-handling
skills to stay balanced in tricky situations definitely comes in handy. But
when you think about it, handling a bike well in technical riding situations just
amounts to staying upright instead of crashing. Making it through areas needing
sudden braking, near stops, quick turns, acceleration, all without falling off
the bike.
My theory is that having good
bike handling skills to avoid crashing requires only one thing: The ability to free
one clipped-in foot if you’ve lost control and are just about to fall down with
the bike.
Case in point: Say you’re
balancing the bike while stopped at a red light. This is do-able but it’s also
an easy way to suddenly tip over with the bike. We’ve all done this. If you
turn the front wheel the wrong way and suddenly you’re out of balance, gravity
takes over and in a wink, you’ve hit the deck, possibly in front of a line of
cars ready to run you over when the light turns green. In this case, even if
you can clip out fast, you’re still more likely to fall, because these
tip-overs happen in milliseconds. So while it may be a good bike handling skill
to try stay balanced on the bike while you wait at a red light, it can turn
dangerous pretty fast if you’re clipped in. A little less so if you’re not. So
maybe it’s a bad idea to practice it at red lights where there’s traffic. Or
maybe it’s not worth practicing at all!
I’ve crashed on my mountain
bike and road bike many times and most of the time it happened because I
couldn’t unclip one foot fast enough to break my fall. When that happens, you
and the bike go down attached, and the only thing left to break your fall is
one arm, depending on which side you’re falling on, left or right. And I can
testify with the scars under both my forearms, nasty road rash is sometimes the
result.
All my falls taught me the hard
way – uh, it took way too long for it to sink in! -- that I had to loosen my
pedal clips for a quick kick-out. Having that option, especially on a mountain
bike, when technical riding can be almost constant, has kept me from planting
my face on dirt and rocks more than a few times. Instead of hitting the deck or
trail with both shoes stuck to the bike, an unclipped shoe frees a leg to throw
out to keep you, and sometimes the bike, from crashing. So easy kick out clips
are very worth it. I can’t adjust the grip of my road bike clips, so that has
taught me the need to unclip a shoe a little earlier than I actually need to.
Most of the time that works, but sometimes there’s not enough time, and guess
what? I’ll fall clipped into the bike! Ugh. Hate it when that happens.
Don’t forget to smell the roses
Every now and again while on my
regular 51-mile ride, one I usually time myself against my best times on
various splits, I have to remind myself to forget about my time. And just enjoy
the ride! This usually happens when I’m out there riding too slowly for a
decent time for a number of reasons. I don’t have much energy, my legs are
tired or weak, I’m riding into a headwind, it’s hot, etc. On those rides, I
just tell myself to pedal and fully take in everything I see. And I usually
notice a few things that I never saw before. I’ve always enjoyed checking out
clouds for their unique formations and colors, so sometimes all I do is look up
and see some amazing abstract art in the form of clouds. One time as I rode, a
shadow came over me. I looked up, and there was huge buzzard flying at my speed
high above me, blocking out the sun for a few seconds, like a low flying
airliner.
Another time, a hawk flew above
and parallel to my left shoulder as I rode, making me wish I had a GoPro on my
helmet to get a great side shot of a hawk in flight. It’s funny how we’re
conditioned to feel a need to photograph everything we like these days, apparently
to show other people what we’ve seen, or just to have a recording of it on hand
to check later. But it’s really not so bad to fully experience something great
with all the senses and without photography. Doing that, the mind takes its own
movie, the images are etched into the memory banks, ready for retrieval. I’ve
often wanted to take a photo of the big white egrets that I sometimes see along
the bike path, as they stalk rodent snacks in the tall grass. They’re beautiful
tall birds on the ground, and when they fly, their wingspans are impressive as
they power glide over the river and flora along the trail. So slow rides are really
an opportunity to tune into the sights during a ride that are often missed when
hammering for a fast time. I just have to remind myself of that, instead of
being bummed about whatever conditions are making me ride like a snail that
day.
Til next time, remember to pull
on a helmet every time you get on the bike. Then, keep the rubber side down,
ride safely, and don’t forget to have a blast.
-- Mark Eric Larson
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