Timely Reminders of the 8 Road Bike Skills Every Rider Needs to Know
“It’s just like riding a bike” might be the most common cliche, but let’s be honest: Riding a bike is rarely as simple as rolling in a straight line. There are skill elements involved.
Instead of thinking about how far or fast we can ride, we don’t think about how precisely we ride.
Not only do bike skills require dedicated practice and awareness, they also require slow, steady progression.
Now, all you have to do is practice!
1. Know where to look
This means scanning the road, not just locking your eyes on one distance. You’ll need to look down to check your time or your map occasionally, you’ll need to scan the immediate area in front of you for obstacles and debris on the road, and you’ll want to look further ahead to see if there are any changes in gradient or corners coming up. When riding in a group, knowing where to look is even more important: It’s so easy to focus on the rear wheel that’s directly in front of you, but in reality, you want to look further ahead, paying attention to any changes in pace or riders moving to one side to avoid an obstacle. Having a mirror will preclude you from turning around to check for cars behind.
2. Get comfortable with clipped-in pedals
If clip-ins are new, it is certainly a new skill to get comfortable with. For starting the process, ride on a relatively flat surface just to get your coordination set. Be in a middle range gear, and just work on keeping the momentum going. Practice starting and stopping-the most important skills! Remind yourself to, "Clip out!" If you understand the physics of the bike and how to use the momentum, you’ll stay upright.
3. Learn how to corner
Cornering is something that even the top pros practice regularly to improve their outcomes. For a new rider, navigating a corner means getting around a turn comfortably and safely, while for a top pro, or John Greene, speeding around a corner without needing to scrub any speed can be the difference between a win or a 10th place finish.
Cornering advice is usually to take corners as wide as possible, making the angle as gentle as possible so you don’t need to turn as sharply. But when you’re riding on open roads, it’s important to be very aware of opposing traffic and the yellow line in the middle of the road.
Slow down before the corner, trying to slow down while you’re in the corner can cause you to skid, so use your brakes to come to a comfortable speed before you start to lean into the corner.
As you approach a corner, stay on your side of the road but get as wide as you can coming into the corner, then ride towards the apex (the tightest part) of the corner and go wide again on the exit.
Let your body lean into the corner (tilting toward the tightest part of the corner) and put your inside pedal up to avoid the risk of clipping a curb or debris on the road. Your outside pedal will be down.
The tighter the corner, the slower and more upright you’ll have to be, so don’t stress if you feel like a snail while you’re doing a U-turn.Practice all the different variations of corners so you’re ready for anything.
4. Make slowing down and stopping smooth
Whether you have rim brakes or disc brakes, it helps to imagine them like a dimmer switch rather than an on/off light switch. The goal should always be to proactively brake, rather than need to brake abruptly, whether it's descending, coming into a corner, or riding up to a stoplight. Try Avoiding the panic response of slamming on the brakes. If you do need to come to a fast, abrupt stop, pull on both your front and rear brake, and shift your weight as far back on the bike as possible to counteract the force of your front wheel stopping. Otherwise, you may find yourself flying over your handlebars.
Getting accustomed to your brakes, you can play with using your front brake and your rear brake separately from each other. The front brake will stop you more abruptly, while the rear brake, when fully applied at speed, can cause you to skid or fishtail. In a real road situation, use them both simultaneously, please!
5. Work on drafting
The art of tucking behind another rider and using them to block the wind and save you energy is important for any road cyclist who wants to ride in a group. And it can be scary, especially at first!
A few rules to keep in mind: keep a comfortable distance between your front wheel and the rear wheel of the rider in front of you. Pay attention to your surroundings. Listen to the rider in front of you, because they may call out an obstacle before steering around it. You can also listen for shifting, which would indicate a change in gradient (a climb or descent) that’s coming up, and thanks to the screechy nature of disc brakes, you can often hear when the front of the group is slowing down. Whether you’re in the front or in the middle of a pack, modulate your speed carefully. Try to avoid sudden changes in pace, both when speeding up and slowing down.
Don’t be afraid to speak up! If you need to go slower, let the person in front of you know. If you see a stick or pothole in the road and you have a rider drafting behind you, call it out!
6. Practice climbing
Climbing is an important part of being an overall consistent and strong cyclist..
First of all, stay on the hoods or the tops of your handlebars when you climb: Bending over to reach the drops will limit your breathing and slow you down. Focus on having a relaxed upper body, tension in your shoulders and neck is just wasted energy.
For the most part, it is recommended to stay seated. If it’s a short, steep climb where the top is in sight, stay seated if you can. You may want to stand just to change things up and give your body a break for a few strokes, but don’t stay standing for long—it costs too much energy.
You don’t want to do a long climb in your hardest gear where you’re barely turning the pedals. Focus on the feel of smooth pedal strokes, pulling up and pressing down in an even motion. This helps you utilize all of your muscles.
Also, stop the urge to go out as hard as you possibly can. On longer climbs, pacing is everything. Try dividing the climb so the effort is not the same at each part, utilizing energy better.
Practicing your climbing skills are similar to cornering: You want to mix up your situations. Climbing is a skill that is developed over time. This means riding long, short, gradual and steep climbs, rather than sticking to the same two-minute climb near your house.
7. Don’t forget about the descent
Awareness is the key to a successful downhill, so even if you’ve been talking and listening to other riders, consider descending in silence so you can be better aware of your surroundings. Generally speaking, you’ll want to be in the drops on a descent, with your fingers still covering your brakes so you’re ready to modulate your speed as needed. The lower positioned you are, the more stable you are. You want your weight centered between your two wheels. Having one pedal down, pushing into that pedal adds a lot of stability. Switch which foot is down depending on if there’s a corner coming up.
At the same time, you also want to be relaxed: Your goal is to “float” over bumps in the road rather than trying to fight them. This means keeping your core engaged, but leaving a bit of laxity to your limbs, letting them act as suspension.
When you do encounter a corner while riding downhill, safety is absolutely critical. If it’s a blind turn, assume that there’s a car coming in the other direction, possibly over the line. Adjust your speed early so you’re not braking while in the corner. It’s even more important to do this on a downhill because you’ll have more speed as you enter the turn.
8. Manage your hands
Eating and drinking while riding on the bike are skills that often gets ignored. Outside of nutritional recommendations, learning how to remove your water bottle and successfully return it to its holder can be tricky when you’re new to riding, as can getting that bar or gel out of your jersey pocket. Here are a few quick tips to mastering both skills:
Take advantage of every stop. Red light? As Gregg says, "Drink!"
Always keep your eyes where you want to go. Practice removing your water bottle and getting an energy bar indoors on the trainer, while looking ahead. Aim to keep the speed and momentum flowing. This is a skill that the more it's done, the more natural it becomes.