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Looking back — and trying not to swerve

06.14.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 8 Comments

We were on the way back from our club ride this morning (just two of us were in the B group today) when talk turned to the difficulty of checking over your shoulder for traffic.

The discussion was prompted by what I consider the toughest left turn on all of our routes. Traveling northbound on a busy two-lane road, the bike lane runs out. Now, we have to ride the right edge of the road, and hope there’s enough room for cars to get by us. Several blocks before we would hit a stoplight, we make a left turn into a nice subdivision that lets us avoid the busy intersection. It’s this left turn that can be a problem, because the cars are passing us as a steady rate.

We got to the turn. I was still at the right edge of the road. Oncoming traffic was heavy. My riding companion, Bob, was behind me. He called out, “OK!” I glanced over my shoulder and saw that he had already taken the lane. I moved into it, and got as close to the center line as possible as cars zoomed by, now on my right. When a small gap opened in the oncoming traffic, we could make our turns.

Safely in the residential subdivision, we rode slowly. Bob said, “I always have a problem looking back. Your bike goes the direction you look, and I don’t want to swerve into traffic — not on that road.”

We compared notes on how we look back. He’s comfortable with lowering his head and peering back past his left shoulder. I like to do it in two moves — I’ll look left about halfway, then forward again, then complete the look over my shoulder. I find it’s easier for me to get a glimpse of what’s behind if I do it that way.

The key is to avoid swerving the bike. Last year, when I took the Road I biking class, we spent some time practicing that very move (“scanning,” they called it). If you do it often enough, you can keep from pulling your bike left. But we get lazy from time to time, and fall back into bad habits.

We went through a high school parking lot, and approached a busy four-lane east-west road. Normally, the club riders will form a “bus,” riding two-by-two in the right lane, three to four deep. By taking up the same amount of space as a car (or bus), we force motorists to use the left lane to go around us. They’re also less inclined to shout at you when you’re in a big group. But with just two, Bob suggested we ride the sidewalk. That was fine with me. I’ve done that here before, too.

We had gone perhaps a half mile, and another major intersection was coming up. I was about to ask Bob if he wanted to stay on the sidewalk after the intersection, or ride in the road again. I looked over my shoulder, and saw that he was too far back to hear me. Sure enough, my bike swerved — right off the sidewalk and into the narrow strip of grass between it and the road. To my surprise, the grass didn’t cause the bike to tip over. I kept it going straight for a short way, then eased it right to climb back on the sidewalk.

The tire hit the edge of the walk, which protruded about an inch above the grass. It got caught on the edge — and now I went down.

I haven’t fallen from my bike on the sidewalk since I was in grade school, and the lower grades at that. All I could think of was, “Oh no! Not in these shorts!” I was wearing my expensive Sugoi shorts, which I’ve had for only a few months.

No tear in the shorts. Not even any road rash. Bike was okay, too. But it’s obvious to me that on my short rides this coming week, I’ll be practicing my scanning, keeping my bike straight, and I’ll be doing it on something wider than a sidewalk.

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Categories // crash, Safety, Technique Tags // crash, Safety, Technique

Smoked by a smart gal

03.16.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 6 Comments

I took advantage of the first day of Spring Break and the first really nice weather day in Austin in some time, to get in some real bike mileage this morning.  I went out to Mopac, planning to do a few loops.  Since I have the week off, I plan to be riding every day (well, almost — golf tomorrow) and beef up my mileage and endurance.

On my second loop of the eight-mile route, I saw a biker pull out onto the road about a half-mile ahead of me.  Aha, I thought — here’s a chance to see if I have what it takes to catch him.  I picked up the pace a little.

It was going to reach a high in the mid-80s(F) today, but at the time of the ride, it was still in the 50s.  I was nicely warmed up, but didn’t plan to push too hard to catch the rabbit — just a bit more than my usual pace.  When I rounded the turn at Route 1826 for the return leg, the other biker was out of sight.  But I soon saw him emerge from a swale in the road.  It looked like my chances of catching him were pretty good.

Several hills mark this stretch of the route.  Not big hills, but enough to make you work.  The other biker was not pumping very hard, but keeping a steady, even pace.  I was closing the gap.

Toward the end of the eastbound leg, there’s a nice downhill that lets me exceed speeds of 30 mph.  Not so today, with a southeast wind blowing in my face.  I got up only to 30, but was still gaining.  I expected to catch him on the level ground at the bottom of the hill.

It was then that I realized — the other biker was female!  (That’s fine — one of the strongest riders in my bike club, who regularly leaves most of the guys behind, is a female.)  And since she was obviously younger than me, she was probably stronger than me, if she’d had any kind of experience on a bike.  Heck, I was pleased to be able to catch anybody.

“On your left,” I called, as I closed on her.  She barely gave her bike a flick over to let me by.  I passed, still gaining speed, and gradually eased over into the center of the paved shoulder.  The road was approaching a sweeping left that would turn us north, and up another series of moderate hills.  I kept up the same pace I’d been riding, and attacked the first hill.

My legs must be getting stronger.  I actually gained speed going uphill, at least for a bit.  I felt good — what a great day to be out on a bike ride!  Then I heard a telltale click.

It was a bike changing gears, and it wasn’t mine.  I looked back, and there she was — inches behind my rear wheel!  She’d grabbed a draft right after I passed her.  That gave her a chance to recharge her batteries.

I saw her wheel pull up on my left side.  We crested a hill, and started down.  She pulled in behind me again.  At the base of the hill, I downshifted and applied more power.  Again the click just off my ear.  And then, that nice silver Merlin with the rider in the purple and white jersey slid by me.

I figured I’d use her tactic, and grab her wheel.  But I was losing ground climbing the hill, and she was pulling away.  By the time we reached the top, she was out of reach.

I’ve been smoked by old guys, smoked by young gals, smoked by mountain bikes, and now I was smoked by someone who really knew what she was doing.  Good for her, and good for me — I learned something today.  I learned that I’m not as young as I feel, and I learned that I still have a way to go conditioning-wise (as if I didn’t know that already).

I finished another loop of the Mopac route, then headed home.  Good average speed today — almost 16 mph.  It’s going to be nice for the rest of the week.  I hope I have several repeats of today’s ride.  But this time, I’ll grab the other rider’s wheel and save my strength for when it counts.

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Categories // Rides, Technique, training Tags // Mopac, Rides, Smoked, Technique, training

Stiff winds cause trouble

02.01.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 6 Comments

I’ve had a question or two from readers about the name of the blog — Bike Noob. Since I’ve been riding for well over a year, is it realistic to still consider myself a newbie? But I still manage to come up with newbie questions, and I’ve got one for you today. First, some background.

I had a great ride today. The weather turned out to be even nicer than had been forecast. I took off for Southwest Parkway, because I wanted to get in a hillier ride than I have been lately.

But I wound up cutting the ride short. I had planned to go about five miles farther, but I was bothered by one factor: the wind.

It came out of the southeast, at a steady 10 mph. But the gusts were much higher, maybe even 30. I’ve noticed on several recent rides in strong wind that I start feeling uneasy when I’m going downhill in a stiff crosswind or a quartering wind. The bike starts to feel unstable.

There’s no good reason for this. I do the ABC Quick Check before each ride, so I know my tires are at optimum pressure, the quick releases are tight, and the wheels are rolling true. So I don’t think it’s the bike.

I used to look forward to downhills. I’d pedal like mad to see how fast I could crank up the bike. Today though, I coasted, and even feathered the brakes to keep the speed in what I felt would be a controllable zone. My top speed was 32 mph, and under other circumstances I could have topped 35 or 36 along these same stretches of road.

This is a different sensation than getting hit by a stiff crosswind gust that threatens to knock you over. Today, I got the sensation that the bike would go out of control before I was knocked over.

Finally, on a nice downhill stretch heading west, the sensation got to be too much. The wind was hitting me on the left side. I got that uneasy feeling, and decided to bag it.

By the way, I still considered this a good ride. The hills made me work hard, and physically, I felt good throughout and afterward.

I wonder if this feeling is left over from my crashes last fall, which led to some less aggressive riding than I typically did before the crashes. I’ve been riding with a bit more verve in the past couple of weeks, attacking corners and building speed. It’s just the downhills in the wind that are getting to me.

So, loyal Bike Noob readers: Any suggestions on coping with a stiff cross wind? My inquiring mind wants to know.

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Categories // Safety, Technique Tags // Safety, Technique, wind

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