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Proper Braking Technique

06.02.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 12 Comments

I was on a short easy ride with Mrs. Noob the other day. We were on a slight downhill leading to a stoplight. I noticed as she braked for the light that she applied both brakes at the same time.

“Do you ever brake with just the front brake?” I asked.

“I’m not even sure which one is the front brake,” she replied.

Hm. Seems to me that to be in full control of your bike, you need to know which lever controls which brake. I explained that the left side controls the front brake, and the right side, the rear brake. She didn’t think it made much difference.

“There’s quite a difference in the amount of braking force between the two,” I said. “Most of your stopping power comes from the front brake.”

I’ve seen some articles that suggest bikers apply both brakes evenly. That’s the opposite of the way I learned to ride. Since the front brake handles most of the load, I’ve always applied the front brake first and hardest. I’ll use the rear brake, but only as a supplement to the front.

For example, if I’m going down hill and there’s a red light at the bottom, I’ll apply the front brake to slow the bike, but squeeze the rear brake on and off to slow the bike quicker. But be careful with that rear brake — it can cause a skid, and that can put you out of control in a hurry.

I experienced that first hand about a month ago. One of my area rides features a nice wide suburban street with a sweeping left-hand curve. Usually, there’s no traffic at all on this street. But at the bottom, there’s a cross street. When I reach it, I’m often going 32-33 mph, and although I have the right of way, I’m certainly not going to depend upon a car in the cross street to wait for me.

On this particular ride, I moved to the middle of the street as I neared the cross street. Sure enough, a car pulled up to the stop sign, looked both ways quickly without coming to a full stop, and started to cross. I went for the brakes hard, putting as much pressure on the rear as the front. My back wheel locked up immediately, and the bike started to fishtail. The driver of the car saw I was in trouble and slammed on his brakes. I got the bike under control at shot across the intersection in front of him.

OK, two things. First, I needed to apply the front brake first. According to Sheldon Brown, you should squeeze it so hard you nearly lift the rear wheel off the ground. The second thing would be to counter a possible rear wheel skid by moving my weight back as far as possible to keep the rear wheel in contact with pavement.

You won’t go over the bars. Just remember to brace with your arms, and even if you forget to scoot your weight back on the seat, you’ll probably have enough traction back there to prevent, or stop, fishtailing.

If you use both brakes equally, you’d probably benefit by practicing with just the front brake. You’ll see that you stop faster.

And every so often, I’ll apply just the rear brake as I pull into my driveway at home — and lay down a nice skid mark. Just for fun.

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Categories // Technique Tags // brakes

Snot Rockets

05.19.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 11 Comments

A couple of weekends ago, I was out on a ride with an old friend. Before we started, she pulled out a bandana and tied it around her handlebars.

“What’s that for?” I asked.

“Oh, I have terrible allergies,” she said. “I have to keep this close so I can blow my nose.”

Yeah, allergies are bad this year. The latest National Allergy Forecast shows medium-high levels across the northern tier of states, and much of the rest of the country has medium levels. So cyclists – and lots of others – might have to contend with runny or clogged noses. That’s tough to do when you’re putting miles behind you.

Gather ’round, noobs. It’s time to learn another new biking skill: the Snot Rocket.

That rather uncouth term describes clearing the nose without using a handkerchief or tissue. It’s fairly simple.

1. Move your left hand to the top of the bars.

2. Place a finger of your right hand over your right nostril. Try for an air-tight seal.

3. Turn your head. You want to make sure you don’t hit yourself.

4. Check for other cyclists. You really want to make sure you don’t hit them, either.

5. Blow. Hard and short. There should be enough force behind the blow to push the detritus away from your body, so the speed of your bike will carry you past it.

6. Switch hands. Repeat the process on the other side.

7. Clean up. This is where those terry cloth “sweat pads” (yeah, right – we know what they’re really for!) on your gloves come in handy.

It’s not a good idea to let fly if you’re in the middle or front of a group ride. Drop to the back so you don’t accidentally catch other cyclists with your projectile.

My friend has to wait until we stop for a rest before she can undo her bandana and use it. If she learns to blow a snot rocket, she can ride through allergy season breathing deeply.

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Categories // Technique Tags // Technique

Relax

05.17.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 6 Comments

When I bought my road bike three years ago, I was getting the cursory fitting common to bike stores. The salesperson doing the fitting stepped back, and with a scowl, said, “Relax! Your shoulders are hunched. Your arms are locked. That’s not the position you want to be in.”

She was right, of course. “Relax” is probably the best advice you’ll ever get about cycling. Not only does it apply to your position on the bike, but just about any other aspect of riding.

Let’s take the basic riding position — the one I was having trouble with in the shop. If a rider adopts that position on a long ride, it’s likely to end badly. Your neck will be sore. So will your arms. You’ll be tiring out your muscles when you don’t have to. Your upper body — neck, shoulders, and arms — don’t move the bike forward, so you want to take them out of the equation. No side-to-side motion. No up and down motion.

This road bike rider has been fitted to ride in a relaxed position.

The relax advice applies to other riding moves, too. You’re climbing a hill? Relax. Be still from the waist up. Cycling coach Andy Applegate says you don’t want even an ounce of unnecessary tension. You want whoever is watching you to be unaware of the effort you’re putting into the climb.

Descending? Relax, too. It’s easy to tense up when the bike points downhill. Sometimes those runs can be pretty scary. Tenseness can affect your ability to control the bike. Drop your shoulders, loosen the death grip on the handlebars, bend your elbows. Tilt your eyes upward to look forward instead of craning your neck.

Here comes a corner. Relax. Coach Carl Cantrell says tensing up causes the bike to pull to the outside. You can lose control, and might have to brake to get control back. And we all know how jumpy a bike feels when you brake in the middle of a turn. Relaxing while cornering should become instinctive, says Cantrell. “It is the single most important thing most people can do to improve their cornering.”

Are you falling? Relax. “As you hit the ground,” said one commenter on a biking forum, “try to stay as loose as possible. If you’re tense or stiff, it’s easier to get hurt.”

Starting that first century? Or a big race? You’re probably tense with anticipation. Relax. Smile to relax your facial muscles. Breathe. Calm yourself by thinking positively. Then maintain that relaxed attitude once the ride begins.

For me, a relaxed position isn’t easy to come by. I catch myself from time to time with hunched up shoulders. But I’m getting better. I remind myself every so often to relax. I shift my riding position. I shake out my shoulders. I shift my hands on the bars.

We recently featured several guest posts on the most important thing the posters learned about biking. I’ll add my two cents to the mix. The Most Important Thing: Relax.

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Categories // Technique, Tips Tags // bike fitting, Technique

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